tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post3533689439347797461..comments2024-03-08T03:14:02.855+11:00Comments on This Island Rod: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)Roderick Heathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08107539379079558068noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-42490313089086094042010-10-23T03:53:35.208+11:002010-10-23T03:53:35.208+11:00Yes I waited a long time for that legitimate DVD r...Yes I waited a long time for that legitimate DVD release of THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW!Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-6188437015968321062010-10-23T02:26:44.887+11:002010-10-23T02:26:44.887+11:00Just in case you weren't aware -- DARK NIGHT O...Just in case you weren't aware -- DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW is now available on DVD and I watched all of those James adaptations on YouTube.Troy Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14843741571724231174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-63081968879615348342010-10-23T02:17:40.318+11:002010-10-23T02:17:40.318+11:00I'm actually quite jealous you've seen som...I'm actually quite jealous you've seen some of those semi-legendary BBC MR James adaptations, Troy. I also have vivid memories of the first part of <i>Dark Night of the Scarecrow</i> glimpsed as a terrified youngster - never got to see the end though.Roderick Heathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08107539379079558068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-11312468757448121592010-10-22T16:28:13.200+11:002010-10-22T16:28:13.200+11:00On the subject of made-for-TV -- a lot of that is ...On the subject of made-for-TV -- a lot of that is likely due to the often poor lighting employed by TV productions, along with the fact that they may have been shot on video (I know this is the case for lots of TV shows, but perhaps not for TV movies). This creates a darker contrast which perhaps enhances the horror experience.<br /><br />Anyways, in addition to SALEM'S LOT, which you mentioned, I also liked DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW and the several M.R. James adaptions that the BBC produced. When it came out, I love THE STAND, but having watched it recently, it doesn't look so good.Troy Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14843741571724231174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-68637468489205395932010-10-21T12:32:23.394+11:002010-10-21T12:32:23.394+11:00Hi Troy; nice to see slumming in TIR's vicinit...Hi Troy; nice to see slumming in TIR's vicinity.<br /><br />As I've said, the murky look was largely there from the start with the cheapo lighting. But that's neither here nor there, really - it's a bit like old <i>In Search Of...</i> episodes - the graininess adds to the effect. I'm interested in what you say about TV horror, because there's a kind of filtering quality to that sort of thing that's left me looking at quite a few good examples, perhaps mostly from British television - eg <i>The Stone Tape, The Woman in Black</i> Nigel Kneale in general, and some other BBC-produced fare; and <i>Salem's Lot</i> and a couple of other examples from the States, where the relative limitations of TV actually helped them in forcing them to be suggestive and eerie at a time when horror was turning ever more tackily shock-based. But it's definitely true that likewise I saw very, very little good stuff when I was growing up. I think <i>Count Duckula</i> was the most gothic regular show on TV was I was a young 'un. <br /><br />Anyway, like you I went in with high expectations and didn't quite have them met. But I'm still very glad I finally got to see this.Roderick Heathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08107539379079558068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-21320602862856286612010-10-21T03:34:26.559+11:002010-10-21T03:34:26.559+11:00Great review (as always).
Though this was made be...Great review (as always).<br /><br />Though this was made before I was born, I did get a chance to see it on VHS about 10 years ago (picked it up at a going out of business video store) and proceeded to watch in my room on a 13" TV. I think the combo of small TV and shoddy VHS quality combined to get rid of a lot of the qualms you bring up in the visual aesthetics. Everything was simply too murky looking to be able to fully decide where the cheap made-for-TV part ended and the shoddy quality of what I was watching it on started.<br /><br />As for the movie, I was impressed at the ability of it to draw some tension in its deliberate pacing, considering the film's roots (I grew up in an era where TV horror was mostly a joke). I went in with fairly high expectations, as this was a bit of a cult favorite, and thought that those expectations were met.Troy Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14843741571724231174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-64575402742504008992010-10-20T12:53:54.722+11:002010-10-20T12:53:54.722+11:00Thanks for bringing a bit of erudite familiarity t...Thanks for bringing a bit of erudite familiarity to the table, Sam. Newland certainly had some talent for this sort of thing. I kind of wish the film hadn't been so slapdash in production (and that Kim Darby wasn't in it), because there was potential in the material that could have been more thoroughly drawn out. But still, I dig these minimalist TV horror movies from the pre-mid-'80s - they're so no-BS in pacing and style: it's coming up for a feature film remake, which will on the other hand probably spoil everything that's interesting about this one.Roderick Heathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08107539379079558068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-33407396276854562282010-10-20T09:17:57.594+11:002010-10-20T09:17:57.594+11:00"Director John Newland worked almost exclusiv..."Director John Newland worked almost exclusively in television between the mid-’50s and ‘80s, and his hoary but effective work here relies on the simplest effects to unnerve: whispery voices, swiftly glimpsed monsters, creepy green lights welling from stygian depths and nocturnal winds blowing autumnal leaves in the moonlight outside the old dark house."<br /><br />Newland was a majoe talent from the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits era. For the past few weeks I have been watching the excellently-mastered first-season episodes of Newland's piece de resistence, ONE STEP BEYOND, his signature work. It's a paranormal drama which began it's three-year run a year before the Twilight Zone appeared. Newland also helmed the greatest episode of BORIS KARLOFF'S THRILLER, "Pigeons From Hell" as well as the solid "The Return of Andrew Bentley" from the same show. He also directed several episodes of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS.<br /> His work on DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK is most distinguished. Yeah, it's one of the those horror films that doesn't make much sense but still terrifies,even with the admitted segue into pantomine as you note. That "climactic vision" you so perfectly relate here is alone worth a viewing.<br /><br />The Warner Archive DVD is a bit dark, but still reasonably transfered and far better than previous VHS presentations.<br /><br />Great review of a film that deserves a re-estimation.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.com