There were a huge number of low budget sci-fi movies released throughout the 1980s, many of which went straight to video. Today they lurk in the far corners of your video streaming service. Should you watch them? Well let me take you through a few you might be tempted by...
Battle Beyond The Stars (1980) was Roger Corman's retelling of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai in space. James Cameron did an impressive job on the SFX with a small budget and the film certainly has a distinctive look.
The Cha Cha (or Cha Cha Chá if you're feeling energetic) was the Cuban-inspired dance that caught the world's imagination in the mid 1950s. We went Cha Cha Crazy for it!
Taking its cue from the Mambo, the Cha Cha was a slightly more relaxed affair: slower and less syncopated.
On 23 September 1984 the BBC broadcast the apocalypse: the story of nuclear war and its effects on the people of Sheffield. Filmed on a shoestring budget it still causes nightmares to this day.
This thread is not for the squeamish.
This the story of Threads...
In 1965 the BBC had filmed The War Game, a fictional docu-drama about a nuclear attack on Britain. However under pressure from the government the BBC withdrew it from screening. It was finally released in 1966 as a film in selected theatres.
For many years the withdrawal of The War Game had rankled many at the BBC. Surely it was a public broadcaster's duty to show the public what the reality of nuclear war would mean. Finally in 1982 they did so.
Today in pulp... I homeschool with some classic programmes for schools and colleges!
Both the BBC and ITV produced a range of TV programmes to help with the school syllabus from the 1970s onwards. As a treat you got to sit cross-legged in the school library in front of the 'school telly' to watch them!
Look and Read was one of the longest-running BBC educational programmes, starting in 1967 and continuing up to 2004. It was fronted by Wordy - a nightmare-inducing floating goofball typewriter head! Who thought that was a good idea?
Today in pulp I look back at the world of Soviet women's fashion!
It's not all berets, but it mostly is...
Now you may think that fashion and the Soviet Union go together like Groucho Marx and Friedrich Engels. However that is to misunderstand the nature of the Commad Economy: if she commands it, you'd better buy it for her!
So there is a rich history of fashion and fun (along with the tractor factories and endless ballet performances) in the old USSR. Let's take a sashay along it...