TOODLE PIP!

In US TV Movies, nothing says you have arrived in England better than a badly put together sign and a random red bus. From The Questor Tapes, which we will return to, as its a lot of fun. 

EVERYDAY ELECTRONICS

017: Telephone Remote Monitor

INESCAPABLE OBSESSION

I don't want to get into the weeds on this one, but I now only watch American TV Movies from the 1970s, and there's nothing you or anybody else can do about it. 

There are hundreds of these damn things, and all human life is here. Genre themes dominate, particularly horror, espionage, sci fi (in contemporary settings) and natural disasters, lots of them, from fire to floods to avalanches, earthquakes, swarms of killer bees and Bigfoot. They usually run for about 70 minutes and are only now available in faded recordings that are spread across a number of platforms. Very few of them are loved and cared for; only a small proportion achieve genuine greatness or, in some cases, even quite good-ness. However, as we've already established, that's all I watch now, so I'm forced to just make the best of it.

If I were to try and evidence some of the attraction, let me draw your attention to Escape, a Movie Of The Week originally broadcast by the ABC network on April 6th, 1971. It's about an escape artist / private detective / bon viveur / all round good guy called Cameron Steele who battles a badly scarred mad scientist who has developed a virus that will turn humanity into slaves. The Bond-like supervillain operates out of an amusement park, and his secret lair is under the ghost train. The climax of the movie takes place on the roller coaster. It's fantastic, and if you don't want to see it based on that brief description I wash my hands of you.

Star Christopher George is in lots of TV movies (and some entertaining b-pictures). He's believably tough without being macho, charming without being slick, and he keeps on top of things nicely. I'm rather fond of him and his steady presence, and the fact that he didn't speak English until he was 6 (he was born in the USA to  Greek immigrant parents) makes him even more likeable. 

More TV Movies soon. I've told you twice already, that's all I watch now.

ROMANCE - GLAMOUR (LET'S TWIST)

 

Exciting AND glamorous? I'm in!

BRING HOME THE MOTHERLODE, BARRY

 

Beyond The Black Rainbow, d. Panos Cosmatos (2010)

In 1983, a young mute woman with uncanny abilities is held prisoner within the sterile and dehumanising Arboria Institute. Her captor is Dr Barry Nile, a sinister, wig wearing pseudo-scientist. He becomes increasingly obsessed with her and, when she escapes, he loses his mind completely during the pursuit.

The first film of a major new talent, this may lack the preposterous imagination and violent energy of Mandy (perhaps my favourite film of the 21st century - so far), but it is an important introduction to the strange new / old world of director / writer Panos Cosmatos: a place where time and space are malleable (Black Rainbow is set in 1983, but it could be 1969 or 2001 or 2120); a place where hallucinogenic drugs are mandatory even though they are not necessary; a place where science fiction and horror and fantasy gleefully collide into each other, and cosmic sparks fly on impact. 

I absolutely love this guy, so much so that I'm not even frustrated by the paucity of his output (just two films and a 56 minute TV episode in 15 years): the quality of his work is so extraordinarily high I'm just waiting to see what he does next.

FOLK COSTUMES OF THE WORLD

 

001: England / Ireland

A traditional Morris Dancer and a couple dressed for Irish dancing.

From Folk Costumes of the World (1978) by Robert Harrold. Illustration by Phyllida Legg.

TWEET

 

TENSE AMBIANCE

I was struck (unlike that dinky target) by this sequence in the 2011 Japanese film Schoolgirl Apocalypse, particularly the subtitles. Despite what you might reasonably suspect from a Japanese film about young women, there's nothing prurient about this film, in which awkward schoolgirl Sakura has her life turned upside down by murderous zombies (are there any other type?), then has to battle against them (and self-doubt) in order to survive. Naturally, her aim improves very quickly indeed.

FLAGS WORTH SHAGGING

Some of the incredible work of the Asafo, the warrior group of the Fante people of Ghana. Exploited by Europeans for centuries, the Fante noted their enslavers obsession with pageantry and mixed it with their own history and traditions to create these amazing, often satirical and defiant banners, many of which are still in use today. 

OBSCURE OBJECTS OF DESIRE

Everything about this 1983 First Day Cover from the German Democratic Republic pleases me. The colours are lovely, particularly for a totalitarian state. Part of my enormous collection of things that have no purpose at all but are absolutely essential. 

EVERYDAY ELECTRONICS

 

016: White Noise Generator

THIRSTY WORK

I Drink Your Blood, d. David E. Durston (1970)

When a satanic hippie cult descend on a small town and make a nuisance of themselves, a small boy gives them a tray of meat pies he has injected with the blood of a rabid dog. The consequences of this unusual but totally understandable action (they assaulted the boy's sister and forced his Grandpa to take LSD) are rapid and irrevocable: madness, cannibalism and an orgy of infection and bloody death ensues. It's a terrible film, really, which is why I only ever watch it once or twice a year.

Happy Halloween, people. Trick, treat, eat, drink and be merry - but maybe give the pies a miss, who knows what might be in them?

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OF THE DAY

 

Something to ponder from The Witches Cave (Poland, 1989).

BOWMEN

Ian Panter (left) and Dr John Harvey examine two conserved longbows recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose. From the Encyclopedia of Archery by W.F Paterson (Hale, 1984).

I think about this photograph a lot.

EVERYDAY ELECTRONICS

 

015: Conference Timer

SNAPS IV

 

HANS JEAN ARP (/) JEAN (HANS) ARP

 

Arabische Acht / Arabic Eight (1923)

A HAPPENING

George Maciunas was the founder of the 'anti-art, pro-chance' Fluxus Movement, and Artype is a simple but mesmeric short film from 1966, one of many made by him and his associates as an accompaniment to the numerous parties, shows, happenings and freakouts organised, attended and no doubt thoroughly enjoyed by the cream of the 1960s American Avant Garde.