Meanwhile, Over At Dread Media....#679

Darryl’s back this episode!  Join him and Des as they look at 2014‘s A Record of Sweet Murder.  Then Rich The Monster Movie Kid wades into the swamp to give us his thoughts about Adam Green’s fourth entry in the Hatchet series, Victor Crawley!

The trailers are below, as is a how-to guide on killing Victor Crawley, the top ten most shocking found footage moments, and music from Archive and Murder of My Sweet!

Listen to Dread Media #679 here

You Know What’s Coming Up....HALLOWEEN HORRORFEST 2020

Banner designed by Chris Honeywell

It’s almost September, which means it’s time for me to pull myself up by my bootstraps, gird my loins and settle my stomach for the third annual Halloween Horrorfest 2020!

Once again, I will be watching 31 horror films and writing about them throughout the whole month of October (okay, last year we didn’t finish up until November 2nd, but you get the idea), one film for each day!  And as with last year, we’ll have celebrity guests picking some of the films, and on those other days, you can choose what I watch!

There are a couple of ways you can program a day in the Halloween Horrorfest this year:

1) You can become a Domicile of Dread Patreon at any level.  Patreons always get a free slot, as well as advance access to podcasts and other goodies!

2) You can buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi.  Suggested donation is $3

3) You can make a donation to Black Lives Matter.  Suggested donation is $10.  Please forward your receipt to me as proof.

4) You can choose to make a donation to the charity chosen by a sponsor on his/her/their day. Like with the third possibility, please forward me proof of donation.

There are 26 slots presently open at this point, although that number will be reduced as some of my lovely sponsors submit their choices.  And if, by some strange reason, I end up with more than 31 films for my Gauntlet of Ghoulishness, I will be going into overtime!  No film will be spared.

For your edification, the (lengthy ) list of movies already covered is below.

So join me in one month and see if I survive for a third year!  See you then!

Covered During Prior Horrorfests: 
A Bay of Blood
Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood
Await Further Instructions
Cat People
The Mist
Zombie Hunter
Venom (2005)
Mayhem
The Whip And The Body
Hello, Mary Lou: Prom Night II
Blue Sunshine
American Psycho
American Mary
Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf
The Mummy (2017)
Blood on Satan’s Claw
Witchboard
Tourist Trap
Johnny Gruesome
Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman
See No Evil 2
Sleepy Hollow
It Follows
Rabid
Q The Winged Serpent
Frightmare (1983)
The Car
The Lords of Salem
Marebito
Rockula
The Haunting (1963)
Dark Age
The Blood Drinkers
At Midnight, I’ll Take Your Soul
Onibaba
Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter
Misery
Horror Express
The Night Stalker
The Exorcist
Bliss
Voodoo Man
The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations
28 Days Later
The Intruder Within
Creepshow
Tragedy Girls
Theater of Blood
All About Evil
Pontypool
Ticks
The Beast With Five Fingers
The Prowler
In The Mouth of Madness
The Exorcist III: Legion
Cat People (1982)
City of the Dead
The Devil’s Rock
Freddy’s Dead: The Last Nightmare

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 36. A Desperate Venture (The Sensorites, Episode Six)

I am of two minds about this wrap-up to ‘The Sensorites'--and the serial as a whole.

The Doctor and Ian are still in the aqueducts and figure out that the City Administrator has tampered with their weapons and map.  They discover that a number of humans who were part of the first expedition to the Sense Sphere are conducting a guerilla campaign to, ummm, vanquish the Sensorites.  They waver between thinking the Doctor and Ian are here because the war is over (something the Doctor encourages) and thinking they’re spies.  Barbara uses Susan’s telepathy to guide her to where the others are, and together they trick these miscreants to come out into the sun.  Susan and Barbara also figure out the City Administrator’s perfidy, which results in him being banished from the Sensorite City offscreen.

I was really let down by the discovery of the first expedition down in the aqueducts.  Yes, that first expedition is mentioned in Episode Two, but only in passing.  It sort of takes the onus off of the Sensorites for all the terrible stuff.  It becomes not a situation of negligence (as I originally assumed) or local terrorism (as I assumed after the City Administrator was introduced); it was some outside element that was briefly hinted at but not set up.  This resolution left a bad taste in my mouth, because it sort of passes off any responsibility on our alien race’s part, and the whole deal with the City Administrator seems...pointless.

Speaking of pointless, so was the concept brought up early in the serial that the Sensorites had a strict caste system.  I felt, given how Newman drops this fact very early that there was going to be some significance to this fact....and, other than that silly thing about recognizing each other by their caste markings, it’s never brought up again.

And it’s a pity, because Peter Newman continues with some solid character work.  This last few episodes features the most Susan has done since the beginning, and this willful, focused and proactive interpretation is how Susan should have been portrayed.  Being without Barbara for two episodes (and, arguably, Ian for one, since he spends Episode Four doing his own version of a Doc-Nap) hurt it a little as well.  I’ve come to really admire Barbara for acting as a sensible balance for the other adult males, and her presence is sorely missed.  Newman’s interpretation of the Doctor is really good, as it keeps elements from both the recent and past version of Hartnell.

There’ just something missing here.  I just wish I was more enthusiastic about it.  While I do prefer ‘The Aztecs’ and ‘The Edge of Destruction’ to this, it’s still good...just not great.

And this is the end of the first season episodes available, as ‘The Reign of Terror’ was lost and only recreated as an animation, and Britbox apparently doesn’t acknowledge these animated recreations that the BBC commissioned in the last decade or so.  But before we move on to the second season and a miniaturized TARDIS crew, I’ve got another Big Finish Production (or two!) to share with you....

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 35. Kidnap (The Sensorites, Episode Five)

There is an actual kidnapping in this episode, but it takes place in literally the final scene, and it’s Carol being kidnapped.

Carol...remember Carol?  Girlfriend of John, who was so traumatized by contact with the Sensorites that he needed special help to be brought back to normal--said help apparently meaning having him sit around for all of last episode with a silly lightbulb-festooned hat on his head?  Her.

See, Ian (properly recovered thanks to the antidote, although still weak) and Susan retrieve the Doctor from the aqueduct.  His coat is torn up, but he’s unharmed.  The City Administrator kills the Second Elder and frames the Doctor for his murder....a frame that is broken up in seconds because the Doctor is now wearing a suave cloak that the First Elder gifted him with.  With our crew’s approval, the City Administrator is named Second Elder, just as John remembers that he is EEEEvil and Stuff.  The Doctor suspects there’s a reason why the nightshade has popped up in a section of the aqueduct that’s dark and noisy and goes with Ian to solve the Sensorites’ dilemmia, but the City Administrator has sabotaged the weapons given to them and altered the map drawn for them....and then, you know, kidnapping.

I know that one of the hazards of evaluating these serials is getting mad it isn’t what I expected it to be as opposed to what it is.  But I think the first two episodes established a very clear mission statement that has been defused by The Adventures of The City Administrator.  While some elements of that original intent continue to shine through--especially the way he develops the non-EEEEvil Sensorites as they continue to interact with the Doctor, making it clear this is a genuinely compassionate race--I keep seeing it all shoved aside for the capering of these goofs.  And some aspects, like the caste system, have been dropped entirely.  I just feel there’s a lot of missed opportunities here, and that what we’ve gotten for the last three episodes isn’t what we’re promised in the first two.

Now they’re passed all the crazy psychic stuff, I am surprised that Stephen Darnell’s John and Ilona Rodger’s Carol are a lot better.  And here it is, the penultimate episode, and Susan continues to have initiative and purpose; pity we couldn’t have had more of that.  And once again, we get a Doctor and his crew who kind of mess up due to their own self-interests...and I like that.

I’m really not sure what I feel going into the finale.  There’s still time for it to wrap up in a satisfactory way, but I have a feeling that I will walk away from this serial with a low opinion.

Meanwhile, Over At Dread Media....#678

This week, Des and Duane focus on French filmmaker Xavier Gens by reviewing two of his films: Cold Skin and Crucifixion!

The trailers are below, as is a Q&A about Cold Skin with Gens, the history of crucifixion, and music from Ronan Keating featuring Paulina Rubio (in a video which Gens directed) and Veil of Light.

Listen to Dread Media #678 here

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 34. A Race Against Death (The Sensorites, Episode Four)

...and it was going so well.

I have been keen on how Peter Newman’s script has been portraying the Sensorites as fairly decent and open to collaborating with the Doctor and crew on their problem.  Then last episode I bemoaned the fact that Newman gave us a Sensorite in the City Administrator who isn’t just evil but EEEEEEvil.

Well in this episode, we don’t get just the City Administrator but his two lackeys who are also EEEEEEvil, and this trio takes over the bulk of this half hour.  They try to prevent the antidote from getting to Ian, kidnap the Second Elder so the Administrator can take his place, scheme to get the key to the Disintegrator back and overall stink up the joint.  While they’re all capering about being Evil and Stuff, the Doctor does figure out the cure for the disease--except it’s something poisoning a section of the aqueduct that’s supplying water to part of the city.  The Doctor goes to investigate, even though he’s warned against it by one of the Sensorite scientists because it’s dark and noisy.  There he discovers that there is evidence of Deadly Nightshade growing around the Aqueduct--just before something offscreen roars.

It’s hard for me to concentrate on the many good things Peter Newman does in this serial when he lets me down with the cliched antics of the City Administrator.  Having such obvious villains suddenly taking center stage is putting a sour taste in my mouth.  It also doesn’t help that this new emphasis seems to have made the caste situation disappear completely, as it’s not been referenced once.  So far, nothing has contradicted what I suspect is going on, but giving us such obvious villains gives me a sinking feeling.

I also have another nagging feeling about the Sensorites....namely, that it seems this is a society where recognition is based solely on the decorations you wear.  We see that there are subtle differences in individual Sensorites; certainly The City Administrator’s seeming tonsure of hair could distinguish him from the Second Elder to his people.  It betrays a laziness in the script I haven’t seen before, a laziness I do not like.

With Ian on the sidelines for much of the half hour (and Barbara noticably absent), it’s mainly the Doctor’s show...with some grace notes from Susan.  I like how Newman seems to have found a way to put elements of Hartnell’s original interpretation of the Doctor into the present version--the aggravation he expresses at not being allowed access to the Tardis would not seem out of place in the earliest serials.  We’re reminded that Susan is supposed to be psychic now as she listens in on a telepathic conversation...and she doesn’t cry or whine once, so Good Job.  The best character moment for me is the last scene, where we get a Doctor who is so overwhelmed by curiosity that he forges into danger, discovers what’s wrong, congratulates himself and is reminded how dangerous the danger is....Hartnell seems to relish these moments of discovery and extrapolation, and I get the impression this is what he lives for.

My enthusiasm for this serial is waning, and I have a sinking feeling it’s going to disappear before we’re done, considering the next episode is titled, rather bluntly, ‘Kidnap’

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 33. Hidden Danger (The Sensorites, Episode Three)

Alright, here’s what we got....The Doctor is not so keen on Susan going alone, and uses his postulation that the Sensorites would be blind in the dark (for reasons that I don’t think are entirely scientifically accurate) to both get her back and show that they are not hostile.  After some negotiations, The Doctor, Ian, Susan, John and Amy Schu--I mean Carol are brought to the Sense Sphere for a conference with the First Elder, An attempted assassination of the crew is foiled by The Second Elder before any suspense is generated, and we learn the backstory of our aliens dujour.  It seems that the previous human expedition had an accident as they left the planet, causing the spaceship to explode.  Ever since, Sensorites have been dying except for the Elder Caste from some sort of disease and they’re desperate for a cure.  The Doctor offers to find a cure in exchange for the lock of the Tardis and The First Elder accepts...just before Ian falls prey to that very same illness.

Remember when I mentioned how I suspected Carol Ann Ford was expressing displeasure with her role as whiner-and-cryer, leading to her being proclaimed psychic in this serial?  We see more of that effort to give her more dimension in her interactions with The Doctor, asserting that she is an adult capable of making her own decisions and not needing to be saved.  I could say that this is Newman planting the seeds for Ford’s departure next season, but I don’t think the production was thinking that far ahead.  Still, it’s nice to see Susan actually doing something as opposed to crying for her grandfather.  It’s also nice that Hartnell manages to work some of the intensity from the earlier serials into this softer version of him he’s been doing here in his protectiveness of Susan and his outrage at the Sensorites’ initial actions.

I still really like how Newman is approaching the Sensorites not being ‘eeeeeeevil’....except when we meet the one who is.  The one actor who portrays the City Administrator, who plots the assassination of our crew--even to the point of debating where to place the shots of the disintegrator with his lackey--made my eyes roll.  After two episodes hinting at this being a story without a real villain, we get this goof.   There’s also the introduction of a caste system that is obviously a part of the whole reason for this story once you realize the arc of the disease plot, yet is kind of waved away in two lines of dialogue.  These aspects don’t break the serial for me (so far), but they certain do draw attention away from the positive elements of this story.

I am worried we’re getting the same sort of ‘narrative drift’ I detected in ‘The Daleks'--I can easily see the bulk of this and the last episode being condensed into a single half-hour--and the actors playing the spaceship crew are still not doing themselves any favors (they have a scene all to themselves this episode and it’s death, and it’s encouraging that John and Carol seem to be written out once everyone arrives to Sense Sphere), but I am trying to keep my mind open as this serial unfolds.  Russell T. Davies must have seen something in this serial to inspire him to create what amounts to a key element in his run; I am hoping that is revealed before everything shakes out.  There is charm here, but fans do not live on charm alone.

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 32. The Unwilling Warriors (The Sensorites, Episode Two)

This serial is six parts....and like the other serial that we’ve seen that’s more than four parts, there’s a stop-and-start feel to this one so far.  The bulk of this episode is literally people opening and closing doors and being spooked by the creatures on the other side and vice versa.

And it’s that vice versa aspect that makes this half hour mildly interesting.  Writer Peter Newman and Director Mervyn Pinfield make it very clear that the Sensorites are pretty freaked out by humanity...which makes their boasting and ultimatums feel like something other than ‘we’re Eeeeeeevil, Ertsmans!  Fear us!’  It makes these proclamations nervous and anxious, like they’re not even sure if they believe their boasts.  And the fact that their idea of a solution to the problem posed by their holding the spaceship hostage is not to destroy everything but set up a home on the Sense Sphere for them and take care of them makes those boasts seem even more hollow.

Now that we see them for a length of time, the Sensorites are better than the Voord but a little lacking when put up against the Daleks.  Sure, the onsies with the circular booties that look somewhat-but-not-quite like a psuedopod are...odd, and the stethoscope they seem to use to communicate with others (the item that inspired the Ood holding their communication device--and later, their brains--in their hand connected to an umbilical cord) is strange.  It does seem that the design was inspired by the classic ‘Grey Alien’ conception with their elongated heads and all-black eyes...but they’ve also got these weird ruffs of hair that obscures their jaws which gives the Sensorite a distinctive look.

Surprisingly--maybe because, I speculate, that Carol Ann Ford is beginning to sour on being the designated whiner of the crew--Susan takes center stage.  She figures out how to hold off the Sensorites because...she turns out to be psychic.  This creates a relationship between the two aliens and Susan, which prompts them to try and communicate with the crew.  This leads to Susan agreeing to go to the Sense Sphere, and she warns them not to follow.  These actions really makes her stand out for a change.

We also learn more about why the Sensorites are a bit suspicious of humans.  It turns out that the Sense Sphere is rich in Molybdenum,  which our friend John got so excited at finding out that the aliens zapped them to keep them from telling Earth....and the Sensorites also alude to a previous Earth expedition that triggered a disease that’s killing the whole race.  So one of the nicer things about Newman’s script continues, in that our aliens aren’t cardboard conquerors but intelligent people who might actually have some good reasons not to trust us.

(Oh, and nowhere are there ‘Unwilling Warriors’...unless the episode title refers to the Sensorites themselves or the controlled humans--who, given they’re controlled to sleep, aren’t much in the way of warriors...)

Once again, I can see how this half hour could’ve been condensed and rejiggered so that the serial could’ve been four episodes.  I like where Newman is going with his story.  I just wish it wasn’t so...leisurely.

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 31. Strangers In Space (The Sensorites, Episode One)

So we’re back in space--literally, as the crew ends up in a spaceship.  The two crew members appear dead (and one of them is played by Ilona Rodgers, who looks discomfortingly like Amy Schumer!), but are only in a suspended state.  Maitland (Lorne Cossette), who seems to be in charge, explains that they are trapped in this space sector by the Sensorites, denizens of the Sense Sphere*.  If they try to leave the sector, they are mentally and aurally assaulted--but they’re not harmed; in fact, the aliens provide them with food and supplies!  There’s also the matter of John (Stephen Dartnell), who somehow was affected by the Sensorites and has been locked away in a section of the ship--a section Barbara and Susan just happened to wander off in....

This is our first Mystery Ship episode, a kind of episode that shows up with some regularity, particularly during Tom Baker’s tenure (Hell, about half of his first season revolved around a Mystery Ship!).  It’s concerned primarily with the Doctor and his companions wandering around an abandoned or near-abandoned spaceship (or high-tech mining machine, or ocean liner, or zepplin....any sufficiently large traveling device will do) wondering what is going on until the monster of the serial pops up for the last shot.  Now, there’s a little more here in this particular half-hour, as our crew actually has people to talk to about the situation, but the framework is there.  It may not be exactly exciting, but it’s there.

The acting...well, the guest cast isn’t very good and that inhibits the episode.  I have the sneaky suspicion that Cossette in particular is ‘adjusting’ his acting to the kid’s show he’s on, which annoyed me something fierce.  There is a very interesting interaction where Barbara manages to calm down and communicate with John which makes me even more convinced that she’s the most interesting of the original companions...something I did not expect from this watch.  Susan doesn’t do her crying jags too much, and there’s some nice moments between Ian and the Doctor that continue to redefine that relationship--one where the Doctor proclaims he’s not interested in getting involved, becomes indignant at Ian’s reaction then proceeds to get involved is actually glorious.

Writer Peter Newman does set up the hook for this story fairly effectively, The reason I suspect I’m not as enthusiastic about this one as I feel I should be is partially because of the acting and partially because the Mystery Ship framework gets tweaked and improved upon throughout the years, and I’ve seen the later examples first (wait until we get to ‘The Ark In Space,’ my friends).  I also admit that when we get the final shot reveal it’s....a tiny bit underwhelming.  Still, as first episodes of a serial go, this is  pretty decent.  I don’t have the overwhelming enthusiasm to continue that I had with ‘The Aztecs,’ but I’m still intrigued.

*--they’re cousin to the Ood, as Russell T. Davies mentioned during the introduction of those guys, ‘The Impossible Planet’ to justify their similarity to our alien dujour...and then never mentioned again.

Meanwhile, Over At Dread Media....#677

This week, Des sits down for his regular visit with longtime friend of the show Greg Lamberson to talk about this year’s Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival.  Greg discusses the changes to the Festival in this Year of The Pandemic and some of the great films that will be shown!  You can learn more about the Festival here.

The trailers for some of the features being presented are below, as are a special advertisement from a special doctor and music from the Ventures and Buffalo Summer!

Listen to Dread Media #677 here

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 30. The Day of Darkness (The Aztecs, Episode Four)

John Lucarotti wraps everything up neatly here: Ian finds the passageway back to the tomb where the Tardis is, but is framed for attempted murder by Ixta and Tlotoxl, the Doctor carves out a pulley to open the entrance of said tomb, Cameca helps Ian and Susan escape, allowing everyone to leave as the eclipse happens, and Tloxotl....Tloxotl wins.

That’s something you don’t see in a lot of in later Who--the crew leaving a situation with their tails between their legs.  But as the Doctor points out, and Lucarotti makes the central theme of the story, history cannot be changed.  Sure, that rule goes out the window in later seasons, but right now (remember, half of the show’s original remit was to teach kids about history) it’s a good lesson.  And I like how the Doctor doesn’t rub Barbara’s nose in it, just acknowledges what she learned, points out the positive aspects of their experience and gets ready to move on.

In truth, Hartnell is really impressive here.  There are some moments where his facial expressions speak volumes.  There’s one moment when Cameca realizes there will be no wedding, and Hartnell’s face falters, his eyes briefly staring into space with what I can only interpret as regret, and it’s powerful. 

Oh, and Ian kicks all the ass, knocking out the guard holding him hostage when he hesitates to take Cameca’s bribe (quipping that someone had to speed up his decision) and then gets into a final battle with Ixta where he throws that Dude-Bro Asshole off a pyramid!  Even though Barbara is the spine of this serial, Ian owns this final half hour.

After the scattershot ‘Keys of Marinus,’ which admittedly was thrown together at the last minute according to what I’ve read, ‘The Aztecs’ was a joy.  It conveyed historical information well, it was character driven, it had surprising moments of humor in among the drama, and it didn’t have that stuttery start-and-stop momentum of the previous serials.  It really shows what the series can do with a pure historical, a style of the series that practically disappears after the Troughton era (save for the Davison serial ‘Black Orchid’ during the 80‘s) and one I really hope we can see again.  This may be my favorite serial in this rewatch so far!

If only they hadn't put those actors in brown face....

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 29. The Bride of Sacrifice (The Aztecs, Episode Three)

Oh, Susan, you almost had me back on board with you.

You see, Barbara continues to punk Tlotoxl, finding a way to get out of his traps using her wits....of course, she also out-and-out tells the priest of sacrifice she’s not divine, so she’s not batting .100.  Tired of getting his butt kicked, Tlotoxl manipulates it so that the Perfect Victim (Andre Boulay) tells Autloc he wants Susan for her bride.  Susan refuses, and is sentenced to be punished before said victim gets sacrificed during the coming eclipse.  And in response, Susan...hugs a pillar and literally cries for her grandfather.

sigh

Granted, Grandfather is doing okay--he’s discovered a secret entrance into the tomb, makes cocoa and finds himself engaged to Cameca.  However, when he sends Ian to find a way to the Tardis, Ixta--who proves to be more of a Dude-Bro than out-and-out evil--seals that entrance, allowing for the tunnel to start flooding.

Again, the thing that I marvel at is how John Lucarotti finds ways to make the action of his story motivated by character and logic.  And while some of the dialogue is a bit questionable from a modern standpoint, the argument between Ian and Barbara that I consider the centerpiece is amazing.  Ian argues that it’s not Autloc’s belief system that’s the norm but Tlotoxl’s, no matter how abhorrent we find it from the perspective of 1964, and we have to recognize that.  Sadly, he throws the word ‘evil’ and ‘horrid’ and similar prejoratives around when making that argument, which is discomforting.  I like the fact that Ixta, while still wishing Ian ill, is cool with Ian now that he’s proven he can beat him (Like I said, very Dude Bro).  I also enjoyed how Ixta points out it was Ian who advised he use subterfuge and guile in beating his enemies when Ian gets indignant about being tricked. 

This serial has been very much Barbara’s from the start, and Jacqueline Hill has been more than up to the task.  In this half-hour, we see Barbara realizing the others might be right but refusing to stray from the path she set herself upon to fix the Aztecs.  We see her, as an intellectual, using her intelligence to get out of the situations Tlotoxl throws her way....but arrogant in her belief that she can impose her morality on these people.  Hell, her arrogance leads to her telling Tlotoxl the truth and mocking him in her efforts to save Susan from having her tongue and ears pierced with thorns.  Even though her friends are telling her not to, she bulls her way through making things ‘right’ with a culture she thinks she understands, but maybe doesn’t.  Hill is amazing throughout all she goes through, and having her in the story’s center allows us to have little cool character moments on the side....

You know, like the Doctor’s engagement.  This remains by far my favorite bit of the serial.  I love how Hartnell is a little alarmed at this development....but he certainly doesn’t run away from the prospect.  He actually seems pretty cool with hanging out with Cameca, planning a garden and other things with her.

John Lucarotti knew how to structure a good, entertaining serial.  I cannot wait to see how this all shakes out in the next episode.

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 28. The Warriors of Death (The Aztecs, Episode Two)

After ‘The Keys of Marinus,’ with its episodic and sketchy nature, this serial is proving to be a breath of fresh air...even with the regrettable fact that this is a story being told by British people in brown face.

After receiving a bit of a tongue lashing from the Doctor (a tongue lashing he immediately regrets) that reinforces the ‘you can’t change time’ rule, Barbara dodges the suspicions of Tlotoxtl.  And Tlotoxl isn’t letting up; even as he is shut down in his interrogation, he manipulates things so that Ian has to fight Ixta, a fight that he tells Ixta is to the death even though Barbara forbids it.  Since Ixta is the son of the architect who designed the temple where the Tardis is kept, he is able to cut a deal with the Doctor so he can get an unfair edge against Ian.  And when Ixta does try to kill Ian, Tlotoxl doesn’t stop him--and challenges Barbara to save her servant.

The thing that makes this episode work is how so much of it is character motivated.  I am particularly pleased with how Lucarotti has managed to make the softer version of the Doctor work with the more unpredictable, selfish character we met in the first three serials.  While he is motivated to give Ixta the natural poison that will sap Ian’s strength purely for mercenary reasons,  we also see how delighted he is to discover the solution to the problem.  And while he tears into Barbara at the top of the show--and with cause, given that she will reveal information about the Aztec’s future to Autloc to push her own agenda--he immediately shows regret, making it seem that respect he has gained for her is still in place.  Ian uses fighting methods, like a knowledge of pressure points and judo, to fight Ixta.  And Susan, in her one scene, gets to be a willful teenager when confronted with the possibility of arranged marriage instead of crying and wailing.  In truth, the only character who seems to act kinda one dimensional is Tlotoxl; he just comes off as a scheming bad guy with nothing but malice in his heart.

Of course, for me, the highlight in this half hour is the Doctor’s continued flirtation with Cameca.  I know I am very down of the NuWho emphasis on romance, especially during the Russell T. Davies era...but this charms me.  Partially it’s because we don’t know the Doctor is a space alien yet (which opens up an icky can of worms), partially it’s because Cameca is an older woman who seems age appropriate for Hartnell, and partially it’s because the two of them are so great together that I see a new side of this version of the Doctor I never thought I’d see...and that I really, really like.  There’s also the recurring motif of bystanders staring at the two of them, only to be driven away by Hartnell’s withering glare....comedy. Gold.

This is shaping up to be a great serial which does what the show set out to do.  I am enjoying my time with it.

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 27. The Temple of Evil (The Aztecs, Episode One)

There are two things that make me especially happy in this episode, and I can’t decide which I like best--Ian dressed as a big ol’ bird, or the Doctor having a crush.

The crew materialize inside the tomb of an Aztec priest.  Barbara, who it turns out specialized in MesoAmerican History, casually puts on a bracelet and is mistaken for the reincarnation of the priest Yetaxa.  Realizing her power, she decides she’s going to fix Aztec culture by, among other things, abolishing the practice of human sacrifice--which doesn’t really sit well with Tlotoxtl, the priest in charge of human sacrifice (John Ringham).  As the rest of the crew are mistaken for Barbara’s servants, Ian is assigned to lead the army, putting him in the path of the present leader, Ixta (Ian Cullen), and the Doctor is sent to spend time with the elders, who form a sort of advisory counsel--especially Cameca (Margot Van der Burgh).  When it is perceived that Susan interrupts a sacrifice, Tlotoxtl becomes convinced of what he’s suspecting--that Barbara is not their reincarnated priest, and the whole crew are frauds.

Let’s get the jaguar in the middle of the room out of the way first: all of the Aztec character are played by British actors in make-up.  Here is where I remind you that 1964 was not the same as 2020 and sensitivity towards other cultures was not as much a concern as it is today.  But in some cases, like with Ringham*, it’s hard to ignore and it can be a little unsettling.  There’s also a couple of moments with Susan that are a little winge-worthy (Stop modeling that helmet, girl!)

...which is a pity because, Barbara apparently not being okay with human sacrifice but not above a little grave robbing because she finds something pretty (I try not to think about whether she took this bracelet off of the corpse’s person) notwithstanding, this is a fairly decent episode with a lot more nuance than you’d expect thanks to writer John Lucarotti.  Apparently, Lucarotti researched Aztec culture, and I like how he never lose sight of the richness of the period.  He seems to approach this as a complex, vital society all their own regardless of what we’ve come to believe in regards to modern morality. 

Lucarotti uses the contrast between a 15th century Aztec city and then-modern society to introduce the thesis of the serial--namely that, as the Doctor himself tells Barbara, “You can’t rewrite history--not one line!"**  That he does so pretty organically is pretty impressive, and the conflict seems to arise naturally out of the characters.  And that naturalness does extend to most of the Aztec personages if, you know, they weren’t British and all.  I like both Cameca and Autloc (Keith Pyott), the priest of knowledge...who you suspect has figured out the pointlessness of human sacrifice but continues to go along with it.

Everyone, even Susan seems to have a character moment, but I am so charmed by The Doctor becoming smitten with Cameca, and it’s one of my favorite moments of the first season so far given how unexpected Hartnell’s reaction to her is.  I also like the way the Doctor and Ian’s relationship continues to evolve, with Hartnell being allowed to show some dark humor in his responses to Russell’s comment and questions.

Regrettable choices aside, this is a pretty great episode and a good template for what the ‘pure historical’ serials should be.  I’m looking forward to seeing this play out.

*--I know you expect me to comment on Ringham’s vaguely Joker-esque make-up job, but I’m more concerned with the way the wig he’s wearing looks vaguely Mod-ish.
**--I know, I know.  That rule gets bent, twisted, flaunted and out and out broken in later seasons leading up to and including NuWho.  At this point, just go with it.

Meanwhile, Over At Dread Media....#676

This week we honor the passing of one of the great genre icons by celebrating the career of John Saxon!  First up, Des and Chris takes a look at David Cronenberg’s....racing film? Fast Company.  Then I check in on the cheesy 1982 sword-and-sorcery (kinda) ‘epic’ Prisoners of The Lost Universe!

The trailers are below, as are a countdown of the thirty highest rated Saxon films, an excerpt from a 2014 interview where he talks about Marlon Brando and Bruce Lee, and versions of Lalo Schifrin’s Enter The Dragon theme by guitarist Chris Barker and The Korean Pops Orchestra!

Listen to Dread Media #676 here

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 26. The Keys of Marinus (The Keys of Marinus, Episode Six)

And in this episode, Terry Nation realizes he has to wrap up his cascade of ideas.  After having rambled through five episodes with ideas instead of stories, we get a lot of story to wrap up.

In reaction to last episode’s cliffhanging kidnapping of Susan, Barbara leads Sabetha and Altus into a search and rescue.  The crew--along with Tarron, who is beginning to believe that Ian’s been set up--lay a trap to locate the remaining conspirator and the micro-key, free Ian and head back to Arbitan’s.

Now we know Arbitan’s been killed, and the leader of the Voord is wearing his robes with the hood pulled up to conceal that Tokasatu helmet thing, and he tricks Ian into giving him the final micro-key...but Ian has pulled a switch (remember that fake key from part three?), causing the MacGuffin Mind Control Machine to blow up.  The crew all escape before the pyramid is atomized, and the Doctor and company leave Marinus in the hands of Sabetha to rebuild.

This was a disappointing end, and a disappointing serial overall.  The Voord are just people in funny suits, given no personality whatsoever.  There are two big reveals in this episode, both of which are telegraphed.  And there is an anti-climatic feel once everyone returns to Arbitan’s pyramid.

I say that to say this.  I just watched this serial over the course of a week and change at the age of 56.  This was designed to be watched primarily by children over the span of six weeks.  What I see in this does not necessarily make it a failure.  I will say it’s a big drop from ‘The Daleks,’ and that it is a little too scattershot to be successful as a coherent whole--once again, I wonder if this story could have been condensed/restructured so that it flowed a bit better.  But I also see something which implies that the Doctor was planning on destroying that MacGuffin all along, giving the end and the bit of trickery a somewhat Cartmell-ian feel to it.

And there are still enough nice bits--in this wrap up, I liked the way the relationship between the Doctor and Ian seems to have been restructured to the point where they genuinely like and trust each other while still getting on each other nerves, and the way the Doctor trusts Barbara enough that he doesn’t scold her for holding back information about Susan from him.  I will say this is the serial where I’m beginning to wonder if Ian and Barbara are busy knocking boots in between episodes, but that may just be my twisted mind (wait until we get to Tegan and Nyssa’s shared bedroom....with only one bed....).

So this serial didn’t work for me....but it must have worked for British families in 1964, because I’m still talking about it, and the series as a whole, today.

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 25. Sentence of Death (The Keys of Marinus, Episode Five)

There’s an interesting idea here--an idea that I feel actually earns the need for more than one episode.  It’s sloppily, at spots out and out ineptly explored...but it’s interesting.

Ian, as we learned in last episode’s cliffhanger, found the last micro-key just in time to be coshed into unconsciousness and framed for the murder of the micro-key’s guard (who just happened to be one of the agents Arbitan sent out to find said keys).  Since the city in this sector assumes the guilt of accused, the burden is on Ian to prove he didn’t do it.  He is allowed to enlist an advocate on his behalf, and he chooses the Doctor.  The Doctor sends Sabetha and Altos to hit the law books and Barbara and Susan to do some detective work.  Nation realizes he should get Susan to do something useful, and has her trick baddie Tarron (Henley Thomas) into implicating himself, which leads to a Perry Mason stunt to out him.  However, since the crew has nothing to prove that Ian wasn’t in cahoots with Tarron, he is sentenced to die....

I really think the idea of a society of law based on guilt until proven innocent (something I think several countries around today still follow) is interesting, even if I don’t agree with Ian hissing about how barbaric it is.  The only nasty people involved in this trial are the ones who are in on this conspiracy to steal the micro-key; if it wasn’t for their rather silly hats that make them look like they’re wearing turkey frills on their heads, I would have no problem taking the adjudicators seriously.  Their conclusion--that the Doctor proved Ian didn’t kill the guard, but did not prove he wasn’t complicit with Tarron in the crime--is actually reasonable.  It’s this angle that appeals to me.

Of course, this being a Terry Nation script, there are things that annoy me.  The mystery of the actual killer is obvious on a Scooby-Doo level, and not helped at all by Thomas’ pantomime performance.  The sketchy nature of their forensics seems a bit handwavy.  And Altus and Sabetha are reduced to a single scene of them going through books together, which makes me wonder why Nation created these characters in the first place.  But the pluses outweigh the negative this time out, and the serial as a whole seems to be gaining momentum again after a couple of rambly, ill-conceived segments.  It’ll be interesting to see if this serial, which has been mixed so far, sticks the landing.

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 24. The Snows of Terror (The Keys of Marinus, Episode Four)

They say a hero is defined by his villain.  I say this because this episode--the halfway point of this serial--is made by the villain of the piece.

His name is Vasor, played by Francis De Wolff, and he is glorious in his self-centered misanthropy.  Before the half hour is up, we will have seen him commit attempted murder, lie outright solely for profit....and attempt to rape Barbara.  His delightfully evil antics--wrecking a rope bridge so the group can’t return; hiding a bag of raw meat in the furs he sells to Ian so the Stock Footage Wolves will come after and eat him; tying up Altos so he will die of exposure to the extreme cold of this place--are the lifeblood of this story because when you strip his influence away, there’s not much here.

Vasor comes into Ian and Barbara’s lives when he takes them into his hut.  When asked, he tells Ian of a stranger who broke into his abode demanding he help him look for his friends.  Ian goes off in search of this stranger--as well as Susan and Sabetha--and has to exchange his travel dial for furs to protect him from the cold.  It is outside that Ian finds the tied-up Altos and the bag of meat, and learns that the remaining members of their crew is in a cave in the mountains.  Ian forces Vasor to lead them to the cave and discovers a chamber where the third micro-key is secreted in a solid block of ice....protected by three figures wielding elaborate weaponry.

There is a puzzle aspect of this segment like the segment before it, but it’s rather simple.  And I found the figures, unlike those of the Voord, neither alien or scary, as for the second time in the row we’re presented with medieval knights in armor (albeit in this case, rather comically too-big armor ).  But I was so entertained at Vasor’s misbehavior that I was willing to forgive the flaws and lack of continuity (Behold the automatically reassembling rope bridge!).  And I was more than willing to forgive the nature of those guardians when they come for Vasor as the crew blinks out.

Even though Barbara does stand up to Vasor’s lusty attentions, at one point getting ready to bean him with a poker, Ian is the Action Star here.  Altos and Sabetha don’t do much and Susan...Susan gets to turn the knob on a steam pipe.  There’s still lots of Susan sobbing and fretting and crying that gets on my nerves, and I’m beginning to wonder what our temporary companions--the first of many throughout the series’ history--are actually contributing.  Surely someone other than Sabetha could have kept hold of those micro-keys?

I liked this segment better than the last, and all of that is due to Francis De Wolff.  He shows up in another role in a later Hartnell serial, ‘The Myth Makers,’ and I cannot see what he’ll be up to next.

Meanwhile, Over At Dread Media....#675

It’s time for another dive into obscure horror franchises with Des and Tom!  This time out, we looked at The Mangler Trilogy!

You remember The Mangler, don’t you?  That weird-ass Tobe Hooper adaptation of an early Stephen King story that arguably should not have been adapted?  Ted Levine as a Maine police detective with a Texas twang?  Well, there were two sequels, and we cover them...and discover that each film is a microcosm of the state of horror at the time they were made.  Plus Lance Henrickson not giving a fuck, Reggie Bannister being totally oblivious to the nastiest stairwell ever and, for fans of our review of Verotika a few weeks back, a really bad ‘French’ accent!

The trailers are below, as are a list of the best ‘worst’ Stephen King films, and music from Billy Idol (in a video directed by Hooper) and White Skull!

Listen to Dread Media #675 here

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 23. The Screaming Jungle (The Keys of Marinus, Episode Three)

With this episode, I am now officially annoyed with Susan.

She’s only in the first quarter-to-a-third of this half hour, and her time is spent screaming, crying and whining.  She contributes nothing to the flow of the story.  Carol Ann Ford is a lovely person, I’m sure, but if Susan is supposed to be our identification character, she is failing something fierce at her job.

That being said...

Ian and Barbara investigate the site of the second key, a building in the middle of a dense jungle.  The denizen within is a dying biologist whose experiments in....plant growth?...has caused the foiliage outside to literally come alive.  As the jungle breaks through the walls of his lab, the two must figure out the seemingly random series of letters and numbers and obtain the key before it overwhelms them.

According to my esteemed colleague Dave Probert of Jackdaw Meanderings, this and the next episode in the serial is the 60‘s equivalent of NuWho’s Second Unit Episodes--Hartnell was on vacation, so Altos and Sabetha serve as the companions for the original companions, who do the heavy lifting in Hartnell’s place.  Of course, imagine my consternation when these five characters proceed to...split up into smaller crews, thus making me ask why they couldn’t break up into three teams last episode.  It’s all Ian and Barbara--Ian, incidentally, still wearing that really suave Asian get-up--as they dodge various traps set by the biologist (who I don’t think ever introduces himself, but is called Darrius in the end credits) and puzzle out the problem as plants break through the walls.

This leg of the search...isn’t very good.  I was a little pissed, especially after her display of Action-tude last episode and her wish Ian wouldn't treat her as 'Dresden China', at how Barbara is a little too reliant on her screams once the couple take center stage.  Between this and ‘The Daleks,’ Terry Nation has not shown much use for female characters as a whole and, while I acknowledge that 1964 is a way different mindset than ours, it’s beginning to stick out strongly. And evidence that Nation was a little on the lazy side grows with the use of the travel dials to vroop our school teaching friends out before things get too dire.

There is a wonderfully low-tech bit of business near the top of the show, when Barbara triggers a secret entrance way by retrieving a false key from this funky-looking dog idol.  I did not realize the hands of the idol were the arms of an actor, stained to match the idol, until the trap was triggered.  It’s a nice solution to a problem that I found kind of charming, a way to make things happen within the constraints of a very small budget.  The phony vines being led by strings...well, not so much.

I am getting more and more convinced that ‘Keys to Marinus’ was a major inspiration for Graham William’s ‘Key To Time’ arc that encompassed the series’ sixteenth season.  The business with Barbara finding the false key could be seen as an inspiration for the opening of ‘The Androids of Tara,’ arguably the best serial Williams ever produced.

You would think that the literally episodic nature of this serial would better disguise the length of this serial...and yet I’m tiring of this a lot quicker than I did ‘The Daleks.’  I guess we’ll see if I continue to tire as I slog towards its conclusion.