Discussion
I have recently developed a taste for appalling old B movies - full of wooden acting and, occasionally, interesting plots. I seem to prefer this genre to the latest films from Netflix and Amazon.
Here's a couple:
https://www.netflix.com/watch/70154525?trackId=255...
(The Devil's Men/Land of the Minotaur - Peter Cushing/Donald Pleasence). Dreadful - great fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjSAUzPH_kU
(The Cosmic Man). Appaling and predictable. Excellent!
Anyone else into this rubbish?
Here's a couple:
https://www.netflix.com/watch/70154525?trackId=255...
(The Devil's Men/Land of the Minotaur - Peter Cushing/Donald Pleasence). Dreadful - great fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjSAUzPH_kU
(The Cosmic Man). Appaling and predictable. Excellent!
Anyone else into this rubbish?
B movies aren't necessarily rubbish at all. The "B" category was just the term used for the fact that, up until the mid/late 1960s, if you went to the cinema there was usually a whole programme of stuff to watch, not just one film. The programme usually consisted of a newsreel, a cartoon or comedy short, a main film (the A movie) and a second film - which was classified as the "B Movie".
It was only classified as "B" because it was not the main feature and often included actors who would not have been looked on as major stars - but would have been well known to the audiences.
For me, the hey-day for these "B Features" was the early post-war period (late 1940s) up until the late 1950s. This is the period where film-noir was very popular and quite a few of the B movies would be film noir type. Some of them are actually very good and many of them are available to watch on You Tube.
Even if the actors weren't the top flight Hollywood stars, they were often very good and a number of them went on to be stars later. Actors to watch out for in these films are Richard Widmark, Dan Duryea, Edmund O'Brien, Dana Andrews, young Jack Nicholson, young Steve McQueen.
Nowadays we tend to associate "B Movie" with schlocky science fiction or horror genre, but the crime/detective B Movies of the 40s and 50s actually stand up very well today.
I blame the 1980s Channel 4 documentary "The Killer Bs" for this rather disrespectful view of the B movie - although the documentary was very tongue in cheek and quite funny.
There's a good history of the classic B Movie here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_movie
It was only classified as "B" because it was not the main feature and often included actors who would not have been looked on as major stars - but would have been well known to the audiences.
For me, the hey-day for these "B Features" was the early post-war period (late 1940s) up until the late 1950s. This is the period where film-noir was very popular and quite a few of the B movies would be film noir type. Some of them are actually very good and many of them are available to watch on You Tube.
Even if the actors weren't the top flight Hollywood stars, they were often very good and a number of them went on to be stars later. Actors to watch out for in these films are Richard Widmark, Dan Duryea, Edmund O'Brien, Dana Andrews, young Jack Nicholson, young Steve McQueen.
Nowadays we tend to associate "B Movie" with schlocky science fiction or horror genre, but the crime/detective B Movies of the 40s and 50s actually stand up very well today.
I blame the 1980s Channel 4 documentary "The Killer Bs" for this rather disrespectful view of the B movie - although the documentary was very tongue in cheek and quite funny.
There's a good history of the classic B Movie here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_movie
NDA said:
I have recently developed a taste for appalling old B movies - full of wooden acting and, occasionally, interesting plots. I seem to prefer this genre to the latest films from Netflix and Amazon.
Anyone else into this rubbish?
Yes. Big time.Anyone else into this rubbish?
I love an old classic B&W B movie Sci Fi, even if they weren't really B movies.
Rubber monsters, dodgy stop motion, frisbeed Hubcaps as flying saucers.
Most a metaphor for communism & reds under the bed.
1953 Robot Monster.
Gorilla suit & a diving helmet. Fantastic
HD Adam said:
Yes. Big time.
I love an old classic B&W B movie Sci Fi, even if they weren't really B movies.
Rubber monsters, dodgy stop motion, frisbeed Hubcaps as flying saucers.
Most a metaphor for communism & reds under the bed.
1953 Robot Monster.
Gorilla suit & a diving helmet. Fantastic
Excellent! I love an old classic B&W B movie Sci Fi, even if they weren't really B movies.
Rubber monsters, dodgy stop motion, frisbeed Hubcaps as flying saucers.
Most a metaphor for communism & reds under the bed.
1953 Robot Monster.
Gorilla suit & a diving helmet. Fantastic
Yeah, love a good old movie like this. Objectively some are terrible, but you have to admire the sincerity they were made with. The Giant Claw being a particular favourite. There was a point in time in the early to mid 80's where they would show them on BBC2 around 6pm I seem to remember - got into them then. Invaders from Mars scared the bejeezus out of me (to be fair I was around 8, but still).
The Quatermass ones are worth a watch too, similar vein, especially the serialised BBC one. Pretty sure it's available on Youtube.
The Quatermass ones are worth a watch too, similar vein, especially the serialised BBC one. Pretty sure it's available on Youtube.
Edited by bstb3 on Wednesday 19th July 23:18
HD Adam said:
NDA said:
I have recently developed a taste for appalling old B movies - full of wooden acting and, occasionally, interesting plots. I seem to prefer this genre to the latest films from Netflix and Amazon.
Anyone else into this rubbish?
Yes. Big time.Anyone else into this rubbish?
I love an old classic B&W B movie Sci Fi, even if they weren't really B movies.
Rubber monsters, dodgy stop motion, frisbeed Hubcaps as flying saucers.
Most a metaphor for communism & reds under the bed.
1953 Robot Monster.
Gorilla suit & a diving helmet. Fantastic
NDA said:
Quite so. However I am interested in the appalling ones - of which there are many.
This one - A Touch of the Sun/ No Secrets https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080039/ has never been topped for me. Two titles is always a good sign of a waif film.
Oliver Reed looking for some lost astronauts stolen by an African despot.
It used to be on ITV all the time in the middle of the night. It's quite stunningly awful in every conceivable way and not in an entertaining way, just teeth grinding.
Plan 9 from outer space is generally regarded as the worst film ever made, I agree and use it as a reference for any of the old movies I watch and find it entertaining for the all the wrong reasons.
Any bad black & white film or colour before 1990 is worth watching unlike most made after.
Any bad black & white film or colour before 1990 is worth watching unlike most made after.
TRIUMPHBULLET said:
Plan 9 from outer space is generally regarded as the worst film ever made, I agree and use it as a reference for any of the old movies I watch and find it entertaining for the all the wrong reasons.
Any bad black & white film or colour before 1990 is worth watching unlike most made after.
Anything by Ed Wood is going to be in the bad movies list, but Cy Roth's Fire Maidens From Outer Space has a greater claim to being considered the worst movie ever made.Any bad black & white film or colour before 1990 is worth watching unlike most made after.
deadslow said:
I watched this a few weeks ago as it happens - the YouTube algorithm is working well!A truly dreadful film in just about every regard. Loved it.
"Morrow later confessed in an interview that no one in the film knew what the titular monster looked like until the film's premiere. Morrow himself first saw the film in his hometown, and hearing the audience laugh every time the monster appeared on screen, he left the theater early, embarrassed that anyone there might recognize him "
motco said:
Watch Talking Pictures Channel any day and there will be at least one decent old film, usually several. Old TV series too - The Brack Report is a 1970s eco film that contains a surprising amount of stuff trotted out today.
I'm a devotee of this channel. Not much horror stuff but a lot of "film noir" with unknown actors, Sadly the channel has a limited stock and repeats are every few weeks.Gassing Station | TV, Film, Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff