Surreal. Surreal. It’s one of those words, isn’t it? It seems to me that often people aren’t 100% sure of what it actually really means exactly, but it still gets used an awful lot. A bit like “ironic”. However, a quick glance in the dictionary tells us that surreal means: 1. Having qualities attributed to or associated with surrealism, and [...]
Ghoulish Delight #11: Ghostwatch
by alan on 31. Oct, 2009 in talkies
When I talk to people who haven’t seen Ghostwatch (either because they were too young, or they were watching something else at the time), I sometimes feel like the deranged stereotype of a Vietnam veteran; “YOU WOULDN’T KNOW, MAN! YOU WEREN’T THERE, MAN!” I holler upon recalling the horror (and yes… the horror) of it all. If ya don’t [...]
Ghoulish Delight #10: Creepshow (George A. Romero, 1982)
by alan on 29. Oct, 2009 in talkies
Films based on comic books. There’s a few too many of ‘em about these days. And what’s worse is that they all seem determined to sap everything that’s remotely fun out of comic books in their transition from page to screen. Take that new Batman franchise, for example. It’s all so po-faced and pseudo serious, posing [...]
Ghoulish Delight #4: Trog (Freddie Francis, 1970)
by alan on 28. Oct, 2009 in talkies
Halloween, eh? It’s all about the silly masks. And they don’t come much sillier than the frankly abysmal mask the poor actor (one Joe Cornelius) playing the title creature of this 1970s Britsploitation “classic” was lumbered with. Trog is of course short for Troglodyte, a prehistoric man, and that’s exactly what scientist Joan Crawford (!) has discovered [...]
Censors’ Working Overtime
by alan on 28. Jul, 2009 in talkies
What’s your favourite trilogy? Is it Star Wars? The Godfather? Or Days Are Numbers three part investigation into the history of film censorship in Britain, Banned for Glory (parts one, two and three)? My favourite is most definitely the latter. Only joking, of course! (Or am I?) But overwhelmed as I am by the amount of [...]
(Rel)Ode to Moviedrome
by alan on 28. Jul, 2009 in talkies
Good evening, and welcome back to Moviedrome… Sort of, anyway. As part of our ongoing anniversary celebrations here at Days Are Numbers, we’re casting our mind back to an earlier blog about BBC2′s legendary late night cult film strand, Moviedrome. Between the years of 1988 and 2000, Moviedrome was just about the only place on British television where you [...]
Monday Morricone Madness!!!
by alan on 27. Jul, 2009 in muzak, talkies
The Cat o’ Nine Tails (Dario Argento, 1971) So what’s been happening since the last time I did a Morricone Monday? Well, Michael Jackson died, of course. You may have noticed that this website was probably the only media outlet in the world that didn’t register some kind of tribute to the self-proclaimed “King of Pop”, [...]
Scene of the Day – Death Line (Gary Sherman, 1972)
by alan on 21. Jul, 2009 in talkies
Couldn’t find a UK poster for Death Line anywhere, so unfortunately the visual accompaniment above is the poster for it’s US release, under the rubbish title of Raw Meat. Given the sheer scope for subterranean transport-based terror, I think it’s a crying shame that there isn’t a truly classic horror film set in the London [...]
Record of the Day – Hot Blood – Disco Dracula
by aneet on 27. May, 2009 in muzak
Slightly keeping with the vampire theme of yesterday (ahem) today’s newly formed RECORD OF THE DAY was simply too good for a Single of the Day’ accolade. Why? Well read on my friend! The majority of blogs normally post Hot Blood rarities around Halloween time (for the obvious reasons) but since a one-off pressing of the abum was [...]
Monday Morricone Madness!!!
by alan on 09. Mar, 2009 in muzak, talkies
The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982) When Aneet and myself challenged each other to name our Top 5 favourite film composers recently(that’s the sort of crazy shit we get up to), rather interestingly, other than the legendary Ennio Morricone, subject of our regular Monday salutes, the only “scorer” we picked in common was John Carpenter. The horror [...]

