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denimbex1986 · 6 months

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'...June 2007....there’s a near-10-year-old me that still gets scared at certain episodes of What's New, Scooby-Doo...

I’m more than happy to stick to comedies and cartoons, taking every measure imaginable to avoid the horrors of horror.

That is, until an episode of Doctor Who comes on the screen, featuring (or, rather, not really featuring) my Converse-wearing, pinstripe suit-donning idol in David Tennant’s 10th Time Lord, alongside Carey Mulligan’s Sally Sparrow, being hunted down by a group of angel statues out for blood.

That’s right, in the blink of an eye, Blink arrived - and so did my appreciation of what horror could do. (Or, at least, what it could do in a pre-watershed sci-fi series on the BBC - perfect for a fearful primary schooler like myself.)

Sure, this is no kill-heavy slasher in the form of Scream, and no paranormal mind-bender in the shape of The Conjuring, but Blink – perhaps the single most popular episode of the new Doctor Who era – demonstrates the genre’s ability to get under the skin and into the minds of the audience.

And, even with a PG rating and some questionable CGI, it does it masterfully well.

Blink’s greatest strength is its ability to establish a sense of creeping dread, of consistent threat, that is properly unnerving.

The feeling of being watched is one of the most disturbing one can experience, and has been explored throughout horror history - from Michael Myers taunting Laurie Strode from the shadows in 1978’s Halloween to Rory Kinnear’s birthday suit-wearing stalker drifting into the edge of the frame in last year’s Men, there’s very little that unsettles more than being followed.

There’s something mentally exhausting about the idea of never being able to rest, of not being able to drop your guard for even a moment, which can drive you insane - and Steven Moffat’s concrete-looking creations provide the perfect example of this.

You see, with the Weeping Angels, turning your back, trying to run away, or even taking your eye off their haunting expressions for a split second could spell the end of the road - just ask Amy Pond.

In the words of Tennant’s frantic Doctor, "Blink and you’re dead".

Is there any concept more terrifying than having the most basic human action rendered potentially life-threatening? This inescapable danger is draining, debilitating.

As we viewers watch Sally and Finlay Robertson’s Larry Nightingale navigate the nightmare they find themselves in, we grimace each time they turn their heads, and scream at the TV as we spot an angel moving ever closer.

It’s the sort of pulse-racing tension that only the horror genre can provide, and it lingers long in the memory.

Yet director Hettie Macdonald notches up the fear even further, ending the episode by turning her attention from Sally on the screen to us on the sofa at home, repeating Tennant’s iconic speech alongside real-life clips of gargoyles, statues and sculptures to ensure this isn’t just a concept that’s confined to the telly, but one that continues to stick with you even after you hit the big red button on the remote.

I know I, for one, lost many a night’s sleep in the weeks following that episode, as I feared that shutting my eyes to get some shut-eye would spell the end of my time on Earth (stop laughing, I said I was 10), and I’ll still remain resolute whenever I visit a cathedral or graveyard, determined to make sure those creepy creatures don’t get the drop on me. Thanks for that, Moffat.

As if the terror of being tailed from the shadows isn’t unnerving enough, though, the design of the Weeping Angels themselves ensures things are lifted to another level.

Visual effects producer Will Cohen and his team take something that is meant to be reassuring, gentle, holy, and turn it completely on its head.

As the angels switch from passive and peaceful to aggressive and menacing, their demonic faces take up the screen with a look of pure evil, accompanied by a smattering of thunder that still catches me off guard on the 18th watch.

Similar to clowns in the likes of It or dolls in the likes of Chucky, there’s an added shock factor that comes with witnessing something that’s traditionally 'good' going bad. Where once there was joy, there’s now malice, a threat - and if good can turn against you, what can’t?

All of this is hammered home by the fantastic leading performance from Mulligan. Through Sally, we see an everyday protagonist thrown directly into hell. We could easily be Sally ourselves, confused, overwhelmed and completely out of our depth, making it easy to properly experience these horrors through her.

Like the aforementioned Laurie in Halloween or Sidney Prescott in the Scream franchise, Sparrow is in no way prepared for her journey, an ordinary person in an extraordinary scenario, who’s unable to fully rely on a hero’s help - instead having to find her own way out of trouble.

And Mulligan delivers the twists and turns of this torturous 45 minutes with all of the nuance you’d expect from a future Oscar nominee.

Yet, what makes Blink truly special is that it delivers all of these thrills, scares and mental scars without the need for excessive blood splatters or easy cliches.

Through the simple combination of a killer script, top performances and a toe-curlingly terrifying concept, this beloved episode of Doctor Who provides everything horror has to offer, all without leaving the confines of a PG rating.

It may have come out 16 years ago now (yes, it is really that long ago), but Blink is still the ideal introduction to the genre - and a perfect Halloween watch, if you’re too scared to see Saw.'

#Doctor Who #Blink #David Tennant #Weeping Angels #Sally Sparrow #Carey Mullihan #Steven Moffat #Finlay Robertson #Hettie Macdonald #Will Cohen #Amy Pond

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andrew-buchan-fansite · 11 months

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... and being challenged

#andrew buchan #steven waddington #finlay robertson #garrow's law #1.1

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thedoctorwhocompanion · 2 years

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The Edge of Reality and The Lonely Assassins Games Come to PS4, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch

The Edge of Reality and The Lonely Assassins #DoctorWho Games Come to PS4, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch

The Doctor Who games, The Edge of Reality and The Lonely Assassins, will be released in special duo packs for the consoles, PlayStation4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.. The games feature the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors, respectively voiced by David Tennant and Jodie Whittaker, and, for The Lonely Assassin, Ingrid Oliver as Osgood and Finlay Robertson as Blink‘s Larry Nightingale. While both…

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#Blink #David Tennant #Finlay Robertson #Ingrid Oliver #Jodie Whittaker #Osgood #Tenth Doctor #The Edge of Reality #The Lonely Assassins #The Weeping Angels #Thirteenth Doctor

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letterboxd-loggd · 8 months

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Whisky Galore! (Tight Little Island) (1949) Alexander Mackendrick

September 3rd 2023

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abs0luteb4stard · 2 years

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W A T C H I N G

TRIVIA: Chris Jagger (Mick Jagger's brother) plays the second male space vampire

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scottishdreams · 6 months

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Development Squad 23-24 - Dundee Football Club - Official Website

Dundee ^ | Dundee FC Development Squad for the 23/24 season led by Scott Robertson and Greig McNaughton. Bottom row from left to right: Finlay Allan, Ross ... http://dlvr.it/Sy2x13

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docrotten · 2 years

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LIFEFORCE (1985) – Episode 206 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

“I mean, in a sense, we’re all vampires.” Everyone is draining the life out of everyone else in one way or another? Hmmm, that’s a dark take, but a fair point. Join your faithful Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr – as they drain everything possible from Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce (1985).

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 206 – Lifeforce (1985)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

A race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, beginning an apocalyptic descent into chaos.

Director: Tobe Hooper

Writers: Dan O’Bannon & Don Jakoby (screenplay); Colin Wilson (from 1976 novel The Space Vampires)

Music: Henry Mancini

Cinematography: Alan Hume (director of photography)

Production Design: John Graysmark

Makeup Department: Nick Maley (makeup effects & prosthetics supervisor)

Visual Effects: John Dykstra (special visual effects)

Selected Cast:

Steve Railsback as Col. Tom Carlsen

Peter Firth as Col. Colin Caine

Frank Finlay as Dr. Hans Fallada

Mathilda May as Space Girl

Patrick Stewart as Dr. Armstrong

Michael Gothard as Dr. Leonard Bukovsky

Nicholas Ball as Roger Derebridge

Aubrey Morris as Sir Percy Heseltine

Nancy Paul as Ellen

John Hallam as Lamson

John Keegan as Guard

Chris Jagger as First Vampire

Bill Malin as Second Vampire

Jerome Willis as Pathologist

Derek Benfield as Physician

John Woodnutt as Metallurgist

John Forbes-Robertson as The Minister

Lifeforce is the first of three films Tobe Hooper made with Canon, followed by Invaders From Mars (1986) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986). As Bill’s pick, it’s a film he frequently revisits trying to understand the choices made during its making. He’s always liked the film, even while feeling a bit baffled. Chad first read about Lifeforce in Fangoria. He loved how crazy and wild it was when he first saw it and he still does. Chad’s never quite sure what he thinks of Steve Railsback’s performance because to him, he’ll always be the Charles Manson he portrayed in Helter Skelter (1976). The excellent practical and visual effects are what pull Jeff into this movie.

All three of this episode’s Grue-Crew compare Lifeforce to the feel of Hammer’s Quatermass and the Pit (1967) and indeed, may have been a better picture if Hooper had gone full-Quatermass. And of course, they all agree that Mathilda May is phenomenal at portraying the female vampire with style and grace while spending nearly the entire film unabashedly nude.

For other Decades of Horror discussions of Tobe Hooper films (and Quatermass and the Pit to boot), checkout the following episodes:

Eaten Alive (1976) – Episode 136 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

Salem’s Lot (1979) — Episode 69 — Decades Of Horror 1970s

The Funhouse (1981) — Episode 90 — Decades Of Horror 1980s

Poltergeist (1982) – Episode 106 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

Texas Chainsaw Massacre II (1986) — Episode 81 — Decades Of Horror 1980s

Quatermass And The Pit (1967) – Episode 93 – Decades Of Horror: The Classic Era

If you so desire, at the time of this writing, you can stream Lifeforce from Tubi and PlutoTV with ads, or from various PPV streaming services. If physical media is what trips your trigger, Lifeforce (Collector’s Edition) (4K UHD) is scheduled for release May 24, 2022 from Scream Factory. And let’s face it, it’s always time to revisit Tobe Hooper’s films.

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Crystal will be Vamp (1986), featuring a speechless Grace Jones.

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the website or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at [email protected]

Check out this episode!

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doctorfriend79 · 2 years

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🎵 On the fourth day of Christmas the Doctor gave to me, four Weeping Angels... 🎵

#Doctor Who #DW #Carey Mulligan #Sally Sparrow #Finlay Robertson #Larry Nightingale #Weeping Angels #Series Three #Christmas

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doctorwho247 · 4 years

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On this day in 2007, Sally Sparrow and Larry Nightingale investigated Wester Drumlins House where they encountered the Weeping Angels!

#Doctor Who #Dr Who #Blink #Weeping Angel #Weeping Angels #Don't Blink #Dont Blink #Sally Sparrow #Carey Mulligan #Larry Nightingale #Finlay Robertson #David Tennant #Tenth Doctor #10th Doctor #TARDIS #Steven Moffat #Series 3 #Series Three #2007

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eyres · 6 years

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Persuasion (2007) dir. Adrian Shergold

#persuasion #filmedit #perioddramaedit #austenedit #sallyhawkinsedit #sally hawkins #finlay robertson #film #my gifs

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kwebtv · 5 years

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How Not to Live Your Life - BBC Three - September 27, 2007 - December 22, 2011

Sitcom (20 episodes)

Running Time: 30 minutes

Stars:

Dan Clark as Donald "Don" Danbury aka The Double D aka Dickhead aka "Oscar Lionetti" aka "Rajesh Patel" (2007–2011)

Laura Haddock as Samantha Parker (2009–2011)

Sinéad Moynihan as Abby Jones (2008, 2011)

Finlay Robertson as Karl Menford (2008)

David Armand as Edward "Eddie" Singh (2008–2011)

Leila Hoffman as Mrs. "Dot" Treacher aka Mrs. T, Gollum, Yoda or Dobby (2008–2011)

Daniel Lawrence Taylor as Jason (2009–2011)

Silas Carson as Brian (2010)

#How Not to Live Your Life #TV #BBC Three #2000's #Sitcom #Dan Clark #Laura Haddock #Sinead Moynihan #Finlay Robertson #David Armand

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sofuckingchuffed · 6 years

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DOCTOR WHO MEME

↳ Ten Episodes - S03E10 - Blink [1/10]

#doctor who #dwedit #tenedit #david tennant #freema agyeman #carey mulligan #finlay robertson #michael obiora #dwmeme #my gifs

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thedoctorwhocompanion · 3 years

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Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins Available Now on Gaming Consoles

#DoctorWho: The Lonely Assassins (from @Maze_Theory) Available Now on Gaming Consoles

Following its success on the smartphones, the recently released Doctor Who game, The Lonely Assassins has now been released across all current-gen gaming consoles. For anyone who doesn’t know, Maze Theory developed a Doctor Who game following on from the events of Blink where you, Osgood, and Larry Nightingale have to team up to stop another plot from the Weeping Angels. It had previously been…