Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

[jason h]

I notice that in tribute to the late Sir Christopher Lee, BBC Two are showing a late night horror double-bill on Saturday 11th July. This reminds me of the ones I watched as a kid in the early 80s. I remember my friends and I would see it listed and talk about how we were going to watch it - seek the portable upstairs into your bedroom (like I did)? If I was staying over at my cousin's then we would get some sweets in to watch the films with. I watched so many great horror classics this way, and many of them either Hammer films or Jacques Tourneur ones. Such a shame that kids today don't have these 'shared common experiences' like these. Wish that BBC Two (or FOUR) would start a new season of them again.

[darren]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

I remember sitting up during the eighties watching these dble bill on bbc 2.
I remember it with real fondness.

From memory the show was hosted by alex cox show was called moviedrome.
I really remember it so clearly.

They should never have got rid of it.
There would be a brief description of the films that where to be shown.

We really were very lucky jason not like kids today.

[jason h]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

I remember Alex Cox on Moviedrome too but that was much later I believe and featured cult films, not just horrors (watching Night of the Comet was fantastic). I don't remember if it was hosted by anyone in particular, just back to back horror loveliness. Were they all black & white though? They all seemed to be from what I remember.

[darren]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

I did a check and alex cox did present it yes.

But yes it was a show that showed all sorts of unusual films.
Films id never seen or heard of before.

Not just horror either.
It was sort of my early introduction to horror etc.

[zabadak]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

I remember once watching Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Thing from Another World - the latter scared the be-JAY-sus out of me!

[darren]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two


no shock it scared you black and white always makes films ever more frightening.


Yes they did show a mix of horror and sci fi over the yrs moviedrome was on.
BUT THINK THEY WHERE MORE HORROR THOUGH.

Pretty sure they were some in colour and some in black and white.

i remember once watching journey to the center of the earth and the thing from another world - the latter scared the be-jay-sus out of me!

[catflap]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

I loved The Thing from Another World - I don't care if the more recent versions were truer to the original book, you just can't beat having this on late on a winter's night.

[Richard1978]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

It seems common to get them shown around Halloween, as you might expect.

[staffslad]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

I remember the BBC2 horror double-bills late on Saturday nights in the late 70s/early 80s. They were a mixed bag: old classic B+W Universals, Hammers, Amicus, the Corman Poe series, etc. Great viewing for a Saturday night--wish they would bring them back.

Moviedrome was late 80s going into the 90s. Yes, they weren't just horror and SF, but all kinds of cult films. Alex Cox would give a brief introduction to each film. Seem to remember it being screened on Sunday nights, or at least some were. I remember seeing Q: the winged Serpent for the first time on Moviedrome.

[big kid]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

I remember the BBC2 horror double-bills late on Saturday nights in the late 70s/early 80s.

used to stay up late watching the old black and white universal movies with my mum while we were waiting of my dad finishing the late shift. the wolfman used to scare the life out of me. now he's my favourite monster. lol

[darren]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two



yes your correct about sunday nights as well..
Just a mix of cult films.

Before dvd and youtube watching moviedrome was one way of seeing films that otherwise you would never get to see as some where pretty obscure.

i remember the bbc2 horror double-bills late on saturday nights in the late 70s/early 80s. They were a mixed bag: Old classic b+w universals, hammers, amicus, the corman poe series, etc. Great viewing for a saturday night--wish they would bring them back.

Moviedrome was late 80s going into the 90s. Yes, they weren't just horror and sf, but all kinds of cult films. Alex cox would give a brief introduction to each film. Seem to remember it being screened on sunday nights, or at least some were. I remember seeing q: The winged serpent for the first time on moviedrome.

[Richard1978]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

Channel 4 also had a strand of less known films shown late at night IIRC.

[zabadak]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

I loved The Thing from Another World - I don't care if the more recent versions were truer to the original book, you just can't beat having this on late on a winter's night.

Oh yes, it's one of my faves now but at the time!!!

Incidentally, it was used as "inspiration" for the first Alien film

[staffslad]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

In a similar way to the Moviedrome and Saturday night double-bills, does anyone remember 'Mystery Train' from 1991? It was shown late friday nights on BBC2 and hosted by Crystal Maze's Richard o'Brien. It was set in a dark, eerie and deserted Underground station with mannequins dotted around. o'Brien would introduce episodes from 'Kolchak: the Night Stalker, animations, shorts and a main horror/SF film. It only lasted from October to December 1991.

[darren]

Re: Horror Double-Bills on BBC Two

Moviedrome was the most radical, influential and fondly remembered film series ever broadcast on mainstream TV. Well… probably.

Each summer from 1988 to 1994 and then again from 1997 to 2000, the series would show a selection of “cult films” on BBC2 every Sunday night. The films they showed - weird, scary, startling, offbeat, obscure and often unappreciated - were exciting enough, but the filmed introductions that preceded each broadcast were often even more subversive than the pictures themselves.On Sunday the 8th May 1988 Moviedrome broadcast its first episode. Filmed on a set of what looks like a disreputable L.A. motel room with a large neon sign of the series name flashing outside, the camera zooms back through one of the room’s windows with an Ejército Nacional de Liberación flag (the Marxist guerrilla National Liberation Army of Colombia) draped over the windowsill. The door to the empty room opens and film director Alex Cox enters, looking like a Robert Crumb drawing of a geeky punk. Wearing a leather jacket and a t-shirt of his most recent and most brilliant film,Walker, he begins to tell us a little about the premise of the series, and gives a brief introduction to the following film, The Wicker Man.

1988 FILM LIST.

THE WICKER MAN (8 May, 11:00pm)
ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE (15 May, 10:30pm)
DIVA (22 May, 10:55pm)
RAZORBACK (29 May, 11:20pm)
BIG WEDNESDAY (05 June, 10:50pm)
FAT CITY (12 June, 11:20pm)
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (19 June, 11:30pm)
BARBARELLA (26 June, 10:20pm)
THE HIRED HAND (03 July, 10:35pm)
JOHNNY GUITAR (10 July, 10:40pm)
THE PARALLAX VIEW (17 July, 10:50pm)
THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH (24 July, 10:50pm)
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (31 July, 10:55pm)
THE FLY (1958) (07 August, 10:00pm)
ONE FROM THE HEART (14 August, 10:30pm)
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (21 August, 10:15pm)
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (28 August, 10:05pm)
ONE-EYED JACKS (04 September, 9:55pm)