With October approaching, it’s time for yet another Mike Flanagan-directed horror miniseries to premiere on Netflix. This year, he’s bringing us what appears to be an updated version of The Fall of the House of Usher. Here’s the trailer. The series itself is scheduled to be released on October 12th!
In this video, Bryan Adams promises “the other woman” that he will never stop running to her even though he loves his wife and knows that she deserves better. Run To You is one of the best “obsession” songs of the 80s.
The video, which was shot in London and Los Angeles, features Adams singing in both the rain and on the beach and as the seasons changed, haunted by his obsession with his mistress. Also appearing in the video is actress Lysette Anthony, who has previous starred in Krull before appearing as the subject of Adams’s obsession.
This video was directed by Steve Barron, who is another one of those directors who worked with everyone who was anyone.
Enjoy!
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay. Today’s film is 1993’s The Tower! It can be viewed on YouTube!
The plot of 1993’s The Tower could probably best be described as, “Paul Reiser gets a job and gets everyone killed.”
Technically, Paul Reiser is playing Tony Minot, a guy who would rather spend his time in his apartment, composing new age synthesizer anthems and eating left over pizza, than actually go to work. But make no mistake about it. Tony is basically Paul Reiser, all the way down to the neurotic mannerisms and the bad jokes.
Anyway, through the help of an old friend, Tony has gotten a job. He’s going to be working in a state-of-the-art tower, one that is totally run by a computer system known as CAS. CAS is designed to eliminate any and all security threats. For instance, when an unauthorized pigeon lands on the tower’s roof, it doesn’t take long for CAS to reduce that pigeon to a bunch of floating feathers. Tony has been told that it’s very important that 1) he have his security card with him at all times and 2) that he not damage his security card in any way.
So, of course, Tony damages his security card.
With the help of a security guard, Tony still manages to get inside the tower but, since his card doesn’t work, CAS considers Tony to be a security risk. When Tony proceeds to casually violate several security rules and stays in the building after hours, CAS decides to destroy him. Unfortunately, since Tony is kind of needy and always has to have people around him, everyone else in the building ends up getting killed too.
(This is a 1993 film and it was made for television so none of the kills are especially interesting. One guy gets caught in the closing doors of an elevator. Someone else gets trapped in an overheated sauna.)
The majority of the film deals with Tony crawling around the building, just like Bruce Willis in Die Hard. CAS is determined to kill both him and his potential love interest. We’re supposed to be angry at CAS and concerned about the world’s dependence on technology but you know what?
THIS IS ALL TONY’S FAULT!
Seriously, if Tony hadn’t damaged his card, none of this would have happened. Tony was specifically told not to damage his card but obviously, it didn’t occur to him that maybe he should try to follow the rules of his new workplace during his first day on the job!
The Tower is very much a film of its time. That’s obvious just from the cartoonish CGI and the fact that someone thought casting Paul Reiser as a Die Hard-style action hero was a good idea. Beyond that, it’s a film that’s very concerned about the rise of computers and technology. In 1993, I’m sure audiences were like, “OH MY GOD! COMPUTERS CAN’T BE REASONED WITH!” but, when I watched the film last night, I was just like, “So, they don’t have voice or facial recognition? What type of company is this?”
Anyway, The Tower is not exactly a good movie but it’s oddly watchable. Maybe it’s just because of how strange it is to see Paul Reiser doing the whole Die Hard thing. (Before anyone asks, The Tower was not meant to be a spoof. In fact, it takes itself pretty seriously.) Or maybe it’s just the fact that, by the end of the movie, you’ll totally be on the Tower’s side.
Go, CAS, go!
Another Halloween has come and gone and with it, another Horrorthon. We hope you have had a wonderful October and that your November brings you much to be thankful for!
And remember, just because you didn’t see the Great Pumpkin this year, doesn’t mean that he won’t be there for you next October. I think Linus can explain it best:
To all of our readers and from all of your friends at the Shattered Lens, thank you.
With Horrorthon coming to a close for the year, it’s time for one last AMV of the Day.
Anime: RWBY
Song: This is Halloween (performed by Marilyn Manson)
Creator: Primordial Paper (please subscribe to this creator’s channel)
Past AMVs of the Day
The 1984 film, Night of the Comet, begins with the end.
The end of the world, that is!
When the Earth passes through the tail of a comet, the end result is that the majority of the world’s population is reduced to red dust. Those who are exposed to the comet but not turned immediately into dust face an even worse fate. They are transformed into mindless zombies. Fortunately, 18 year-old Reggie (Catherine Mary Stewart) and her 16 year-old sister, Sam (Kelli Maroney), both managed to avoid getting exposed. Sam was in a steel shed, hiding from their abusive stepmother. Reggie was in a theater projection room with her boyfriend. When Reggie and Sam wake up in the morning to discover that they are two of the few people left alive on the planet, they do what anyone would do.
They go to the mall!
Which is probably the same thing that me and my sisters would have done if we had found ourselves in a similar situation. That’s one reason why Night of the Comet holds up so well. It’s one of the few films to be honest about how most people would probably react to the end of the world. Instead of giving a big dramatic monologue or having a breakdown or getting into a fight about who is to blame and what it all means, Reggie and Sam try to have a little fun. Of course, they also grab some guns while they’re at the mall. They’re not stupid. They know the situation is grim and they need to be prepared. But still, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t try on all the clothes that they previously would not have been able to afford. And why shouldn’t they treat the mall as their own personal playground? They’re young and they’ve survived the end of the world. They deserve to enjoy themselves.
Of course, just because Reggie and Sam survived, that doesn’t mean the world is a safe place. Along with the zombies, there’s also a crazed group of former stockboys who now view the mall as being their own personal kingdom. And then there’s the scientists, who claim that they’re benevolent but who are actually looking for healthy specimens on which they can experiment.
Night of the Comet is a terrifically fun horror movie, a real treat for anyone who has ever imagined what they would do if they were among the last people on Earth. Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, and Robert Beltran (who plays another survivor) brings a lot of energy to their likable roles while Mary Woronov and Geoffrey Lewis are properly menacing as the two main scientists. The zombies, with their crazed eyes and their decaying faces, are genuinely frightening. Director Thom Eberhardt wisely doesn’t overuse the zombies. Indeed, the whole point of the film is that the world is now nearly empty of people, whether they’re zombies or not. But because the zombies aren’t present all of the time, it makes it easy to forget about them and it also makes all the more frightening when they suddenly show up.
Night of the Comet is an enjoyable mix of horror and comedy, one that holds up well nearly 40 years after it was first released.
On this, the final day of our annual Horrorthon, we offer you a final, bonus Horror on TV entry.
In this episode of Highway to Heaven, angel Jonathan Smith (Michael Landon) tries to defeat the devil for the soul of his friend Mark (Victor French). This episode, a true Halloween episode, originally aired on October 30th, 1985, and it features guest turns from Anthony Zerbe and the great Michael Berryman.
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
Halloween forever?
That sounds like a great idea to me!
It also sounds like a great idea to the Spirit of Halloween. After escaping from a prison that’s been holding it for centuries, the Spirit attempts to stop time and it’s up to the “real” Ghostbusters to stop him!
Until I started to search YouTube for Halloween specials, I had no idea that the original Ghostbusters film was also turned into a cartoon, though I guess it makes sense. Just judging from this episode, it seems like the cartoon did a pretty good job of capturing the feel of the movie. I’m not really sure what to make of Egon’s hair but whatever. This is a fun little episode and I hope you all enjoy it.
Happy Halloween!
This is the one with the googly-eyed aliens.
Killers From Space was released in 1954 and, in many ways, it’s typical of the sci-fi B-movies that were released at the time. A nuclear scientist (Peter Graves) crashes the airplane that he’s flying. Everyone thinks that he’s dead but, a day later, he shows up at the army base. He says he can’t remember anything about the crash but once he’s put under hypnosis, he remembers being abducted by a bunch of aliens. No one believes his story but Graves knows what happened and he’s determined to thwart the aliens before they can sap away all of Earth’s energy. And by Earth, I mean America because this film is from 1954 and every character in the movie understands that there’s only one nation that matters!
With a running time of only 70 minutes, it’s a standard alien invasion flick. It’s perhaps a bit distinguished by the presence of Peter Graves, who handles his role with dignity. Graves was one of those actors who could deliver even the most ludicrous dialogue with a certain amount of gravitas and the film certainly gives him plenty of chances to do just that. Graves has the perfect deep, resonant establishment voice. Just the sound of it makes the viewer think of America. As such, there’s something undeniably fun about him deploying that voice for a film about an invasion of googly-eyed aliens. And the film is also somewhat notorious for being one of the many B-movie to be directed by Lee Wilder, the brother of Billy Wilder. Billy Wilder not only perfected the modern comedy but he also made some of the most important film noirs ever made. He was a master of every genre and someone who inspired countless filmmakers. He directed witty masterpieces like Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard and The Apartment. Billy Wilder made the first major film about alcoholism, The Lost Weekend. Billy Wilder won Oscars and competed at Cannes. Lee Wilder made movies like Killers From Space. The Cannes elitists never invited Lee Wilder to their festival and, watching his films, one gets the feeling that it was the festival’s lost. Ironically, both directors made films that continue to intrigue viewers, though for very different reasons. Billy Wilder gave us an amoral Hollywood screenwriter narrating a film from beyond the grave. Lee Wilder gave us googly-eyed aliens. And true film lovers love both of them for their entertaining contributions to world cinema.
With all that in mind, the main thing that people remember about Killers From Outer Space are the aliens and …. well, who can blame them? Seriously, look at them!
I mean, obviously they’re just big googly eyes and half the time, they don’t even fit correctly. You can probably buy eyes like that for yourself if you really wanted to. But still, the image of those big eyed aliens is undeniably creepy! You may quickly forget most of what happens in Killers From Space. It’s not that memorable of a film, to be honest. But you will never forget those eyes!
