Classic Horror Movies available on You Tube

German influenced design

The Abominable Dr Phibes (1971) Vincent Price Horror/Comedy
The Ape (1940)
The Bat Whispers (1930)
The Black Raven (1943)
The Black Doll (1938)
The Body Disappears (1941)
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) *
Cry of the Werewolf (1944)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920) *
The Ghost Train (1941)
Horror Island (1941)
House of Dracula (1945)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) *
Invisible Ghost (1941)
The Lodger (1944)
The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
The Mummy's Ghost (1940)
The Mummy's Tomb (1944)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Nosferatu (1922) *
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) *
Phantom Ship (1935)
Premature Burial (1962)
The Thirteenth Guest (1932)


* Silent Movies

"Road House" 1948 A forgotten film noir

Not the one with Patrick Swayze.

The things you find on YouTube (and it's a good copy) - like this 95 minute film noir gem. Killer cast. Directed by Jean Negulesco (before he was called "the first real master of CinemaScope").
Ida Lupino singing classic by Johnny Mercer "One for my baby (and one for the road)"and Alfred Newman ("Again"). Richard Widmark again plays a psychopath (one year after his debut in "Kiss of Death").

Joseph LaShelle's fim noir photography

Intriguing set design - rustic, ski-chalet plus a bowling alley

Shadows and ceilings... tick, tick.  We are definitely in noir territory.

Atmospheric setting for the movie's climax

Guilty pleasure thrillers and horror movies you can watch on YouTube

"The Evil" AKA "House of Evil" (1978) Richard Crenna, Joanna Pettet
British classic (made for BBC TV) "The Stone Tape" (1972)
"Cry of the Werewolf" (1944)
"The Salzburg Connection" (1972)
"When Eight Bells Toll" Anthony Hopkins *
"Shout at the Devil" (1976) Lee Marvin *
"Biggles: Adventures in Time" (1988) Peter Cushing *
"Gold"(1974) Roger Moore *
"A Study in Terror" (1965) Robert Morley *
"Witchfinder General" (1968) - Vincent Price *
"Under the Volcano" (1984) Albert Finney *

 * Film Vault on YouTube have remastered versions of dozens of movies

Classic 1970's made-for-TV horror movies still available on YouTube

• Scream Pretty Peggy
• The Cat Creature
• Satan's School for Girls
• When Michael Calls
• How Awful About Alam
• Crowhaven Farm
• Taste of Evil
• Sweet, Sweet Rachel
• A Howling in the Woods
• Home for the Holidays
• The Night Stalker (1972)
• The Norliss Tapes
• She Waits
• Horror at 37,000 Feet
• Crawlspace
• Satan's Triangle
• Trilogy of Terror

From the Video Vault: "Master of the World" (1961)

Lowly studio American International Pictures produced this campy steampunk delight. Seven years after Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea", this is Captain Nemo in the air. The film adapts two novels by Jules Verne, "Robur the Conqueror" and "Master of the World". Vincent Price is perfect as Robur, captain, world idealist and creator of the "Albatross", part zeppelin - part helicopter, zipping around the world at 150 mph with his message of peace, well sort of. Robur's airship is decorated a la Nemo (albeit on a smaller budget). I love the coffin-shaped cabin doors, though.

Hayao Mijazaki must have been influenced by Verne's vision (the airship in "Laputa Castle in the Sky").

"Master of the World" Courtesy YouTube

Courtesy Studio Ghibli

Charles Bronson is the unlikely hero of the piece. Vito Scotti, the unnecessary comic-relief as the chef on the "Albatross". Veteran actor, Henry Hull ("Werewolves of London", "Lifeboat"), plays Prudent, an annoying old fart. Screenplay is by horror/sci fi supremo, Richard Matheson.

You can see the film's limited budget by the use of stock footage. This was AIP's most expensive production to date, though. Considering it was around one-tenth of the budget of Disney's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea", Critic Leonard Maltin described the film as "very well done".

Vincent Price was to continue with AIP in Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe-inspired horror flicks in the 1960's. He'd already hit pay dirt with "The House of Usher".

Random observations:

• Early scene with doings in the volcano reminded me of vintage Bond "You Only Live Twice"(1967).
• Daniel Haller's art direction - vivid colours used with ship interiors - see later Roger Corman 60's horror.
• Sumptuous Les Baxter musical score, punching above his weight. Another AIP regular.
• What's the go with the bare-chested bosuns while everybody else is dressed like a gondolier or in a three-piece suit?
• The ending is surprisingly poignant.

Catch "Master of the World" on YouTube, although it is missing at least 5 mins of original theatrical running time.

A Tribute to Bill Collins ("Mr Movies") Australian TV's finest film critic

Image: Fox Classics

He has been a part of Australian television for over five decades. Now in his eighties, Bill Collins (OAM) hosts classic movies each week on cable television (Fox Classics) after doing the same gig on free-to-air television in the 70's, 80's and 90's. His passion for movies, particularly from Hollywood's 'golden age', makes his commentaries more interesting than the actually films. 

You can tell he was a former school teacher - the way he speaks to his audience. 

"Have you read .....?"

"You really should read ....."

Collins is a bibliophile. Over the years he has amassed a huge library of novels (particularly out-of print and limited editions), movie related books and soundtracks. He assiduously researches the coming movies he will host - no Wikipedia or IMDB with this guy.

During "Intermission" Bill will wax lyrical about casting choices, camera work, costumes, musical scores (don't get him started on Erich Korngold or Max Steiner!), anecdotes and adapted screenplays vs original novels. It isn't unusual for him to have a book review interlude.

His taste in movies is eclectic. One night he hosted the confronting "Wake in Fright" (1970) back to back with sci-fi"The War of the Worlds" (1953).

Catch Bill on YouTube. There are stacks of clips from the 80's and 90's. Start off with his introduction to "Manhattan Melodrama". It'll knock your socks off.

Love Live Mr Movies. A living legend of the airwaves.

Image: You Tube

"Uncle" BBC3 TV comedy Series 1 Series 2

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but "Uncle" is the best UK comedy (I'll  specify 'family based', so I don't count the sublime "The IT Crowd") I've seen since "Beautiful People".
Lovable misfits, Andy (comedian/musician Nick Helm) and his 12 year old nephew, Errol (Elliot Speller-Gillott) have knockout chemistry together. You can see similarities with "Moone Boy" and to a lesser extent the Jack Black film "School of Rock".
Oliver Refson wrote and directed the first 3 episodes (and co-wrote the rest). The pilot started off at Channel 4, the producer then going over to BBC. Their loss.
Episode 3 featured a nifty 80's homage "I don't like you/ I like like you" (co-written by Nick Helms). I'm sure it has loads of hits on YouTube.
Episode 4 taught us useful tips: Jeremy Kyle and teenage knowledge, stress relief (screaming into your elbow) and dealing with panic attacks (the "diarrhoea"song). This show is full of believable and likeable characters (like the delightful "The Mimic" from last year).
Episode 5 resembled a French farce (lots of dashing out of doors and windows), Andy trying to juggle 3 girlfriends, as well as his needy, but sweet sister and Errol's school camp traumas. Best lines: "The Beatles...the Labrador puppies of pop music", Casper the Emo Ghost, balls dropping and "Geronimo!"
Episode 6 - a good way to go out. No soppy resolution, a realistic outcome. Only in "Uncle" could you find a link between killing zombies and farting daintily. Andy goes gangsta with "I'm f**king famous, bitch" and Errol goes Noel Coward/Flanders&Swann with his Germs/Salmonella Song.
Catch this little gem, only 6 episodes.
P.S. Nice to see the "Clockwork Orange" /kinky coffee table in the record producer's office.

Series 2 is just as good. Errol is one year older, and wiser. His relationship with Andy is even more symbiotic. This little gem has even made it down to Australia on SBS2.

"Wake in Fright" 1971 An Australian classic movie few have seen.

I first saw this film as a teenager in 1971. I remember the kangaroo shooting scene was quite confronting. Lots of men behaving badly. This is a film, once seen, will never be forgotten. It is rarely on television.
Called "Outback" in the U.S, it was adapted from the kickass Kenneth Cook novel, "Wake in Fright" (1961).
This movie is about the ugly side of Australia. Mateship gone feral. Think Crocodile Dundee meets "Wolf Creek". Set in Broken Hill, but don't expect the Broken Hill of "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert". A horrific "fish out of water" story about a young English school teacher stuck in a country town.
The Australian film industry (thanks to government subsidies) was going through a  rebirth in the early 1970's. Strange that two of the seminal films of the era (both about inland Australia) were directed by foreigners. This film was directed by Canadian, Ted Kotcheff (his biggest movie was "Rambo, First Blood"). In the same year you had the cult movie "Walkabout" by Englishman, Nicholas Roeg ("Don't Look Now", "The Man Who Fell To Earth").

Bear in mind about 85% of Australians live around the coast in urban areas. The outback is a strange and unwelcoming place. Some fear it. This makes "Wake in Fright" all the more powerful.
"Wake in Fright" stars newcomer Gary Bond, horror/villain actor Donald Pleasence (he is stunning in this), Jack Thompson (at the start of his career) and ocker icon Chips Rafferty (his final, and finest movie).
In 2009 it was digitally remastered. The original editor was used. Original reels were found rusting in a U.S. store room. The Australian National Film and Sound Archives are custodians of this masterpiece.
Watch the entire restored film on You Tube. 
A gift from Australia.