I am a life long fan of popular culture. This web site is filled with links to clips of musical, movie, and media video clips of things I have found of interest over the years. I hope you find some of this stuff to your liking. Drop me a line and let me know.
Very influential, big budget science fiction film from the 1950’s. In the future, a starship from earth ventures to a remote planet to check on the well being of a colony established by earlier explorers. Only two survivors are found from the previous expedition but they flourish in their compound with the assistance of their super workhorse robot, Robby. It seems that survivor Dr. Morbius has learned a few tricks from the previous inhabitants of the planet, the uber advanced Krell. But not all knowledge is necessarily good to have. Morbius harbors some dark secrets of his own that have a bad habit of manifesting themselves in solid form thanks to tapping into Krell technology.
Among the movie’s strengths are very cool special effects, an otherworldly electronic music score from Louis and Bebe Barron, impressive movie sets and dioramas and, of course, the introduction of the amazing creation, Robby The Robot. The functioning of the earth ship and its captain and crew seem to have been an influence on Gene Roddenberry who created the TV series “Star Trek”. Leslie Nielsen played the captain of the second Earth starship.
Great Sixties science fiction/horror film from master fantasy director Mario Bava. Two ships in outer space end up setting down on an alien planet. After losing communications with one of the ships, the crew of the other vessel goes to investigate. Many of the occupants are found dead, having seemingly lost their minds and killed each other. Many crew members cannot be found. It appears that there is an alien presence on the planet that has taken over the bodies of one of the space crews. A struggle to survive the alien vampires and escape the evil planet and get back into space ensues. Among this film’s strengths are a very atmospheric, dark, planetary setting, a film shot with deeply saturated color, the intense buildup of paranoia. Barry Sullivan stars. This movie has been cited as a major influence on Dan O’Bannon who wrote the screenplay for “Alien” (1979). There are many similarities including the discovery of an ancient alien ship and it’s fossilized crew members. A nice melding of science fiction and horror elements.
This may be my favorite episode of Kolchak – The Night Stalker TV series. Kolchak ends up on an ocean cruise to do a fluff piece on the singles scene. It ends up being anything but a pleasure cruise for the intrepid reporter. A series of brutal attacks on the paying customers ensue and Kolchak theorizes that a werewolf may be responsible. It turns out one of the guests is harboring a dreadful secret that has a nasty habit of getting completely out of control when the full moon rises. This is a very suspenseful show full of dark shadows, memorable acting and plenty of spooky scenes. Eric Braeden (see “Colossus: The Forbin Project”) turns in a powerful performance as the tortured soul who suffers the curse of the werewolf. Well worth seeking out!
This was an episode from Kolchak – The Night Stalker TV series. This series was spun off after the popularity of the Kolchak TV movies, “The Night Stalker” and “The Night Strangler”. Unfortunately, the series was only to last one season. Series star Darren McGavin was involved with the production of the show and after about 5 years of association with the Carl Kolchak role, I think he had had enough and “buried” the burden of Kolchak. Check out the excellent DVD release of all the TV episodes bundled together.
“They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be…” deals with our friends (?), the aliens. Kolchak investigates the strange deaths of zoo animals and a mysterious black ooze that is left behind after the forceful attacks. The ooze also crops up on residential home lawns. There are also thefts and scary occurrences where the culprit responsible cannot be seen. How do all these elements relate to each other and who is behind it all? Nice, atmospheric scenes inside a planetarium and Kolchak’s repeatedly interrupted attempts to attend/ listen to a Chicago Cubs baseball playoff game are among the episode’s many charms.
I always liked this song from the band Hawkwind. It is an uplifting pop song with synthesizer sound wash and varied instrumentation thrown on top. Hawkwind has a long history. You might be interested in learning more about these “cosmic warriors” who constituted part of a music genre labeled “Space Rock”. Try checking out the book “Space Daze”. This video is a little weird, though, as is the lead singer’s getup.
Disgusting cash-in sequel which capitalized on the classic “Halloween” fright flick directed by John Carpenter. Carpenter is not directing this time but producing, taking a writing credit and providing the music. Still, Carpenter must take his share of credit for this turd. The formula stays the same: Asylum escapee Michael Myers is stalking fresh victims and Jamie Lee Curtis, more or less in that order. Dr. Loomis, portrayed by Donald Pleasance, pursues Myers. This time a face off takes place in a hospital where Curtis recovers from the assault she took from Myers in the previous flick. Curtis is nothing more than a crawling, mute presence here. Her character shambles around in a perpetual state of shock and then lurches around the hospital trying to find a hiding place from “the boogie man”, Myers. It all feels rather empty like the hospital. No characters are developed to care about. The scumbag hospital attendants who spend a lot of their time cavorting in empty hospital beds and whirlpool tubs are dispatched in abundance. Myers basically murders everyone in his path. He utilizes a lot of hospital equipment to accomplish these deeds in “novel” ways. We are given some small bits of revelatory information to add to the storyline/back story of Myers. Myers is shot repeatedly but manages to get back on his feet with twice the murderous force as before the bullet bath. I really stopped caring after awhile. I’d seen it all before.
Rousing TV movie full of strange beasties on the loose. Cornel Wilde investigates stories and sightings involving a hidden race of ancient creatures, the gargoyles, that emerge during certain periods of history and their time has come again in the 1972 American Southwest. The gargoyles appear once again determined to exert their dominance over man. Can they be stopped? Look past the slightly gawky monster costumes and enjoy the thrill ride! Scott Glen is here in an early role.
Classic tale of an otherworldly killing spree set in modern day Las Vegas. A down on his luck reporter, Carl Kolchak, stumbles upon a series of murders that lead him to the inevitable conclusion that an actual vampire is loose in a city that never sleeps. Scary upon first and subsequent viewings. Creepy, nightmarish performance by veteran actor Barry Atwater as the vampire. Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak is superb. This is definitely one of those films that you don’t want to watch at night with the lights out. Very chilling and produced as a TV movie, to boot!
My favorite episode from “Star Trek” – The Original Series. A marauding super weapon of ancient origins plummets through space destroying astral bodies in its wake to provide fuel for its continuing existence. The Enterprise, commanded by Captain James Kirk, attempts to put a stop to the machine’s path of destruction before any more lives are lost. Very well paced, exciting episode that provides plenty of action and suspense. Going back and watching “The Original Series” today, I am struck by the rather talkative, slow paced nature of a lot of the episodes. This segment provided a welcome alternative to that trend. The musical score is also well matched to the action. “The Doomsday Machine” is well worth watching over again. Not so with a great many of the other episodes. Nice acting turn by William Windom as the doomed Captain Decker.
An attempt by motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel to jump the fountains at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Upon landing on the opposite ramp, Knievel lost control of his bike and got busted up pretty bad. He was in a coma for nearly a month.
A disquieting tale of the destruction of a remote research station by unknown forces. The culprits are right under our noses but we don’t find out until the very end of the movie. Dread and paranoia in abundance as Robert Culp and Eli Wallach attempt to put a halt to the rapid erosion of the human community at a snowbound scientific research center. Will they find a solution in time? Similar surroundings and situation to “The Thing” but without an other worldly threat. An ABC Movie of the Week entry.
Very unnerving, black and white film of the book by Shirley Jackson. Things go bump in the night, frequently, in a gloomy mansion being investigated by ghost hunters. The creepy surroundings are dimly lit and expansive, ghostly, unintelligible conversations are overheard. Shadows crawl. Effective, tense direction provided by Robert Wise. Are the hauntings real or simply created by our imaginations?
Classic science fiction film starring Charlton Heston as an astronaut stranded on a planet where apes rule and humans are slaves/brutes hunted for sport and used for medical experimentation. The proceedings move along at a fairly steady pace thanks to Franklin Schaffner’s able direction. Ground breaking makeup work by John Chambers and a pun-filled, satiric script by Rod Serling. This movie caught the public’s imagination and four sequels, each weaker than the last, were spawned as a result. Very striking beginning to this film as Heston is the last astronaut to enter hyper sleep and the space ship passes through star fields and time before entering the Planet’s atmosphere. The scenes with the three astronauts traversing an arid landscape in search of water and any signs of life are marked by visuals of spectacular vistas of vast emptiness. Very haunting. My favorite film of the “Apes” series.
I always liked this song by Black Sabbath but being performed here by the essentially the same band with a new moniker, “Heaven and Hell” to avoid infringement with Ozzy over the BS name. Tony Iommi’s finger picked guitar alternates with a sledge hammer guitar riff. Very sinewy, melodic bass work by Geezer Butler, too. And, of course, Iron Lungs Ronnie James Dio, in a performance shortly before his death. Epic.
A varied collection of unusual movie and music video clips.
