ZkinandBonez

Two more silent classics, this time a pair of comedies by two of the greatest entertainers of all time; Charlie Chaplin & Buster Keaton.

The Gold Rush (1925)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srnlg2b7y7M - from the Rick Deerfield YouTube channel (1 hour 17 mins long - 720p)

Synopsis:
A prospector goes to the Klondike in search of gold and finds it and more.

Directed by Charlie Chaplin.

Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Georgia Hale & Mack Swain.

Trivia:
Chaplin drew inspiration from photographs of the Klondike Gold Rush as well as from the story of the Donner Party who, when snowbound in the Sierra Nevada, were driven to cannibalism or eating leather from their shoes. Chaplin, who believed tragedies and comics were not far from each other, decided to combine these stories of deprivation and horror in comedy.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

And the colourized version if you wish to dabble in such things;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaVNPZNKX7k

The General (1926)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m33VfG6-4vQ - from the FEATURE FILM YouTube channel (1 hour 18 mins long - 720p)

Synopsis:
When Union spies steal an engineer’s beloved locomotive, he pursues it single-handedly and straight through enemy lines.

Directed by Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton.

Cast: Buster Keaton & Marion Mack.

Trivia:
In 1963, Keaton said that “I was more proud of that picture than any I ever made. Because I took an actual happening out of the…history books, and I told the story in detail too”. With changing tastes and a re-evaluation of his works, audiences and critics would later agree with him, and it is now considered a major classic of the silent era. In 1989, The General was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

Black Dragons (1942)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXJamhA22S4 - from the Cult Cinema Classics YouTube channel (1 hour 1 min long - 720p)

Synopsis:
It is prior to the American entry into World War II, and Japan’s fiendish Black Dragon Society is hatching an evil plot with the Nazis. They instruct a brilliant scientist, Dr. Melcher, to travel to Japan on a secret mission. There he operates on six Japanese conspirators, transforming them to resemble six American leaders.

Directed by William Nigh.

Cast: Bela Lugosi & Joan Barclay.

Trivia:
The film was rushed into production following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The original working title was ‘The Yellow Menace’.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

Z6PO said:

The expendable design makes more sense, and is in line with the philosophy of the Empire military! I had always found the hyperdrive ring on the Jedi fighter kinda stupid: if it gets destroyed after you leave it behind, you become stranded and have to call for help…

I though it just stayed in orbit or in deep space until the fighter returned? Or is that an EU thing maybe? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen/read that the fighters can return and use them again.

Another great ‘starship redesign/fandesign’ video by EC Henry & Angelos Karderinis.

TIE Fighter Hyperdrive Ring (Fan Design/Lore)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa5rfgH4yCY - - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (4 mins long)

The blurb:
“Canonically, there is no hyperdrive ring design for the TIE fighter. So I took it upon myself to create one!”

Previous EC Henry restoration and redesign videos posted in this thread:

The Coolest Rebel Starship You’ve Never Heard Of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfSfGiSSWkU - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (8 mins long)

The blurb:
“Lurking in a corner of the frame for decades… is a Rebel starship that has never gotten the recognition it deserves!
Let’s explore this awesome starship!”

The Unsung Hero of Hoth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa3vDAB47f4 - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (3 mins long)

The blurb:
“This obscure vehicle has been hiding in The Empire Strikes Back under our noses from the very beginning. Unfortunately, this awesome little vehicle has only gotten minimal recognition. Time to change that!”

The Secret CORELLIAN CORVETTE in Return of the Jedi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhalNJJPc3o - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (7:40 mins long)

The blurb:
“For almost 4 decades, a secret Corellian Corvette variant has been hiding in plain sight in Return of the Jedi. Join us on an exciting exploration of this ship, including a fan interpretation of the ship brought to life!”

The Secret Mystery TIE FIGHTER in Return of the Jedi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYpbVrXFSqQ&t - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (6:45 mins long)

The blurb:
“We might think that we’ve seen every ship in Star Wars… but there are always new discoveries! In this case, possibly an entirely new variant of TIE fighter.”

Making a Civilian T-47 Snowspeeder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xqUbRKrjUo - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (4 mins long).

The blurb:
“The snowspeeder is an iconic Star Wars vehicle, but canonically it was developed from a stock civilian airspeeder. In this video, I design what that might look like.”

The Most Obscure Rebel Ship in Star Wars?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeA777Ru7aI - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (10 mins long)

The blurb:
“So many canonical Original Trilogy ships have been totally forgotten by official Star Wars media. It’s my goal to restore them all to their rightful place!”

Three Rebel Ships That Star Wars Forgot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5b0cxF8HOE - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (6 mins long)

The blurb:
"You might think you know every ship in the Rebel Alliance fleet, but there are ships in the original Star Wars trilogy that have somehow evaded detection for decades. I’ve brought three Rebel “mystery ships” to life. "

The Ugliest Rebel Ship You’ve NEVER Heard of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsLocVDui6Y - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (5 mins long)

The blurb:
"It’s amazing that there are canonical ships in the original Star Wars trilogy that are completely neglected. Come explore a completely unexplored ship of the Rebel Alliance! "

The Mon Cal Cruiser You Never Knew Existed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtozC1NLZY8 - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (6 mins long)

The blurb:
“Star Wars is full of mysterious ships that for some reason have never been acknolwedged by canon. I explore one such ship today!”

The IMPERIAL Nebulon-B Frigate (Fan design)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz13rwQpUd4&t - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (9 mins long)

The blurb:
“The Nebulon-B has long been considered a Rebel vessel, but canonically this frigate was originally an Imperial vessel. I took on the challenge of creating what that might have looked like.”

TIE Shuttle’s TRUE FORM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VPVxrKCUGg - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (2:40 mins long)

The blurb:
“Star Wars has no shortage of TIE variants. We’ve all been told that the TIE shuttle is essentially just one ship re-purposed as another. But… the truth is a little more interesting! Let’s explore the TIE Shuttle’s true form!”

The ORIGINAL Star Destroyer: Colin Cantwell’s Design Reborn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZLAtGu3-98&list=PLYn2a0e2FVIKni_wHXR5CJYBnnnYH7mIB&index=146&t - from the EC Henry YouTube channel (5 mins long)

The blurb:
“Many fans of Star Wars don’t know the name Colin Cantwell, but they should. He designed almost every ship in the original film, including the Star Destroyer, which began its life as a very interesting design. Let’s explore that design and maybe we can bring it to life.”

A 1942 B-movie double feature of sorts starring Bela Lugosi and directed by Wallace Fox.

The Corpse Vanishes (1942)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjQ7Z1DWsIc - from the Cult Cinema Classics YouTube channel (1 hour 2 mins - 1080p)

Synopsis:
A scientist, aided by an old hag and her two sons, kills virginal brides, steals their bodies, and extracts gland fluid to keep his ancient wife alive and young.

Directed by Wallace Fox.

Cast: Bela Lugosi, Luana Walters & Tristram Coffin.

Trivia:
In a scene from Bowery at Midnight an advertising poster for The Corpse Vanishes can be seen outside the doors of a cinema.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

Bowery at Midnight (1942)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6ty70RjD-0 - from the PizzaFlix YouTube channel (1 hour 1 min long - 480p)

Synopsis:
Kindly soup kitchen operator and professor of criminology Karl Wagner uses his soup kitchen as a front for a criminal gang who commit a series of daring robberies and murders. When things get out of hand, Wagner kills his henchmen, who wind up as zombies in the cellar of the soup kitchen.

Directed by Wallace Fox.

Cast: Bela Lugosi & John Archer.

Trivia:
The Los Angeles Times called it “maybe the farthest fetched of the Bela Lugosi films”, adding “but judging from the squeals of the youngsters who made up most of the audience in the afternoon such tales can’t simply be brought from too great a distance to please them.”

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

Another bat-themed horror film, though somewhat more on the nose this time as it stars Bela “Dracula” Lugosi (as he was so often referred to in marketing of the time). Despite it’s ridiculous plot, the film is considered one of Lugosi’s better films for the so called “poverty row studios” that dominated his late career.

The Devil Bat (1940)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVzHNeafl5Y - from the Cult Cinema Classics YouTube channel (1 hour 8 mins - 720p)

Synopsis:
A mad scientist develops an aftershave lotion that causes his gigantic bats to kill anyone who wears it.

Directed by Jean Yarbrough.

Cast: Bela Lugosi, Suzanne Kaaren & Dave O’Brien.

Trivia:
The film was re-released in 1945 on a double bill with the Lon Chaney Jr film Man Made Monster (1941).

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

Here’s a somewhat forgotten British pre-code horror film starring Boris Karloff. Despite the title, the plot has heavy ties to Egyptian mythology and was likely made as an attempt at capitalizing on the success of the 1932 Universal film The Mummy which also starred Boris Karloff.

The Ghoul (1933)
https://youtu.be/Ykor2AjjIzU?t=17 - from the Safehouse Horror YouTube channel (1 hour 20 mins long - 1080p)

Synopsis:
An Egyptologist returns from the dead to take revenge on those who have violated his tomb.

Directed by T. Hayes Hunter.

Cast: Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger & Ralph Richardson.

Trivia:
The film was considered to be a lost film until a murky, virtually inaudible subtitled print was located in communist Czechoslovakia in 1969. In the early 1980s, a disused and forgotten film vault at Shepperton Studios, its door blocked by stacked lumber, was cleared and inside they found the nitrate camera negatives of the film in perfect condition.

IMDB link
Wikipedia article

It’s strange to think about how different film history would have been without B-movie schlockmeister Roger Corman. Though his own films as a director were rarely any good, he was directly responsible for launching the careers of actors like Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, and William Shatner. And as a producer he gave a chance to several young aspiring directors such as Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Joe Dante, James Cameron and in the case of the film below, Francis Ford Coppola.

Dementia 13 (1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtFQCuuNDLU - from the Cult Cinema Classics YouTube channel (1 hour 14 mins - 1080p)

Synopsis:
Shocked by the death of her spouse, a scheming widow hatches a bold plan to get her hands on the inheritance, unaware that she is targeted by an axe-wielding murderer who lurks in the family’s estate.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola & Jack Hill (reshoots)

Cast: William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton & Patrick Magee.

Trivia:
• The film’s title appears on a theater marquee in the Coppola-produced George Lucas film American Graffiti (1973), even though the film was set in 1962, before the theatrical release of Dementia 13.
• Corman wanted a cheap Psycho copy with a Gothic setting, and Coppola quickly wrote a screenplay. Although he was given total directorial freedom during production, he found himself at odds with Corman after filming was completed, resulting in Corman bringing in director Jack Hill to film additional sequences.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

And the colourized version if you wish to dabble in such things:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f-jadVuel0

The original Little Shop of Horrors directed by the low budget horror schlockmeister himself, Roger Corman, and one of the first feature film appearances of Jack Nicholson.

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnnTgacQo7w - from the Vintage JukeBox - Don’t Stop The Music YouTube channel (1 hour 44 mins long - 1080p)

Synopsis:
A clumsy young man nurtures a plant and discovers that it’s carnivorous, forcing him to kill to feed it.

Directed by Roger Corman.

Cast: Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles & Jack Nicholson.

Trivia:
The film was shot on a budget of $28,000 (about $240,000 in 2019), with interiors being shot in two days utilizing sets that had been left standing from A Bucket of Blood (1959).

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

Genuinely one of the best, and most succinct, OT analysis videos I’ve ever seen. And also a pretty good explanation for why a lot of modern hero stories don’t have the same impact.

The Importance of Luke Skywalker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvlWSsZwLn0 - from the So Uncivilized YouTube channel (15 mins long).

The blurb:
“Luke Skywalker’s destiny feels different from a lot of other movie heroes. That’s because… it is.”

jedi_bendu said:

ZkinandBonez said:

Sorry to harp on this again, but the word “filler” has quickly turned into my biggest modern pop culture analysis pet peeve. How exactly was last episode filler? They saved Cid (despite her having taken advantage of them for most of the season), they helped the Devaronian gangster guy, they even got involved with the pikes. I can see much of this, if not all of it, becoming really important in future episodes. And even if it doesn’t then it was still a full story which had a point to tell at the end. That’s not filler. Walter White chasing a fly for a full 50 min. episode of Breaking Bad because of broadcast requirements not matching the already mostly spent budget, now that’s filler.

Believe me Bonez, I don’t use the word lightly. When people call episodes ‘filler’, I’m often skeptical because those episodes have turned out to be important character development or bonding time, or just a crucial step back from the story so it isn’t far too overwhelming or fast paced. A lot of episodes people call ‘filler’, I wouldn’t. I don’t call any Clone Wars episodes filler because it’s an anthology series aiming to explore the full scope of the war, and that includes dwelling on smaller stories or characters. But TBB is a linear series; I certainly wasn’t feeling like the story was moving too fast, and the episode felt like they were running out of ideas for new episodes.

Sorry for rambling on about the term, but there are also no Rebels episodes I’d call filler (and maybe that seems a stretch…) ‘Droids in Distress’ explores Zeb’s history and past trauma while setting up the Ghost crew’s involvement in a larger Rebellion; ‘Fighter Flight’ uses a goofy fruit-finding mission to develop the brotherly bond between Ezra and Zeb after previous fallings-out; even Iron Squadron provides a look at Commander Sato’s relationships with Thrawn and his nephew, and it introduces Mart. ‘Infested’ from TBB had pretty much no character development as far as I could tell. Cid proves herself slightly honourable by wanting to save Omega, which I liked, and Omega proves herself a kind and compassionate person for the hundredth time… I just felt like it dragged a bit and didn’t do much to make the characters of the Batch more memorable. But I’m maybe being too harsh on it, because the show IS aiming to explore this period in the star wars galaxy and taking a look at the criminal underworld is an important part of that. And I hope we see the pikes again.

Fair enough, and I see what you mean, though I have to disagree with TBB being a “linear” show (unless I’m interpreting that differently than you do), though it’s obviously much more a single story when compared to TCW, but I’d say it’s more in the same style as Rebels where it’s episodic while still having a through-line as it’s main focus. I get the frustration with TBB being a bit repetitive with it’s themes every now and then, I can’t really argue against that, though Infested still felt more like a proper episode to me than say Iron Squadron, which is the only Rebels episode I don’t like.Though that might just have to do with a personal pet peeve for these types of stories, and that the main cast got side-stepped a bit for some completely new (and slightly annoying IMO) characters. It boils down to taste I suppose, and I quite liked Infested because I love when SW dips into monster-movie territory and the stuff with Cid and the pikes made it feel like a proper story with some real stakes rather than if the big-creatures had simply been part of one of Cid’s jobs or something more casual like that. It was definitely one of the lesser episodes of the first season though, but I still quite enjoyed it and I’m still willing to bet that it’s going to have larger consequences down the line.

Sorry to harp on this again, but the word “filler” has quickly turned into my biggest modern pop culture analysis pet peeve. How exactly was last episode filler? They saved Cid (despite her having taken advantage of them for most of the season), they helped the Devaronian gangster guy, they even got involved with the pikes. I can see much of this, if not all of it, becoming really important in future episodes. And even if it doesn’t then it was still a full story which had a point to tell at the end. That’s not filler. Walter White chasing a fly for a full 50 min. episode of Breaking Bad because of broadcast requirements not matching the already mostly spent budget, now that’s filler.

Anyway, on a more positive note:
I loved the Imperial base from the latest episode. The giant hole in the ground is exactly the kind of slightly abstract designs that I love in SW, and it really helps add this feel of danger and menace to the Empire. And I always love seeing McQuarrie designs being repurposed, though I wouldn’t say it’s an exact match (at least not of the image referenced), but it was a really cool design that felt very McQuarrie-esque regardless.

On Location: Where Eagles Dare (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slGNnC8NOyo - from the filmSCHOOLarchive YouTube channel (12 mins long).

The blurb:
“A behind-the-scenes look at the difficulties of shooting a movie on location in the Austrian Alps.”

IMDb link

Hollywood Goes to Hell - The Making of From Dusk Till Dawn (2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOSo3zgskig&t - from the filmSCHOOLarchive YouTube channel (13 mins long).

The blurb:
“Behind the scenes of the horror film ‘From Dusk Till Dawn,’ written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by his friend Robert Rodriguez.”

IMDB link

Making Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfsVWYzNE38 - from the TheWilliam YouTube channel (32 mins long).

IMDb link

Here’s a pretty unusual sci-fi film. Not only was it rare to see non-horror sci-fi in the 1930’s (unless it was a movie serial), let alone a big budget one. But the story also spans a full century and barely focuses on any specific characters, opting instead to make its grand themes the major through-line.

H. G. Wells’ Things to Come (1936)
https://youtu.be/8xhodHavrrc?t=257 - from the Alzombie YouTube channel (1 hour 40 mins - 720p)

Although the best quality I could find, the sound is a bit odd in the version linked above. Here’s a backup link with better sound, but much lower resolution from the Great Classic Films YouTube channel;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqKGlrPAfSw&t

Synopsis:
The story of a century: a decades-long second World War leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and attempts space travel.

Directed by William Cameron Menzies.

Cast: Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman & Ralph Richardson.

Trivia:
The dialogue and plot were devised by H. G. Wells as “a new story” meant to display the “social and political forces and possibilities” that he had outlined in his 1933 story The Shape of Things to Come, a work he considered less a novel than a “discussion” in fictional form that presented itself as the notes of a 22nd-century diplomat.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

The “original” Jurassic Park. This stop-motion dinosaur film (which predates even King Kong) is something of a forgotten milestone in cinema.

The Lost World (1925)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGQfgjCXDoU - from the Classic Movie Central YouTube channel (1 hour 42 mins long - 720p)

Synopsis:
The first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam.

Directed by Harry O. Hoyt.

Cast: Bessie Love, Lewis Stone & Wallace Beery.

Trivia:
This was the first feature-length film to feature stop motion animation as the primary special effect. The effects were done by Willis O’Brien who would in 1933 work on the original King Kong.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

A pretty interesting low-budget pre-code horror film which is retroactively most notable for it’s unique cast of actors known for their work in more famous classic horror films such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, and many more.

The Vampire Bat (1933)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpaI67Ng3pE&t - from the Hollywood Classics YouTube channel (1 hour 2 mins long - 1080p)

Synopsis:
When corpses drained of blood begin to show up in a European village, vampirism is suspected to be responsible.

Directed by Frank R. Strayer.

Cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas & Dwight Frye.

Trivia:
Made as a “quickie” horror film, The Vampire Bat stars Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill who starred together in Doctor X the year before, and Mystery of the Wax Museum which was still in post production while this film was made. Dwight Frye was similarly well known for his horror work, having played Renfield in Dracula and Fritz the hunchback in Frankenstein. Melvyn Douglas had starred in The Old Dark House and Robert Frazer in White Zombie. The film was also predominantly shot on sets left over from Frankenstein and The Old Dark House.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

That “I am your father” Cinema Reaction is Fake - Vader never said “Luke”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUL54UDTSGU - from the HelloGreedo YouTube channel (9 mins long).

The only Universal Studios classic horror film to be in the public domain, and also one of the most complicated production histories in film history. I’ve included both the 1925 and 1929 re-release (with some technicolor sequences), but there were several more versions made, some lost, some partially recovered, and even the official ones are a patchwork of different versions.

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7KKxePprqc - from the Retrospective YouTube channel (1 hour 31 mins long - 1080p)

The Phantom of the Opera (1929 re-release - Carl Davis Score)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QKpWPut8iM - from the Phantom Retrospective YouTube channel (1 hour 30 mins long - 1080p)
DELETED FROM YOUTUBE

Synopsis:
A mad, disfigured composer seeks love with a lovely young opera singer.

Directed by Rupert Julian. Uncredited: Lon Chaney, Ernst Laemmle & Edward Sedgwick.

Cast: Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry & Mary Philbin.

Trivia:
The film remains most famous for Chaney’s ghastly, self-devised make-up (not pictured in the thumbnail above, that’s an opera mask), which was kept a studio secret until the film’s premiere. Moviegoers in 1925 reportedly fainted upon seeing the disfigurement makeup during the famous unmasking scene.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

Columbo Star Wars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbUrjDDgv1g - from the Gianni Matragrano YT channel (1 min long)

The PT would have been a lot shorter if Coloumbo had been there to figure everything out.

Since I’ve already posted a lot of classic horror films, I figured it made sense–although silent movies aren’t everyone’s cup of tea–to post the two films that can undeniably be said to have either a direct or indirect influence on virtually every horror film made since.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTyJAIUnYAQ&t - from the Lumiere Factory YouTube channel (1 hour 17 mins long - 1080p - Eng. subtitles)

Synopsis:
Hypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.

Directed by Robert Wiene.

Cast: Werner Krauss & Conrad Veidt.

Trivia:
Considered the quintessential work of German Expressionist cinema and the origin of many visual tropes now associated with classic horror and film-noir.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

Nosferatu (1922)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7p3ct5hcks - from the Neil Dinsmore YouTube channel (1 hour 28 mins long - 720p)

Synopsis:
Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter’s wife.

Directed by F.W. Murnau.

Cast: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim & Greta Schröder.

Trivia:
The film was produced by Prana Film and is an unauthorized and unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. Various names and other details were changed from the novel, including Count Dracula being renamed Count Orlok. Even with several details altered, Stoker’s heirs sued over the adaptation, and a court ruling ordered all copies of the film to be destroyed. However, a few prints of Nosferatu survived, and the film came to be regarded as an influential masterpiece of cinema.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

Hardly one of Hammer Studios’ best movies, which is probably why it’s available on YouTube for free, but still considered by cult classic for its unusual mix of supernatural horror and swashbuckling action.

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsWAVsRefSg - from the official Hammer YouTube channel (1 hour 27 mins long - 1080p)

Synopsis:
A master swordsman and former soldier hunt vampires with his hunchbacked assistant.

Directed by Brian Clemens.

Cast: Horst Janson, John Carson & Caroline Munro.

Trivia:
Captain Kronos was supposed to launch a series of new Hammer film productions but, in the 1970s, Hammer studio developed financial issues and closed down.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

The so-called “Russia’s answer to 2001”. A somewhat unfair comparison as the two films are night and day. In true fashion to director Andrei Tarkovsky, his sci-fi masterpiece isn’t really a sci-fi film at all, but, like Stalker, a serious exploration of the human condition.

Solaris (1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-4KydP92ss&list=PL4dWJMOQ_a1Ri0jUrgVCrhwst-U0s851C&index=7 - Part 1 (1 hour 15 mins long - 1080p - Eng. subtitles)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXa6XpaxBS0&list=PL4dWJMOQ_a1Ri0jUrgVCrhwst-U0s851C&index=8 - Part 2 (1 hour 23 mins long - 1080p - Eng. subtitles)
from the FSUE Mosfilm cinema concern YouTube channel.

Synopsis:
A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.

Directed by Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.

Cast: Donatas Banionis, Natalya Bondarchuk & Jüri Järvet.

Trivia:
Solaris was one of the favourite films of famous American director Stanley Kubrick. The appreciation, however, wasn’t mutual and Tarkovsky supposedly made Solaris in an attempt to one-up Kubrick after he had seen 2001: A Space Odyssey,
a film which he referred to as “cold and sterile.”

IMDb link
Wikipedia article

I got the chance to see this film for the first time in the theater recently, and although it’s about as slow a movie as you can get, and it definitely isn’t for everyone, it’s one of those films that stays with you for days.

Stalker (1979)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGRDYpCmMcM - from the FSUE Mosfilm cinema concern YouTube channel (2 hours 35 mins long - 1080p - Eng. subtitles)

Synopsis:
A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.

Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.

Cast: Alexander Kaidanovsky, Anatoly Solonitsyn & Nikolai Grinko.

Trivia:
• Stalker was Andrei Tarkovsky’s final film made in the Soviet Union before his defection.
• Several people involved in the film’s production, including Tarkovsky, died from causes that some crew members attributed to the film’s long shooting schedule near a toxic chemical plant.

IMDb link
Wikipedia article