Terrance Dicks' Space:1999 Adventure

Among classic Doctor Who fans Terrance Dicks is not just a legend, but someone to be revered. Longtime script editor for the show during its 70’s heyday, he was responsible for shepherding dozens of great stories through the process from concept to script to screen. After he stepped down from his editor role, he continued writing for Who  and contributed several scripts to the show including Robot, The Brain of Morbius, Horror of Fang Rock and The Five Doctors. His connection to Doctor Who goes even deeper because that during and after his time on the show he also was the main writer of the famous Target imprint that novelized various Doctor Who storylines in print. Indeed, he was the first writer to be tasked with this project that soon grew to be a major second career for him. His understanding of the show and his ability to translate scripts to novels made him the most beloved contributor to the series and set him up for a career in publishing that continued for the rest of his life. It was through the American reprints of these Who novels that I first became aware of him and began to seek out his name when prowling bookstores. In my youth, Dicks’ novels were the only way I could hope to experience several classic Doctor stories.

But of course, Doctor Who is not the only show that he wrote for and, although I've been aware of this for years, I never actively sought out any of his work on other television programs. That is, until lately. I recently learned that he wrote an episode of the mid-70’s Gerry Anderson TV show Space: 1999 and, since just last year Shout Factory was kind enough to put out both seasons on Blu-ray, I thought I would check this episode out and discover if it were any good. Luckily, I received that Blu set as a very welcome Christmas gift last year so the show was just a couple of button pushes way!

The episode is called The Lambda Factor and I have to admit that - of the handful of second season episodes that I've ever seen - it's actually pretty darned good. One of the failings of the Space:1999 second season is that in an attempt to create a more action-oriented show some of the first season’s cerebral attitude was thrown out. This figured to make the show less sleep inducing (because it could be dull as dirt) and better paced. Interestingly, The Lambda Factor splits the difference between these two approaches with a heady central concept married to a tense unfolding of dark emotions that trigger murder and despair. Dicks has some expressed surprise that his script made it to the screen with almost no changes and has stated that he was pretty happy with the finished episode. I was impressed enough with this one to slate into my schedule a possible reassessment of the much derided second season of Space: 1999. Such is the power of Terrance Dicks!

The Bloody Pit #98 - MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932)

Mark Maddox returns to the show to talk about one of the more overlooked of the Universal horror films of the 1930’s - MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932). This movie’s lack of attention may be because it doesn’t have one of the classic monster characters as a draw or, possibly, because it is one of the darkest, nastiest sixty-one minutes the studio ever released! Luckily, I don’t think it will remain as underseen in the future as it has just gotten a tricked out new Blu-Ray release which gives the film the best visual presentation it’s ever received on home video. The picture is so sharp that you can almost see the evil thoughts as they flicker in Bela Lugosi’s eyes!

We start the episode with a brief discussion of some of some of the projects Mark has coming out soon including some fun information about the genesis of his cover art for the upcoming Blu-Ray of Hammer’s EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN. We then move into a rather scattered discussion of MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE, jumping from one topic to another as we explore the qualities that make it a unique part of the decade’s horror output. Lugosi’s masterful acting is examined along with his bizarre uni-brow. That is one strange look! The not-so hidden strain of bestiality embedded in the story is touched on as well as the fears of a Darwinian view of the world that the script uses to terrify its audience. We disagree about the inserted chimp scenes but both of us find some generally held ideas about this movie to be a bit silly. We bring up the legendary first edit of the film along with Tim Lucas’ Video Watchdog article (in issue #111) in which he proposed a way to re-edit the existing film to approximate the director’s original version. It’s a shame there wasn’t an attempt to include such a variation for the new Blu.

If you have any thoughts about this film or any other that we’ve discussed on the show, write to us at thebloodypit@gmail.com or over on the Facebook page. Mark will return in a few weeks to talk about another movie so you could even ask him some questions directly, if you wish. Thanks for listening!

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Trailers From Hell - MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981)

Figured that I'd beat others to this film before the 14th! David DeCoteau gives us a  good introduction to this well done Canadian slasher. 

Fritz Lang's WOMAN IN THE MOON (1929)

I spent the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday finally catching up with Fritz Lang's amazing science fiction film WOMAN IN THE MOON (1929). Much less well known than the classic METROPOLIS (1928) I found this one to be at least as affecting and just as rich as a cinematic experience. Once again in collaboration with his wife Thea on Harbou he crafted an epic science fiction tale that tried very hard for it’s period to be as scientifically accurate as possible. This is shown in several fascinating sections where the concept of rocketry and the science of gaining the escape velocities needed to reach the moon and to return are spelled out in detail. It's rather fascinating to take note of just how accurate a lot of the astro-navigation theories were at that time. Of course, this being science fiction that is casting a view decades into the future it's not hard to guess that there are a number of scientific inaccuracies. But those are the kinds of things that just make these older science fiction movies even more charming for me. This is a science fiction adventure, not some kind of feakin’ documentary! This is what makes the movie so entertaining for anyone with a curiosity to see great early science fiction films. The joys of it are many and it rewards your attention.

I was struck by how effective the miniature work is especially in getting across the size of the rocket structure in the gantry where it is housed. One could easily argue that those sequences go on a bit too long so that the filmmakers could show off their finely detailed work. I'll admit I enjoyed them in the same way that I enjoy the same kind of sequences that showed up later in the Gerry Anderson television series Thunderbirds. “Let's make sure everybody can get a really good look at all the hard work put into these models folks.” If it looks good, I don’t mind and in 1929 this was ground breaking stuff!

Of course, the most ridiculous science fiction element the movie asks us to accept is that there's somehow enough atmosphere on the moon not to mention pressure, temperature and everything else that human being would need to survive and walk around like you were just say, oh, - I don't know - in a large Cinema sandbox or back lot. But this is science fiction and that is part of the point of these things. On its own terms, this is a riveting, entertaining, beautiful movie and one that I'm thoroughly thrilled to finally been able to see especially in the fantastic restoration that I viewed from a Turner Classic Movies broadcast. I feared that since it was close to three hours in length, I would find it was a little too long. But I have to admit that I was never bored and this fun story became a very entertaining ride. If you have any curiosity about silent science fiction film this is a great second feature to follow on the heels of Metropolis.

Trailers From Hell - 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1954)

Rest in Peace Kirk Douglas. 

Paul Naschy Poster Art!

On my mind lately! 

Naschycast #62 - 10th Anniversary Show!

With this episode we cross the one decade mark!

Neither Troy or I thought we’d still be making this podcast ten years after we began, but here we are! We realized that, although our enthusiasm for Paul Naschy’s work has only grown, it was time to actively seek out more new voices to include on the show. So, our goal for 2020 is to speak to a host of people who have never been on the podcast to get their perspectives on his movies. A diversity of opinion is always food for thought and we think this will be the perfect way to start new discussions about the long legacy of Jacinto Molina. These are great days for Senor Naschy as more and more of his films are available on Blu-Ray bringing a whole new generation of fans to his mad world of monsters and horror. That means people are discovering El Hombre Lobo and his other creations every day so its time to kick open the doors and see what his influence is a full decade after his passing.

This giant-sized episode includes four new voices to the podcast. I asked each participant to talk about one of the Waldemar Daninsky films and they (luckily) jumped at the chance. Adrian Smith has podcasted with me over on The Bloody Pit discussing INSEMINOID and CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST but he steps up to discuss his first Naschy werewolf film - WEREWOLF SHADOW. Derek Koch is a podcasting O.G. with his incredibly popular Monster Kid Radio serving as a focal point for these kinds of classic (and not so classic) movies. He joins us to talk about the Naschy monster mash ASSIGNMENT TERROR. Author Steve Sullivan has been on the Bloody Pit in the past talking about the colorful Doctor Who films made in the 1960’s, but his love of all things Naschy bubbles over in our conversation about CURSE OF THE DEVIL. Matthew Kowalski is a longtime fan of the podcast and has often written in to give us his thoughts on the various Spanish horror topics we dig into on the show. He sat down to talk about his favorite of the Daninsky films – WEREWOLF SHADOW - giving us a different look at that iconic movie. Afterward, Troy and I tackle an email and makes plans to get to our backlogged correspondence over the next couple of shows. We promise!

I’ve already got a couple more guests for future episodes lined up including some folks I’ve never spoken with before. So exciting! This is going to be a great year for the Naschycast even if I don’t think we’ll produce another four-and-a-half-hour episode! Seriously, I’ll try to break things up as we go forward.

If you have any comments or suggestion please write us at naschycast@gmail.com or message us on the Facebook page. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon!

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