I have no idea what made me think of this, but I got all nostalgic for a relic from my youth recently. Chewers in my age range (mid 30's or so) from the NYC metro area will probably remember this. ABC Channel 7 used to show a movie every weekday at 4:30 on a show called - oddly enough - "The 4:30 Movie". They'd do themes: War Week would usually have 2 days devoted to "The Longest Day" and some more mostly B&W WWII flicks; and so on.
But my favorites, of course, were "Monster Week" and "Nature Striking Back at Man" week (which was kind of like Monster Week w/a message: Don't FUCK with Mother Nature). I have no idea how far back this tradition dates, or when it stopped, but I watched the hell out of them when I was a kid in the 70's. Saw a bunch of "Gamera" flicks (My favorite has to be the one w/ the triceratops lookin' thing witht he knife blade for a snout, that used to shoot Chinese stars out of the side of its head, and chopped the leg off that big silver bat-thing, spilling irridiscent blue ichor all over everything). I'm pretty sure I saw that one w/ the giant Frankenstein's Monster as a 4:30 movie, too. The 1950's "Blob" (although I confess, I was afraid of that one & only watched it once in the entire decade of the 70's). "Empire of the Ants". "Food of the Gods". "Frogs" (I don't know how the fuck they made frogs scary, but the 7 year old me was creeped right the fuck out. . . at least for a little while.).
There were many more, but it's been so long I can't recall any more without prompting.
The point is, some of my fondest childhood memories (even if they have dimmed a bit w/ the passing years) revolve around me eating grandma's Swedish meatballs or pot roast off a snack table in front of the TV in their living room, watching the 4:30 movie until Eyewitness news with Roger Grimsby and Bill Beutel came on (remember the News' intro music, taken from the frenetic road building scene in "Cool Hand Luke", anyone?). Those movies, if I could see them again, would be like comfort food for the horror fan's soul. Alas, even if they were still showing 4:30 movies, I have a job now, and wouldn't be able to indulge, except thru a DVR. And I never learned how to make Swedish meatballs, and my pot roast tastes nothing like Grandma's (and yes, I CAN cook a good pot roast). But perhaps saddest of all, I won't be able to turn my son on to this tradition the way my grandfather turned me on to it so many years ago.
Does anyone else remember the creature feature from their local TV stations w/ as much fondness as I remember the 4:30 movie?
But my favorites, of course, were "Monster Week" and "Nature Striking Back at Man" week (which was kind of like Monster Week w/a message: Don't FUCK with Mother Nature). I have no idea how far back this tradition dates, or when it stopped, but I watched the hell out of them when I was a kid in the 70's. Saw a bunch of "Gamera" flicks (My favorite has to be the one w/ the triceratops lookin' thing witht he knife blade for a snout, that used to shoot Chinese stars out of the side of its head, and chopped the leg off that big silver bat-thing, spilling irridiscent blue ichor all over everything). I'm pretty sure I saw that one w/ the giant Frankenstein's Monster as a 4:30 movie, too. The 1950's "Blob" (although I confess, I was afraid of that one & only watched it once in the entire decade of the 70's). "Empire of the Ants". "Food of the Gods". "Frogs" (I don't know how the fuck they made frogs scary, but the 7 year old me was creeped right the fuck out. . . at least for a little while.).
There were many more, but it's been so long I can't recall any more without prompting.
The point is, some of my fondest childhood memories (even if they have dimmed a bit w/ the passing years) revolve around me eating grandma's Swedish meatballs or pot roast off a snack table in front of the TV in their living room, watching the 4:30 movie until Eyewitness news with Roger Grimsby and Bill Beutel came on (remember the News' intro music, taken from the frenetic road building scene in "Cool Hand Luke", anyone?). Those movies, if I could see them again, would be like comfort food for the horror fan's soul. Alas, even if they were still showing 4:30 movies, I have a job now, and wouldn't be able to indulge, except thru a DVR. And I never learned how to make Swedish meatballs, and my pot roast tastes nothing like Grandma's (and yes, I CAN cook a good pot roast). But perhaps saddest of all, I won't be able to turn my son on to this tradition the way my grandfather turned me on to it so many years ago.
Does anyone else remember the creature feature from their local TV stations w/ as much fondness as I remember the 4:30 movie?
