Don't Always Disagree

  Ghostwatch      This is an odd one to analyze in at least three ways: it’s one of those foundational works whose influence is so widespread now it comes across as utterly familiar even though it was doing a lot of things for the first time . It’s also been well documented as a fictional program whose original notoriety came from people mistaking it for an actual documentary. Finally it’s almost thirty years old so it’s hard to put yourself in the headspace of someone watching it without context in 1992 when you’re watching it in 2020 with the television landscape and communications technology so fundamentally different.      Let’s do the best we can. ‘Ghostwatch’ was a 90 minute program that aired on October 31 st , 1992 on the flagship channel of the BBC, BBC1. Although it was promoted and listed in the Radio Times as a drama the fact that it was made and presented for its duration as an actual news broadcast fooled quite a number of pe...

  Road Games      This movie does not belong in this month. It’s like putting ‘Rear Window’ in a marathon with ‘Pscyho’ when it’s not even Alfred Hitchcock month. It may have been marke te d as such and the poster is certainly misleading but this is not a slasher film in any way, it’s a straight suspense thriller. Like two things in this poster are accurate.      Speaking of ‘Rear Window’ that was apparently the inspiration for this screenplay and when you watch it knowing that it really shows. Director Richard Franklin apparently gave screenwriter Everett De Roche a copy of ‘Rear Window’ while they were working on the film ‘Patrick’ in 1978. This inspired De Roche to take the basic premise of that movie, transport it to Australia, and change the character from a house-bound journalist to a long-haul truck driver who ke eps himself amused by observing the other motorists on Australia’s long, straight highways. Richard Franklin was a wel...

  Pilot Season – She-Wolf of London      While having an admittedly great title (possibly stolen from a 1946 film) this show has to have one of the most tortuous production histories I’ve ever seen. This show was a product of the Hollywood Premiere Network (HPN) which was formed in 1989, itself rising from the ashes of the Premier Program Service (PPS), an attempt by Paramount Domestic Television (‘War of the Worlds’) and MCA TV (the record label, which through various acquisitions had bought both a half-interest in the USA Network, the other half belonging to Paramount, and also purchased WWOR-TV in New York City, one of the largest independent tv stations in the country) to cobble together it s own “fourth network” in competition with the then-struggling Fox network. After the demise of PPS HPN was formed by partnering WWOR-TV with KCOP-TV in Los Angeles to form a kind of bifurcated national platform. It shopped around to other independent stations a two-ni...

  Terror Train      I think I’ve developed an interesting theory as to how I can tell if a movie i s any good or not. If the movie ends when the plot ends it i s likely not a very good movie. If the movie ends when the characters have reached the end of their character arc s it is more than likely a somewhat quality movie. Of course this requires watch ing the entire movie up until that point so hopefully I ’ve come to some sort of conclusion already but it’s something I’m going to keep in mind going forward . I like the idea, movie, but that is not a scary train.      I’m having a hard time with the plot mechanics of ‘Terror Train.’ Like ‘Prom Night’ it’s one of those slasher whodunnits that were a popular sub - genre during the 80’s. From what I understand the ‘Scream’ movies operate under this framework as well : the killer is an already established character or is pretending to be that character and part of the plot is working out ...

  Pilot Season – Werewolf      What a strange and fascinating relic of the 80’s I’ve stumbled across. I was actually looking up facts on ‘She Wolf of London’ (stay tuned) when this got caught up in my searches. I can honestly say I’d never heard a single thing about this show before. I mean, yep, that's a title card all right .      Back in 1987 the Fox broadcasting network was a fairly different beast than it is now. The rise and rise of Rupert Murdoch and the dread empire he built is far too big a subject to tackle for just this measly show but we can examine a slice for some background. First launched in 1986 The Fox Broadcasting Company was hardly the first attempt at a fourth broadcast network (after NBC, CBS, and ABC) but it was by far the most successful one. It was formed by the gradual takeover of 20 th Century Fox film studio and eventual full ownership of a number of flagships stations reaching roughly 20% of the American marke...