is there a name or a phrase for or anything much written about that distinctly British CREEPY VIBE prevalent in TV shows and movies of the '60s/'70s? (e.g. The Prisoner, Sapphire and Steel, Baker-era

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f9XlZ0ImI1U/UQ-5YwFySKI/AAAAAAAAA44/WR4LYc8XEl8/s1600/Children+and+hallucinogens.jpg

From the Scarfolk Council blog, which might be of interest to readers of this thread.

Scarfolk is a town in North West England that did not progress beyond 1979. Instead, the entire decade of the 1970s loops ad infinitum. Here in Scarfolk, pagan rituals blend seamlessly with science; hauntology is a compulsory subject at school, and everyone must be in bed by 8pm because they are perpetually running a slight fever. "Visit Scarfolk today. Our number one priority is keeping rabies at bay."

I looked at that and although I liked a lot of it at times it was trying way too hard.

Aw, I love it!

I think calling the guy 'Spangles' in the tourist information poster pushed me over the edge, although I laughed at "so mote it be".

Nah, I agree with you, aldo. There's some good bits in it, but otherwise... eh.

I guess "wacky" doesn't really gel with "creepy".

sure it does, it's called the 70s.

None of the stuff listed here is wacky in that way. Campy, maybe. But not student japes zaniness.

the scarfolk blog is totally of a kind with the comedy books from 70s england I remember being all over our house, although yeah it's a different strain than the stuff that's the main focus of this thread. definitely related though.

Well, yeah! It's riffing on the stuff that is on this thread, totally. But the tonality it chooses sets it up as external to this stuff. It's a parody more than it's a pastiche.

It's like Ghost Box (which, although I like in principle I also feel is a bit over-egged) done for comedy by the Charlie Brooker that's completely run out of ideas.

See, I don't think that GB is over-done. They don't often write massive backstories, their presentation is mostly kept to sound and design, and the stories they have are firmly based in prosaic realism, not zany surreality.

See I've tried, but a record like... We Are All Pan's People, for argument's sake, just turned me off.

I like that Scarfolk blog - the posters are really well done. Great idea.
Also, talking of parodies, I assume you've all seen Garth Marenghi's Dark Place? God I loved that show but they only made 6. Definitely an 80s parody though, not 70s, but more importantly it parodies low budget, weird horror - albeit badly acted, produced, directed, ...
Parts of it remind me of some of the Hammer stuff, things like The One Game, Dr Who, Children of the Stones, but all ridiculously tongue in cheek. I suppose having lived in Romford helps too!

Garth Marenghi is far closer to the likes of Shaun Hutson and Guy N Smith than this thread imo.

Oh I don't know ... "characterized by spartan production values (which are generally made a virtue of), often a surface sense of middle-class normalcy masking something sinister, and also often a hidden authoritarian and/or supernatural power."
Yeah definite paralells between those authors and the author in the show.

Think I'll build a fire and watch some of these tonight... not much winter left down here, could be the last chance.

'la cabina' is a proper little nightmare, thanks for posting it geronibload.

Hey So' - yeah I'm sorry about that. Imagine seeing it as a kid though! It's so O/T from the original thread I shouldn't have posted it here really - it just popped into my head while I was thinking of the other stuff.

Just want to call attention to this show, as followers of this thread may dig it:
The Returned (French supernatural drama on Channel 4)

Can't believe no-one on this thread's mentioned The Changes. Super creeped me out as a kid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYkkfBMK-7c

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/styles/disk-product-image/public/disk/robin-redbreast-dvd.jpg http://www.ukhorrorscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/supernatural-1977-001-dvd-pack-shot-212x300.jpg http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41BMBNJWspL._SY300_.jpg

^ all out at the end of the month, but i've never seen any of them myself. any good?

someone tell me that's steven stapleton in robin redbreast

Robin Redbreast has not been repeated since 1971, and yet is often recalled by viewers of the time, probably because of its eerie atmosphere, and particularly for its horrifying and surreal finale.

Not seen any of those, let me know if they're good.

its eerie atmosphere, and particularly for its horrifying and surreal finale

sounds like my journey to work tbh

anyway, if it really hasn't been repeated since 1971 then i'll be surprised if anybody here's seen it. the cover made me want to not read any more of that synopsis tho so i don't spoil it.

Another couple of things that are coming out as part of this BFI gothic thing are Schalcken the Painter, and Scary Stories ("a collection of creepy kids films from the Children’s Film Foundation featuring The Man from Nowhere, Haunters of the Deep and Out of the Darkness") *blank look*

Dead Of Night - The Exorcism is on YouTube.

always glad to see this great thread revived!

Robin Redbreast is being touted as 'the folk-horror precursor to the Wicker Man'. The alternative cover for it:

http://www.ukhorrorscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/robinredbreast.jpg

saw this one recently. kim stanley's face in lighting is v creepy.

http://www.leytonstonefilmclub.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/seance_on_a_wet_afternoon_uk_dvd.jpg

I like how http://scarfolk.blogspot.ca/ satirizes these aesthetics and is sometimes legitimately creepy in its own right

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f9XlZ0ImI1U/UQ-5YwFySKI/AAAAAAAAA44/WR4LYc8XEl8/s640/Children+and+hallucinogens.jpg

ha! oh damn - must read whole thread

I love Seance, Matt P.

Not sure whether this has been mentioned yet but series 3 of the League of Gentlemen is such a rich and under appreciated exercise in this style

In other news I've started watching the Children of the Stones and it's great!!

Since this thread has been bumped, I'd like to put forth an idea of mine for discussion: Am I the only one who sees the movie Hausu (1977) as a Japanese culture-bound manifestation of similar uncanniness?

Dead Of Night is ok. I had seen the first episode before so skipped it, but from memory it was quite good. The second story is rather uninteresting but Anna Massey is good value in the third.

Struggling with Supernatural. Two episodes in and it's heavy Gothic pastiche with little to recommend it. Maybe it will pick up.

In order to pitch in to this excellent thread I can only add that The Omega Factor was not just shown in scotland, though it may have been a northern thing as I was living in Darlington at the time.

Am I wrong to think that some of the uncanniness in the many HTV productions persisted into Robin of Sherwood

Ah, glad someone revived this thread, I can never remember what it's called exactly and is difficult to search for. Have bookmarked now.

I too have watched DEAD OF NIGHT this week - appropriate in this DOCTOR WHO anniversary week, as there are some deep old school Who connections (Innes Lloyd, Louis Marks, Robert Holmes). Perhaps the creepiest thing about the three surviving episodes are their opening credits - totally 'hommaged' in BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO - although the first story on the disc, 'The Exorcism', def. has its moments. There's a great dinner party scene where the food and drink suddenly turns inedible: there's a kind of marxist subtext throughout, with past crimes against the poor revenged on today's middle classes (though the only way the underclasses get to speak here is literally through the (possessed) voice of the ruling class). Both 'The Exorcism' and 'The Weeping Woman' (the one w/ Anna Massey) belong to the 'property horror' genre, typified by the later AMITYVILLE HORROR series - nice, middle class houses becomes sites of trauma and oppression.

ROBIN REDBREAST also fits into this genre, while at the same time totally anticipating THE WICKER MAN with its emphasis on an outsider unwittingly drawn into pagan ritual and sacrifice. Bernard Hepton gives a particularly creepy performance as a local history expert ("I'm a reading man") and some of the black and white cinematography is really atmospheric. It's a keeper.

I dunno if this is the right place, but god did I enjoy this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi9pZEhNQvQ

Wow, saw Robin Redbreast last night and really really enjoyed. The b&w print makes it hard to guess it was from as late as 1970 though. It's been a while since I was on the folk-horror tip but I think I might have to rummage around some more again.

Supernatural is mostly great so far (6/8 watched). 'Mr Nightingale' and 'Viktoria' especially.

I'm enjoying it a lot, but it's not particularly creepy in the sense of this thread. It's too fun. 'Viktoria' maybe comes closest, and is written by Lake rather than Muller, but even then it's more of a romp.

Also, yes, it's period gothic rather than contemporary - most of the things that fit here are contemporaneous w/ the era of broadcast, but permeated with a mystic/mythic ancient type spook.

Didn't even know there was a TV version of Red Shift, so v. excited abt that:

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/bfi-dvd-releases-announced-augustseptember-2014

watched Children of the Stones recently on Youtube and loved it so fuckin' much. Had never heard of it before this year. You guys (teh britishes) are lucky to have had such staggeringly strange TV in that decade. Jesus christ I want the soundtrack for CotS so bad! Of course none has ever been released. I ripped the audio from the main title but what I really want is the great choral stuff for when the happy-dayers are in their ritual circles.

The Boy From Space is out there now

http://www.theartsshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/819dLz1Wb2L._SL1500_.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zIbEoGRt-Q