Thursday, October 26, 2017

Thursday Movie Picks: TV Edition-TV Horror shows


I don’t have Netflix or HBO so the shows that will be talked about today, I have not seen, which is a bummer. Don’t adjust your sets as I am going back to some classic shows plus a couple of bonuses. I love the paranormal and have even experienced some odd occurrences so I always watch shows about this subject( unless it is those ghost hunter type shows). Head on over to Wandering Through The Shelves to see what the others have chosen.

1. ONE STEP BEYOND-1959-1961


This series, which I saw in reruns, really freaked me out. It came out around the same time as The Twilight Zone but it is like the Zone’s neglected sister...kind of like Jan to Marcia(Brady Bunch anyone??). This show was an anthology series that took eerie events that purported to actually happen, creating very creepy episodes. It shows many ghost stories but also stories of premonitions like Lincoln’s assassination to the Titanic sinking. The one story of a man staying at a home with an elderly woman, who is writing a story about the evils of the home, totally freaked me out. I still shudder when thinking about it. It was revised in 1978 which I watched where they duplicated most of the original shows including the haunted house one.

2.  KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER-1974-1975


Only 1 season was made of this frightening tv show that is a precursor for all the shows one sees now on Netflix and HBO. It is a classic and a cult tv show that nerds everywhere, love to watch and.... My name is Birgit and ...I am a nerd. This show is about a newspaperman that seems to find all these supernatural happenings and most don’t believe him. He fights off Dracula, meets ghosts and went into the sewers which still gives me nightmares. Very well acted with a humorous slant and scary as hell.

3. CREEPY CANADA-2002-2006


I love this anthology show that discusses all things creepy and weird that are purportedly true in Canada. They are half hour shows with real people talking about their experiences with reenactments. I loved watching this show since it was all things Canada and some events depicted are close to where I live. Obviously there are many ghost stories but also we have good ole Sasquatch. This show doesn’t have the gimmicks that many other shows have which is why it appeals to me.

Bonus....

4. THE TWILIGHT ZONE-1959-1964


I am re-watching this show right now since it is being shown on the Sci-Fi channel and it is a true classic that people around the world have seen. Rod Serling (brilliant man who died too soon) created this show and wrote many episodes and also appeared in later episodes since his voice is so distinctive that people wanted to see him. There are many famous episodes that are not horrific but some are like that nasty critter on the airplane wing that only poor William Shatner can see. Another poor man is trying to translate a book that aliens have given to men and another show has a man hearing howling in a monastery. Some shows are downright freaky.

5.  THE X-FILES-1993-2002


I expect this to be popular this week and with good reason since it still has new episodes coming out and so many know about this show even if they haven't watched it. I saw almost every episode and was hooked on it. Sometimes the episodes were lighter but, on the whole, they are dark and creepy. It starts off where a young FBI agency, who is also a doctor, is asked to keep her eyes on the the spook FBI agent in the basement-Fox Mulder. She is always trying to give logical, scientific explanations while Fox just rolls his eyes. He believes in aliens since his sister was abducted by one and as most of their family dies on one way or another, she slowly realizes not all is as it seems. Throw in some people who always seem to work against the duo (Won't cigarette smoking man die already!!) and plot twists that just mess your mind, you have some great work here. I have to admit 2 things...I feel that the writers even got confused with all the twists and turns and there is that one episode that is now banned in the U.S.  That episode is disgusting, creepy and gross but still good.

So many to choose from...which one would you talk about?

43 comments:

  1. Kolchak! Nice choice. I watched that one season when I was a kid. Shame it didn't last.
    I also watched all nine seasons of The X-Files. Excited about season eleven coming out next year.
    I'd add Legion. It's superheroes, but wow is it creepy.

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    1. Glad you watched Kolchak and X-Files. I am looking forward to the new season too

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  2. Hi Birgit - I don't know these .. well the X files yes - but I think I need to see the Canada one ... I can't add any - as I prefer to stay non-frightened on my sofa!! Cheers Hilary

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    1. I like the Canadian one and I have been to the Screaming Tunnel and The Angel Inn

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  3. Saw most of these but the X-files is definitely a favorite. I have most of the series on DVD. A banned episode? Wasn't aware of that.

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    1. It is the incest episode because it's pretty gross and it is about incest

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  4. The only one of these I've watched all of is The X-Files, and I've seen a few episodes of The Twilight Zone here and there. But I haven't heard of any of your actual picks.

    Creepy Canada is an amazing title though lol

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    1. It is a great title and a fun show. I figured you would have seen The X Files. glad you saw a few of the Twilight Zone

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  6. Hi, Birgit!

    You control the horizontal.

    You control the vertical.

    I will sit quietly as you control all that I see and hear.

    I am about to participate in a great adventure. I am about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to – The Outer Limits.

    Yessum, I was a regular viewer of Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond hosted by John Newland, 'Way Out hosted by Roald Dahl, Thriller hosted by Boris Karloff, and the series I referenced, The Outer Limits, narrated by Vic Perrin as the Control Voice. I agree that all of the above were neglected sisters to Rod Serling's hit The Twilight Zone (like Jan to Marcia). I can hear Jan shouting:

    Twilight Zone! Twilight Zone! Twilight Zone!

    It's amazing that all of the above series were clumped together. They were all on the air around the same time period between 1959 to 1962.

    I also watched Alfred Hitchcock presents which became The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, the two series spanning 1955 to 1965.

    I also loved watching Darren McGavin as Kolchak: The Night Stalker. As with many other series the earliest episodes (and monsters) were the best. Thumbs up to shows like this one that successfully mix humor and horror.

    Creepy is new to me. You don't like gimmicks? I require a guy in a gorilla costume and a girl in a bikini in everything I watch! :)

    Unlike millions of others I never got into The X-Files but I was a faithful fan and follower of David Duchovny in Twin Peaks and in the short lived series Aquarius, a cop show set in late 60s Los Angeles when Charles Manson did his worst.

    Thanks for the eerie, spine tingling entertainment, dear friend BB!

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    1. Yes, The Outer Limits was a good show but I haven't seen too many. Glad you watched One Step Beyond and it is strange how they were all on at the same time. When men go to haunted places and start talking to spirits and nothing goes on, well, meh.

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  7. I saw a few episodes of Kolchak on a station called Decades. They show old movies and tv series all the time. Unfortunately, they often only show one or two at a time. What I saw was good, though, so I'm also a nerd.

    Like you, I LOVED the X-Files. Still do! It seems like every holiday the Sci-Fi channel shows The Twilight Zone. I never watch them, because the ones I've seen are really too spooky for me.

    I'm just thrilled I actually recognized two of your picks this week, and probably because they were tv shows and NOT movies (grin). How's your mom?

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    1. X-Files was great and you should give Twilight Zone a chance as some are even comical. Glad you saw some of these. My mom seems to be doing ok-I am still in shock but so happy. She is in the dining area and eating!! It's so nice to see.

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  8. Never heard of the Canada one, be interesting to watch. Cigarette Smoking Man needs to die already indeed. Yep, that one episode was sure nasty indeed, but good.

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    1. Glad you agree about smoking man. I thought you might have seen Creepy Canada..pretty good actually

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  9. I haven't seen any of these. I'm planning on watching the X-Files one day though.

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    1. X-Files is great and so is the Twilight Zone

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  10. Twilight Zone always scared me as a kid. I'd race to the TV to shut it off when it came on.

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    1. There are scary episodes, creepy episodes but also funny ones too

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  11. Over the past year I've been watching Twilight Zone episodes presented in chronological order on ME TV and I've been surprised at how many of the episodes that I'm pretty sure I've never seen. Or maybe when I saw them as a child I didn't exactly get them so they didn't register in my memory. Still one of my favorite shows of all time.

    Also on ME TV they've been running episodes of Outer Limits and I've gained a new respect for that show. I seem to recall watching this show often as a kid, but I don't remember any of the episodes. There are some cheesy effects, but the stories are often quite interesting and well presented.

    I've loved watching scary TV shows and movies since I was a small kid--as far back as I can remember.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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    1. MeTV must be similar to our Sci-Fi channel but I don't think we get the Outer Limits...I have to check. I agree that i am surprised at how many I have not seen or don't remember seeing of the Twilight Zone episodes

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  12. Walking Dead
    American Horror Story
    Twilight Zone, but you already said it.

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    1. I have a feeling the first 2 will be popular this week. I haven't seen the first 2 at all but want to see A.H.S.

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  13. One Step Beyond!! It was a sort of downmarket Twilight Zone but I would watch it occasionally and it did have some good eps there was just no guiding genius behind it as Twilight Zone had. Zone of course is without peer.

    I've never seen a single episode of X Files. I worked with someone who was so mad for it and talked about it so incessantly that it put me off the show. I've never heard of Creepy Canada but it sounds like fun.

    We match!! I thought maybe we might on Kolchak but it was on so briefly I never know who saw it. It was a good show by itself but without Darren McGavin's craggy irascibility it would have been much less entertaining.

    Aside from our match I went with another Serling creation and a more current show with a magnetic lead.

    Dexter (2006-2013)-Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is a highly respected blood splatter expert with the Miami police department. He seems a little odd and secretive but his co-workers including his sister Deb know that in his past he had some traumatic experiences so they allow him some space. Thing is Dexter has a sideline that keeps him pretty busy off hours…he’s a serial killer who only pursues the evilest of men & women and disposes of them without a trace. Dark, dark comedy that intermingles gallows humor with gore, its absurdist viewpoint is greatly enhanced by Hall’s performance in the lead.

    Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-1975)-Weathered persnickety Chicago newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) seems to have a real knack for stumbling across bizarre often ritualistic seeming deaths. Turns out that’s because Chicago is apparently a hotbed for every sort of supernatural being, witches, vampires, zombies etc. imaginable. Kolchak usually get to the bottom of each case but somehow can never quite make a believer out of his editor Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland). One season series originated with two highly rated TV movies (the first earned a 54 share!), was stacked with familiar faces and had a twisty sense of humor mixed with its horror. The studio however never quite figured out how to market it and buried in a bad time slot.

    Night Gallery (1970-1973)-Second anthology series by Rod Serling isn’t quite the masterpiece The Twilight Zone was but had many original memorable episodes. Unlike the original this usually contained two or even three shorter vignettes that leaned more often towards horror and the supernatural than science fiction. Thought neither as well-known nor as critically respected as the first it did create several famous episodes including “Green Fingers”, “The Diary”, They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar”, “Silent Snow, Secret Snow”, “Caterpillar” and “Whisper” starring a very young Sally Field among others. Originated with a TV movie that provided Steven Spielberg with his first directing gig in an episode starring Joan Crawford.

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    1. I was also thinking we might match with Kolchak which is a great show with McGavin. I have only seen one episode of The Knight gallery otherwise I would have picked it as well. I'm glad you recognized it. I didn't want to watch Dexter because I just didn't feel the need to have a serial killer made into an anti hero

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  14. Yesterday I was reading Entertainment Weekly's Halloween issue where they talked about creepy shows and movies. Kolchak got a whole page.

    Fun fact: the school I'm at today is Chris Carter's alma mater. (He created The X Files.)

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    1. Wow! That's pretty cool that you are at his school. I have to pick up the magazine and have a look

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  15. The studio however never quite figured out how to market it and buried in a bad time slot.


    เกย์

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  16. There's one when I was a kid called Are you Afraid of the Dark, scary for Nickelodeon

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  17. Of course I watched The Twilight Zone but your post reminded me of how much I also enjoyed One Step Beyond.

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  18. Horror? No, no, no, no, no. Not for me. (Wimp.)

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    1. The twilight Zone is different though as it makes one think..look up Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

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  19. The last story I saw on Outer Limits (when I was 10 or 11) scared the bejeezus out of me and cured me from ever wanting to watch anything labeled "horror." A young couple bought an old Victorian-like house on a cliff. The young woman discovered a mirror in the attic, and in that mirror was trapped a creepy old woman who was looking for a soul to take over and live again. You can guess what happened. There are still times that I can't look into a mirror. It could be why I'm okay with not replacing the wall mirror in the bathroom that broke years ago. Yup, call me chicken. Or, better yet, chick.

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    1. Ughhh that is creepy and I wish I New it was a happy ending but I know it isn’t. Funny how often mirrors are used for something spooky

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  20. I love the paranormal and horror shows. I like the movies too! I've watched the X-files, initially more for David Duchovny and then, for the show itself. I have caught some episodes of the Twilight Zone, but don't know any of the others you've mentioned. Over the years, I realize that I prefer the psychological thrillers more because they mess with my mind more. Thanks for the suggestions, Birgit.

    How are you? Your Mom? Hugs!

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  21. Oh I love that I'm finding so many new horror shows this week! I picked The X-Files too, of course. Was the banned episode "Home"? I couldn't find another reference. If it is, I do remember that episode very well, and it was a really good one.

    I need to check out One Step Beyond. I love shows like that, horror/paranormal stories based on true events.

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  22. I loved horror and science fiction shows on TV from when I was a kid and into my teens. Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, Boris Karloff's Thriller, The Outer Limits, Night Gallery, the short-lived British import Journey to the Unknown, and although I never watched the Kolchak: The Night Stalker series, I did see the two TV movies that spawned the show.

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  23. Unfamiliar with all your choices Birgit. I am not into horror anyway having scared myself badly as a young woman.

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  24. We match on The Twilight Zone. Such a brilliant show. Sadly, I haven't even heard of your other two picks.

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  25. Birgit,

    "One Step Beyond" I never caught on re-run. I remember when "Kolchak" aired in the 70s. That was a favorite and I hated that it ended after a short sprint. "Twilight Zone" is a classic. We watched most of the original "X-Files" episodes. There are a couple of years we missed toward the end but was happy to see the reboot last winter and I read another season premiers this January. Thanks for sharing. Have a good day!

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