Happy Hallowe'en, everybody!
Meh. Horror is dead.
Showing posts with label public domain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label public domain. Show all posts
October 31, 2015
October 31, 2014
August 12, 2014
The Top Ten Most Horrific Public Information Films
Remember the scary Public Information Films from the 1970s?
No? Well, you're probably not British, and this post will mean nothing to you.
Those of us who saw these short warning movies (and who survived into adulthood) never broke through fences to run across railway tracks, didn't talk to strangers, never tried to rescue our frisbees which were stuck to the transformers in electrical substations, didn't play hide and seek in discarded fridges, and had absolutely no intention of ever swimming in stagnant pools of water.
Here's a quick top ten list of these PIFs. There are many others from different eras and countries, but the ones from the UK in the 1970s are still the best.
1. Dark and Lonely Water (1973)
With a voiceover by Donald Pleasence no less! How could you not heed this Grim Reaper's warning?
I wonder if Arnold Schwarzenneger likes the final line?
2. Apaches (1977)
Ever wanted to see a little kid drown in a pool of cowshit? You can now.
Five children in John Mackenzie's short end up dying horribly in various accidents, so there's something here for everyone. Personally, I feel sorry for the farmer.
This "feature" (which was intended to warn kids not play silly buggers around farms) was broken up into smaller segments and was shown on television until the early '80s. After that, British farms ceased to be exist due to shouty kids trespassing and dying all over them.
3. The Finishing Line (1977)
A precursor to "Battle Royale", perhaps? This gory PIF was soon banned in case it encouraged copycat crimes. It might have had something to do with all the blood and dead bodies too.
A more traditionally tragic British Rail PIF entitled "Robbie" (presented by Peter Purvis from "Blue Peter") took its place.
4. Searching (1974)
From John Krish (the director of "The Finishing Line") comes a heartwarming tale about the dangers of playing with matches.
Actually, it's really only the spooky aftermath of a tragic house fire, but the clues are in the echoes about what caused it.
5. Play Safe (1978)
Another PIF which was broken into smaller segments to scare schoolchildren during educational morning television programmes for "Schools and Colleges" on ITV.
Give or take some friendly cartoon birds voiced by Brian Wilde (Foggy in "Last of the Summer Wine") as an owl and Bernard Cribbins (narrator of "The Wombles") as a robin, this PIF tells you everything you need to know about the dangers of electricity. It's particularly relevant if you're a posh twat who has your own yacht.
Leave those frisbees alone too! All together now, "JIMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
Amusingly, another electrical substation became the setting for a bunch of young London casuals to break the rules in the 1989 PIF entitled "Football".
6. Last Christmas (1979)
This makes "Home Alone" look like a comedy. Oh wait...
7. Bandage (1976)
Never underestimate the danger of sparklers! No, really.
Forget cherry bombs, sparklers are known to be the cause of the most heinous firework related injuries ever.
8. Front Seat Child (1976)
One for the adults. Never let your creepy daughter sit in the front passenger seat unless you want to spend the rest of your life dressed in a dirty mac haunting children's playgrounds.
9. Protect & Survive: Casualties (1979)
Rated highly in Channel 4's viewers poll of the "100 Greatest Scary Moments", Patrick Allen narrated survival instructions which hit home, especially for the paranoid generation who lived in fear from the possible threat of nuclear war.
Thatcher's Britain has a lot to answer for.
10. Charley Says (1973-79)
You'd think that having zany DJ Kenny Everett voicing the cat would make these creepy cartoons fun, wouldn't you? You'd be so very wrong. Some small children were terrified of these, but they eventually got the message.
Bonus: The Top 50 Scariest Public Information Films
Don't have nightmares!
No? Well, you're probably not British, and this post will mean nothing to you.
Those of us who saw these short warning movies (and who survived into adulthood) never broke through fences to run across railway tracks, didn't talk to strangers, never tried to rescue our frisbees which were stuck to the transformers in electrical substations, didn't play hide and seek in discarded fridges, and had absolutely no intention of ever swimming in stagnant pools of water.
Here's a quick top ten list of these PIFs. There are many others from different eras and countries, but the ones from the UK in the 1970s are still the best.
1. Dark and Lonely Water (1973)
With a voiceover by Donald Pleasence no less! How could you not heed this Grim Reaper's warning?
I wonder if Arnold Schwarzenneger likes the final line?
2. Apaches (1977)
Ever wanted to see a little kid drown in a pool of cowshit? You can now.
Five children in John Mackenzie's short end up dying horribly in various accidents, so there's something here for everyone. Personally, I feel sorry for the farmer.
This "feature" (which was intended to warn kids not play silly buggers around farms) was broken up into smaller segments and was shown on television until the early '80s. After that, British farms ceased to be exist due to shouty kids trespassing and dying all over them.
3. The Finishing Line (1977)
A precursor to "Battle Royale", perhaps? This gory PIF was soon banned in case it encouraged copycat crimes. It might have had something to do with all the blood and dead bodies too.
A more traditionally tragic British Rail PIF entitled "Robbie" (presented by Peter Purvis from "Blue Peter") took its place.
4. Searching (1974)
From John Krish (the director of "The Finishing Line") comes a heartwarming tale about the dangers of playing with matches.
Actually, it's really only the spooky aftermath of a tragic house fire, but the clues are in the echoes about what caused it.
5. Play Safe (1978)
Another PIF which was broken into smaller segments to scare schoolchildren during educational morning television programmes for "Schools and Colleges" on ITV.
Give or take some friendly cartoon birds voiced by Brian Wilde (Foggy in "Last of the Summer Wine") as an owl and Bernard Cribbins (narrator of "The Wombles") as a robin, this PIF tells you everything you need to know about the dangers of electricity. It's particularly relevant if you're a posh twat who has your own yacht.
Leave those frisbees alone too! All together now, "JIMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
Amusingly, another electrical substation became the setting for a bunch of young London casuals to break the rules in the 1989 PIF entitled "Football".
6. Last Christmas (1979)
This makes "Home Alone" look like a comedy. Oh wait...
7. Bandage (1976)
Never underestimate the danger of sparklers! No, really.
Forget cherry bombs, sparklers are known to be the cause of the most heinous firework related injuries ever.
8. Front Seat Child (1976)
One for the adults. Never let your creepy daughter sit in the front passenger seat unless you want to spend the rest of your life dressed in a dirty mac haunting children's playgrounds.
9. Protect & Survive: Casualties (1979)
Rated highly in Channel 4's viewers poll of the "100 Greatest Scary Moments", Patrick Allen narrated survival instructions which hit home, especially for the paranoid generation who lived in fear from the possible threat of nuclear war.
Thatcher's Britain has a lot to answer for.
10. Charley Says (1973-79)
You'd think that having zany DJ Kenny Everett voicing the cat would make these creepy cartoons fun, wouldn't you? You'd be so very wrong. Some small children were terrified of these, but they eventually got the message.
Bonus: The Top 50 Scariest Public Information Films
Don't have nightmares!
August 5, 2013
My first auction wins on Listia!
Yeah, you knew it would happen. I joined Listia to get rid of stuff and ended up getting more. I can't help it, I have a DVD collecting mental illness or something.
Anyway, my first wins arrived this morning. As you can see, I have another Echo Bridge Home Entertainment multipack of crap to review at a later date (probably next week) and a PD Laurel and Hardy film without its original case.
I've already seen "Memory" (2006) and "Darkness" (2002), but I haven't seen the other four yet. That's four horror movies which I've never heard of for absolutely nothing, so where the risk? One of them might even be good.
The pack is still sealed, so it's just like having a new one. If it hadn't been offered on Listia, I probably wouldn't have gone out of my way to buy it at Kmart or anything though.
The second DVD obviously isn't horror. "The Flying Deuces" (1939) is now the first Laurel and Hardy movie which I've ever owned a physical copy of. I really want the "Ultimate Collection" which I've seen in Sam's Club, but it's never likely to happen because I'm poor. I don't care who knows it, I own practically nothing but DVDs, two ex-shelter cats, and four jars of toenail clippings. Woe is me!
As somebody with no sense of humour, Laurel and Hardy movies are the only things which I find funny. I have no explanation for why that is other than because they are just so perfectly timed. Maybe it's because Stan Laurel was English? I dunno.
I've already seen "The Flying Deuces" dozens of times, and it's not my favourite, but it'll have to do for now. It's actually a remake of their "Beau Hunks" short from 1931, and to be honest, I prefer the earlier version. I'm not going to review it anyway.
If you want some free stuff, click the banner below to join Listia. I will be putting some of my unwanted DVDs on there eventually, but there are thousands of DVDs on there already.
Anyway, my first wins arrived this morning. As you can see, I have another Echo Bridge Home Entertainment multipack of crap to review at a later date (probably next week) and a PD Laurel and Hardy film without its original case.
 |
| Here we go again! |
I've already seen "Memory" (2006) and "Darkness" (2002), but I haven't seen the other four yet. That's four horror movies which I've never heard of for absolutely nothing, so where the risk? One of them might even be good.
The pack is still sealed, so it's just like having a new one. If it hadn't been offered on Listia, I probably wouldn't have gone out of my way to buy it at Kmart or anything though.
 |
| WTF is up with those fonts? Why is "THE" so different? |
The second DVD obviously isn't horror. "The Flying Deuces" (1939) is now the first Laurel and Hardy movie which I've ever owned a physical copy of. I really want the "Ultimate Collection" which I've seen in Sam's Club, but it's never likely to happen because I'm poor. I don't care who knows it, I own practically nothing but DVDs, two ex-shelter cats, and four jars of toenail clippings. Woe is me!
As somebody with no sense of humour, Laurel and Hardy movies are the only things which I find funny. I have no explanation for why that is other than because they are just so perfectly timed. Maybe it's because Stan Laurel was English? I dunno.
I've already seen "The Flying Deuces" dozens of times, and it's not my favourite, but it'll have to do for now. It's actually a remake of their "Beau Hunks" short from 1931, and to be honest, I prefer the earlier version. I'm not going to review it anyway.
If you want some free stuff, click the banner below to join Listia. I will be putting some of my unwanted DVDs on there eventually, but there are thousands of DVDs on there already.
December 17, 2012
Horror Christmas Presents for Paupers - Part 2
Every horror fan loves to get movies for Christmas, but you know how it is. Either they've already seen it or it's now on Blu-ray and costs twenty times that of the DVD version. So what can you do?
It's simple.
Make Your Own Horror Movie
Unfortunately, this would involve spending far too much money on a $20 Jazz cam from Wal-mart and, although it wouldn't take you any longer to make than the duration of the movie itself, it's not for everyone.
If you look at the other "indie horror movies" around, it's obvious that you don't need a script, acting ability, originality or any talent whatsoever to make your own horror movie. You don't even need actors as glove puppets or your cat will do. But unless you really want to film Tiddles washing ketchup off herself and showing some nipples, the prospect of making anything which will perk the average horror fan up is filled with too many problems.
Some people have been stupid enough to make their own horror movies for their ex-loved ones only to discover them being mass-produced and sold at horror conventions for $19.99 six months later. If you are thinking of shaky-camming your boobies and running round the house while dressed up as a zombie and screaming, please don't. My cat still hasn't forgiven me for "The Furry Xmas Invader" which, incidentally, you can buy from me (while stocks last) for only $16,087.99 plus tax and shipping. (Please note that the limited "Unrated - Hairball Edition" is no longer available.)
Instead, how about creating your own version of the Mill Creek boxsets using easily downloadable and legally free Public Domain movies? Yes, my friends, this is the way to not even have to pay $5 for 50 nasties! They may not be original movies, but the selection and the order you put them in will be all your own work.
Make Your Own Public Domain Horror DVDs
You will need:
1. Either a blank DVD-R or DVD+R. (3 for $1 at Dollar Tree!)
2. The internet.
3. DownloadHelper.
4. DeVeDe or DVD Flick. They are both free!
5. A few hours of your time.
6. A crappy DVD movie that you can re-use the case from. (Multi disc cases are best for this so look out for those 2-disc "Special Editions" which weren't so special.)
Step 1
Find a source of Public Domain horror movies online. Hint: Google is your friend.
To save yourself a few minutes, you may like to go to my YouTube channel where some of the better Public Domain horror movies are. Don't forget to subscribe!
Step 2
Install DownloadHelper, restart Firefox, and when you are on the correct page, click the little spinning balls on the toolbar to select what kind of download you desire. In this case, it should be the file name that ends in .mp4.
Step 3
Install either DeVeDe or DVD Flick. They are much the same so whichever one you use is really only dependent on your computer system. If you use Linux, DeVeDe is the only sensible choice.
Step 4
Learn how to use DeVeDe or DVD Flick by reading the instructions, then burn your mp4 movies to blank DVDs.
Please note: This is the tricky part as it may involve reading. It's worth the effort because you can fit at least four movies on a single DVD once you get the hang of the software.
Step 5
Download a DVD coverart template and some nice pictures to decorate the insert for your DVD with. Pro-tip: Mill Creek tend to use pictures of actors from movies that they've never even starred in for their coverart so feel free to use their example.
You don't need to be a fantastic artist for this or buy any expensive graphics software. You could even draw or cut pictures out by hand, glue them to the right sized piece of paper and photocopy it. In fact, that's what most "indie horror movie" distributors do anyway.
Step 6
Throw away the original coverart and the DVD for "The Strangers", "Cloverfield", "Hostel" or whichever crappy movie you are replacing. Put your new coverart and DVD-R into the DVD case then wrap it up for Christmas.
Step 7
Enjoy the excited gasps as your horror fan opens the highly original collection of Public Domain horror movies on Christmas Day!
It's simple.
Make Your Own Horror Movie
Unfortunately, this would involve spending far too much money on a $20 Jazz cam from Wal-mart and, although it wouldn't take you any longer to make than the duration of the movie itself, it's not for everyone.
If you look at the other "indie horror movies" around, it's obvious that you don't need a script, acting ability, originality or any talent whatsoever to make your own horror movie. You don't even need actors as glove puppets or your cat will do. But unless you really want to film Tiddles washing ketchup off herself and showing some nipples, the prospect of making anything which will perk the average horror fan up is filled with too many problems.
Some people have been stupid enough to make their own horror movies for their ex-loved ones only to discover them being mass-produced and sold at horror conventions for $19.99 six months later. If you are thinking of shaky-camming your boobies and running round the house while dressed up as a zombie and screaming, please don't. My cat still hasn't forgiven me for "The Furry Xmas Invader" which, incidentally, you can buy from me (while stocks last) for only $16,087.99 plus tax and shipping. (Please note that the limited "Unrated - Hairball Edition" is no longer available.)
Instead, how about creating your own version of the Mill Creek boxsets using easily downloadable and legally free Public Domain movies? Yes, my friends, this is the way to not even have to pay $5 for 50 nasties! They may not be original movies, but the selection and the order you put them in will be all your own work.
Make Your Own Public Domain Horror DVDs
You will need:
1. Either a blank DVD-R or DVD+R. (3 for $1 at Dollar Tree!)
2. The internet.
3. DownloadHelper.
4. DeVeDe or DVD Flick. They are both free!
5. A few hours of your time.
6. A crappy DVD movie that you can re-use the case from. (Multi disc cases are best for this so look out for those 2-disc "Special Editions" which weren't so special.)
Step 1
Find a source of Public Domain horror movies online. Hint: Google is your friend.
To save yourself a few minutes, you may like to go to my YouTube channel where some of the better Public Domain horror movies are. Don't forget to subscribe!
Step 2
Install DownloadHelper, restart Firefox, and when you are on the correct page, click the little spinning balls on the toolbar to select what kind of download you desire. In this case, it should be the file name that ends in .mp4.
Step 3
Install either DeVeDe or DVD Flick. They are much the same so whichever one you use is really only dependent on your computer system. If you use Linux, DeVeDe is the only sensible choice.
Step 4
Learn how to use DeVeDe or DVD Flick by reading the instructions, then burn your mp4 movies to blank DVDs.
Please note: This is the tricky part as it may involve reading. It's worth the effort because you can fit at least four movies on a single DVD once you get the hang of the software.
Step 5
Download a DVD coverart template and some nice pictures to decorate the insert for your DVD with. Pro-tip: Mill Creek tend to use pictures of actors from movies that they've never even starred in for their coverart so feel free to use their example.
You don't need to be a fantastic artist for this or buy any expensive graphics software. You could even draw or cut pictures out by hand, glue them to the right sized piece of paper and photocopy it. In fact, that's what most "indie horror movie" distributors do anyway.
Step 6
Throw away the original coverart and the DVD for "The Strangers", "Cloverfield", "Hostel" or whichever crappy movie you are replacing. Put your new coverart and DVD-R into the DVD case then wrap it up for Christmas.
Step 7
Enjoy the excited gasps as your horror fan opens the highly original collection of Public Domain horror movies on Christmas Day!
October 14, 2012
The City of the Dead (1960)
(AKA Horror Hotel)
"A young coed (Nan Barlow) uses her winter vacation to research a paper on witchcraft in New England. Her professor recommends that she spend her time in a small village called Whitewood."
Rather than write yet another review of "The City of the Dead" which nobody reads, I've just embedded the full movie from YouTube at the top of this post so you can watch it for yourself. It's ideal viewing for a gloomy Sunday afternoon.
As "City of the Dead" (AKA "Horror Hotel") is in the public domain, I used to keep a copy of it on my own YouTube channel (which I hope you've all subscribed to) until the amount of bogus copyright claims started to get annoying. When they tried to put adverts next to something which even I couldn't monetise, I took it down to stop the thieves from making any money.
I will just say that "The City of the Dead" has a great atmosphere, it's low-budget but looks good in black and white, and it's full of clichés. Maybe those clichés weren't quite so clichéd at the time though. Watch out for a reworking of the "phantom hitchhiker" story around 17 minutes in (and again around the 50 minute mark).
Standouts include Venetia Stevenson as Nan Barlow, Patricia Jessel in a dual role as Elizabeth Selwyn/Mrs. Newless, and, of course, Christopher Lee doing an American accent.
You can hear about the other details from the director, John Llewellyn Moxey, in the video below.
Here are the obligatory screencaps which most people only come to my blog to steal anyway. I don't care. I only took them from the Google image search myself.
I also found this interview with Christopher Lee about "The City of the Dead" (and a lot of his other films) which you might find interesting. Before you ask, no, I don't know what's wrong with the interviewer's mouth either.
Tonight, I'm going to see "Sinister" which I will write a review of tomorrow.
"A young coed (Nan Barlow) uses her winter vacation to research a paper on witchcraft in New England. Her professor recommends that she spend her time in a small village called Whitewood."
Rather than write yet another review of "The City of the Dead" which nobody reads, I've just embedded the full movie from YouTube at the top of this post so you can watch it for yourself. It's ideal viewing for a gloomy Sunday afternoon.
As "City of the Dead" (AKA "Horror Hotel") is in the public domain, I used to keep a copy of it on my own YouTube channel (which I hope you've all subscribed to) until the amount of bogus copyright claims started to get annoying. When they tried to put adverts next to something which even I couldn't monetise, I took it down to stop the thieves from making any money.
I will just say that "The City of the Dead" has a great atmosphere, it's low-budget but looks good in black and white, and it's full of clichés. Maybe those clichés weren't quite so clichéd at the time though. Watch out for a reworking of the "phantom hitchhiker" story around 17 minutes in (and again around the 50 minute mark).
Standouts include Venetia Stevenson as Nan Barlow, Patricia Jessel in a dual role as Elizabeth Selwyn/Mrs. Newless, and, of course, Christopher Lee doing an American accent.
You can hear about the other details from the director, John Llewellyn Moxey, in the video below.
Here are the obligatory screencaps which most people only come to my blog to steal anyway. I don't care. I only took them from the Google image search myself.
I also found this interview with Christopher Lee about "The City of the Dead" (and a lot of his other films) which you might find interesting. Before you ask, no, I don't know what's wrong with the interviewer's mouth either.
Tonight, I'm going to see "Sinister" which I will write a review of tomorrow.
September 1, 2012
Bogus Copyright Claims on YouTube
I've got to say something about this since it's not only annoying but also slightly amusing considering the nature of the material in question.
As you may or may not know, I have a YouTube account where I post Public Domain horror movies. That's all I have on there. I don't have any original content of my own, there are no adverts, and nothing is monetised. Basically, the movies are just a little gift for my blog readers.
I've never been allowed AdSense advertising anyway due to the nature of my blog. It seems that they don't like horror sites and class them as "adult content". I would have thought that would be a good thing since adults are the ones with the credit cards and Paypal accounts after all, but there's no accounting for taste or common sense.
Anyway, here's this week's story for you. Yet again, another company is trying to make money out of something which they are not entitled to and are attempting to use one of my uploads to do it. Here's the latest claim which I have disputed.
It's ironic that they've chosen the video that I've had least hits on. To date, I've had only 46 views of "Night of the Living Dead" which isn't too surprising when you realise just how many thousands of accounts already have "Night of the Living Dead" posted on them. According to the YouTube search, it's "About 35,700 results".
From Wikipedia:
Night of the Living Dead entered the public domain because the original theatrical distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, neglected to place a copyright indication on the prints. In 1968, United States copyright law required a proper notice for a work to maintain a copyright. Image Ten displayed such a notice on the title frames of the film beneath the original title, Night of the Flesh Eaters. The distributor removed the statement when it changed the title.
A limited number of theatrical release prints were distributed by Walter Reade and these copies could have been shelved if Romero and Image Ten had elected. This would have given Romero the opportunity to rename the film, do a few brief "creative" edits, and then obtain a new Copyright. But this was never done and the theatrical releases continued to be distributed until eventually reprinted and distributed by home video distributors.
Because of the public domain status, the film is sold on home video by many distributors. As of 2012, the Amazon.com lists copies of Night of the Living Dead retailing 51 on VHS, 168 on DVD, and six on Blu-ray. The original film is available to view or download free on Internet sites, such as Google Video, Internet Archive, Hulu, and YouTube. As of July 28, 2012, it is the Internet Archive's second most downloaded film, with 1,003,011 downloads.
Of course, in each and every case where some bogus claim has been filed against me for reposting "Night of the Living Dead", I have entered the information above in the dispute box and the claim has been released. Quite right too because if George A. Romero can't make any money from his own film, why should anyone else?
There seem to be a lot of these fraudulent claims happening on YouTube. I don't know if it's some kind kind of automated system or just individual companies, who I've honestly never even heard of before, tracking down what they perceive to be easy and gullible targets to steal a quick buck. I'm sure my 46 video views will be worth millions to them. Idiots.
The really annoying thing about this whole situation is that it takes a month to resolve each case, if the "third party" actually responds, and, in that time, YouTube allows them to have advertising next to the disputed video. I can't have AdSense on these videos, nor would I even if I could, yet these fraudulent claimants can use my account to advertise? What the bloody hell?
Suffice it to say that this is yet another reason why fewer people are using YouTube now except to blatantly upload copyright infringing material rather than staying within the "Terms of Service" or adhering to the letter of the law. Why should the average YouTuber even try to keep their account clean when some monstrous corporation can come along, make a fraudulent claim, and reap the rewards from it?
Since Google have linked YouTube and Blogger, every day I expect to see my both my accounts deleted even though I've done nothing wrong. With the amount of original content I've provided on my blog, AdSense should have been falling over themselves to slap their annoying adverts everywhere, but why would they bother when their system can already give more money to frauds, liars and thieves who don't need it in the first place?
That's my rant over. Have a nice day!
As you may or may not know, I have a YouTube account where I post Public Domain horror movies. That's all I have on there. I don't have any original content of my own, there are no adverts, and nothing is monetised. Basically, the movies are just a little gift for my blog readers.
I've never been allowed AdSense advertising anyway due to the nature of my blog. It seems that they don't like horror sites and class them as "adult content". I would have thought that would be a good thing since adults are the ones with the credit cards and Paypal accounts after all, but there's no accounting for taste or common sense.
Anyway, here's this week's story for you. Yet again, another company is trying to make money out of something which they are not entitled to and are attempting to use one of my uploads to do it. Here's the latest claim which I have disputed.
It's ironic that they've chosen the video that I've had least hits on. To date, I've had only 46 views of "Night of the Living Dead" which isn't too surprising when you realise just how many thousands of accounts already have "Night of the Living Dead" posted on them. According to the YouTube search, it's "About 35,700 results".
From Wikipedia:
Night of the Living Dead entered the public domain because the original theatrical distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, neglected to place a copyright indication on the prints. In 1968, United States copyright law required a proper notice for a work to maintain a copyright. Image Ten displayed such a notice on the title frames of the film beneath the original title, Night of the Flesh Eaters. The distributor removed the statement when it changed the title.
A limited number of theatrical release prints were distributed by Walter Reade and these copies could have been shelved if Romero and Image Ten had elected. This would have given Romero the opportunity to rename the film, do a few brief "creative" edits, and then obtain a new Copyright. But this was never done and the theatrical releases continued to be distributed until eventually reprinted and distributed by home video distributors.
Because of the public domain status, the film is sold on home video by many distributors. As of 2012, the Amazon.com lists copies of Night of the Living Dead retailing 51 on VHS, 168 on DVD, and six on Blu-ray. The original film is available to view or download free on Internet sites, such as Google Video, Internet Archive, Hulu, and YouTube. As of July 28, 2012, it is the Internet Archive's second most downloaded film, with 1,003,011 downloads.
Of course, in each and every case where some bogus claim has been filed against me for reposting "Night of the Living Dead", I have entered the information above in the dispute box and the claim has been released. Quite right too because if George A. Romero can't make any money from his own film, why should anyone else?
There seem to be a lot of these fraudulent claims happening on YouTube. I don't know if it's some kind kind of automated system or just individual companies, who I've honestly never even heard of before, tracking down what they perceive to be easy and gullible targets to steal a quick buck. I'm sure my 46 video views will be worth millions to them. Idiots.
The really annoying thing about this whole situation is that it takes a month to resolve each case, if the "third party" actually responds, and, in that time, YouTube allows them to have advertising next to the disputed video. I can't have AdSense on these videos, nor would I even if I could, yet these fraudulent claimants can use my account to advertise? What the bloody hell?
Suffice it to say that this is yet another reason why fewer people are using YouTube now except to blatantly upload copyright infringing material rather than staying within the "Terms of Service" or adhering to the letter of the law. Why should the average YouTuber even try to keep their account clean when some monstrous corporation can come along, make a fraudulent claim, and reap the rewards from it?
Since Google have linked YouTube and Blogger, every day I expect to see my both my accounts deleted even though I've done nothing wrong. With the amount of original content I've provided on my blog, AdSense should have been falling over themselves to slap their annoying adverts everywhere, but why would they bother when their system can already give more money to frauds, liars and thieves who don't need it in the first place?
That's my rant over. Have a nice day!
April 23, 2012
Some free horror movies for you!
Some of the best public domain horror movies are now available on my YouTube channel. You can either watch them via the playlist above or by clicking the links below.
| The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Carnival of Souls The City of the Dead Dementia 13 Horror Express | The Last Man on Earth The Little Shop of Horrors Night of the Living Dead Nosferatu The Terror |
I'll be adding more soon. Please subscribe.
April 21, 2012
I bought that for a dollar - part 9
I haven't done one of these for ages so here are two more "Double Feature" DVDs which I got for $1. In this case, these DVDs by "PC Treasures" were reduced from $1 each to 50c each so I got twice as much for my money.
From left to right, first we have "Circus of Fear" (1966) which is more of an English giallo than a horror (which isn't that surprising as it was written by Edgar Wallace) but I had to have it for Christopher Lee even though it's not exactly his greatest performance and you don't really see a lot of him in it.
Next, "The Hitch-hiker" (1953) is a very underrated film noir which, of course, is a precursor in many ways to "The Hitcher" (which we all know and love). If anything, it's a lot more tense than the Rutger Hauer vehicle and is supposedly based on a true story.
More film noir which borders on horror in "D.O.A." (1950) as a salesman gets poisoned and only has 24 hours to find out who did it and why. It's actually really good for the time although the plot has been done to death since.
Finally, "Detour" (1945) is kind of like "Very Bad Things" but without any comedy as a small time criminal falls foul of one of the most evil femme fatales ever and can't get away from her. Ann Savage is absolutely fantastic in it.
All of these public domain movies are quite highly rated on the IMDb and I almost bought a couple of Mill Creek's "mystery" packs to get them once. I'm glad that I saved my money though as these are the only titles on those packs which are any good anyway.
From left to right, first we have "Circus of Fear" (1966) which is more of an English giallo than a horror (which isn't that surprising as it was written by Edgar Wallace) but I had to have it for Christopher Lee even though it's not exactly his greatest performance and you don't really see a lot of him in it.
Next, "The Hitch-hiker" (1953) is a very underrated film noir which, of course, is a precursor in many ways to "The Hitcher" (which we all know and love). If anything, it's a lot more tense than the Rutger Hauer vehicle and is supposedly based on a true story.
More film noir which borders on horror in "D.O.A." (1950) as a salesman gets poisoned and only has 24 hours to find out who did it and why. It's actually really good for the time although the plot has been done to death since.
Finally, "Detour" (1945) is kind of like "Very Bad Things" but without any comedy as a small time criminal falls foul of one of the most evil femme fatales ever and can't get away from her. Ann Savage is absolutely fantastic in it.
All of these public domain movies are quite highly rated on the IMDb and I almost bought a couple of Mill Creek's "mystery" packs to get them once. I'm glad that I saved my money though as these are the only titles on those packs which are any good anyway.
July 28, 2011
The Last Man on Earth (1960)
"When a disease turns all of humanity into the living dead, the last man on earth becomes a reluctant vampire hunter."
I don't really need to say a lot about this film since it is the classic which inspired "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) and was remade in 1971 as "The Omega Man". The less said about the second appalling 2007 remake ("I am Legend" starring Will Smith), the better. All these movies are based on Richard Matheson's 1954 novella, but this is the only one where the author actually wrote the screenplay (even though he was dissatisfied enough with the final result to have them change his name on the credits to "Logan Swanson").
Although many people consider this to be Vincent Price's best film, I think he was completely wrong for the role in many ways. He acts in a very fussy and impatient manner throughout, often touching everything and flicking his hands as if they are dirty, to the point where he starts to get quite irritating. Also at 49 years old at the time of making this movie (as the IMDb date of 1964 for "The Last Man on Earth" is wrong), Vincent Price may have the excuse of being an older man, but he was beyond awkward in any of the physical scenes and certainly couldn't even run at the end.
Due to the low budget, Italian location, and general sloppiness of the direction, there are a lot of unintentionally funny mistakes and continuity errors. Most of these involve day changing to night and then back again within the same scene, but others highlight the poor quality of the sets particularly towards the end. Some people love looking for things like this though and, to be honest, none of them really spoil the story.
The thing that I noticed most was that the acting is very uneven. Some of it is very "stagey" and dated while other bits are just embarrassing. Most of it is good enough though, and if you are already a Vincent Price fan, you won't care anyway.
Generally, I liked "The Last Man on Earth". Technically, it's not the best movie in the world, it has very little suspense, no scares whatsoever (and absolutely no gore!), but it does have a certain amount of apocalyptic atmosphere. The story itself is good enough to make you want to stay with it until the end.
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