Meet the Reptoids

I caught an episode of Boogeymen, on Wednesday, January 21, 2015, on Destination America. I’ve never paid attention to this series before. But this one caught my attention because it was about Bigfoot. It seems like a good series, and I wished I caught the earlier episodes. One gentleman made an interesting comment about Bigfoots. He said that the more often we see them, the closer we are to the end times. I’ve never heard that said about Sasquatch before. I always associated the end times with the Pope, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, solar flares, mass extinction; but I would never suspect Bigfoot.

Saturday evening, January 24, 2015, delighted me with an all new Monsters and Mysteries in America, also on Destination America. The first half focused on the Tennessee Wildman. Not to be confused with Sasquatch, the Wildman is said to be a half human, half beast hybrid, which might be enemies with Bigfoot; competing over territory and food. By all accounts, they seem faster and more agile than Bigfoot. I think I’d rather encounter a Bigfoot, than a Wildman from these reports. The second half introduced me to the Subterranean Reptoid. These reptilian creatures roam the sewers of Southern California, particularly Anaheim Hills. I’ve never heard of neither of these two phenomena before, so this was a very enjoyable episode to watch.

My weekend was made complete Sunday night, January 25, 2015, with an all new Finding Bigfoot, on Animal Planet. The team went to a totally different dimension for this episode. They went back to Pennsylvania, to investigate a possible link between Sasquatch and the Supernatural. They spoke to a family who has witnessed Bigfoots on their property, as well as apparitions inside their home. Bobo also had some ghost stories of his own, to share with his teammates. As usual, Renae, the scientist, remained her usual skeptical self. I never would have imagined that this series would ever incorporate the paranormal into their show. But I’m glad they did and this was definitely an episode to remember.

Image: nitehawkcinema.com

I vant to suck your Blood

The Throwback Thursday feature on Chiller TV on January 15, 2015, was Once Bitten (1985). This film stars Jim Carrey as a naïve teen, and Lauren Hutton as the vampire countess, who must find virgin blood, or else she will age very badly. This is Jim Carrey’s first movie! And from his facial expressions, body language, and dance moves, you can tell he was a future superstar in the making. I’m so glad that Chiller TV aired this gem. I absolutely love this movie. I always have ever since I first watched it more than 25 years ago. If you haven’t seen this classic, watch it now and for decades to come.

I found an unexpected surprise with an all new Monsters and Mysteries in America, Saturday night, January 17, 2015, on Destination America. This was not the typical episode which spotlights four or five different mysteries. This episode was all about one topic: The Men in Black. About four or five eyewitness accounts were retold; and they were all interesting and eye-opening stories. I never knew the Men in Black were even capable, of the things they are claimed to have done, in this episode.

An all new Finding Bigfoot aired Sunday evening, January 18, 2015, on Animal Planet. They go high tech in this episode as they employ drones to hover over the woods to find Sasquatch. Along with the thermal imagers, and team members strategically placed in multiple locations, they have the whole forest covered. BAD NEWS folks: Bigfoot didn’t come out that night. Oh well, there’s always the next episode and the next season.

Image: imdb.com

2015 Edition

Happy New Year 2015! Family, friends, festivities and food have really cut down on my TV viewing pleasure as of late. But this holiday season, with pagan roots, comes around only once a year, so I’m not complaining. Fortunately, most of my favorite programs are on hiatus, so I didn’t miss too much. Here’s a recap of what I did watch these past two weeks:

On Saturday, December 27, 2014, I tuned into El Rey Network for Duel (1971). This flick is about a traveling salesman, who is terrorized by a homicidal truck driver, along remote stretches of desert highway, for an hour and a half. I usually wouldn’t find this remotely interesting, but then I noticed ‘Steven Spielberg’ in the credits. I’ve never even heard of this movie, and later found out that this is the first film that Spielberg ever directed! And you can easily recognize the filmmaking genius in this early work. Spielberg’s method of storytelling through dramatic camera angles, eerie music, and clever editing make Duel a better film, than everything else Hollywood releases forty something years later!

Animal Planet surprised me, on Sunday, December 28, 2014, with an all new, two-hour long episode of Finding Bigfoot. The team returns to New Jersey, and they bring along a special guest, Bobcat Goldthwait. By the way, Goldthwait has a very interesting technique for catching a Sasquatch. And he fails. There may still be Bigfoots in the Garden State, but no one found them this time. SPOILER: The last half hour was a bonus Untold Stories: Behind the scenes exclusive not mentioned in the program’s description.

In Red Riding Hood (2011), Amanda Seyfried plays a young lady, who falls for an orphaned woodcutter, even though her family disapproves. I saw this flick on FXM On Demand, early New Year’s Eve, and I wish I saw something else! This movie was just boring to watch. The pace was extremely slow. The werewolf was barely present, and not scary in the least. I’m sure Gary Oldman is a fine actor, but you couldn’t tell from this movie. He has slightly more screen time than the werewolf! However, there were some scenes that revealed Canada’s beautiful countryside, but those moments were short lived. If you come across this movie, keep on Riding to the next selection.

The Saturday creature feature for Chiller TV, on January 4, 2015, was The Descent (2005). This British thriller is about six girlfriends who go on an expedition, into the caves of North Carolina, only to find out they are not alone. Nothing about this plot makes any sense. I can’t imagine a group of six women, all women, who would dare venture through the woods, just to climb into caves. However, this flick was very entertaining to watch. The women provided for some good eye candy. And the cave-dwelling creatures were original and definitely creepy. I enjoyed this film and look forward to the sequel.

Image: rogerebert.com