Cycles
I love "bad movies". Most of you know this (many of you have been to my "Bad Movies and Booze" gatherings!). Should be no surprise that when I see the bin of cheap DVDs, I tend to get crazy. Jessica and i love to pick up the ones that have several films, because those are usually even worse than usual. Recently, i found one that was 8 flicks for $5, so you KNOW I had to have it.
Now, a couple were good. The original Prom Night and Meridian (the first Full Moon flick!) were both in there, as well as Demonic Toys, which i already own. There was also some real crapperoo, such as I Am Omega (a mockbuster version of I Am Legend, already a film that is a 2nd generation remake, I might add) and Evil Bong (just what it sounds like). However, nestled in there was the film Below. We never seemed to get around to it. A couple days ago, we got curious...hang on, directed by David Twohy? Darren Aronofsky has a writing credit? Zach Galifianakis and Jason Flemyng are in it? Gotta see this...as it turned out, while not a great film, it was a pretty good watch, creepy without the standard Hollywood shock, subtle effects without all the CGI glitz. Also, a ton of people we recognized from other movies.
One of those recognized was Bruce Greenwood. I knew I knew that face and voice from somewhere, and that led to some digging at IMDb. The recent Star Trek reboot, OK...I, Robot, OK...St. Elsewhere, interesting...aha, Exotica, that might be the one I'm thinking of. Satisfied, i glanced further down, and had a shock.
The Hitchhiker, season 1, episode 1: Shattered Vows
History time: when I was 10 years old, i lived in Jacksonville, Florida. My mom was best friends with the woman that lived across the street. Their daughter (a year younger) and I were friends, as well. One night, her folks and my folks all went out, and decided to get a single babysitter to watch us both. We stayed at their place, and the babysitter didn't really care what we did, so we watched TV. What came on HBO that night that our folks would probably have had a fit knowing we saw? The Hitchhiker, a Twilight Zone-like show of thriller stories. Well, that might be cool...the episode, of course, was Shattered Vows, and that half-hour of TV has stuck in my mind for damn near 30 years. I've never forgotten it. The last scene (which I won't spoil) was one of my first introductions to horror/thriller story-telling. Sure, I'd seen Twilight Zone and I was a budding gamer and I was already a fan of the kind of movies on the Saturday afternoon "Creature Feature", but this was different. This was shocking (for a 10-year-old, anyway), downright visceral. This sparked my imagination. As I said, I've never forgotten that show, and though I'd not seen it in 28 years, it was still vivid in my mind.
And this guy was in it. What were the odds? Thanks to Hulu, I was able to watch it again, and it's still a fun view.
Anyway, take half an hour and watch it. Warning: this was on HBO, so they didn't have to edit out the nudity, and there are multiple nipples, a behind or two, and some suggestive positioning. Also, a rather creepy moment at the end. 2nd warning: this was the early 80's, so it's more than a tad cheesy. ;)
Now, a couple were good. The original Prom Night and Meridian (the first Full Moon flick!) were both in there, as well as Demonic Toys, which i already own. There was also some real crapperoo, such as I Am Omega (a mockbuster version of I Am Legend, already a film that is a 2nd generation remake, I might add) and Evil Bong (just what it sounds like). However, nestled in there was the film Below. We never seemed to get around to it. A couple days ago, we got curious...hang on, directed by David Twohy? Darren Aronofsky has a writing credit? Zach Galifianakis and Jason Flemyng are in it? Gotta see this...as it turned out, while not a great film, it was a pretty good watch, creepy without the standard Hollywood shock, subtle effects without all the CGI glitz. Also, a ton of people we recognized from other movies.
One of those recognized was Bruce Greenwood. I knew I knew that face and voice from somewhere, and that led to some digging at IMDb. The recent Star Trek reboot, OK...I, Robot, OK...St. Elsewhere, interesting...aha, Exotica, that might be the one I'm thinking of. Satisfied, i glanced further down, and had a shock.
The Hitchhiker, season 1, episode 1: Shattered Vows
History time: when I was 10 years old, i lived in Jacksonville, Florida. My mom was best friends with the woman that lived across the street. Their daughter (a year younger) and I were friends, as well. One night, her folks and my folks all went out, and decided to get a single babysitter to watch us both. We stayed at their place, and the babysitter didn't really care what we did, so we watched TV. What came on HBO that night that our folks would probably have had a fit knowing we saw? The Hitchhiker, a Twilight Zone-like show of thriller stories. Well, that might be cool...the episode, of course, was Shattered Vows, and that half-hour of TV has stuck in my mind for damn near 30 years. I've never forgotten it. The last scene (which I won't spoil) was one of my first introductions to horror/thriller story-telling. Sure, I'd seen Twilight Zone and I was a budding gamer and I was already a fan of the kind of movies on the Saturday afternoon "Creature Feature", but this was different. This was shocking (for a 10-year-old, anyway), downright visceral. This sparked my imagination. As I said, I've never forgotten that show, and though I'd not seen it in 28 years, it was still vivid in my mind.
And this guy was in it. What were the odds? Thanks to Hulu, I was able to watch it again, and it's still a fun view.
Anyway, take half an hour and watch it. Warning: this was on HBO, so they didn't have to edit out the nudity, and there are multiple nipples, a behind or two, and some suggestive positioning. Also, a rather creepy moment at the end. 2nd warning: this was the early 80's, so it's more than a tad cheesy. ;)