How obscure is Terror Vision and Deadly Friend? I remember those growing up.
How obscure is Terror Vision and Deadly Friend? I remember those growing up.
THE HIDDEN (1987)
"Law abiding people suddenly become violent criminals. A cop and an FBI agent race for answers in this sci-fi thriller."
Because of the sheer hyper-violence perpetrated by the remorseless alien during it's rampages, it absolutely blends the sci-fi/horror beautifully. Think of it like a cross between The Thing/Lethal Weapon but at an insane furious pace & will keep you absolutely riveted. Great & satisfying ending as well.
9 out of 10 easily.
I remember THE HIDDEN, but I always forget the title. A lot of fun.
THE KEEP (1983)--might not be obscure, given it was directed by Michael Mann--but quite an oddball movie. And not exactly a horror movie to me, even though it has all the elements of a great horror movie. I had so much fun in the movie theatre watching that back in the day. To me it was more of an action adventure that just happened to be a horror film with Nazis. Something that Quentin Tarantino could have made.
I think it's become famous in certan circles for its fantastic score by Tangerine Dream. Beautiful Kraftwerk kind of stuff.
The movie is right on the line beween totally bad-ass awesome and absurdly stupid. So depending on the person, you could either be totally into it or not. But I was into it when I saw it and went along for the ride. The part that sticks in my memory is Scott Glenn riding on his motorcycle to arrive at the Keep--Billy Jack kind of awesome.
Looking at Wikipedia now--apparently Michael Mann filmed 210 minutes but was forced to cut it down to 96 minutes for theatrical release. As I saw it in the theatres, I guess I must have seen the shorter version--so I have no idea how much better or worse the longer cut might have been. Unfortunately the only official version available at the moment is on streaming, but because of rights issues doesn't have the original Tangerine Dream soundtrack. So I guess the theatrical movie experience I had back in the 1980s cannot be repeated.
Jim, I love that movie, too. It becomes less coherent in the last hour, but the music by Tangerine Dream is magnificent — it's never been "officially" released, but some of the source tracks are on their early '80s studio albums like Logos. From the Side A "suite" on that you get the wonderfully gloomy theme when the Nazis trespass into the keep and pry off the stone bearing one of the silver crosses, which in turn leads to that awesome reverse-pan sweep that reveals the subterranean lair of Molasar.
One more thing: Tangerine Dream's music for The Keep is nothing like Kraftwerk apart from being performed on synthesizers. (It's like Walter White going "I'm classical and you're more jazz!")
Yeah, I shouldn't have mentioned Kraftwerk, as if they're the same. I was just thinking of them both as parts of the German electronica scene. But obviously very different.
The Craft
Teenage Witches done right. Always had a soft spot for it. Nice OST and cude actresses.
Black Sabbath by by Mario Bava, scared the sh*t out of me when I was a young lad.
There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!
From someone who was easily old enough to see it when it opened...
- Opened at number one.
- In addition to the soundtrack being a selling point at the time, the version of The Smiths tune "How Soon Is Now?" from that soundtrack was lifted by a show called Charmed to function as a "Theme Song" a couple of years later.
While it's not exactly Ghostbusters, it seems like it might have been a little bit too big to really be obscure.
That said, I don't entirely disagree with that it's one that folks tend not to mention.
Discussing that actually reminded me of a "Favorite, If Not Provably Great..." film.
Ginger Snaps.
The Undead (1957) - a Roger Corman film.
Not sure if this counts as obscure but it's a nice low budget, well acted, supernatural flick with one of the best twist endings I've ever seen.
"Once more the Sith will rule the galaxy... and we shall have peace."
Just noticed this. William Marshall grew up in my home town of Gary, Indiana. My Dad used to say his father was a doctor but his wiki entry says his father was a dentist. He really liked my grandfather's garden esp his dahlias, which were about 3 foot high. I think my Dad said he gave him some of the bulbs to try in his own garden. But that had to be back in the 1930's so his memory might be a bit off.
But he was a very prominent actor on Broadway esp in Shakespeare and it's kind of a shame he's mostly known for Blacula. But the Star Trek role was a very good one at least.
But to add some input.
Seconding:
Session 9
Ravenous: Robert Carlyle was very good in this and one of the few films that touches upon the legend of the Wendigo
The Changeling: one of the best recent ghost movies, along with more well known The Others
The Legend of Hell House.
Adding: The Autopsy of Jane Doe. Never released theatrically but went straight to cable but def worth watching
Midnight Meat Train.
The Exorcist III with George C. Scott is underrated IMO.
Last edited by Iron Maiden; 01-07-2019 at 10:14 AM.