Tag Archives: television

Horror on TV: Night Visions 1.10 “Hate Puppet/Darkness”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s televised horror, we have the tenth episode of Night Visions!

Night Visions was an anthology show that aired in 2001.  Each episode featured two different stories and was hosted by Henry Rollins.

Our first story was directed by Thomas J. Wright and is called Hate Puppet.  It’s about a man who can’t figure out why everyone hates him.  In some ways, this story almost seems prophetic.  In 2001, I imagine it was shocking to think of someone suddenly being hated by complete strangers.  Today, we just look at that type of behavior and say, “Well, that’s 2017 for you…”

Our second story, Darkness, was directed by Ian Toynton and tells the story of a man who inherits a house but soon learns that maybe it would have been better if he hadn’t.

Like many anthology series, Night Visions was always an uneven show but I think these episode are always fun to watch in October.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: Baywatch Nights 2.4 “The Strike” (dir by David W. Hagar)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s example of televised horror, we have another episode of Baywatch Nights!

In this episode, which originally aired on October 20th, David Hasselhoff rescues a young man from drowning and, before you can say X-Files, founds out that the man is connected to …. ROSWELL!  That’s right, it’s UFO time!

As with all episodes of Baywatch Nights, The Strike is silly and … well, actually, silly is the best way to describe it.  But it’s just so silly that it’s undeniably fun as well.

Plus, it’s take place on the beach!  Y’all like the beach, don’t you?

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: Baywatch Nights 2.5 “Circle of Fear” (dir by Bruce Kessler)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s horror on the lens, how about a chance to watch David Hasselhoff and Angie Harmon battle the forces of dark magic?

That’s right, it’s an episode of Baywatch Nights!  This episode shows what happens when Angie and David investigate the burned book that they found at the scene of an occult gathering.  It’s all a little bit silly but then again, that’s the charm of the show!

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: One Step Beyond 3.31 “The Sorcerer” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Twilight Zone wasn’t the only televised horror anthology show to air in the late 50s and early 60s!  There was also a show called One Step Beyond, which ran for three seasons.  It was hosted by a man named John Newland and each episode was supposedly based on an event that may have actually occurred … an event that defied rational explanation!

The episode features one of the icons of horror cinema, the one and only Christopher Lee!  Lee plays a German soldier who, during World War I, enlists a local psychic to discover whether or not his lover is being faithful to him.  When he discovers that she isn’t, he uses the psychic’s powers to get revenge.  Afterward, when he wants to confess to his crime, he runs into a problem.  No one believes him because he was over 800 miles away when the crime occurred.

To be honest, the main reason to watch this episode is to see Christopher Lee but isn’t that reason enough?  Lee was one of the great gentlemen of horror and his performance in this episode helps to show why.

This episode originally aired on May 31st, 1961.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: The Twilight Zone 1.23 “Shadow Play” (dir by Paul Lynch)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s trip into the world of televised horror, we have an episode from a 1986 attempt to revive The Twilight Zone.

This episode is a remake of one of my favorite episodes of the original series, Shadow Play.  That’s the one where the guy is on death row but he says he’s not worried about being executed because he knows he’s just having a reoccuring nightmare.  Of course, this kind of freaks out some of the people around him because, if he’s just having a dream, what happens to them when the dream ends?

While the remake is nowhere near as good as the original, it’s still fairly well done.  Plus, it’s on YouTube and the original isn’t.

This episode was directed by Paul Lynch, the Canadian director who also directed the original Prom Night.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: Tales From the Crypt 1.2 “All Through The House” (dir by Robert Zemeckis)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s excursion into the world of televised horror, we have the 2nd ever episode of the HBO anthology series, Tales From The Crypt!

In this one, a woman (Mary Ellen Trainor) kills her husband on Christmas Eve, just to discover that she can’t properly dispose of the body because a psychotic escaped mental patient (Larry Drake), who just happens to be disguised as Santa Claus, is hanging around outside of her house.  It’s a bit of a mess, especially since the woman’s daughter is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa herself.

This originally aired on June 10th, 1989 and it’s an enjoyably insane package of holiday cheer and menace.  And, of course, it was directed by none other than Robert Zemeckis!

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: The Twilight Zone 1.9 “The Pool Guy” (dir by Paul Shapiro and Brad Turner)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s excursion into the world of televised horror, we have an episode from the 2002 revival of The Twilight Zone.

In The Pool Guy, Richie (Lou Diamond Philips) is a pool cleaner with a problem.  While his clients appear to believe that Richie is living a glamorous life straight out of a bad suburban melodrama, Richie actually feels as if his life is going nowhere.  He’s never even gotten seduced by a bored housewife!  Maybe Richie just isn’t a very good pool guy…

However, Richie has another problem, on top of all that.  A man keeps mysteriously appearing and telling him to “Wake up!” before then shooting him.  Immediately after getting shot, Richie wakes up somewhere else, just to once again be approached by the same man.

What is going on and why is Richie being charged $12,000 for the experience!?

Over the years, there have been quite a few attempts to revive The Twilight Zone and the results have always been mixed.  The 2002 revival featured Forest Whitaker as the host and was canceled after just one season.  That said, The Pool Guy is actually pretty good.  Philips gives a good performance and the episode’s central mystery is an intriguing one.

This episode originally aired on October 16th, 2002!

Enjoy!

 

Horror on TV: Suspense 1.2 “Suspicion” (dir by Robert Stephens)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s excursion into televised horror, we present to you an episode of Suspense!

What was Suspense?  It was an anthology show that ran from 1949 to 1954.  Each episode dealt with ordinary people who found themselves in not-so ordinary situations.  As well, each episode was broadcast live and the entire show was sponsored by the Autolite Corporation.  They make spark plugs.

Out of the over 250 episodes of Suspense, only 90 still survive.  Suspicion, the second episode of the first season, originally aired on March 15th, 1949.  It details what happens when a doting husband comes to suspect that his housekeeper may be a notorious arsenic poisoner!

And yes, it does start with a commercial for spark plugs.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: The Twilight Zone 3.24 “To Serve Man”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On this day, 58 years ago, one of the most influential shows in the history of television, The Twilight Zone, premiered on CBS.  Created by Rod Serling, this anthology show not only featured some of the best actors and writers in the business but it also used tales of the unexpected to address some of the most pressing issues of the day.  (Many, if not all, of those issues remain relevant today.)  The Twilight Zone inspired a countless number of future filmmakers and writers and it remains popular today.  The annual New Year’s Eve and 4th of July marathons on SyFy continue to delight viewers both new and old.

When we first started doing our annual October horrorthon here at the Shattered Lens, every single episode of the original, black-and-white Twilight Zone was available on YouTube.  Sadly, that’s no longer the case.  As I sit here writing this, while several episodes from the show’s later (and largely unsuccessful) revivals have been uploaded,  there is exactly one episode of the original Twilight Zone on YouTube.

Fortunately, that episode is a classic.  In 1962’s To Serve Man, an alien (Richard Kiel) comes to Earth and invites people to return to his home planet with him.  He leaves behind a book.  When everyone learns that the title of the book is To Serve Man, they excitedly decide that the book must be an instruction manual on how to help mankind.  The truth, as we learn in the episode’s classic finale, is something a little bit different.

Here’s the episode!  Watch it before YouTube yanks it down.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: The Curse of Degrassi (dir by Stefan Brogren)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Can you believe it?  The first day of Horrorthon is nearly over!  I’ve got tears in my mismatched eyes.

You may remember, from previous horrorthons, that I like to end each day in October by sharing a classic example of televised horror.  Much as with the the horror movies that I share at the start of each day, it should be remembered that I’m a bit at the whim of YouTube here.  If YouTube decides to yank down a video after I share it on this site, there’s nothing that I can do about it.  That’s why I encourage everyone to watch these now!  Don’t wait until 2024.  Who knows if YouTube will even still be a thing in 2024?

Anyway, let’s start things off with The Curse of Degrassi!

This is a special episode of my favorite TV show of all, Degrassi!  Originally airing on October 28th, 2008, The Curse of Degrassi features Degrassi’s main mean girl, Holy J Sinclair (Charlotte Arnold), getting possessed by the vengeful spirit of deceased school shooter, Rick Murray (Ephraim Ellis).  Chaos follows!  Fortunately, Spinner (Shane Kippel) is around to save the day.  As any true Degrassi fan can tell you, only Spinner has a chance against the forces of the undead.

Enjoy!

(Before anyone asks, yes, I did share this same episode last October.  What can I say?  I really like Degrassi and forcing people to watch my favorite Canadian obsession is a bit of a tradition around here.  We’re all about tradition here at the Shattered Lens.)