31 Days of Halloween- Day 16- Lonely Water aka The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water (1973)

One of the fantastic things about growing up as a child of the '70s and 80's and being a horror fan were the Public Information Films that were shown at random times both day and night on British TV. These could convey any burning issue from the dangers of abandoned old refrigerators on rubbish tips …

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31 Days of Halloween- Day 1- Threads (1984)

What would happen if nuclear war actually broke out? What would that look like? If you've ever asked these questions, fear no more! Threads was made in 1984 for UK television and shows exactly what life would be like after the bomb dropped. Written by Barry Hines (Kes) and directed by Mick Jackson this drama …

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Day 22- 31 Days of Halloween- Look What’s Happened To Rosemary’s Baby (1976)

It's extremely brave to decide to make a sequel to a beloved horror classic. It can almost feel like some kind of suicide mission as critics and the general public alike will trot out the hackneyed old cliche of 'It's not as good as the first film!' as if this is an extremely original and …

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Day 3- 31 Days of Halloween- Something Evil (1972)

This early Spielberg directed TV movie features a TV advertising exec (Darren McGavin) move into a country farm with his hippy drippy New Age wife (Sandy Dennis). But strange things start to occur shortly afterwards. I first saw this when it aired on UK television in the early 80's. It scared the pants off me. …

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31 Days of Halloween- Day 21- Beware The Rapist (1979)

When I was growing up I loved the Nanny State Public Information Films. They were akin to state produced horror shorts extolling the dangers of everything from playing near rivers to mixing different types of tyres on the same vehicle. Beware The Rapist is an American PIF (called Public Service Announcements or PSA's over there) …

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31 Days of Halloween- Day 10- Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)

Sunday nights in the late 70's/early 80's here in the UK were great for TV. In my household we'd religiously watch That's Life, a weird hotchpotch of hard hitting investigations into very dark subject matters with lighter fare which was designed to make the audience titter and guffaw (they loved vegetables that just happened to …

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Article- The Motherlode: Prisoner Cell Block H on ITV

Exactly 30 years ago today, something extraordinary happened. Let me elaborate. I grew up in York in the UK. My local TV station was Yorkshire Television who were the first UK regional station to transmit twenty-four hours a day. Because of this during the night and early hours of the morning, they would show some …

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Day 23- 31 Days of Halloween- The Savage Bees

The other half of a double-bill in UK cinemas with the other film being the far better The Incredible Melting Man. This was actually made for television in America. Killer bees have flown into America and are claiming their first casualties disturbingly close to New Orleans when their Mardi Gras is due to kick off. A …

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Top 10 Outrageous Prisoner Cell Block H Moments Video

As some of you may know I'm a huge Prisoner Cell Block H fan. I actually think its the best TV series ever made. If you're into cult film, cult TV or video nasties/exploitation cinema then chances are you'll love Prisoner. I've just made a video documenting some of the most outrageous moments from the …

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