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Jurassic Shark

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Jurassic Shark is a 2012 Canadian action/horror monster film directed by Brett Kelly and starring Emanuelle Carriere, Christine Emes, and Celine Filion.

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When an oil company has unwittingly unleashed a prehistoric shark from its icy prison, the Jurassic killer maroons a group of art thieves and a group of beautiful young college students on an abandoned piece of land. The two opposing groups are forced to do what they can to survive or become food for the not-quite-extinct shark!

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IMDb

Related : Super Shark | Psycho Shark | 2-Headed Shark Attack | Snow Shark | Jaws | Jaws 2 | Great White | Sharktopus | Sand Sharks

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Buy Jurassic Shark on DVD from Amazon.co.uk

“Well, they will keep on churning out these ultra low budget monster flicks, and while many of them have considerable Z-movie charm, the odd few come through that pretty much have nothing going for them. Jurassic Shark is bordering on this: it’s only real saving grace is that there is clearly no intent here to actually make a good film, and the ladies are good looking!” Matt Wavish, Horror Cult Films

“When a shark film is so bad it makes Raging Sharks look like Jaws, you know you’ve reached rock bottom. To call Jurassic Shark a feeble effort would do that word a disservice. I honestly cannot believe that something as amateurish as this actually managed to get a DVD release. Even more unbelievable in the fact that chumps like me paid to see it.” Andrew Smith, Popcorn Pictures

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Post by Will Holland



Big Terror Movie Themes

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Big Terror Movie Themes is a 1976 album by Geoff Love and His Orchestra, featuring a collection of ‘cover’ versions of horror and thriller film music.

Love produced several film theme collections in the 1970s, often to cash in on a big hit – others included Big Suspense Movie Themes, Big Bond Movie Themes and Star Wars and Other Space Themes. These collections were widely ridiculed by soundtrack enthusiasts, but their cheap price – they were released on EMI’s budget label Music for Pleasure – and widespread availability through shops like Woolworth meant that they were big sellers, and for many people they provided an affordable entry into the world of soundtrack collecting.

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Big Terror Movie Themes appeared in the wake of Jaws – hence the large shark that dominates the cover, and despite the sleeve notes by Nigel Hunter that talk at length about the joy of horror movies, the actual content is decidedly horror-lite. Apart from Jaws, Psycho and The Exorcist, the album is filled with the music from thrillers – The Eiger Sanction, Death Wish, The Executioner, Three Days of the Condor -  and disaster films – Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, Airport 75, The Towering Inferno – with token science fiction movie Rollerball also added to the mix.

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As with many of his albums, Love’s interpretation of these themes ranged from being reasonable facsimiles through to rather bizarre revamps. His take on Tubular Bells, for instance, turns Mike Oldfield’s minimalist theme from The Exorcist into a full-blooded swinging lounge number.

While time once seemed to have confined these albums to the dustbin of history, retro culture and the 1990s easy listening revival saw them unearthed and released on CD. The vinyl copies are now rather prized, if only for the cover art by British film poster legend Tom Chantrell.

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Buy CD from Amazon.co.uk

Post by David Flint


Swamp Shark

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“This isn’t a normal shark! It swims! It kills! And its out there!”

Swamp Shark (bizarrely named Frying Jaws in Japan) is a 2011 American horror film directed by Griff Furst and starring Kristy Swanson, D. B. Sweeney, Robert Davi, Jason Rogel, Sophia Sinise, Richard Tanne, and Jeff Chase. The film was produced by Kenneth M. Badish and Daniel Lewis and was written by Eric Miller, Charles Bolon, and Jennifer Iwen. It is a Syfy Channel original picture.

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Its summer in the the gorgeous swamplands of the Atchafalaya Basin .Lots of beautiful teens are at the beach the weekend before Gator Fest. That night an animal smuggling deal goes wrong and a large sea creature escapes into a swampy backwoods river. At the McDaniel’s “Gator Shack” restaurant, a local, Jackson is drunk, and gets mangled to bits. The town sheriff blames the carnage on the McDaniel’s “escaped” pack of gators and tries hauling them off to jail. Rachel McDaniel, head of the family, claims to have seen the fin of a shark! Rachel and her family, along with the help of a mysterious stranger, Charlie, take on the Swamp Shark and the law to clear their names, save Rachel’s kid sister Krystal and prevent the unwitting folks at the upcoming Gator Fest from being torn to shreds by a beast the likes of which no one has ever seen!

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Wikipedia | IMDb

Related : Super Shark | Psycho Shark | 2-Headed Shark Attack | Snow Shark | Jaws | Jaws 2 | Great White | Sharktopus | Sand Sharks | Jurassic Shark

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Swamp Shark is harmless and it isn’t terrible. All the actors seem to be having fun, none of them put in a truly terrible performance, the characters you want to die end up dying, and the ending is silly, over-the-top fun. It’s no Jaws by any stretch of the imagination but if it’s on the telly and there’s nothing else to watch it’ll pass the time.” That Was a Bit Mental

“Yes, the shark looked like ass, but we expected that. It was stupid and we expected that too. Leading the shark to the festival so it can eat more people… didn’t expect that but it was appreciated. A movie calling itself Swamp Shark with Kristy Swanson bouncing around incessantly and directed by Griff Furst being boring… did not think we would get that.” Films Critic United

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Post by Will Holland


Dinoshark

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Dinoshark is a 2010 low budget American Syfy horror film. It was directed by Kevin O’Neill, and stars Eric Balfour, Iva Hasperger and Aaron Diaz. It was produced by Roger Corman and Julie Corman.

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The film opens with a baby dinoshark swimming away from a chunk of Arctic glacier that has broken away due to global warming. Three years later, the dinoshark is a ferocious predatory adult and kills tourists and locals offshore from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The protagonist, Trace, is first to notice the Dinoshark and witnesses his friend get eaten, but has trouble convincing people that a creature of such antiquity is still alive and eating people…

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Wikipedia | IMDb

Related: 2-Headed Shark Attack |Ghost SharkGreat White | Jaws | Jaws 2 | Jersey Shore Shark Attack | Jurassic Shark | Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus | Psycho Shark | Sand Sharks |Shark Attack 3: Megalodon |The Shark is Still Working |Shark Week | Sharktopus | Snow Shark | Super Shark Swamp Shark |Zombie Shark

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Buy Dinoshark on DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon.com

‘Let’s run down the laundry list of what you’ll find here:  poor acting with some ridiculous, over-the-top accents, cheap special effects, a threadbare plot that barely makes sense, gratuitous tourist-munching, an imitation of the Jaws theme music, and low budget, made-for-TV production values.  And that’s just barely plunging below the surface. Rest assured, a schlocky good time awaits you if this is your sort of thing.’ Oh, the Horror!

‘Sadly, Dinoshark isn’t really headline-grabbingly ludicrous enough, lacking the same kind of dynamic random oddness, and being weighed down somewhat by a creature which at the end of the day is simply a vaguely armoured shark with a penchant for jumping out of the water in unconvincing fashion.’ James Mudge, Beyond Hollywood

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Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen, and Candy Stripe Nurses Roger Corman King of the B Movie

Buy Crab Monsters, Cave Men and Candy Stripe Nurses book from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Posted by Will Holland


Jersey Shore Shark Attack

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Jersey Shore Shark Attack is a 2012 American TV film that aired on Syfy on June 8, 2012 and was written by Michael Ciminera and Richard Gnolfo. It stars Paul Sorvino, Jeremy Luke, Jack Scalia and Melissa Molinaro.

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Many years ago, hundreds of locals and tourists were massacred by giant man-eating sharks in the infamous 1916 Jersey Shore attacks. But that’s just a legend… or is it? It’s a holiday weekend on the Jersey Shore and, unbeknownst to anyone, underwater drills have attracted dozens of albino bull sharks to the pier. When a man goes missing, TC (The Complication), Nookie and friends fear the worst and plead with the police chief to close down the beach. It isn’t until a famous singer is eaten alive during a performance on the pier that the shark hunt begins. Now, the Preppies must work together with the Guidos in order to save the Jersey Shore and its inhabitants from another vicious slaughter…

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Wikipedia | IMDb

Related : Swamp Shark | Super Shark | Psycho Shark | 2-Headed Shark Attack | Snow Shark | Jaws | Jaws 2 | Great White | Sharktopus | Sand Sharks | Jurassic Shark | Dinoshark

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Buy on DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon.com

“Dumb but fun and genuinely amusing, Jersey Shore Shark Attack gets a firm thumbs up. The CGI is horrendous but its the “human factor” that shines through in this one. The guidos are lovable and the parody elements surprisingly dead-on. Check this one out.” Horace Cordier, Rock!Shock!Pop!

“If you’re looking for suspense or terror, rent a different shark flick. Jersey Shore Shark Attack is played mostly for laughs, and while its over-reliance on other shark flicks starts to become a little tiresome by Act III, there was clearly a little cockeyed enthusiasm when this micro-budget monster movie was being cobbled together, and enough of that attitude seeps through into the final product. This is not a good movie, but it’s a bad one with a small dose of actual charm.” Scott Weinberg, FEARnet

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Posted by Will Holland


The Game of Jaws (toys and novelties)

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The Game of Jaws is a 1975 board game by Ideal. The game is based on the blockbuster film of the same name. Similar in many ways to the game Buckaroo, this was a game of skill and involved the participants (two to four or one if you were desperate) attempting to remove various pieces of flotsam and jetsam from the shark’s mouth with a plastic hook device, a bit like a dental tool. But, beware! One wrong move and the shark’s mouth will slam shut, causing chaos and derision from your friends. The winner was the player who retrieved the most items without incurring the wrath of the sea beast.

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Ideal certainly pulled off a massive coup in securing the rights to Universal’s mega-hit, borrowing not just the name but also the iconic poster art, albeit cropped. Over the years the game has survived in a similar form but under different guises; Shark Chomp, Sharkie’s Diner, Sharky’s Diner and Sharky’s Dinner (getting desperate by this stage). Beyond slight colour changes (from grey/light blue to darker shades) the main changes are the now more gaudy, ‘fun’ packaging and the omission of the gun as a part of the junk to put in the shark’s mouth (fierce killer shark – good! tiny 2D pistol – bad!)

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The shark itself was, in retrospect, disappointing. At the time I displayed it proudly but there can be no doubt that though pleasingly moulded, the creature was not going to fool any shark biologists. His mouth was clamped open with elastic bands, inevitably the part of the game that was first to give way to the rigours of repeated play and virtually impossible to replace. The items of junk consisted of part of a ship’s wheel, the offensive gun, an anchor, a handbag, some rope, a thigh bone, a fish skeleton (sometimes a skull), a camera, a lantern, a boot, a glove and a walkie-talkie. Different objects were interchangeable in the various incarnations. They were all royal blue or yellow, apart from the white bone and skull/fish.

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Like Buckaroo, The Game of Jaws had the remarkable ability of scaring you half to death. There was no real indication as to when the jaws would slam shut and no prisoners were taken – if your fingers were in the way, it bloody hurt. One imagines more recent versions have tamed it down a bit, no-one wants to go to A&E and admit they’ve fallen foul of a fish toy.

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The game was soon cast aside once the elastic bands gave way or you were sick of getting bruised fingers. The game can now achieve (boxed) around the £100 mark on on-line auction sites, which should make everyone concerned have a word with themselves.  Ideal wheeled out the same format in 1980 to tie-in with the release of the film Alligator and also had success with the King Kong board-game of 1976 which related to the fated remake of the classic film.

Daz Lawrence, Horropedia

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Shark Attack 3: Megalodon

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It’s remarkable that after almost forty years after Stephen Spielberg’s Jaws tore up box offices across the globe, a veritable slew of cheapo shark movies are still gnashing their way across screens in ever more ridiculous scenarios and hybrids. Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002) is just one in a series of production line monster movies churned out by the prolific Nu Image production company – they were responsible for Tobe Hooper’s much slated Crocodile (and its sequel), plus similar eco-horror fare such as SpidersOctopus and their sequels. There’s absolutely nothing here you’ve not seen before but the whole thing is so mind boggling and ridiculous you can’t help warming to it’s trashy charms.

Obvious plot point one: A giant shark is terrorising a beach resort. After discovering a shark tooth embedded in an undersea cable line, a lifeguard (John Barrowman) puts the item on the internet to ascertain its species. Obligatory love interest plot point two: He soon gets a visit from a pretty blonde marine biologist (aren’t they always?) asking him to take her to the area where the tooth was found. The biologist (played by Jenny McShane) is aware that the incisor belongs to an extinct prehistoric species known as Megalodon, however, since this is the biggest scientific breakthrough since man landed on the moon she is keeping very quiet. Meanwhile, the curiously size-shaping shark goes about its deadly business snacking on the usual stereotypes encountered in these types of aquatic attack movies. From here on I’m sure you can join all the narrative dots that lead to the inevitable explosive finale.

Shark Attack 3 is unashamedly wonderful garbage. There’s wretched dialogue such as “You know, you’d fuck anything with a pair of tits, man.” Or lifeguard to biologist: “How about I drive you to your house, and eat your pussy?” followed by a swift cut to a gratuitous softcore sex scene. There’s cheap jack CGI – in one ridiculous scene, the fake looking shark ‘swallows’ an entire boat! There’s plenty of mismatched and poorly edited stock footage of various types of real sharks. Yet, this is one of those absurd efforts that gleefully bins logic and gives its target audience what they really want to see, i.e. semi-naked lovelies being gorily dispatched amidst speaker shaking ‘munching’ sounds.

Jonathan Casbard

Related:  2-Headed Shark Attack | Great White | Jaws | Jaws 2 | Jersey Shore Shark AttackJurassic Shark | Mega Shark Versus CrocosaurusPsycho Shark | Sand Sharks | Sharktopus | Snow Shark | Super Shark | Swamp Shark


The Shark is Still Working

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The Shark is Still Working is a 2009 feature-length documentary film on the impact and legacy of the 1975 Steven Spielberg blockbuster film Jaws. It features interviews with a range of cast and crew from the film. It is narrated by Roy Scheider and dedicated to Peter Benchley.

The documentary was produced by Jaws fans over a seven-year period, building on Laurent Bouzereau‘s 1995 documentary, The Making of Jaws, that has been included on some laserdisc and DVD releases. Throughout other documentaries over the years, such as Bouzereau’s and the BBC‘s 1997 documentary In the Teeth of Jaws, actor Richard Dreyfuss has recounted tales about the troubled production of Jaws and the quote “The shark is NOT working” which Dreyfuss would hear constantly from members of the crew. Eventually, upon successful attempts to fix the malfunctioning sea monster, Dreyfuss would regularly hear the quote “The shark is still working”.

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The documentary features rare footage and exclusive interviews with most of the cast and crew of Jaws, as well as celebrities whose careers have been influenced by the film. It was written by James Gelet, directed by Erik Hollander and narrated by Chief Brody himself, Roy Scheider (The Curse of the Living Corpse). Among the more notable of those interviewed are Steven SpielbergRichard DreyfussJohn WilliamsPeter BenchleyCarl GottliebJoe AlvesRichard ZanuckDavid BrownDick WarlockKevin SmithRobert RodriguezBryan SingerGreg NicoteroTom SaviniEli RothM. Night Shyamalan and Paul McPhee.

Universal Studios included The Shark Is Still Working documentary as a special feature on the Blu-ray edition of Jaws on August 14, 2012.

Wikipedia | IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes

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The Phantom Planet

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The Phantom Planet is a 1961 science fiction film directed by William Marshall and starring Dean FredericksColeen Gray, Tony Dexter, Francis X. Bushman, Dolores Faith and includes an early role by Richard Kiel (Jaws in two James Bond movies). American International Pictures (AIP) released it as a double feature with Assignment Outer Space.

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In the future world of 1980 the United States Air Force‘s Space Exploration Wing has bases on the moon and is on the eve of a mission to Mars. When one of their Pegasus spacecraft with two crew members aboard mysteriously disappears, pilot Captain Frank Chapman and his navigator Lt. Ray Makonnen are sent to search for them in their own craft.

During their search their ship receives minor damage from a meteor shower that both men go outside to repair. However, a small bullet sized particle pierces Chapman’s suit that sends him into unconsciousness. Makonnen is able to repair Chapman’s suit but as he opens the door to push Chapman inside he is fatally struck by a similar particle. Makonnen’s last act before he is propelled into deep space is to close the door with Chapman safely inside the ship. Chapman awakes to find Makonnen gone and unable to communicate with the lunar base. He leaves a diary message of the preceding events concluding that he is going to land on an asteroid.

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Exiting his ship, he passes out and sees small humans about six inches in size approaching him. Once the visor of his helmet is opened, Chapman is able to breath but due to the planet’s unusual atmosphere, he is also shrunk to six inches in size. He is placed on trial for attacking Herron, one of the small people. Sesom, the leader of Rheton, the name of the planetoid that Chapman has landed on, explains that though he will have all the rights of an inhabitant of Rheton, he can never leave and his ship has been sent back into space whilst he slept.

Chapman meets two beautiful women Liara and the mute Zetha who welcome him and answer his many questions. The stranded astronaut decides to help the inhabitants of the planet battle an invading race of monsters known as the Solarites who come from a planet orbiting the sun.

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” … the tragic Solarite creature costume is right up my alley (it resembles something that might have turned up in a third-season episode of “The Outer Limits”), and I got a kick out of the bizarre notion of the space monsters zipping around the solar system in hollowed-out meteors fitted with heat rays and rocket engines. There’s just enough good stuff here to make The Phantom Planet merelymostly a waste of time.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“It might help to endure the movie if you turn it into a drinking game, and count the number of science fiction cliches: The alien planet populated by creatures who look just like us; Meteor storms turning up out of the black just when the astronauts venture outside their spaceship; The tractor beam; The love triangle; Attacked by aggressive aliens; The alien monster fixated on the pretty young lady despite being a completely different species, just to name too many.”  HorrorNews.net


Ghost Shark

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Ghost Shark is a 2013 U.S. creature feature horror film co-scripted and directed by Griff Furst (Arachnoquake, Swamp Shark, Lake Placid 3). It stars Mackenzie Rosman, Richard Moll (Evilspeak) Dave Davis and Sloane Coe. The film debuted on the Syfy channel on August 22nd 2013.

Last Fourth of July, teenager Christy Bruce disappeared from a high school beach party. Her severed arm washed ashore a day later. Drunken sea captain Blaise Shaw became a hero to the small seaside community of Harmony after killing the great white shark that was deemed responsible, but the Christy Bruce murder was no shark attack. Blaise turns to ghost hunter Ava Conte, who is skeptical but intrigued by his ghost shark ramblings.

With preparations for a massive July 4th celebration rapidly approaching, they soon find themselves embroiled in a conspiracy of sex and murder involving the town’s wealthiest and most powerful citizens. Unprepared to contend with a Ghost Shark that can hunt on land, sea, as well as anywhere there is enough water or rain to sustain its phantom form, Blaise and Ava must uncover the truth about the towns dark past or fall victim to the Ghost Shark…

Related: 2-Headed Shark Attack | Great White | Jaws | Jaws 2 | Jersey Shore Shark Attack | Jurassic Shark | Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus | Psycho Shark | Sand Sharks |Shark Attack 3: Megalodon | The Shark is Still Working |Shark WeekSharktopus | Snow Shark | Super Shark Swamp Shark | Zombie Shark

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Legend Horror Classics (magazine)

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Legend Horror Classics
was a British magazine published by Legend Publishing and which ran for thirteen issues between 1974 and 1975.

The magazine was very much a second fiddle imitation of Monster Mag, being a format that opened out to feature a large horror “pin-up” poster. Interestingly though, it arguably predicted Monster Mag follow-up House of Hammer, having a mix of comic strips and film features. The comic strips were usually four page adaptations of famous horror stories – the first issue featuring Dracula (the 1973 film rather than the novel), the second Frankenstein (based around the 1931 film) etc. Kevin O’Neill illustrated many of the comic strips and served as art editor, later becoming editor.

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Other films adapted included The 7th Voyage of Sinbad in issue 3 and Hammer’s Dracula in issue 5, while more original stories include Blood Lust of the Zombies in issue 4 (which featured a gory cover still from Death Line), Terror from Space in issue 6, Killer Jaws (a shark story, predictably) in issue 8 and The Jokers in issue 9. The magazine also adapted Beowulf in issue 7.

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From issue 11, the comic strips were dropped and the final issues were ‘themed’, concentrating on Dracula, werewolves and Frankenstein.

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Although not particularly well distributed or popular (certainly in comparison to Monster Mag), Legend Horror Classics remains an interesting, oddball entry in the history of both horror movie magazines and British comic books, and copies are now highly collectable.

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David Flint, Horrorpedia


To Serve Man – The Twilight Zone TV Episode

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To Serve Man” is a 1962 episode of the television series The Twilight Zone. The episode is one of the best remembered from the series.

The story is based on the 1950 short story “To Serve Man”, written by Damon Knight and was adapted for the small screen by Rod Serling, the series’ creator, himself, as was often the case. The title is a play on the verb serve, which has a dual meaning of “to assist” and “to provide as a meal.” The episode is one of the few instances in the series wherein an actor breaks the fourth wall and addresses the viewing audience at the episode’s end.

Rod Serling’s traditional to-camera introduction sets the scene:

“Respectfully submitted for your perusal – a Kanamit. Height: a little over nine feet. Weight: in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty pounds. Origin: unknown. Motives? Therein hangs the tale, for in just a moment, we’re going to ask you to shake hands, figuratively, with a Christopher Columbus from another galaxy and another time. This is the Twilight Zone”.

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It is the present day and Earth has been visited by the Kanamits, an alien race seemingly only created for one purpose – to help others, in this case, Mankind. With their advanced technology, they reveal they have previously visited other worlds to solve their problems and are now here to do the same: specifically, they have a quick solution to world famine, cheap and clean energy sources and the ability to create force fields between territories, essentially ending all wars. Continuing to address the assembled United Nations, they apparently ask for nothing in return, sending alarm bells ringing for some, offering hope for many.

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The visitors mistakenly leave behind an item after the address, a book written in an unknown language. After some time, the title is cracked: ‘To Serve Man’. This is enough for huge numbers of people, including decoder Michael Chambers (Lloyd Bochner, also in The Dunwich Horror, Amazing Mr No Legs) to book their flights on Kanamit ships to journey to their home world and, presumably, Utopia. Meanwhile, Chambers’ assistant, Patty (Susan Cummings, Swamp Women) continues to try to translate the rest of the text and, alas just as the space craft is blasting-off, discovers there was a rather elementary misunderstanding in the book’s title. Chambers, addressing the television audience, bemoans his fate – Rod Serling concludes in typical manner:

“The recollections of one Michael Chambers with appropriate flashbacks and soliloquy. Or more simply stated, the evolution of man. The cycle of going from dust to dessert. The metamorphosis from being the ruler of a planet to an ingredient in someone’s soup. It’s tonight’s bill of fare from The Twilight Zone”.

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The episode is best remembered for the distinctive appearance of the Kanamits, their spokesman played by Richard Kiel (Eegah; James Bond baddie Jaws, The Humanoid) in a very early screen role and the shocking reveal at the end of the episode, which has been much mimicked since. The original story was by Damon Knight, best known for his science fiction work and was written in 1950 – it can be found in the collection “The Best of Damon Knight”. The aliens in the story differ completely from those created by Serling resembling pigs in the original text. Serling created a slightly docile-appearing creature, partly due to their communication being by thought than actual speech, and partly due to their heavy eye-lids and huge domed craniums. Decked in flowing robes and on the frame of the 7’2″ Kiel, the effect was the perfect balance of veiled benevolent/malevolent, with no further clues given to the audience.

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There is a slight prat-fall with Serling’s version, the decoding of the alien runes being surely impossible; Knight allows for a modest Kanamit/human dictionary to allow conversation to allow for the eventual translation. Whether to double meaning of ‘to serve’ would survive is another matter entirely.

The full-size lower portion of the Kanamits’ transport spaceship is the adapted version, with retractable stairway, of the saucer-shaped United Planets Cruiser C-57D, seen in the MGM film Forbidden Planet (1956). The ship used for the episode is also seen on the episode “Third from the Sun”, and shots of the ship or stairway also appear in the episodes “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”, “Hocus-Pocus and Frisby”, “The Invaders”, and “Death Ship”.

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Stock footage from the film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) was also used in the episode for the shots of the Kanamit spaceship arriving in New York City (although landmarks of Washington, DC, are seen).

The Kanamit ship seen taking off near the end of the episode is the distinctive Ray Harryhausen-animated ship from the film Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers (1956).

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia.

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‘Pink Plasma’– Episode of The Pink Panther and Friends

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‘Pink Plasma’ is a six minute 1975 animated episode of The Pink Panther and Friends directed by Art Leonardi from a story by John W. Dunn. It was produced by Mirisch Films and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.

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Plot teaser:

On vacation in Transylvania, The Pink Panther stops to spend a night at what he believes to be a traveller’s lodge. However, it is in reality a vampire’s spooky castle. He encounters a knife-throwing arm, an invisible monster, a cantankerous spider and ghostly bedsheets. Assuming a coffin to be that of a dead man, the Pink Panther buries it, watched by an audience of bemused rats and a lizard.

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Come dusk, amidst ominous rumbling, the enraged vampire (The Little Man) emerges. The Pink Panther utilises bug spray to repel the vampire, who has adopted bat form, and when it splutters out of the castle window, a shark is waiting in the moat (this being 1975 when Jaws fever was at its height).

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Buy Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide from Amazon.co.uk

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This occurs a couple of times more before a big chase and sunrise which causes vampire, shark, monster, and the castle to vanish…

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Buy The Pink Panther and Friends on DVD from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

IMDb


Jaws-inspired magazines

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In the wake of the phenomenal box office success of Jaws and Jaws 2 a worldwide fascination with sharks developed rapidly. Whilst Universal Pictures lawyers’ made sure that many cinematic Jaws pretenders – such as Italian copy Great White – were soon legally dead in the water, they couldn’t prevent a plethora of media interest in sharks in general via newspaper articles, books, and magazines.

Lurid and grisly accounts of attacks by the “blood-thirsty demons” (yes, sharks), plus masses of “explicit pictures of murderous sharks” were the mainstay of many of the publications that infested magazine racks. The following are just some of the many sharksploitation mags that proliferated in the late 70s and early 80s:

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Shark films on Horrorpedia

We are indebted to Spoiler II for inspiring this post via the Horror Films Books and & Magazines forum,


Swamp Shark (USA, 2011)

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‘This isn’t a normal shark! It swims! It kills! And its out there!’

Swamp Shark  bizarrely named Frying Jaws in Japan – is a 2011 American horror film directed by Griff Furst and starring Kristy Swanson, D. B. Sweeney, Robert Davi, Jason Rogel, Sophia Sinise, Richard Tanne, and Jeff Chase. The film was produced by Kenneth M. Badish and Daniel Lewis and was written by Eric Miller, Charles Bolon, and Jennifer Iwen. It is a Syfy Channel original picture.

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Plot teaser:

It’s summer in the the gorgeous swamplands of the Atchafalaya Basin .Lots of beautiful teens are at the beach the weekend before Gator Fest. That night an animal smuggling deal goes wrong and a large sea creature escapes into a swampy backwoods river. At the McDaniel’s “Gator Shack” restaurant, a local, Jackson is drunk, and gets mangled to bits. The town sheriff blames the carnage on the McDaniel’s “escaped” pack of gators and tries hauling them off to jail. Rachel McDaniel, head of the family, claims to have seen the fin of a shark! Rachel and her family, along with the help of a mysterious stranger, Charlie, take on the Swamp Shark and the law to clear their names, save Rachel’s kid sister Krystal and prevent the unwitting folks at the upcoming Gator Fest from being torn to shreds by a beast the likes of which no one has ever seen!

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Wikipedia | IMDb

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Swamp Shark is harmless and it isn’t terrible. All the actors seem to be having fun, none of them put in a truly terrible performance, the characters you want to die end up dying, and the ending is silly, over-the-top fun. It’s no Jaws by any stretch of the imagination but if it’s on the telly and there’s nothing else to watch it’ll pass the time.’ That Was a Bit Mental

‘Yes, the shark looked like ass, but we expected that. It was stupid and we expected that too. Leading the shark to the festival so it can eat more people… didn’t expect that but it was appreciated. A movie calling itself Swamp Shark with Kristy Swanson bouncing around incessantly and directed by Griff Furst being boring… did not think we would get that.’ Films Critic United

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Sharksploitation on Horrorpedia: 2-Headed Shark Attack | Atomic SharkAvalanche Sharks | Cruel Jaws | Ghost Shark | Ghost Shark 2: Urban JawsGreat White | Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy aka SharkManJaws | Jaws 2 | Jersey Shore Shark Attack | Jurassic Shark | Malibu Shark Attack | Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus | Mega Shark vs. Giant OctopusMega Shark vs. Kolossus Piranha Sharks | Psycho Shark | Raiders of the Lost SharkSand Sharks | Shark Attack 3: Megalodon | Shark ExorcistThe Shark is Still Working | Shark LakeShark Week | Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre | Sharknado | Sharknado 2: The Second OneSharknado 3: Oh Hell No! | Sharktopus | Sharktopus vs. MermantulaSharktopus vs. Pteracuda | Sky SharksSnow Shark | Super Shark | Swamp Shark | Zombie Shark

Post by Will Holland



Dinoshark (2010)

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Dinoshark is a 2010 low budget American horror film directed by Kevin O’Neill. It was produced by Roger Corman and Julie Corman.

It stars Eric Balfour (The Texas Chainsaw MassacreBackcountry; Little Dead Rotting Hood), Iva Hasperger and Aaron Diaz.

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Plot:

A baby dinoshark swims away from a chunk of Arctic glacier that has broken away as a result of global warming.

Three years later, the dinoshark is a ferocious predatory adult and kills tourists and locals offshore from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The protagonist, Trace, is first to notice the Dinoshark and witnesses his friend get eaten, but has trouble convincing people that a creature of such antiquity is still alive and eating people…

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Buy Dinoshark on DVD | Blu-ray from Amazon.com

Reviews:

‘Let’s run down the laundry list of what you’ll find here:  poor acting with some ridiculous, over-the-top accents, cheap special effects, a threadbare plot that barely makes sense, gratuitous tourist-munching, an imitation of the Jaws theme music, and low budget, made-for-TV production values.  And that’s just barely plunging below the surface. Rest assured, a schlocky good time awaits you if this is your sort of thing.’ Oh, the Horror!

‘Sadly, Dinoshark isn’t really headline-grabbingly ludicrous enough, lacking the same kind of dynamic random oddness, and being weighed down somewhat by a creature which at the end of the day is simply a vaguely armoured shark with a penchant for jumping out of the water in unconvincing fashion.’ James Mudge, Beyond Hollywood

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Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen, and Candy Stripe Nurses Roger Corman King of the B Movie

Buy Crab Monsters, Cave Men and Candy Stripe Nurses from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Wikipedia | IMDb

Sharksploitation on Horrorpedia: 2-Headed Shark Attack | Atomic SharkAvalanche Sharks | Cruel Jaws | Ghost Shark | Ghost Shark 2: Urban JawsGreat White | Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy aka SharkManJaws | Jaws 2 | Jersey Shore Shark Attack | Jurassic Shark | Malibu Shark Attack | Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus | Mega Shark vs. Giant OctopusMega Shark vs. Kolossus Piranha Sharks | Psycho Shark | Raiders of the Lost SharkSand Sharks | Shark Attack 3: Megalodon | Shark ExorcistThe Shark is Still Working | Shark LakeShark Week | Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre | Sharknado | Sharknado 2: The Second OneSharknado 3: Oh Hell No! | Sharktopus | Sharktopus vs. MermantulaSharktopus vs. Pteracuda | Sky SharksSnow Shark | Super Shark | Swamp Shark | Zombie Shark

Posted by Will Holland


Big Terror Movie Themes – UK, 1976

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Big Terror Movie Themes is a 1976 British album by Geoff Love and His Orchestra, featuring a collection of ‘cover’ versions of horror, thriller and disaster film music.

Love produced several film theme collections in the 1970s, often to cash in on a big hit – others included Big Suspense Movie Themes, Big Bond Movie Themes and Star Wars and Other Space Themes. These collections were widely ridiculed by soundtrack enthusiasts, but their cheap price – they were released on EMI’s budget label Music for Pleasure – and widespread availability through shops like Woolworth meant that they were big sellers, and for many people, they provided an affordable entry into the world of soundtrack collecting.

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Big Terror Movie Themes appeared in the wake of Jaws – hence the large shark that dominates the cover, and despite the sleeve notes by Nigel Hunter that talk at length about the joy of horror movies, the actual content is decidedly horror-lite. Apart from Jaws, Psycho and The Exorcist, the album is filled with the music from thrillers – The Eiger Sanction, Death Wish, The Executioner, Three Days of the Condor –  and disaster films – Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, Airport 75, The Towering Inferno – with token science fiction movie Rollerball also added to the mix.

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As with many of his albums, Love’s interpretation of these themes ranged from being reasonable facsimiles through to rather bizarre revamps. His take on Tubular Bells, for instance, turns Mike Oldfield’s minimalist theme from The Exorcist into a full-blooded swinging lounge number.

While time once seemed to have confined these albums to the dustbin of history, retro culture and the 1990s easy listening revival saw them unearthed and released on CD. The vinyl copies are now rather prized, if only for the cover art by British film poster legend Tom Chantrell.

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Buy CD from Amazon.co.uk

David Flint, Horrorpedia

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Super Shark – USA, 2011

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‘Bikinis, bullets and big bites’

Super Shark (aka Shart Attack!!) is a 2011 U.S. sci-fi/horror action film starring John Schneider, Sarah Lieving and Tim Abell and directed by Fred Olen Ray (The Alien DeadThe Tomb).

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While marine biologist Kat Carmichael (Sarah Lieving) does all she can to get rid of the murderous shark once and for all, shady businessman Roger Wade (John Schneider) prevents her efforts from having the desired result. The situation becomes increasingly dangerous, however, when the creature learns to move on land so Kat enlists the help of explosives expert Dynamite Stevens (Jimmie Walker)…

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Buy DVD Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Reviews:

” …there isn’t enough good stuff to make up for the horrible CGI (the shark looks like it has just escaped from the 1980s Jaws arcade game), the poor script, the poor acting (Schneider still gets a pass but he’s the only one), the unappealing cast of characters and the sloppy execution of every moment that features the shark.” For It Is Man’s Number

“What red-blooded man wouldn’t enjoy 77 minutes of what is effectively loads of gorgeous girls in bikinis running about with a walking shark thrown in for good measure. This is definitely worth a watch, but as I said don’t expect it to be an amazing blockbuster with great characters or good dialogue. Best bad film ever? Might be…” John Harley, Andy Erupts

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“Super Shark has the vast majority of crappy modern shark films beat purely thanks to its earnestness. I never got the feeling that Olen Ray was trying to make a bad film. Sure, there are silly scenes where he’s having fun, but it never descends into the parody territory of a typical modern shark flick.” Dave Jackson, Mondo Exploito

The post Super Shark – USA, 2011 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

Jaws board game

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‘If you want to stay alive, then ante up!’

Jaws is a new officially-licensed board game from Prospero Hall and Ravensburger for two to four players aged 12 and up.

As in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster movie, the Jaws board game is divided into two major acts.

Act 1: Amity Island:

The first act involves the player that is controlling the shark to terrorise Amity Island by attacking swimmers, while up to three other opponents – playing as Brody, Hooper and Quint –  attempt to cooperatively figure out exactly where the shark is hiding in the surrounding sea.

 

Act 2: The Orca:

Once the shark has been located, the Jaws game switches to a second act. The board is flipped over and the game puts the three human players aboard Quint’s doomed Orca boat that is slowly sinking. These players must work cooperatively to try and stop the shark before it attacks and completely dismantles the boat. However, they don’t know where the player controlling the shark is going to make their next strike.

The Jaws board game apparently takes about an hour to play and will be available in late June for $30.

Related:

The Game of Jaws – board game, 1975

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Jaws Funko Pop! vinyl and ReAction figures

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‘Whatever you do, don’t go in the water!’

Funko has announced a new set of Pop! Vinyl figures at the New York Toy Fair.

“Celebrate the 1975 classic film that continues to terrify beachgoers 44 years later with:

  • Pop! Chief Brody
  • Pop! consulting oceanographer Matt Hooper
  • Pop! shark hunter Quint
  • 6″ Pop! Jaws
  • 6″ Pop! Jaws with a diving tank in his mouth.”

Funko previous released a set of Jaws Re-Action figures that are now sold out and only available via online re-sellers.

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