Sunday, October 25, 2015

Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku..... - Day #25 - SHOCKING SUNDAY SURPRISE (Scare Four)






Welcome back once more, Boils & Ghouls !!



As I'm sure you're all aware, there's now just six days to go in the Countdown To Hallowe'en 2015... but, fortunately, that still leaves time for another six spooktacular posts until my month-long blogathon, "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", finally comes to an end on October 31st. If you missed the previous instalments earlier this month then I recommend you go back and take a look at the entire series of posts since, by doing so, you'll be well on your way to having the best Hallowe'en ever, with all of the horror-related Roku content that's been shared (so far) in this spooktacular series !!


Meanwhile... here we are, less than a week away from Hallowe'en, and we're still continuing to bring  horror to the masses by showing you how best to stream it via your Roku player(s). So... what's next on the agenda ?!! Well, as mentioned previously, we think you can never have too much choice in terms of movie(s) to watch over the Hallowe'en season... so, we've continued to scour all of the available channels on the Roku player and (once again) we've managed to come up with another selection of movies for you to choose from. Suffice it to say that, if you're partial to accessing the wealth of content in the public domain, from the comfort of your living room and easily streaming it to your television (via your Roku) then you'll definitely want to add this to your current channel selection, as you prepare for some Hallowe'en / Horror-themed binge-viewing in the build-up to October 31st !!






Once again, it probably comes as no surprise, this public domain content-based Roku channel can be found in the "Movies & TV" genre (i.e. category) of the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store. Generally speaking, the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel provides an assortment of content including classic films, trailers, tv shows, cartoons, radio & more, covering the period from the 1930's to 1940's, 50's, 60's, 70's & beyond... all of which can (currently) be watched completely free-of-charge. With multiple genres (i.e. categories) ranging from Action/Adventure to Cartoons, Cautionary Films, Comedy, Commercials, Crime, Drama, Educational Films, Flick or Treat, Horror & Sci-Fi, plus Old Time Radio, Silent Films, Thrillers/Suspense, TV and Westerns, you'll never be hard-pushed to find something that suits your taste. As such you can expect to see anything from the comedy, set in 16th century Spain, known as "The Adventures Of Don Quixote" (1933) directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, to the animated short "There's Good Boos Tonight" (1948), directed by Izzy Sparber, which features Casper The Friendly Ghost, or else the sixties family comedy that is "The Beverly Hillbillies", created by Paul Henning, about a nouveau-riche hillbilly family that moves to Beverly Hills and shakes up the privileged society with their Hayseed ways. You'll find multiple episodes of this and many other classic television series available to watch via the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel on Roku. Perhaps best of all, is that all of the content on the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel is COMPLETELY FREE-TO-WATCH too !!


Obviously, having multiple genres to choose from in the main menu of the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel means that not all of the included content is entirely relevant to this post. So, sticking to the general theme of Hallowe'en, the (current) selections to be found in the "Flick or Treat" plus "Horror and Sci-Fi" sections of the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel (incl. IMDB links) are as follows:-




Flick or Treat (22 Titles)


  • The Beverly Hillbillies [TV Show] (1962) - S01E06 - "Trick Or Treat" (0h 25m)
  • The Black Raven [Feature Film] (1943) [dir. Sam Newfield] (1h 01m)
  • Carnival Of Souls [Feature Film] (1962) [dir. Herk Harvey] (1h 22m)
  • Darkness: Life Span [Radio Show] - OTR Horror / Suspense, Hosted by Claude
  • Dominique [Feature Film] (1979) [dir. Michael Anderson] (1h 35m)
  • Encounter With The Unknown [Horror Anthology] (1973) [dir. Harry Thomason] (1h 30m)
  • Escape: Three Skeleton Key [Radio Show] (1950) Vincent Price, Harry Bartell & Jeff Corey in a chilling tale of three men trapped in an isolated lighthouse by thousands of rats (0h 30m)
  • The Fall Of The House Of Usher [Horror Short] (1928) [dir. M. Webber] (12m 45s)
  • Frankenstein's Planet Of Monsters [Feature Film] (1995) [dir. Brad Anderson] (0h 50m) N.B. includes additional Hallowe'en segments (approx. 30 mins) [TOTAL TIME: 1h 19m]
  • Hallowe'en In Carson City [Home Movie] - Nevada Yard Haunt Footage (05m 41s)
  • The Hermit's Cave: The Vampire's Desire [Radio Show] (1941) OTR Horror Anthology
  • House On Haunted Hill [Feature Film] (1959) [dir. William Castle] (1h 14m)
  • It's Alive [Feature Film] (1969) [dir. Larry Buchanan] (1h 20m)
  • Jasper And The Haunted House [Animated Short] (1942) [dir. George Pal] (0h 7m)
  • Mercury Theater On The Air  [Radio Show] - Bram Stoker's "Dracula", with Orson Welles
  • Night Of The Living Dead [Feature Film] (1968) [dir. George A. Romero] (1h 35m)
  • Nightmare Castle - "Amanti d'oltretomba" [Feature Film] (1965) [dir. Mario Caiano] (1h 19m)
  • Nosferatu [Feature Film] (1922) [dir. F. W. Murnau] Silent Era Classic "Dracula" Film (1h 22m)
  • Paranormal Investigation: Hallowe'en 2004 - Talbot Hotel in Surrey [Video] (05m 03s)
  • The Phantom Of The Opera [Feature Film] (1925) [dir. Rupert Julian, Lon Chaney] (1h 46m)
  • Scream Bloody Murder [Feature Film] (1973) [dir. Marc B. Ray] (1h 25m)
  • Unsolved Mysteries: The Lizzie Borden Case [Radio Show] (1936) OTR Mystery (0h 14m)



Horror and Sci-Fi (109 Titles)




Given that there are only twenty-two titles available in the "Flick or Treat" genre, it's a shame that more than one third of those are also listed among the one hundred and nine titles which comprise the "Horror and Sci-Fi" genre. That said, you still have well over one hundred unique titles to choose from across the two genres and, once you've accessed the main menu of the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel, you'll doubtless find a few others that interest you among the included titles from the remaining genres. 


Still... looking firstly at the "Flick or Treat" category, and (as before) ignoring all titles that have received a special mention in previous posts from this series, my own PICK OF THE BUNCH from the remainder (if a bit obvious to all true horror fans out there) WOULD HAVE TO BE... the short adaptation of "The Fall Of The House Of Usher" (1928) directed by Melville Webber & James Sidley Watson, closely followed by Bram Stoker's "Dracula", taken from the vintage radio show "Mercury Theater On The Air", starring Orson Welles, and "The Black Raven" (1943), directed by Sam Newfield. Aside from that, I'd also recommend checking out the other OTR Shows, as well as the short video "Hallowe'en In Carson City" to see footage of the way that houses are often decorated for Hallowe'en in the USA. On the other end of the scale, ONE'S TO AVOID ARE... most certainly the likes of Larry Buchanan's "It's Alive" (1969) and, perhaps, "Scream Bloody Murder" (1973) directed by Marc B. Ray. After that, you can pretty much take your pick of the rest and you should be alright. 


Moving on to the "Horror and Sci-Fi" category, and (again) ignoring those titles that I've already mentioned in previous posts, as well as those which are also listed under the "Flick or Treat" category, my PICK OF THE BUNCH here is definitely the horror classic, "Deep Red" [aka "Profondo Rosso"] (1975) directed by Dario Argento, closely followed by "Spider Baby" (1968), written & directed by Jack Hill. After that, would be "Daughter Of Horror" (1955), directed by John Parker. Also worthy of a mention is the José Mojica Marins classic, "At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul" from 1964, plus Tod Browning's "Mark Of The Vampire" from 1935. As for non-horror picks, I'd recommend "Star Wreck: In The Pirkinning" (2005), directed by Timo Vuorensola, for a touch of Star Trek related humour, and "Non-Stop New York" (1937), directed by Robert Stevenson, for it's crime drama come murder plot with a bit of a romantic spin, as well as the sci-fi drama of "Transatlantic Tunnel"(1935), directed by Maurice Elvey. On the flip side of the coin, THE ONE'S TO AVOID ARE... the likes of "Manos: The Hands Of Fate"(1966) by Harold P. Warren and the TV movie "Curse Of Bigfoot" from 1976, directed by Dave Flocker. Other howlers that are worth a miss are "The Beast Of Yucca Flats" (1961), directed by Coleman Francis, plus "Horrors Of Spider Island" (1960), directed by Fritz Böttger, and not forgetting "The White Gorilla" (1945), directed by Harry L. Fraser, and "Mesa Of Lost Women" (1953) directed by Ron Ormond & Herbert Tevos. Still, love them or loathe them, this mix of Halloween 'Flick or Treat' content plus the abundance of public domain Horror and Sci-Fi movies will nevertheless ensure that you have plenty of ways to pass the time between my daily doses of Roku-related Hallowe'en horror in "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" as well as satisfying your appetite for Horror & Sci-Fi content in the final build-up to Hallowe'en 2015 !!


Meanwhile, if you'd like to discover more about the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel for Roku player, you can do so via their official website FOUND HERE. Those wishing to connect with the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel can use their Twitter Feed: @PubDHub or else, get social via: Pub-D-Hub (Facebook)


It may further interest you to know that, according to the channel description for 'Pub-D-Hub', taken from the Official Roku Website, the channel was developed for Roku by a company called Shadow Mountain Ventures LLC, who are a small group of people in eastern Pennsylvania that share a love for classic television, film and radio. You can read more about their collaboration in the paragraph entitled "Who is Pub-D-Hub?" which can be easily found VIA THIS LINK.


Those of you who wish to add this channel to the Hallowe'en-themed entertainment on your Roku player(s) but are, perhaps, unable to access the Channel Store on your device at this precise moment... can also take care of things by simply LOGGING-IN to your Online Roku Account, scrolling down to the 'Manage Account' section, and using the "Add a Channel" option. That way, when you do have access to your Roku player, the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel will be there ready for you to watch whenever you so choose !! All you must do to achieve this, is type the following access code under "Add a Channel" and click the 'Add Channel' button:-


ACCESS CODE:- pubdhub


Anyway, that's pretty much all there is to it, except to point out that the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel has been given an average score of "4.0 out of 5" from 3, 590 ratings (so far) in the channel store description from the Official Roku Website. That statistic alone should be reason enough for you to give this Roku channel a try, never mind that ALL THE CONTENT IS FREE-TO-WATCH too !!


Having said that, if this particular Hallowe'en / Horror themed Roku channel was not to your liking then FEAR NOT because there will be another one featured in tomorrow's post, continuing the month-long blogathon that is: "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" where we'll be bringing you more devilish delights EACH AND EVERY DAY from now UNTIL HALLOWE'EN...



... so, just remember to come back in 24-hours for 'Day Twenty-Six' and more Hallowe'en-themed content, courtesy of "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", when I will reveal your next helping of horror in the last "Macabre Movie Monday" of our "Countdown To Hallowe'en". Plus, when you're done here, be sure to visit the other contributors to the 2015 Countdown To Hallowe'en and see what Hallowe'en treats they have in store for you between now and October 31st! :-)



Fangs (as always) for reading !!





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