Dom
White Lodge
- Jul 10, 2022
- 963
- 995
I recently ripped my DVDs to HEVC mp4 files, which I've put on to a hard drive plugged into my TV, so I can have permanent access to my collection, which I'd put away in binders a decade ago. I simply didn't have space for 400 DVD movies and another 400 discs of TV shows. I have hundreds of Blu-rays too, which are in cases on my shelves.
Among the DVDs in the binder was a the first season of an anthology series called The Hunger, which I hadn't watched in 20 years. It was overseen by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott (or at least their company, Scott Free!) It's not particularly related to the Tony Scott film, although David Bowie singe the end title song and does the intros and outros for season two (Terrance Stamp in season one.) The 'hunger' of the title is generally a greed for sex, money, power and so on. The series has episodes about 25 minutes long with the host making a few quirky comments before and after the story. So pretty much the old-school formula. Some episodes are pretty decent, as it turns out. The series does that naughty trick of giving us two episodes shot on a decent budget in the UK - the first by Tony Scott and the second by Jake Scott (Ridley's son) with 'name' and up-and-coming actors such as Balthazar Getty, Timothy Spall, Karen Black, Amanda Ryan and Daniel Craig. The rest of the season is shot in Canada, with increasingly lesser-known actors on a lesser budget. The basic formula is: a set up creating some unease, some nudity and extremely softcore sex, then a nasty, twisty climax. Stories can veer from very good to dull, like most anthologies.
I really enjoy the single episode anthology model, which has somewhat fallen out of fashion these days in favour of season-long stories. I obviously love the 1950s-60s version of The Twilight Zone and the 1960s version of The Outer Limits. I used to like the 1980s Twilight Zone series. ITV regional stations often showed the 80s series as 'schedule filler' after the late night news - at about 10.40-11pm. They broke up the 45-minute multi-story episodes into the individual stories, so some episodes would be as little as 10 minutes long (these weren't the dreaded syndication edits seen in the USA.) I keep meaning to buy the 80s series, as I'm very fond of it. It's a shame it was one of the first series shot on 35mm film, telecined and edited and mastered to videotape, which has created such a 'black hole' in our media history in the HD era. The 35mm film was discarded at the time, so no HD version is possible. I watched a few Freddy's Nightmares back in the day too. They were often ridiculous, but I'd happily watch them again! I was aware of Amazing Stories as a youngster, but found them a bit anodyne. I watched a couple of episodes of the Apple TV series, but found them just as dull. There was a US horror series called The Hitchhiker on late night ITV, too. That appealed to my early-to-mid-teen sensibilities! The Red Shoe Diaries got some edited showings in the UK, but I found it a bit dull, for all I like that 80s steamy, soft-focus, slightly noir-ish erotica. In terms of crime and slightly macabre material, the UK had Tales of the Unexpected, which was originally adaptations of Roald Dahl short stories (and initially introduced by him) and versions of Alfred Hitchcock Presents made it over here.
So what anthology series have people liked here? Do you like the format or prefer the season long version? I know a lot of science fiction, fantasy and horror fans were particularly inspired by these series back in the day. The Paramount+ Twilight Zone failed, but I find myself hoping for a resurgence in episodic anthology series. There's a Creepshow series I'd like to check out (George Romero couldn't get the rights for the use of the title on TV, so he used Tales from the Dark Side.)
Among the DVDs in the binder was a the first season of an anthology series called The Hunger, which I hadn't watched in 20 years. It was overseen by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott (or at least their company, Scott Free!) It's not particularly related to the Tony Scott film, although David Bowie singe the end title song and does the intros and outros for season two (Terrance Stamp in season one.) The 'hunger' of the title is generally a greed for sex, money, power and so on. The series has episodes about 25 minutes long with the host making a few quirky comments before and after the story. So pretty much the old-school formula. Some episodes are pretty decent, as it turns out. The series does that naughty trick of giving us two episodes shot on a decent budget in the UK - the first by Tony Scott and the second by Jake Scott (Ridley's son) with 'name' and up-and-coming actors such as Balthazar Getty, Timothy Spall, Karen Black, Amanda Ryan and Daniel Craig. The rest of the season is shot in Canada, with increasingly lesser-known actors on a lesser budget. The basic formula is: a set up creating some unease, some nudity and extremely softcore sex, then a nasty, twisty climax. Stories can veer from very good to dull, like most anthologies.
I really enjoy the single episode anthology model, which has somewhat fallen out of fashion these days in favour of season-long stories. I obviously love the 1950s-60s version of The Twilight Zone and the 1960s version of The Outer Limits. I used to like the 1980s Twilight Zone series. ITV regional stations often showed the 80s series as 'schedule filler' after the late night news - at about 10.40-11pm. They broke up the 45-minute multi-story episodes into the individual stories, so some episodes would be as little as 10 minutes long (these weren't the dreaded syndication edits seen in the USA.) I keep meaning to buy the 80s series, as I'm very fond of it. It's a shame it was one of the first series shot on 35mm film, telecined and edited and mastered to videotape, which has created such a 'black hole' in our media history in the HD era. The 35mm film was discarded at the time, so no HD version is possible. I watched a few Freddy's Nightmares back in the day too. They were often ridiculous, but I'd happily watch them again! I was aware of Amazing Stories as a youngster, but found them a bit anodyne. I watched a couple of episodes of the Apple TV series, but found them just as dull. There was a US horror series called The Hitchhiker on late night ITV, too. That appealed to my early-to-mid-teen sensibilities! The Red Shoe Diaries got some edited showings in the UK, but I found it a bit dull, for all I like that 80s steamy, soft-focus, slightly noir-ish erotica. In terms of crime and slightly macabre material, the UK had Tales of the Unexpected, which was originally adaptations of Roald Dahl short stories (and initially introduced by him) and versions of Alfred Hitchcock Presents made it over here.
So what anthology series have people liked here? Do you like the format or prefer the season long version? I know a lot of science fiction, fantasy and horror fans were particularly inspired by these series back in the day. The Paramount+ Twilight Zone failed, but I find myself hoping for a resurgence in episodic anthology series. There's a Creepshow series I'd like to check out (George Romero couldn't get the rights for the use of the title on TV, so he used Tales from the Dark Side.)