Friday, October 25, 2013

A MummyVision Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku - Day #25 RUB-A-DUB-DUB... GET OUT OF THE TUB... THEN, GO FIX SOME GRUB... & WATCH PUB-D-HUB... ON ROKU !!





Welcome once more, Boils & Ghouls !!



As I'm sure you're all aware, there's now just six days to go in the Countdown To Hallowe'en 2013... but, fortunately, that still leaves time for another six spooktacular posts until my month-long blogathon, "A MummyVision Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", finally comes to an end on October 31st. If you missed the previous instalments, earlier this month, the series began with details of a Hallowe'en ScreamSaver, complete with it's own spooky soundtrack, followed by a Roku channel dedicated to Vintage Horror Classics, then some Hallowe'en "How-To" videos, a Roku channel for fans of the paranormal and then another for devotees of independent horror. After that came a channel dedicated to the open discussion of UFO's and UFO-related activities plus a further selection of Cult Films, Sci-Fi Classics & Vintage Horror. Since then, we've provided details of a Roku channel brimming with creepy cocktail suggestions, another with more classic Hallowe'en movie choices, and then details of a Roku channel that mixes paranormal reality tv shows with powerful documentaries, mysteries, conspiracy theories, UFO's and plenty else besides. The next two instalments saw yet more Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy movies on one channel plus some Hallowe'en / Horror-themed music, courtesy of a Roku radio channel, on another. We then brought you details of a live-streaming horror channel, to add yet another dynamic to the Hallowe'en entertainment on your Roku players plus some close encounters of the third kind, courtesy of a Roku channel dedicated to the subject of aliens and UFO's. Add to that two more Roku channels bringing fresh selections of Sci-Fi & Horror Movies plus more "Halloween Horror" films, then another channel with a bunch of J-Horror, K-Horror and every other kind of Asian horror that you can imagine. Then throw in yet another helping of vintage horror movies, together with a whole host of Hallowe'en recipes to add to the macabre menu for your spooktacular soirée. Add to that a side-order of indie underground horror seasoned with a dash of the weird & paranormal, plus more hard-to-find horror movies & TV series, and then throw in a little zombie action, some slashers & killers, as well as a few more "Films of the Undead" & some ghost stories courtesy of Nowhereman's Archive.org client for Roku, not forgetting the 100+ sci-fi, horror & fantasy films we posted details of only yesterday, and you're on your way to having the best Hallowe'en ever, with what's been covered (so far) in this spooktacular series !!



Meanwhile, here we are with only six days to go until Hallowe'en and, we're still continuing to bring  horror to the masses by helping them stream it to their Roku players. So... what's next on the agenda ?!! Well, as was pointed out yesterday, we think that you can never have too much choice in terms of movie(s) to watch over the Hallowe'en season, so we've continued to scour all of the available channels on the Roku player and (once again) we've managed to come up with another selection of movies for you to choose from. Suffice it to say that, if you're partial to accessing the wealth of content that is in the public domain, from right there in your living room, and easily sreamed to your TV via your Roku, then you'll definitely want to add this to your current channel selection, as you prepare for some Hallowe'en / Horror-themed binge-viewing in the build-up to October 31st !!







Once again, it probably comes as no surprise to you, that this public domain content-based Roku channel can be found in the "Film & TV" genre (i.e. category) of the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store (or, alternatively, under "Movies & TV", for Roku owners in the USA). Generally speaking the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel provides an assortment of content from the public domain, including classic films, trailers, tv shows, cartoons, radio & more, covering the period from the 1930's to 1940's, 50's, 60's, 70's & beyond... all of which can (currently) be watched completely free-of-charge. With multiple genres (i.e. categories) ranging from Action/Adventure to Cartoons, Cautionary Films, Comedy, Commercials, Crime, Drama, Educational Films, Halloween Treats, Horror & Sci-Fi, plus Radio, Silent Films, Thrillers/Suspense, TV and Westerns, you'll never be hard-pushed to find something that suits your taste. As such you can expect to see anything from the comedy, set in 16th century Spain, known as "The Adventures Of Don Quixote" (1933) directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, to the animated short "There's Good Boos Tonight" (1948), directed by Izzy Sparber, which features Casper The Friendly Ghost, or else the sixties family comedy that is "The Beverly Hillbillies", created by Paul Henning, about a nouveau-riche hillbilly family that moves to Beverly Hills and shakes up the privileged society with their Hayseed ways. You'll find multiple episodes of this and many other classic television series available to watch via the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel on Roku. Perhaps best of all, is that all of the content on the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel is COMPLETELY FREE-TO-WATCH too !!



Obviously, having multiple genres to choose from in the main menu of the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel means that not all of the included content is entirely relevant to this post. So, sticking to the general theme of Hallowe'en, the (current) selections to be found in the "Halloween Treats" plus "Horror and Sci-Fi" sections of the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel (incl. IMDB links) are as follows:-




Halloween Treats (14 Titles)


  • The Black Raven [Feature Film] (1943) [dir. Sam Newfield] (1h 01m)
  • Darkness: Life Span [Radio Show] - OTR Horror / Suspense, Hosted by Claude
  • Dominique [Feature Film] (1979) [dir. Michael Anderson] (1h 35m)
  • The Fall Of The House Of Usher [Horror Short] (1928) [dir. M. Webber] (12m 45s)
  • Frankenstein's Planet Of Monsters [Feature Film] (1995) [dir. Brad Anderson] (0h 50m) N.B. includes additional Hallowe'en segments (approx. 30 mins) [TOTAL TIME: 1h 19m]
  • Hallowe'en In Carson City [Home Movie] - Nevada Yard Haunt Footage (05m 41s)
  • The Hermit's Cave: The Vampire's Desire [Radio Show] - OTR Horror Anthology Episode
  • House On Haunted Hill [Feature Film] (1959) [dir. William Castle] (1h 14m)
  • It's Alive [Feature Film] (1969) [dir. Larry Buchanan] (1h 20m)
  • Mercury Theater On The Air  [Radio Show] - Bram Stoker's "Dracula", with Orson Welles
  • Night Of The Living Dead [Feature Film] (1968) [dir. George A. Romero] (1h 35m)
  • Paranormal Investigation: Hallowe'en 2004 - Talbot Hotel in Surrey [Video] (05m 03s)
  • The Phantom Of The Opera [Feature Film] (1925) [dir. Rupert Julian, Lon Chaney] (1h 46m)
  • Scream Bloody Murder [Feature Film] (1973) [dir. Marc B. Ray] (1h 25m)




Horror and Sci-Fi (110 Titles)






Given that there are only fourteen titles available in the "Halloween Treats" genre, it's a shame that more than one quarter of those are also listed among the one hundred and ten titles from the "Horror and Sci-Fi" genre. In fact, if you ignore the OTR Shows and other video shorts, and just concentrate on the feature-length films, that statistic increases to ONE HALF of the available titles. That said, you still have one hundred and twenty unique titles to choose from across the two genres and, once you've accessed the main menu of the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel on Roku, you'll doubtless find a few others that interest you from the hundreds of included titles in the remaining genres available. 



Still... looking firstly at the "Halloween Treats" category, and (as before) ignoring all titles that have received a special mention in previous posts from this series, my own PICK OF THE BUNCH from the remainder (if a bit obvious to all true horror fans out there) WOULD HAVE TO BE... the short adaptation of "The Fall Of The House Of Usher" (1928) directed by Melville Webber & James Sidley Watson, closely followed by Bram Stoker's "Dracula", taken from the vintage radio show "Mercury Theater On The Air", starring Orson Welles, and "The Black Raven" (1943), directed by Sam Newfield. Aside from that, I'd also recommend checking out the other OTR Shows, as well as the short video "Hallowe'en In Carson City" to see footage of the way that houses are often decorated for Hallowe'en in the USA. On the other end of the scale, ONE'S TO AVOID ARE... most certainly the likes of Larry Buchanan's "It's Alive" (1969) and, perhaps, "Scream Bloody Murder" (1973) directed by Marc B. Ray. After that, you can pretty much take your pick of the rest and you should be alright. 



Moving on to the "Horror and Sci-Fi" category, and (again) ignoring those titles that I've already mentioned in previous posts, as well as the ones which are also listed under "Halloween Treats", my PICK OF THE BUNCH here is definitely the horror classic, "Deep Red" [aka "Profondo Rosso"] (1975) directed by Dario Argento, closely followed by "Spider Baby" (1968), written & directed by Jack Hill. After that, would be "Daughter Of Horror" (1955), directed by John Parker. Also worthy of a mention is the José Mojica Marins classic, "At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul" from 1964, plus Tod Browning's "Mark Of The Vampire" from 1935. As for non-horror picks, I'd recommend "Star Wreck: In The Pirkinning" (2005), directed by Timo Vuorensola, for a touch of Star Trek related humour, and "Non-Stop New York" (1937), directed by Robert Stevenson, for it's crime drama come murder plot with a bit of a romantic spin, as well as the sci-fi drama of "Transatlantic Tunnel"(1935), directed by Maurice Elvey. On the flip side of the coin, THE ONE'S TO AVOID ARE... the likes of "Manos: The Hands Of Fate"(1966) by Harold P. Warren and the TV movie "Curse Of Bigfoot" from 1976, directed by Dave Flocker. Other howlers that are worth a miss are "The Beast Of Yucca Flats" (1961), directed by Coleman Francis, plus "Horrors Of Spider Island" (1960), directed by Fritz Böttger, and not forgetting "The White Gorilla" (1945), directed by Harry L. Fraser, and "Mesa Of Lost Women" (1953) directed by Ron Ormond & Herbert Tevos. Still, love them or loathe them, this mix of Halloween Treats plus Horror and Sci-Fi movies will ensure that you have plenty of ways to pass the time between my daily doses of Roku-related Hallowe'en horror in "A MummyVision Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" as well as satisfying your appetite for Horror & Sci-Fi content for Hallowe'en !!



Meanwhile, if you'd like to discover more about the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel for Roku player, you can do so via their Official Website FOUND HERE. Those wishing to connect with the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel can use their Twitter Feed: @PubDHub or else, get social via: Pub-D-Hub (Facebook)



It may further interest you to know that, according to the channel description for 'Pub-D-Hub', taken from the Official Roku Website, the channel was developed for Roku by a company called Shadow Mountain Ventures LLC, who are a small group of people in eastern Pennsylvania who share a love for classic television, film and radio. You can read more about their collaboration in the paragraph entitled "Who is Pub-D-Hub?" which can be easily found VIA THIS LINK.



Those of you who wish to add this channel to the Hallowe'en-themed entertainment on your Roku player(s) but are, perhaps, unable to access the Channel Store on your device at this precise moment... can also take care of things by simply LOGGING-IN to your Online Roku Account, scrolling down to the 'Manage Account' section, and using the "Add a Private Channel" option. That way, when you do have access to your Roku player, the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel will be there ready for you to watch whenever you so choose !! All you must do to achieve this, is type the following access code under "Add a Private Channel" and click the blue 'Add Channel' button:-



ACCESS CODE:- pubdhub



Anyway, that's pretty much all there is to it, except to point out that the 'Pub-D-Hub' channel has been given an average score of "4.5 out of 5" from 2, 601 ratings (so far) in the channel store description from the Official Roku Website. That statistic alone should be reason enough for you to give this Roku channel a try, never mind that ALL THE CONTENT IS FREE-TO-WATCH too !!



Having said that, if this particular Hallowe'en / Horror themed Roku channel was not to your liking then FEAR NOT because there will be another one featured in tomorrow's post, continuing the month-long blogathon that is: "A MummyVision Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku"which will bring you more devilish delights EACH AND EVERY DAY from now UNTIL HALLOWE'EN and when you're done with this blog, don't forget to visit the other contributors to the 2013 Countdown To Hallowe'en and see what Hallowe'en treats they have in store for you between now and 31st October !!



Fangs again, for stopping by !!





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