Monsters of the Deep!
Here’s Monsters of the Deep, a National Geographic documentary that investigates the possible existence of fantastically enormous sea creatures.
(FYI, this is one of my favorite subjects.)
great thumbnail. đ
There are a million of these docs and they all blend together after a while, so I have no idea if I’ve seen this one before. While I’ve sadly had to let go of any lingering notions that there ever was a Nessie, the ocean depths still hide plenty, and I for one continue to hold out hope for a real life version of Cloverfield.
Duel.
Here’s Duel, from 1971. Famous as Steven Spielberg’s feature-length directorial debut, Duel is about a guy menaced by a mysterious truck that he can’t shake.
The movie does a lot with a little and there aren’t any wasted moments. I’ve seen mixed reactions to Duel over the years, but it hit me pretty hard and I thought it was way effective. Scary, too.
(But I still think it should’ve been called Fuel.)
Star Crystal!
From 1986, Star Crystal is an odd duck. It begins as a horror movie — an Alien clone, in many ways — but then, almost on a dime, it turns into something more closely resembling a family-safe sci-fi movie.
Itâs not too much of a spoiler to mention that the movie features an alien, and my God do I love the design of that guy. He kinda looks like an inside-out E.T., covered in Jell-O.
Star Crystal had some fun moments, but make no mistake, it was still a horror movie! (Well, more sci-fi than horror, but people bleed!)
Enjoy. Itâs pretty perfect for a lazy Saturday night.
Old Infomercials!
At its core, Dino Drac After Dark is a tribute to those lost, lonely nights of youth, when Iâd grab at whatever was available to add a little noise to the silence. In a world without the internet, the pickings were slim!
Case in point: I used to treat infomercials like ârealâ TV shows, and came to count on their hosts as surrogate friends. Every weekend, or perhaps even every single day during my summer vacations, Iâd spend the late hours watching pitches for fad diets and psychic hotlines, not so much âentertainedâ as merely comforted by the fact that I had something there to make lights and sounds.
I only âhalf-watchedâ them most of the time, using the infomercials as background noise as I putzed around in my bedroom. Still, I saw some infomercials so many times that I ended up memorizing every single line in them. Here are a few that I remember most:
Ronco Showtime Rotisserie!
Richard Simmons’s Deal-a-Meal Program!
Anthony Robbins: Personal Power!
Jack LaLanne Power Juicer!
Watching âem again now is such a trip. I need my old blankets and flannel shirts, and a sleeve of Ritz crackers, and maybe some well-worn issues of Wizard Magazine.
