OT-A New Horror Cable Channel

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Posted: Sun., May 2, 2004, 3:33pm PT

Horror net is a 'Scream'

Silver, Orchid partner for new channel

By DENISE MARTIN


Joel Silver's Silver Pictures ("The Matrix") and Orchid Ventures have partnered to form Scream, a 24-hour network dedicated to horror, suspense and thriller-oriented entertainment. Channel is slated for a January launch, it was announced during the first day of NCTA's National Show.

Silver and Robert Zemeckis' Dark Castle Entertainment ("Gothika") is on board to create and develop original content for the channel.

"Horror movies have captivated audiences since the inception of modern filmmaking," said Silver. "The success of our Dark Castle films and other recent pictures like 'Dawn of the Dead,' 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and '28 Days Later' are evidence that the demand for genre entertainment continues to grow exponentially. With Scream, we have the opportunity to bring the thrills of truly scary, suspenseful genre programming to fans across all demographics on a 24/7 basis."

Scream will feature a branded "Dark Castle Presents" night, which will highlight top tier genre programming, including hit Dark Castle films including "Ghost Ship," "Thirteen Ghosts" and "House on Haunted Hill." In addition, net is in final negotiations with two studios to license libraries of film titles related to the horror and suspense genres.[/b]

Date in print: Mon., May 3, 2004, Los Angeles

[Gothick]

Thanks for posting this, MB.

I wonder whether plans are still afoot to have the "Horror Channel" debut this coming Halloween?  I recall posts about this last October or November.

It's rather alarming when a publicity release describes films as pathetic as those named as "top tier" programming.

The horror movie, as such, is basically dead, isn't it?  The trailers for Van Helsing which is the 2000's answer to House of Frankenstein (and other "monster omnibus" 40s Universal classics) looks more like a kung fu slice and dice out of Hong Kong.

ah well...

G.

[Raineypark]

I'm more than prepared to put up with whatever drek it suits them to showcase...so long as somewhere in the day's programming there are old movies...and even better, old TV-movies.... that haven't seen the light of day in a very long time.  They can run them at 3am and I'll gladly tape those, with thanks. 

[Gothick]

Oh yeah. Did you ever see The Cat Creature?  It was an early 70s TV movie (on "ABC Movie of the Week") directed by Curtis Harrington with juicy roles for Gale Sondergaard and John Carradine, plus a tarot card scene that looked just like a salute to DS.

That, and "The Two Deaths of Sean Doolittle" (with supporting roles for Grayson Hall and Diana Davila) are at the top of my want lists.

G.

[Raineypark]

That's exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about.....

There was one, (I have no idea what the name was, but I think it was part of some anthology series) that I found truly disturbing.  It was about a mother, at the family beach house, mourning her dead son.....only she's not the sainted mother...and he's no little angel when he comes back to settle  things with her.

A venue to catch those saw-it-once productions would be an excellent thing!

[Midnite]

I wonder whether plans are still afoot to have the "Horror Channel" debut this coming Halloween?

The short answer is no, according to recent Horror Channel Launch News.  The article by "Uncle Creepy" does, however, state, "... it's going to be the best possible thing for both The Horror Channel and our dedicated fans, and that's the most important thing in the world to us. Know this though: Our launch is imminent."

[Darren Gross]

Howdy Raineypark!

The short you are thinking of is one of the segments in Dan Curtis' 1975 DEAD OF NIGHT  anthology TV movie...The segment was remade for TRILOGY OF TERROR 2, but the original was 100 times better and both are on VHS..
 

[Raineypark]

Darren, thank you SO much for that info!!...tho it's a bit depressing that I saw it 30 YEARS AGO!!!! 

Now I know what to go looking for....