Meanwhile, Over At Dread Media....#696

In this episode, Des sits down with Sezin Koehler and Paula Ashe for a Spoiler-Filled, In-Depth Discussion of the landmark French horror film, 2008‘s Martyrs.

The trailer is below, as well as the trailer for the...unfortunate American remake, an exploration of the French Extremity movement, an interview with Martyrs director Pascal Laugier at Frightfest 2012, and some French metal from Eths and Mass Hysteria!

Listen to Dread Media #696 here

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 46A. Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966)

Now to go back to some unfinished business....namely, the second Doctor feature film starring Peter Cushing as the Doctor.

Police constable Thomas (Bernard Cribbens, a comedian perhaps better known to NuWho fans as Donna’s Uncle Wilf) fails to stop a jewel heist and heads for the nearest police box to call things in...except the police box he runs into is the Tardis.  This Doctor is still hanging with his much younger version of Susan (Roberta Tovey) and his...niece?..Louise (Jill Curzon) and they’re mid trip to...well, 2150 ‘London’ while it’s under Dalek occupation.  The rest of the film follows the original serial from here on in more of less.  Obviously, there’s no romance subplot with Susan and David (Ray Brooks)--although I’m rather surprised they didn’t try to pair David up with Louise who, let’s be honest, does nothing during this eighty-eight minutes.  Sadly, there’s no Syltheen Monsta but there is a underground resistance led by Dortmann (Godfrey Quigley), who sacrifices himself, and there’s a slimy profiteer, here played by Philip Madoc, who will become a frequent guest star on the classic Who series.

The biggest thing that sets this apart from the original serial besides the technicolor is that Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD does no location shooting.  Everything is set bound with mattes, and it really shows in its generic feel.  One of the reasons ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ worked so well was the immediacy of it, as recognizable places in London were shown under Dalek rule; this movie loses that immediacy.  Viewing it feels more like watching a stage show rather than a film.

I will say this much, though--even though at this point he was known as a comedian, Bernard Cribbens actually comes off real well as our Ian stand-in.  One scene involving Tom disguised as a Roboman aside, Cribbens plays this straight and comes off very practical and no-nosense, accepting all the strangeness around him and focusing on his police training to keep from freaking out.  If they had made Tom a regular companion in the series, I not only would have accepted it, I would have enjoyed seeing him interact with Hartnell*.

The budget does allow for some upgrading--I remember little Tom being real freaked by this version of the Robomen when I first saw this film on WNBC, and they are kind of neat in a low budget sort of way--but by suiting them up in black vinyl and ginchy double-goggles, they lose something.  The Roboman of the serial, because they looked hastily put together, emphasized the beaten down aspect of this world whereas this Robomen seem more like actual aliens rather than
brainwashed (literally in the story’s case, figuratively in the case of the Stormtroopers who the Robomen were stand-ins for) human beings.

Overall, I found this viewing of the film sort of underwhelming.  The Doctor is backgrounded a bit more than I’d like (something I think is made obvious by the movie’s marketing in ‘66), and I never get the sense of the Cushing Doctor being as smart and clever as the Hartnell Doctor.  It’s just ‘blah,’ and it doesn’t surprise me that the planned third film, based on the serial ‘The Chase,’ was scrapped.

As a whole, these two films remain as curios, and that’s probably how we should approach them.

 *--instead we got the Amazing Plank of Wood named Steven, played by Peter Purves, but we'll get to that soon enough...

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 57. Inferno (The Romans, Episode Four)

Color me impressed.  Spooner pulled it off, and did it in a way that was so much smoother than I ever imagined.

As this is a wrap up episode, a lot happens in an effort to draw our three threads together.  Ian’s friend rebels against Nero’s order, resulting in a lil’ chaos in the palace, Nero deciding to burn down Rome (at the Doctor’s....advice?) and our heros fleeing the city before everything goes south and reuniting in time to set us up for our next serial.  There’s some laughs before Ian discovers that the Doctor is struggling to free the Tardis from a mysterious force that’s dragging them down to a planet.

While we’ve been playing games for an episode and change, it gets real serious, real quick.  And it gave me a massive respect for Derek Francis as an actor--when he casually kills a centurion for not fighting Ian and his pal hard enough, he’s not changing his tone from the comedic stuff he’s done so far...but there is a subtle shift that makes his antics suddenly horrifying.  And while some stuff could be construed as comedic (the way the Doctor’s glasses accidentally set fire to a map of Rome while he’s taunting Nero), but there’s a edge of menace to them, especially as we see the insanity ignite behind the emperor’s eyes.  I was impressed by how Spooner pulled everything together and still had time for some mild Ian/Barbara horseplay.

It does help loads that Michael Peake’s Tavius not only becomes an integral part of this episode, but is given a reveal that explains his motivations very eloquently.  I really liked this character loads.

I am beginning to fear that my fondness for Vicki might turn into a crush if I’m not careful.  Her attitude of wonder and excitement at traveling through time and space is something we saw in fits and starts in Susan, and her chemistry with Hartnell is just magnificent.  This is what I expect in a companion--someone who engages with the Doctor, shows glee in what she’s able to do, and being able to stand up to him.  When Vicki pointed out the Doctor may have violated one of his own rules about interfering with history, I smiled wickedly.  She. Is. Great.

So even though episode three and parts of episode two will still cause me to wince, I am pleased to report that ‘The Romans’ worked as a whole.  It bodes well for the next serial, doesn’t it?

What?

‘The Web Planet’?

That’s next?

...grumblemutter...

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 56. Conspiracy (The Romans, Episode Three)

Well, I guess we know where Spooner’s head is at....

Even though there are little crumbs of the things I usually like about the pure historicals, it’s become clear that this story is all about the Komedy...to the point where the cliffhanger has nowhere near the impact it’s intended to, even though Ian’s about to get his head chopped off.

Now that Derek Francis’ Nero has been established, the serial is all about him.  We are forced to sit through scenes of him pursuing Barbara in chases that must have inspired Scooby-Doo, sparring with his jealous wife and being tricked by the Doctor’s riff on ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes.’  And when we get something interesting, like Vicki befriending the Court Poisoner, it’s made subservient to the wackiness.  The threads spun out in the first half are given lip service, but only in the barest sense.  And given this is part three of four and we all know where Nero ends up, I fear that it will never get back on track.

There is a very strange schizoid feel to this serial, as it began very seriously with slavers and the promise of court intrigue (the Doctor still hasn’t figured out the harpist he’s impersonating is secretly a master assassain) and has degenerated into bedroom farce.  I found myself having to recallibrate every time Spooner returned to Ian’s plotline to the point where the cliffhanger doesn’t register with anywhere near the impact it was expected to be.

This serial started out with a lot of promise, and it keeps sinking further and further into not-very-amusing comedy.  I continue to hold out hope...very, very little hope

Meanwhile, Over At Dread Media....#695

It’s time for Our Annual Calvacade of Christmas Chills!  First Des and Duane go looking for Parking and find a soaked Rachel Nichols in peril on P2.  Then Rich the Monster Movie Kid dials 3615 Code Pere Noel.  Finally, I get hopped up on egg nog and takes a look at a...different kind of dangerous Santa in Fatman.

The trailers are below, as are some actual Santa Claus sightings, and some music courtesy of Frog Leap Studio (I’m about to make us all loser on the Wham! challenge), Small Town Titans and Dropkick Murphys.

Listen to Dread Media #695 here

Meanwhile, Over At Dread Media....#694

This week it’s about sinister sci-fi--one that may be too artistic to be properly comprehended, and one that might be too stupid.  First up, Des and I try to figure out the Shudder original mini-movie Blood Machines.  Then I try to figure out the Oklahoma made...epic? Army of Frankensteins...but for different reasons.

The trailers are below, as are a discussion of ‘Soul Machines,’ biologically inspired AIs, a little drunk history on what to call the monster of Frankenstein, an early collaboration between Blood Machine’s director Seth Ickerman and soundtrack artist Carpenter Brut and music from Stitched Up Heart!

See you next week for our triple threat Christmas Spectacular!

Listen to Dread Media #694 here

Meanwhile, Over At Dread Media....#693

This week Des and Duane genuflect before Michele Soavi’s The Church.  Then Des gives us a Top Five Italian Horror Films not made by Bava, Fulci or Argento!

The trailer is below, as is a short history of Italian horror, a tutorial on how to make effective horror movies, the top five most cursed Religious and Horror Movie Sets of all time, and music from Dead XIII and The Church of The Cosmic Skull


Listen to Dread Media #693 here

Phase Sixteen of...THE HONEYWELL EXPERIMENT!

This month we make a joyful return to Planet Fred Williamson, in this case a landmark spaghetti western/blaxploitation film where he wrecks Whitey’s stuff up while D'Urville Martin takes advantage of the new criminal code in this landmark film called....

Yeah, that title.  My lab monkey and I do have a discussion about how to approach the title this film was graced with everywhere but in the deep South, where it was simply called The Boss.  All I can say is, that particular word was used in more than one movie titles in the 70‘s, and it’s very liberally used in this story.  The 70‘s was a powerful drug.

Belly up to the bar here

If you want to support this podcast and other podcasts like it, please consider becoming a Domicile of Dread Patreon and receive lots of free goodies throughout the year including exclusive essays, movie commentaries and podcasts.  If you'd rather not make a monthly commitment, please consider making a one shot donation through Ko-Fi.