Folkestone cinema in 1982...

Some of these I was too young to see: - Dead & Buried is a classic not just for its infamous syringe in the eye scene and the nasty violence on the beach at the beginning; but it is a great story with an amazing performance from Jack Albertson in one of his last roles, as  well as a minor part for a young Robert Englund. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was not yet on my radar either.

However, there were some classics this year that I did go and see. 1982 was the year of E.T. which finished off the year. However the summer saw the release of, in my opinion, the best ever Star Trek film - The Wrath of Khan. Chariots of Fire is again another classic. And also during the summer, there was the excellent Disney drama starring John Hurt about an escape attempt from East to West Berlin in a hot air balloon (Night Crossing), and  I must have been one of a select few that actually liked the flop follow up Grease 2!

And as for Tron - another excellent Disney film for the Christmas holidays.

Tuesday 25th August 2017

So what were you watching in 1981? Part 3

So, the final batch of adverts for 1981 from the local newspaper... and in this batch I was actually old enough to go and see: Clash of the Titans, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Time Bandits. Sadly I had to wait until Outland appeared on late night TV a few years later in the 1980s and The Funhouse on a DVD that I picked up quite cheap recently. But all now are firm favourites...

Sunday 27th August 2017

So what were you watching in 1981? Part 2

Here's another batch of cinema adverts from Folkestone's Curzon and Hythe's Classic cinemas.

The only one I saw here at the time was Chariots of Fire... however Motel Hell, Hawk The Slayer and the German film Christiane F (starring Bowie) have both since become favourites).

Saturday 25th August 2017

Butternut Squash & Cumin dip

For the pumpkin foodies out there, I've just noticed Sainsburys in the UK is selling Butternut Squash & Cumin dip; which is very nice indeed...

Friday 25th August 2017

So what were you watching in 1981? Part 1

Here's some more cinema adverts from the old Curzon in Folkestone. Sadly many of these (horror) films that I've now seen and hold as favourites I was too young to see at the time. There are a couple of non horror, fantasy or sci-fi films in here too... Breaker Morant is just a classic and stars the excellent Edward Woodward - so is always worthy of inclusion!

Interestingly the showing of War Of The Worlds is not the 1953 classic film as the Folkestone Herald is keen to point out. It attributes the film to be an animated film set to Jeff Wayne's musical score - but I can't find to reference to this, and why would it be a 'X' certificate? Perhaps it was the 1981 Polish version, subtitled 'Next Century', but again although an 'X' it was not animated and I also finding conflicting dates as to a 1983 release... The mystery deepens.

Thursday 24th January 2017

And at Folkestone cinema in September 1980...

Another advert, just showing what a great time the late 70s and early 80s were for classic horror cinema. I wonder just how many of these films would have made it to the multiplexes today where the stranglehold of all the big corporations prioritises profits over creativity.

Monday 21st August 2017

Horror cinema in July 1980

Well I was researching through old copies of the Folkestone & Hythe Herald for something completely unrelated recently and came across the following adverts for my local cinemas.

At the time I would've been 9, so was too young to see these now favourites - I was going to see The Empire Strikes Back and Disney's The Black Hole.

Anyway as both George Romero and Angus Scrimm have passed away this year, here are the adverts for Folkestone's Curzon and Hythe's Classic cinemas. Enjoy...

Saturday 19th August 2017

1st Halloween decorations of 2017

Well it is mid-August and the first trappings of Halloween have shown themselves... somewhat un-excitedly though. Well I'll give it a couple of weeks and TK Maxx will be in full flow I expect.

Tuesday 15th August 2017

Terry Nation visits Folkestone

Whilst researching some local history information for a book I came across reference to a visit that Dalek creator Terry Nation made to Folkestone in 1976 to talk to a group of local creative writers in the town.

Well the visit obviously didn't put him off as he opened an exhibition in the local library in 1977 as the article below shows...

Tuesday 15th August 2017

Folkestone Carnival 1975

As an almost five year old, and already by then a Dr Who fan, I remember my Dad, who worked for the Orion Insurance company, making carnival costumes in the garage. I remember him making a Dalek and also using my Mum's crockery as papier mache moulds for Cybermen heads.

As a family I remember walking to the junction in Shorncliffe Road by Folkestone West station and looking out for the Doctor Who / Orion Insurance float. Sadly the photographs taken of the carnival were thrown out probably 15-20 years ago... but I found the below in the Folkestone Herald!

Friday 4th August 2017

Music For Robots & The Monster Squad

Well, it's still a few weeks away from the first halloween decorations appearing in the shops... but whilst browsing in one of my two local record shops I noticed by chance these vinyl reissues. I had tried finding a copy of The Monster Squad 7" single earlier in the year but to no avail.

The single contains Michael Sembello's Rock Until You Drop on the A-side and The Monster Squad Rap on the B-side of a rather spectacular piece of slime green vinyl.

However the illustrations on the back cover are fantastic and very reminiscent of the old horror mag adverts.

Also I chanced my arm with the reissue of 1961's Music For Robots. This 10" single has a spoken word A-side by Forrest J Ackerman about his love of all things 'robot', a brief history of the in media as well and mechanical examples from history and a short fictional glimpse into the future. The B-side here is a composition by Frank Coe of electronic sounds that perhaps robots might enjoy listening to!

Anyway, both are worth additions for the eclectic listener.

Thursday 3rd August 2017