Category: Video Reviews

Phantom from Space (1953)

I was expecting better from “Phantom from Space” when I first popped it on. One of the joys of having an ongoing review series on youtube is that theres a constant feeling that I need to keep things varied. For example; I dont want to have too many action movies grouped together, or martial arts movies, or horror movies.

Doing that can make things a bit stale and unless I do themed months (Like last years Halloween run or this years “Alternative Doctor who” season) I always try my best to create a bit of distance between similar genre inspired films.

It’s been a good while since I did an old B-movie. Ring of Terror would be my last dip into the world of rubbish public domain 50’s and 60’s cinema and that was over 3 months ago! So I thought it was probably time to dust off the old “Mill Creek entertainment” sets and pick out another classic to spotlight.

“Phantom from space” was a title that immediately jumped out at me. it sounded spooky, ominous even. I was having visions of space based phantasms flying through the skies picking off members of the public and generally being very scary. The reality was much less so (As the review will testify) but I have to admit to having a bit of a “Guy with a sore tooth” fixation on old sci-fi movies like this. I hate them. I absolutely cant abide them unless they’re genuinely groundbreaking (Like “The Day the earth stood still” or many of the Toho movies) but I just keep coming back to them and I really cant shake them.

As it stands I still have about 120 of these movies left to cover so do expect more public domain oddities in future but for now I can only apologise for the boredom im about to unleash.

(NORMAL VIEW!!!!….NORMAL VIEWWW!!!!!!!!)
by tytdreviews

Tunnel Vision (1995)

Im going to be honest here, in hindsight I was very dissapointed with Tunnel Vision. I’d reviewed 1 or 2 Hollywood DVD releases in the past (Like Cyborg Cop 2 and The Bogey man) but this was the moment that I fully realised that Hollywood DVD was not to be trusted. I assume these were the kind of fodder you’d find in service stations or poundlands. They’re the cheapest of the cheap movies, given a slightly glossy box art and shoved out the door at a discount.

Its a clever tactic and there are hundreds of titles to choose from. The problem is all of these films range from “They’re okay” to “My eyes the goggles they do nothing!” Tunnel vision lands in the latter of this catagory and the sheer cynicism on display in putting the Lovely Patsy Kensit (Who’s genuinely lovely) on the box in an attempt to make it look like she’s going to be a major leading force in this (When in reality she plays the sidekick…and even then she doesnt really come into her own till the final act) is pure bull in my opinion. It totally soured my experience of this film (Which could have been probably quite reasonable had they just been honest with me and ran with the main male cop on the front of the box) I cant even really say this was a “HollywoodDVD” thing because the original film poster for this film (Which looks awful) also had Kensit front and center in some vein attempt to make it look like she’s the hero/star.

This isnt the absolute pits. but in all honesty I’ve seen much better. Though based on some of the reviews I have coming up I’ve also seen much much worse from HollywoodDVD.

(Theres something oddly satsfying about this poster…the UK DVD box art is atrocious…)
by tytdreviews

Whoops Apocalypse (1986)

Its not often that I find a film that contains so many faces im familliar with yet at the same time has absolutely failed to bring itself to my attention. And yet Whoops Apocalypse is one of those movies. I literally didnt know it existed until I actively started to look for VHS tapes on Ebay. it was while I was on there that I saw someone was selling a Big box ex-rental of this movie having seen it starred Peter Cook I quite wrongly assumed it was some kind of rare find. I bid nearly £15 for that time and im kind of glad I got outbit because I was able to pick up the DVD copy of this film for about a fiver.

Its a bit of a hodge podge of a movie, about a third of it works really bloody well, about a third of it is okay and about a third of its bloody awful. But the good bits hit quite nicely and while I’ll be the first to say it wont be a film i’ll be revisiting for a while, it does have enough good moments in it that if you’ve never seen it before and you have access to it I’d say check it out.

Its a bit of a strange movie and a real oddity to me. I dont think I’ve seen anything quite like it really. Peter Cook and Rik Mayall are the definite highlights of this picture and are worth the price of admission on there own.

(Of all the promotional materials I’ve seen the VHS carton boxart (Above) is my favourite…what on earth is happening there!)
by tytdreviews

The Threads Comedy Dining Experience (2018)

Something a bit different today and a bit of a bonus here. While working with Ben on producing the Public information films special we had some downtime and we decided to watch the feelgood film of the 80’s “Threads” better still we recorded the experience which I present to you here as a fully functioning feature commentary!

(Warning!: this is not as well researched or thought out as my typical reviews, throughout this both me and Ben are drinking and enjoying the finest takeaway my city has to offer…this is much more laid back and mainly for fun…with that in mind I hope you enjoy…)

by tytdreviews

Power to the P.I.F! – Public information films: A Retrospective (2018)

I did it! One year on Youtube and it’s a double celebration because with this article the entire site is now backdated which in turn means I can finally make this site public to the public! So Hello if you’ve seen my nightmare fueled advert and welcome! you’ll find plenty around here to keep you busy so please feel free to leave a comment or say hi!

Public information films have been something that i’ve been interested in for a number of years, as a kid I mainly remember the “Think” campaign but there were many others that happened around this time that really stuck in my mind.

It wasnt really until I met my very good friend Ben that I discovered there was an active following for public information films, and that further more he’d been collecting them for years. we’d swap stories of P.I.F’s from around the world regularly and he’d happily point me to some form of carnage as and when he found it. Ben produced a documentary called “Out of your tiny minds” or something similar (Titled from the pif that shares the same name) So when it came to tackling these films I really couldnt think of anyone better to help me. I really cant thank him enough for giving up his time to help me make this and to do it right.

It was very difficult to decide which public information films would make it into this special and which wouldnt, but after the positive response i’ve recieved from this video i’ll almost certainly do a follow up in future. Though quite when that’ll be I couldnt honestly say.

For now though, im happy. A year might not seem like a long time to be doing youtube but it’s been an eye opening experience and I really hope Im here this time next year telling you just how excited I am to have been here now for 2 years!

Thank you to everyone who’s regularly tuned in and followed me on this Journey it really means a lot and thank you in particular to everyone who’s reached out and offered either video recommendations or collaboration opportunities. you’ve really made me feel very welcome and I hope there are many further good times ahead.

 

(Warning! the rabies P.I.F is in this episode…you know the one…well you’ve been warned now it’s out of my hands…)
by tytdreviews

Tales from the QuaDead zone (1987)

I have never honestly seen a film quite like “Tales from the QuaDead zone” I’ve been aware of Shot on Video (More affectionately known stateside as shot on Shitteo) for years but theres seemingly a major gulf in quality when it comes to the shot on tape genre.

On the one side you have genuine attempts at producing a quality product on a limited budget, these lo-fi cinemasterpieces push the boundaries of tape as a format and are usually produced by film makers who would go onto make great things.

On the other side of the spectrum however you have films like QuaDead, in which all sanity and reason gives way to unregulated pandemonium. This film and films of it’s ilk are atrociously made with no technical skill implemented on almost any level. But what sets this film apart from all the others is its heart. This film has soul. it has feeling. in a world where there are hundreds if not thousands of shot on video movies out there that desperately want to be better movies and are distinctly dead behind the eyes “QuaDead zone” positively oozes character and feels very much like it desperately wants to stand on its own.

In that respect it more than does this successfully. and While I havent seen any of Chesters other films just yet. The two that he has produced are both truely unique viewing experiences that I can highly recommend you check out.

 

(The Soundtrack is craptacular. and I wish I had this box art as a T-shirt)
by tytdreviews

Horse Crazy! (2001)

What is it with kids films and them being absolutely goddamn awful!? When I first started reviewing films on a weekly basis I would have never have guessed that some of the worst films I would encounter would be aimed at young children, and yet less than 12 months into doing it I’ve stumbled on 2 kids movies that I think are some of the absolute worst I’ve ever sat through.

The problem with this film is its way to sanitized and when it does try to be rebellious, it does so in a way that much like “Lets ruin dads day” could be seen as actually doing more harm to the child than good.

I also tremendously dislike the fact that “Stoney” in this film is kind of forced into the cowboy role even when he opens his heart out to our two leading child actors. Whether by the end of the movie Stoney just feels more comfortable in the role of the cowboy or whether he’s simply relapsed into his “Persona” to keep his friends on side is debateble but yeh, overall this is a cheap and nasty bordering on creepy little kids film and im kind of glad it doesnt have a particularly large audience.

There is a Sequel “Horse Crazy too!” and I promise you now, its a matter of when, not if for when I’ll get round to this one. Because I cant quite believe this film got made. Letalone that someone actively thought that there was enough to go on to produce a sequel. But I will endure because I knew what I was signing up for when I started this. I hope your all grateful.

 

(You honestly wouldnt believe how much trouble I have finding high resolution box art covers online for these obscure films…it sometimes takes me longer to find a decent image than it does to write the review!)
by tytdreviews

House (1985)

Season 4! And at the time of writing we’re on the day before my first anniversairy with youtube! These decriptions may end up thinning out a little bit from here on in, mainly due to the fact that when I started writing these overviews of the episodes there was a 10-11 month gap and I’d had plenty of time to re-evaluate my thoughts and feelings about each episode as they went by whereas I watched and recorded my review of house in late January/early February.

As a result its still fairly fresh in my mind, and this is only going to become more commonplace as things go along. Though “House” has been a bit of an interesting ride of highs and lows since my first viewing of it. In my mind I keep flip-flopping between thinking it was a good bit of fun and that I’d really look forward to watching the sequels, while at the exact same time a part of my brain thinks that it’s just a bit of a rubbish fluff and that I should probably put off watching any more of these for a while because I simply have much more interesting stuff I could be watching.

House isnt a perfect movie but since I watched it I think i’ve leaned more towards being interested in seeing more than I have had moments of wishing i’d never seen it. It reminded me a bit of an adult goosebumps. In the sense that it isnt exactly scary, but it is entertaining and has a spooky quality about it. It may come across to me a bit like a prototype of “The Burbs” but ultimately I guess its an enjoyable little movie in and of itself.

(The sequel to this looks absolutely mental…)
by tytdreviews

Finishing the Complete Third Series (2018)

Series 3 I think is the season where I finally managed to get the majority of my ideas consistently down. Unlike the other two seasons which were learning curves using trial and error both in my pacing and in the design of the channel. It was season 3 where I personally feel I really got down exactly what I was trying to do and was able to keep the quality levels up a bit (Most would disagree)

I think personally there were some pretty good episodes in this run. I personally had a lot of fun editing my reviews of Gammera, Terror in Beverly hills, Ring of Terror and Australian Web of Fear. But it was also nice to be able to get to grips with unexpected movies like Balance of Power and Francesca.

This was to me a season of growth and while I dont necissarily have a lot to say about this season in terms of how its turned out when compared to previous seasons. It definitely set me up ready to go with some very useful skills that I would take into season 4. In fact at the time of writing this article Im very nearly finished with season 4’s writing and it’s been a blast to work on almost as much as this season was.

It was the longest season to date and it’s also got a special place in my heart.

(Fun Fact: I originally edited Gammera to include the old intros from season 2 before re-editing them at the last minute for the newer titles)
by tytdreviews

Doctor Screw (2006)

When it came to choosing a “Red Triangle” that would see off “Alternate Doctor who month” it was really no question in my mind at least that porn would be the end result. I mean, I maybe could have gone with Torchwood or Class…something a bit more adult but still in universe, but I thought it was too mainstream, too well connected to the series to fly to be honest.

Next my thoughts went to BBV and there were some very serious considerations for “The Airzone Solution” or the “Auton” series. But again while I think they may work well as a TYTD episode in the future it just wasnt right here. Porn. Porn was what was needed and by gum porn was what I settled for!

Of course the options were bountiful (No pun intended) “Doctor who and the Phaleks” was my go to option for the longest time before briefly swapping to the “Woodrocket” sequences, there was even a brief dabble with “Abducted by the daleks” but in the end “Doctor Screw” was one of those porn films that had both not been widely covered and one that I distinctly remember doing the rounds in the early days of the David Tennant era with a dirty smirk and a cheeky chuckle from the Doctor who fandom back in the day. so I was happy to pick that one purely due to its lack of coverage.

It’s quite frankly appauling as pornography. But in terms of being a piece of alternative cultural history it really is a piece of its time. I pretty much say everything I can possibly say about this series in my review itself but even for its impotence I’d recommend fans of the new series check this one out. it’s really weird due to just how early it came out in the new series’ run and as a result it kind of fudges its way through the best it can. It’s also interesting from a historical standpoint as it marks the transition between porn parodies being a cheap and cheerful rubbish affair to being a highly polished and nightmare inducing rubbish affair (Im looking at you Strokemon).

Either way this is a very bizarre notch in Doctor who history and I really couldnt think of a better way to see this season off.

(I really love that boxart for the complete set…I own the solo releases and they’re rubbish by comparison…)
by tytdreviews