Another CreatureFeature Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku - Day #06 - MACABRE MOVIE MONDAY (Scream One)

Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...

... to 'Day Six' of "Another CreatureFeature Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku"  & to the first instalment of "Macabre Movie Monday" where I will be recommending even more horror movies to send shivers down your spine that can all be streamed to your television sets via the magic of Roku player !!

So... if you're planning to while away the hours, during these dark autumnal evenings, by watching a succession of Hallowe'en / Horror-themed movies to get into the "spirit" of things, you should make a point of visiting this blog EVERY MONDAY between now and October 31st for even more creepy cinema classics to "get your fright on" in readiness for your own Hallowe'en celebrations !!

If you've been following this month-long blogathon from the start, you may recall my mentioning that there may not have ever been a television series like "The Walking Dead" without the influence of the original "Night Of The Living Dead" movie. If you know your actors, then you will already be aware that a certain "Michael Rooker" was cast in the role of "Merle Dixon" but (unless you know your 80's serial killer movies) you may not know that, early in his film career, he starred in another top-notch piece of horror-related filming. So, to get things started on this series of "Macabre Movie Monday" posts, I thought I'd suggest the very movie for which Michael Rooker takes the lead role of 'Henry' in a controversial film which saw the censors delay it's release from 1986 to 1990 while they debated what rating to give it on account of the violent nature of it's content. To whet your appetite, here's the movie poster for the film:-

ORIGINAL USA CINEMA POSTER.....................IMAGE SOURCE: MoviePosterDB.com

Directed by John McNaughton, and starring (alongside Michael Rooker) Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold, Ted and Elizabeth Kaden plus Mary Demas (amongst others), it tells the story of 'Henry', a demented man living in a messed-up world, based loosely upon the exploits of notorious white trash serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. For those of you that have yet to see this dark & twisted horror movie, about a truly deranged and tormented soul, here's a brief taster of the film courtesy of the original theatrical trailer:-

If you'd like to know more there's a full list of the cast & credits on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) listing for "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer", FOUND HERE, which also includes a full storyline / plot summary as well as box office stats, technical specs & much more. For die-hard fans, there are even more tidbits of information on the Wikipedia Page for "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer", VIA THIS LINK, which may help to fuel your appetite for another screening. Although, as with the other horror films that I've featured recently, if you're already a big fan of this movie, you probably won't take too much persuading to watch it again !!

Anyway (once again) the best recommendation I can make, as to which of the available Roku channels you could use to watch this movie, is to suggest "YouTube" as your first port-of-call on account of the vast number of horror movies which, thanks to this channel and it's associated apps, are now readily available to stream via your Roku player(s) whenever you choose.

YOUTUBE.......................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

If you haven't already added it to your channel selection, you'll find "YouTube" listed among the "Internet TV" channels in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store and you can easily add it to your Roku player(s) by navigating to the built-in 'Channel Store' from the home screen and scrolling through the options until you see the (above) channel icon. It's completely FREE-TO-ADD as well as being FREE-TO-VIEW so, once you've located it in the list of channels, just click the "OK" button on your Roku remote to select it and then click "OK" again where it says 'Add channel' to install it on your Roku player(s). Having done that, it's simply a case of launching the channel via the 'Go to channel' option and navigating the on-screen menu to play "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer" on your Roku which, for the record, runs to 1h 23mins and can be found via the following link:-

LINK TO MOVIE: "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)" on 'YouTube'

PLEASE NOTE:- That the 'YouTube' video found by using the above link INCLUDES SUBTITLES for the deaf and hard-of-hearing AS STANDARD (meaning they cannot be turned off) so, if this is likely to bother you, then I suggest you look elsewhere for a copy of the film without subtitles. That said, in addition to the movie, there is an INTERVIEW with the director (RUN-TIME: 30 mins] which follows the movie, at the end of this 'YouTube' video, which DOES NOT INCLUDE SUBTITLES so, if you are deaf (or hard-of-hearing), you might want to bear that in mind too. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause to some of you, but these factors are completely beyond my control, so I respectfully ask that you please take up any issues with the original uploader. THANK YOU.

Meanwhile, for anyone interested, here's a rare (I believe) withdrawn poster that movie-goers may otherwise have encountered at cinemas had the censors (presumably) not had their way with that too:-

ORIGINAL (WITHDRAWN) POSTER..........IMAGE SOURCE: Best Serial Killer Movies

I imagine it was the artwork and (most likely) the wording depicted in the "mirror image" on the wall in this poster which caused most of the uproar and (no doubt) led to it's withdrawal at the time. Anyway, purely for reference purposes, here is an ENLARGED VERSION of the offending image:-

If you'd like to see it FULL SCREEN in all it's g(l)ory... then you'll find an EVEN BIGGER and much MORE DETAILED version of the above image hosted by 'MovieDevil.com', which can be viewed by navigating to their website USING THIS LINK.



Lastly, to round-off this first "Macabre Movie Monday" on 'Day Six' of the annual 'Countdown To Halloween', comes a few FRIGHTENINGLY FUN FILM FACTS for you... there are some striking similarities between real-life and the film, as you might expect from something based on a true-life serial killer. The "real" Henry (i.e. Henry Lee Lucas) became acquainted with a drifter & male prostitute, named Ottis Toole, whom he had met in a soup kitchen in Jacksonville (Florida)... whereas, the movie character 'Henry' met the similarly named 'Otis' while they were in prison. Secondly... whereas the "real" Henry became the lover of Toole's 12-year old niece, Frieda Powell, in the movie 'Becky' is Otis' younger sister and is considerably older than twelve. Interestingly, though, the real-life 'Becky' [a.k.a. Frieda Powell] preferred to be called "Becky" rather than her given name... drawing yet another parallel. As in the film, the mother of the "real" Henry was a violent prostitute, who often forced him to watch her while she had sex with clients, sometimes making him wear girls' clothing & dresses. Finally, Lucas' father lost both of his legs after being struck by a freight train... which is a story 'Henry' also tells during the course of the movie. However... despite these similarities, as the opening statement makes clear, the film is based more on the violent fantasies & confessions of Henry Lee Lucas, rather than the actual crimes for which he was convicted. That said, it doesn't make the movie feel any less "real" !!

Anyway, that's all for today... just remember to come back in 24-hours for 'Day Seven' and more Hallowe'en-themed content, courtesy of "Another CreatureFeature Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" when I will reveal the final "themed" day for every Tuesday throughout the month of October as we continue our "Countdown To Hallowe'en" for 2014...

Fangs (as always) for reading !!