Showing posts with label Wicked Watch Wednesday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wicked Watch Wednesday. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku..... - Day #28 - WICKED WATCH WEDNESDAY (Episode 4)






Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...



... to 'Day Twenty-Eight' of "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" which brings us to the fourth & final instalment of "Wicked Watch Wednesday" for 2015 - a series of posts in which I have been recommending various horror movies that'll send shivers down your spine & outlining some channels through which those films can be streamed to your TV 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 could do worse than look back through the posts made via this blog EVERY WEDNESDAY since the start of October for more creepy cinema classics with which to "get your fright on" in readiness for Hallowe'en !!


Today, as with last week, rather than share just one movie with you - like I did in the earlier posts from this series - I thought I'd continue with a Roku channel that offers dozens of horror titles, among the multiple genres therein, to further boost the Hallowe'en movie choices for all you Roku film fans looking for an extra fright or two to keep the adrenaline pumping between now and All Hallows Eve. 


With only three days to go until Hallowe'en, you can never really have too much choice in terms of movie(s) to watch, so if you're partial to watching full-length movies that will "scare the heck out of you" on a Roku channel which prides itself on being able to showcase the brightest film-makers of tomorrow, 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. So, sit back... and relax, with your most luscious Hallowe'en libation, while you enjoy your pick of the horror flicks from another of our Hallowe'en / Horror-related Roku channel highlights !!






Once again, it will probably come as no surprise to you, that this movie-based Roku channel can be found in the "Movies & TV" genre (i.e. category) of the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store. Generally speaking the 'Popcornflix' channel provides an assortment of feature-length movies, compelling documentaries, foreign films and unique original web series... all of which can (currently) be watched completely free-of-charge. With multiple genres (i.e. categories) ranging from Action to Comedy, Crime to Drama as well as Family-Kids to Romance, plus Horror to Sci-Fi and a selection of Thrillers, you'll never be hard-pushed to find something that suits your taste. Perhaps best of all, though, is that ALL OF THE CONTENT on 'Popcornflix' IS COMPLETELY FREE-TO-WATCH !!


Obviously, having multiple genres to choose from in the main menu of the 'Popcornflix' 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) selection to be found in the "Horror" section of the 'Popcornflix' channel (incl. IMDB links) is as follows:-




My own PICK OF THE BUNCH here is "Pin" (1988), starring David Hewlett as 'Leon' alongside Cynthia Preston as 'Ursula', in the tale of a brother & sister whose lives are intertwined with that of their doctor father's anatomy doll, called "Pin" (short for "Pinocchio", in case you were wondering), and the various acts of ventriloquism which bring this psychological thriller to life... or, maybe that should be death?! Anyway... the trouble starts brewing when Ursula starts dating 'Stan', whose part in the film is played by John Pyper-Ferguson, and it is this which prompts Leon and 'Pin' to then take drastic action in what I consider to be a very much under-appreciated horror movie, directed by Sandor Stern. After that I would recommend Jeremy Saulnier's 2007 horror comedy, "Murder Party", starring Chris Sharp as 'Christopher S. Hawley', an "Average Joe" loser, who finds an invitation to a costume party on the eve of Hallowe'en but quickly realises this "party" is not quite what it seems. Having fallen prey to a rogue collective of deranged artists, intent on murdering him for the sake of their art, Chris takes advantage of rivalries within the group (in order to survive the night) sparking a bloodbath of mishap, mayhem and hilarity. What better than a movie which takes place at a Hallowe'en party, and bears the tagline "Everybody dies!", for getting you in the "spirit" for your own celebrations?! Failing that... my "wildcard" suggestion would be the lesser-known low budget sci-fi romp "Planet Of The Vampire Women", about a crew of mostly female intergalactic pirates who pull off a daring heist on a floating casino space station and elude capture, only to wind-up on a supposedly uninhabited planet which turns out to be a nightmare world overrun by all kinds of dangerous creatures. Directed by Darin Wood, this semi-homage to the film "Planet of the Vampires" is complete with the kind of terrible special effects that only a total cheese-fest such as this deserves. On the other end of the spectrum, THE ONE'S TO AVOID ARE... most certainly the likes of Dennis Devine's "Don't Look In The Cellar" (2008) and "Infection: The Invasion Begins" (2010) directed by Howard Wexler, plus "Midnight Mass" (2003) directed by Tony Mandile, and (perhaps) "Jack O'Lantern" (2004), directed by Ron McLellen. There's a plethora of others which could be considered as "so bad, they're good" so, if that's your thing, feel free to take your pick of the rest. In any event, love them or loathe them, this additional selection of horror-themed content will ensure that you have even more 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" while satisfying your appetite for more horror movies in the final days before Hallowe'en !!


Meanwhile, if you'd like to discover more about the 'Popcornflix' channel for Roku player, you can do so via their Official Website FOUND HERE. Those wishing to connect with the 'Popcornflix' channel can use their Twitter Feed: @PopcornflixNews or else, get social via: Popcornflix (Facebook)


It may further interest you to know that according to the channel description for 'Popcornflix', taken from the Official Roku Website, the channel was developed for Roku by a company called Float Left Interactive. Should you need to contact this developer, you can do so via their Twitter Feed: @FL_Interactive or else, get social through: Float Left Interactive (Facebook). Of course, you can also find out more about Float Left Interactive by visiting their Official Website 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 'Popcornflix' movie 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:- popcornflix


Anyway, that's pretty much all there is to it, except to point out that the 'Popcornflix' channel has been given an average score of "3.5 out of 5" from  24, 646 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 OF THE FILMS ARE 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 something different featured in tomorrow's post. So, while that's all I've got to say in this final instalment of "Wicked Watch Wednesday" for 2015... remember to come back in 24-hours for 'Day Twenty-Nine' of "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", when I reveal the very last batty brew, creepy cocktail or wicked wine for "Toxic Tipple Thursday", as the "Countdown To Hallowe'en" 2015 draws even nearer to it's conclusion. Meanwhile, be sure to visit the other contributors to the 2015 Countdown To Hallowe'en & see what Hallowe'en treats they have in store for you ahead of the annual festivities on October 31st !!



Fangs again, for stopping by !!




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Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku..... - Day #21 - WICKED WATCH WEDNESDAY (Episode 3)





Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...



... to the third instalment of "Wicked Watch Wednesday" in which I aim to recommend something wonderfully wicked for you to watch EVERY WEDNESDAY between now and Hallowe'en !!


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 each & every Wednesday in the build-up to October 31st for more creepy cinema classics to "get your fright on" in readiness for your own Hallowe'en celebrations !!


Today, rather than share just one movie with you, I thought I'd continue with another Roku channel that offers a selection of Cult Classics, Thrillers and Vintage Horror, among the multiple genres therein, to boost the Hallowe'en / Horror movie choices for all you Roku film fans out there looking for an extra fright or two to keep the adrenaline pumping between now and All Hallows Eve. So, sit back... and relax, with your most luscious Hallowe'en libation, while you enjoy your pick of the horror flicks from another of our Hallowe'en / Horror-related Roku channel highlights !!







It probably comes as no surprise to you, that this classic movie-based Roku channel can be found in the "Movies & TV" genre (i.e. category) of the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store. Generally speaking, 'Pop Flix Classic Movies' provides an assortment of hundreds of movie classics ranging from Action to Comedy, Cult Classics to Drama, Vintage Horror to  Martial Arts, plus Romance, Thrillers & Westerns. As such, you can expect to see anything from "Tarzan The Fearless" to "Attack Of The Giant Leeches" or the horror classic, "Night Of The Living Dead". Perhaps best of all, is that these movies are ALL COMPLETELY FREE TO WATCH although the hidden "cost" of this is that all of the featured movies are ad-supported.


Obviously, having multiple genres to choose from in the main menu of the 'Pop Flix Classic Movies' channel means that not all of the included content is relevant to this post. As I mentioned before, there are other loosely relevant genres included (such as Cult Classics and Thriller, or perhaps even Drama) in which you might find some "Pop Flix" classic movie that grabs you but, sticking to the general theme of Hallowe'en, the (current) selection that can be found in the "Horror" category of the 'Pop Flix Classic Movies' channel on UK Roku player (incl. IMDB links) is as follows:-




My own PICK OF THE BUNCH, if perhaps slightly obvious to most true horror fans out there, WOULD HAVE TO BE... George A. Romero's "Night Of The Living Dead", closely followed by William Castle's "House On Haunted Hill" BUT... having already covered those in previous posts for this month-long blogathon, I'm going to nominate Roger Corman's "A Bucket Of Blood" as the best option for those of you who have already watched the first two. Other than that, I'd also recommend Eugenio Martin's "Horror Express" and Maxwell Shane's "Fear In The Night", plus Giulio Questi's "Death Laid An Egg" and Francis Ford Coppola's "Dementia 13" as worthy of watching, in terms of classic vintage horror. On the other end of the scale, in my opinion, THE ONE'S TO AVOID ARE... the likes of Roberto Bianchi Montero's "Island Monster" and "Isle Of The Snake People" by Juan Ibanez & Jack Hill, plus Roger Corman's "Creature From The Haunted Sea" which pales in comparison to his other work here. Still, love them or loathe them, this classic vintage horror content will 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" while, at the same time, helping to satisfy your appetite for vintage horror movies in the build-up to Hallowe'en !!


According to the channel description for the 'Pop Flix Classic Movies' channel, 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 'World Worth Watching' channel on Roku player, as featured on day nineteen in this series of posts, not to mention the MANY OTHER FAMILIAR CHANNELS they have created for Roku channel store(s) IN ALL REGIONS. Should you need to contact the 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 the developer of the 'Pop Flix Classic Movies' channel on Roku 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 website. 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 their company or any of the other channels they have developed for Roku.


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 'Pop Flix Classic Movies' 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 'Add Channel' button:-


ACCESS CODE:- popflixmovies


Anyway, that's pretty much all there is to it, except to point out that the 'Pop Flix Classic Movies' channel has been given an average score of "3.5 out of 5" from 1,292 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 the fact that ALL FILMS ARE FREE TO WATCH too !!


So, while that's all for today, do remember to come back in 24-hours for 'Day Twenty-Two' and more Hallowe'en-themed content, courtesy of "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", when I will reveal the next devilish drink for "Toxic Tipple Thursday", and (again) this time next week for the final "Wicked Watch Wednesday" as we continue our "Countdown To Hallowe'en" 2015...



Fangs (as always) for reading !!




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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku..... - Day #14 - WICKED WATCH WEDNESDAY (Episode 2)






Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...



... to the second instalment of "Wicked Watch Wednesday" in which I aim to recommend something wonderfully wicked for you to watch EVERY WEDNESDAY between now and October 31st !!


In our house, we have Hallowe'en "traditions" much like we do for other annual festivities and, as with those other occasions, there are certain movies that are our favourites for the time of year and which we come back to (again and again) year after year. So, having begun this series of posts with a look at "Night of the Living Dead", for the first episode of "Wicked Watch Wednesday" last week, it seemed only right to suggest the 1978 sequel to that film as the subject matter for this followup post, as we have done in years gone by. Those of you who read the first instalment in this series of posts, may recall my mentioning that "Night of the Living Dead" (NoTLD) could well have provided the original inspiration for the (current) popular television series, "The Walking Dead"... but, this sequel goes far beyond "inspiration" and I may even go so far as to suggest it acted as a 'blueprint' for developing some of the storyline(s) for the zombie-based television series by expanding the apocalyptic vision beyond an isolated farmhouse to depict, on a much larger scale, the effects of a zombie plague on the wider society. It was almost two years later (29th June 1980) before it hit British cinemas but, when it did, here is the poster which would have greeted cinema-goers in the UK when it screened on these shores:-






ORIGINAL BRITISH QUAD POSTER.....................IMAGE SOURCE: Wrong Side Of The Art



Again directed by George A. Romero, but this time starring David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, David Crawford, Richard France plus Howard Smith (amongst others), as none of the original characters from 'NoTLD' were featured, it follows the exploits of four more "survivors" as they flee the ever-expanding zombie plague, which began with the original 'NoTLD', and take refuge in an abandoned shopping mall. Tensions build as time goes on and they realise it's not just the zombies they have to fend off, when they begin to fall prey to consumerism as well as having to defend themselves against a large gang of bikers who decide to invade the mall. Anyway, for those of you that have yet to see this "cult classic", here's a brief taster of the film courtesy of the original 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 "Dawn Of The Dead", 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 is even more information to be had from the Wikipedia Page for "Dawn Of The Dead", VIA THIS LINK, which may help to fuel your appetite for (yet) another screening. Although, if you're as much of a fan as we are, you probably won't take too much persuading to watch it again !!


As with many of the films I've highlighted thus far, 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 got it in your channel selection, you can easily add it to your Roku player(s) using the recently introduced Roku 'Search' feature. Just start typing "YouTube" into the text entry box within Roku 'Search' and it will soon appear in the results column on the right. In fact, you will (most likely) only have to enter the letter "y" before it pops up in the list of results! For those who prefer to look it up the old-fashioned way, you'll find "YouTube" listed among the "Internet TV" channels in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store - itself, found by navigating to 'Streaming Channels' from the home screen and scrolling through the options - then click "OK" to access the list of "Internet TV" channels and scroll up (or down) until you see the channel icon (as per image above). The good news is... that 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, launch the channel via the 'Go to channel' option and navigate the on-screen menu to play "Dawn Of The Dead" [Extended Mall Hours (Uncut)] on your Roku, which runs to 2h 35mins, and can be found at:-



Meanwhile, to add a little more of that cinematic experience, here's a few of the other posters that movie-goers would have encountered depending on their particular location around the world:-






ORIGINAL USA ONE SHEET POSTER.....................IMAGE SOURCE: Wrong Side Of The Art






ORIGINAL FRENCH ONE SHEET POSTER............IMAGE SOURCE: Wrong Side Of The Art






ORIGINAL SPANISH ONE SHEET POSTER.............IMAGE SOURCE: Wrong Side Of The Art



For further movie memorabilia pertaining to "Dawn Of The Dead", I suggest that you visit a website called "Homepage of the Dead", FOUND HERE, where you'll find everything from posters, t-shirts, lobby cards, movie stills, button badges, DVD covers & much, MUCH MORE from around the globe. Another interesting site, containing 'Fan Art Posters' for the "Dawn of the Dead" movie, comes in the shape of a blog called "Beyond Horror Design" which can be found VIA THIS LINK. Meanwhile, for more genuine movie posters from around the world, you should also visit "The Film League" webpage for the "Dawn of the Dead" movie,  AT THIS ADDRESS, which contains one or two items not found on the "Homepage of the Dead" and/or "Wrong Side Of The Art" websites for die-hard fans.


Finally, to round-off this second instalment of "Wicked Watch Wednesday" on 'Day Fourteen' of the annual 'Countdown To Halloween', comes a few FRIGHTENINGLY FUN FILM FACTS for you... in addition to directing the movie "Dawn of the Dead", George A. Romero has a cameo role in the film as the "director" in the WGON TV Studios, as well as a second cameo playing "Old Nick", which is the name given to the 'Santa Claus' biker, seen (briefly) in the motorcycle raid on the mall. Also, being the budget-conscious film-maker that he was, George A. Romero even employed the services of his wife, Christine Forrest, in a cameo role as Assistant to the Director (i.e. himself) for the scenes shot at the WGON TV Studios. Talk about keeping it in the family !!


In the meantime, for those of you seeking even more tidbits of trivia from the "Dawn of the Dead" movie, you should check out the detailed listing on the IMDB website, FOUND HERE, where you will find an abundance of interesting film facts that should keep you occupied for quite some time !!


Anyway, that's all for today... just remember to come back in 24-hours for 'Day Fifteen' and more Hallowe'en-themed content, courtesy of "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", when I will reveal the next devilish drink for "Toxic Tipple Thursday", and (again) this time next week for another "Wicked Watch Wednesday" as we continue our "Countdown To Hallowe'en" 2015...



Fangs (as always) for reading !!





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