Saturday, October 26, 2013

A MummyVision Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku - Day #26 WATCH POPCORNFLIX FOR YOUR UK HORROR FIX... WHILE WE WAIT FOR FRIGHTPIX TO BE IN THE MIX !!





Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls !!



If (like me) you've been keeping a close eye on the calendar of late, then you'll know that there's now just five days to go in the Countdown To Hallowe'en 2013... but, fortunately, that still leaves time for five more 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 soirĂ©e. 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 and the 120+ public domain horror & sci-fi flicks we've posted details of, over the last couple of days, and you're well on your way to having the best Hallowe'en ever, with everything that's been covered (so far) in this series !!



Meanwhile, here we are with only five days to go until Hallowe'en and, we've still got more horror to bring to the masses by helping them stream it to their Roku players. So... where do we go from here ?!! Well, as we keep pointing out, you can never really have too much choice in terms of movie(s) to watch over the Hallowe'en season, so we've continued scouring the available channels on Roku player and (again) we've managed to find another selection of movies to add to the mix. Suffice it to say that, if you're partial to watching full-length movies that will "scare the heck out of you" on a Roku channel which prides itself on being able to showcase the brightest film-makers of tomorrow, 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 !!







As you've probably already gathered, from reading the title of this post, I really wanted for UK Roku owners to be able to add the 'FrightPix' channel to their streaming media players in time for Hallowe'en this year. Sadly, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Even with my repeated requests to both the channel (itself) and the developer, Float Left Interactive, there has been no positive outcome on this. What makes it even harder to comprehend is that the 'Popcornflix' channel IS AVAILABLE on Roku players IN THE UK and, even though both channels share the same parent company (namely, Screen Media Ventures LLC), for some reason we do not yet have FrightPix on UK Roku players?!!! So, with the absence of the 'FrightPix' channel, in the UK, I've decided to share with you the somewhat smaller selection of horror movies that is available through the 'Popcornflix' channel. By doing this, I hope to encourage Screen Media Ventures LLC to extend their coverage on Roku for the 'FrightPix' channel to include the UK so that, with any luck, I'll be able to feature that channel on this blog at a future date (the sooner, the better) and satisfy the demands of UK Horror fans like 'Marty' who asked the question on this very blog just yesterday: "WHY isn't FrightPix available in the UK?"... which is a GREAT QUESTION and one which makes a valid point. Hopefully, it's one which someone at Screen Media Ventures LLC can address for us before too long. Meanwhile, we may not yet have 'FrightPix' BUT... we do have 'Popcornflix' so it is going to be that channel which (rightly, or wrongly) is now the focus of today's post.




Once again, it probably comes as no surprise to you, that this movie-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 'Popcornflix' channel provides an assortment of feature-length movies, compelling documentaries, foreign films and unique original web series... all of which can (currently) be watched completely free-of-charge. With multiple genres (i.e. categories) ranging from Action-Thriller to Comedy, Horror to Drama and Family-Kids to Romance, plus Documentaey-Shorts & Film-School Originals, as well as a small selection of Spanish-language films, you'll never be hard-pushed to find something that suits your taste. As such you can expect to see anything from the political thriller "The Commissioner" (1998), starring John Hurt and directed by George Sluizer, to the comedy "Caught In The Act" (2008), directed by Matt Lipsey, about a small Welsh town torn apart by corruption having received EU funding for cultural development, or else the story of a unique boy genius that is "Bruno" (2000), directed by Shirley Maclaine, which takes the viewer on emotional journey as he struggles to find acceptance, while expressing his own individuality. You'll find plenty more besides these to watch via the 'Popcornflix' channel on Roku and, perhaps best of all, is that THE CONTENT on the 'Popcornflix' channel IS also COMPLETELY FREE-TO-WATCH !!



Obviously, having multiple genres to choose from in the main menu of the 'Popcornflix' 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) selection to be found in the "Horror" section of the 'Popcornflix' channel (incl. IMDB links) is as follows:-






My own PICK OF THE BUNCH here is "The Addiction" (1995), starring Lili Taylor alongside Christopher Walken, in the tale of a New York philosophy grad student who finds herself with a new perspective on the nature of evil and humanity after being bitten by a vampire. She must then come to terms with her new lifestyle and frequent craving for human blood in this brilliant horror drama, directed by Abel Ferrara. This would be closely followed by Glenn McQuaid's 2008 horror comedy, "I Sell The Dead", starring Dominic Monaghan as convicted 18th century grave robber, Arthur Blake, reflecting on his life of corpse peddling just hours before his date with the guillotine. After that I'd say "Nomads" (1986), directed by John McTiernan, about a French anthropologist who is plagued by evil spirits, would be your next best option. On the other end of the scale, THE ONE'S TO AVOID ARE... most certainly the likes of Fred Olen Ray's "Final Examination" (2003) and "Zombie High" (1987) directed by Ron Link, plus (perhaps) "Howling V: The Rebirth" (1989), directed by Neal Sundstrom. Still, love them or loathe them, this additional selection of horror-themed content will ensure that you have even more ways to pass the time between my daily doses of Roku-related Hallowe'en horror in "A MummyVision Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" while, at the same time, satisfying your appetite for horror movies in the final days before Hallowe'en on October 31st !!



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



It may further interest you to know that, according to the channel description for 'Popcornflix', taken from the Official Roku Website, the channel was developed for Roku by a company called Float Left Interactive. Should you need to contact this developer, you can do so via their Twitter Feed: @FL_Interactive or else, get social through: Float Left Interactive (Facebook). Of course, you can also find out more about Float Left Interactive by visiting their Official Website 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 'Popcornflix' movie 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:- popcornflix



Anyway, that's pretty much all there is to it, except to point out that the 'Popcornflix' channel has been given an average score of "3.5 out of 5" from  8, 391 ratings (so far) in the channel store description from the Official Roku Website. That statistic alone should be reason enough to give this a try, never mind that ALL OF THE FILMS ARE 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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