Thursday, October 24, 2013

A MummyVision Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku - Day #24 PUSH YOUR HORROR LIMITS THIS HALLOWE'EN, BY WATCHING 'THRESHOLD PLUS'... TV ON THE EDGE !!!





Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls !!



There's now just one more week to go in the Countdown To Hallowe'en 2013... which only leaves seven more posts 'til my month-long blogathon, "A MummyVision Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", comes to an end on October 31st. If you missed the previous instalments, earlier this month, the series began with details of a Hallowe'en ScreamSaver, complete with it's own spooky soundtrack, followed by a Roku channel dedicated to Vintage Horror Classics, then some Hallowe'en "How-To" videos, a Roku channel for fans of the paranormal and then another for devotees of independent horror. After that came a channel dedicated to the open discussion of UFO's and UFO-related activities plus a further selection of Cult Films, Sci-Fi Classics & Vintage Horror. Since then, we've provided details of a Roku channel brimming with creepy cocktail suggestions, another with more classic Hallowe'en movie choices, and then details of a Roku channel that mixes paranormal reality tv shows with powerful documentaries, mysteries, conspiracy theories, UFO's and plenty else besides. The next two instalments saw yet more Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy movies on one channel plus some Hallowe'en / Horror-themed music, courtesy of a Roku radio channel, on another. We then brought you details of a live-streaming horror channel, to add yet another dynamic to the Hallowe'en entertainment on your Roku players plus some close encounters of the third kind, courtesy of a Roku channel dedicated to the subject of aliens and UFO's. Add to that two more Roku channels bringing fresh selections of Sci-Fi & Horror Movies plus more "Halloween Horror" films, then another channel with a bunch of J-Horror, K-Horror and every other kind of Asian horror that you can imagine. Then throw in yet another helping of vintage horror movies, together with a whole host of Hallowe'en recipes to add to the macabre menu for your spooktacular soirée. Add to that a side-order of indie underground horror seasoned with a dash of the weird & paranormal, plus some more hard-to-find horror movies & TV series, and then throw in a little zombie action, some slashers & killers, as well as a few more "Films of the Undead" plus a few ghost stories courtesy of Nowhereman's Archive.org client for the Roku player and you're well on your way to having the best Hallowe'en ever, with all that's been covered (so far) in this spooktacular series !!



Meanwhile, here we are with only seven days to go until October 31st and, we're still intent on bringing  horror to the masses by streaming it to their Roku players. So... what's next on the agenda ?!! Well, given that Hallowe'en and horror movies go hand-in-hand, we think that you can never have too much choice in terms of movie(s) to watch, so we've scoured all of the available channels on the Roku player and managed to come up with some more movies for you to choose from. Suffice to say that, if you're partial to watching classic science-fiction, horror or fantasy movies from years gone by, then you'll definitely want to add this to your channel selection, as you prepare for Hallowe'en !!








It probably comes as no surprise to you, that this Sci-Fi, Horror & Fantasy Movie-based Roku channel can be found in the "Film & TV" genre (i.e. category) of the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store (or, alternatively, under "Movies & TV", for Roku owners in the USA). Generally speaking the 'Threshold Plus' channel provides an assortment of FREE sci-fi, horror and fantasy content, taken from both the Threshold Network and the Threshold Collection, with movies featuring some of Hollywood's biggest & brightest stars... and all of which can (currently) be watched (on an ad-supported basis) completely free-of-charge. With basic genres (i.e. categories) including "Now Playing" and "More Threshold Favorites", plus separate categories for the "Flash Gordon" serial (all 13 episodes) from 1936, starring Buster Crabbe (as Flash Gordon), Jean Rogers (as Dale Arden), Charles Middleton (as Ming the Merciless) and Priscilla Lawson (as Princess Aura), as well as Fleischer's 1940's "Superman" cartoons (17 episodes), and the entire first season (all 22 episodes) of the lesser-known paranormal suspense series "One Step Beyond", not to mention a collection of sci-fi, horror & fantasy film trailers, you'll never be hard-pushed to find something that suits your taste. As such, you can expect to see anything from the animated classic family adventure "Gulliver's Travels" (1939) directed by Dave Fleischer, to "Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon" (1942), directed by Roy William Neill, which starred Basil Rathbone (as 'Holmes') with Nigel Bruce (as 'Watson') and Lionel Atwill (as 'Moriarty'), or else the vintage science-fiction masterpiece that is "Metropolis" (1927), directed by Fritz Lang, which must be one of the greatest movies of that genre and, if you haven't yet seen it, then you really ought to do so while you have this opportunity. Perhaps best of all, though, is that all of the content on the 'Threshold Plus' channel is COMPLETELY FREE-TO-WATCH when viewing on an ad-supported basis. However you are also given the choice to pay & watch individual items on an entirely ad-free basis for that full, uninterrupted viewing experience. The cost of the ad-free service is $0.99 per item but as I always say, for the sake of sitting through a few commercials, I think you're better off going down the ad-supported route and maybe spending your money on some popcorn to eat while you watch any, or all, of this classic content for FREE !!



Obviously, having multiple genres to choose from in the main menu of the 'Threshold Plus' channel means that not all of the included content is entirely relevant to this post. However, since the bulk of the content movie-wise is split between the categories of  "Now Playing" and "More Threshold Favorites", and that is comprised entirely of sci-fi, horror & fantasy films, pretty much all of the included content is completely relevant to this post. In fact, you'd be hard pushed to find anything within those categories that doesn't fit the general theme of Hallowe'en. So, ignoring the classic series such as "Flash Gordon", "Superman" and "One Step Beyond", plus the "Trailers" category, the (current) selections to be found in the "Now Playing" and "More Threshold Favorites" sections of 'Threshold Plus' channel (incl. IMDB links) are as follows:-




Now Playing (45 Titles)





More Threshold Favorites (98 Titles)







Looking firstly at the "Now Playing" category, and ignoring those films which have already received a special mention in previous posts from the series, my own PICK OF THE BUNCH, although more animation than movie and more sci-fi than horror, WOULD HAVE TO BE... "Fantastic Planet" [aka "La Planète Sauvage", such was it's original title] (1973) directed by René Laloux, closely followed by Archie Mayo's "Svengali" (1931) and "The Last Man On Earth" (1964), directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow, which starred Vincent Price. Other than that, I'd also recommend Joseph Ruben's "Dreamscape" (1984), plus the 1960 adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", directed by Ernest Morris. On the other end of the scale, ONE'S TO AVOID ARE... most certainly the likes of Leonard Kirtman's "Curse Of The Headless Horseman" (1972) and "R.O.T.O.R." (1988) directed by Cullen Blaine, as well as the 1971 film "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" by Al Adamson. Other howlers that could probably do with a miss are "Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks" (1974) by Dick Randall, and "The Forest", directed by Don Jones, from 1982. If you'd like other recommendations from this list, just leave a comment and I'll suggest more for you to watch, or to avoid (if you prefer).



Moving on to the "More Threshold Favorites" category, and (again) ignoring those titles that I've already mentioned, my PICK OF THE BUNCH here WOULD BE a toss-up between the classic horror anthology, "Asylum" (1972), directed by Roy Ward Baker, and the demonic tale where art imitates art, that is "Demons" (1985), directed by Lamberto Bava. After that, would probably be "Invaders From Mars" (1953), directed by William Cameron Menzies. Also worthy of a mention is the Leslie Norman classic, "X: The Unknown" from 1956, as well as "The Awful Dr. Orlof" (1962), directed by Jesús Franco, and "The Man In The Attic" (1953), directed by Hugo Fregonese. On the flip side of the coin, THE ONE'S TO AVOID ARE... the likes of "Space Mutiny"(1988), which was directed by David Winters & Neal Sundstrom, plus Rafael Portillo's "The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy" from 1958. Still, love them or loathe them, this mix of sci-fi, horror and fantasy-themed content will ensure you have plenty to pass the time between my daily doses of Roku-related Hallowe'en horror in "A MummyVision Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" while, at the same time, satisfying your appetite for even more movies in the build-up to Hallowe'en !!



Meanwhile, if you'd like to discover more about the 'Threshold Plus' channel for Roku player, you can do so via their Official Website FOUND HERE. Alternatively, you can visit the dedicated page on their developer's website VIA THIS LINK. Those wishing to connect with 'Threshold Plus' can use their Twitter Feed: @ThresholdNet or else, get social with them via: Threshold Plus (Facebook)



It may further interest you to know that, according to the channel description for 'Threshold Plus', taken from the Official Roku Website, the channel was developed for Roku by a company called adRise. If that name happens to sound familiar to you, it could be because that company is also responsible for the development of the 'Premiere' channel on Roku player (as featured on day eleven in this series of posts) as well as the 'ADC' channel (featured on day sixteen in the series) not to mention the MANY OTHER FAMILIAR CHANNELS they have created over the years for Roku channel store(s) IN ALL REGIONS. Should you need to contact this developer, you can do so via their Twitter Feed: @ad_Rise or else, get social through: adRise (Facebook). Of course, you can always find out more about adRise by visiting their Official Website VIA THIS LINK, or by using their CONTACT FORM to ask a specific question that you may not have been able to find an answer to on their site. The folks at adRise would also like to hear from you if you're interested in partnering with them (either as content owners or advertisers), if you have some news to share, or if you'd just like to know more about the many other channels that they have developed for the Roku player. 



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 Private Channel" option. That way, when you do have access to your Roku player, the 'Threshold Plus' 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 Private Channel" and click the blue 'Add Channel' button:-



ACCESS CODE:- thresholdplus



Anyway, that's pretty much all there is to it, except to point out that the 'Threshold Plus' channel has been given an average score of "3.5 out of 5" from 302 ratings (so far) in the channel store description from the Official Roku Website. That statistic alone should be reason enough to give this a try, never mind that ALL THE FILMS ARE FREE TO WATCH too (even if they are ad-supported) !!



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: "A MummyVision Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku"which will bring you more devilish delights EACH AND EVERY DAY from now UNTIL HALLOWE'EN and when you're done with this blog, don't forget to visit the other contributors to the 2013 Countdown To Hallowe'en and see what Hallowe'en treats they have in store for you between now and 31st October !!



Fangs again, for stopping by !!





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