Horror Box Office
I received far too much of my movie memories from cable, particularly HBO which was actually more prominent in middle-America in its early days than on the hipper coasts. There was something tele-mystic about HBO in the 70’s and it felt more “underground” than just the cable lines running into my relative’s homes. I recall watching drive-in shockers like THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE (1976) and especially THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (1976), a title I don’t even like to type. It was the 70’s, so the films were a tad darker. What disturbed me most about DELIVERANCE was not the infamous hillbilly assault but that chilling image at the end. Even TAXI DRIVER frightened me with its naturalism and freak-out ending. And what chilled me the most, no matter what the movie, was this HBO ratings bumper before the start of every single R-rated film. The announcer’s voice was so ominous about the MPAA finality of this pre-show manifesto…especially if the following feature was FRIDAY THE 13TH or HALLOWEEN…
Technicolor Dreams 
October 16, 2009 at 10:24 pm
There was a lot of soft core on HBO late at night.
October 16, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Not in the early days. It was pretty standard fare. Other cable stations had true hardcore like Spectravision and ON TV which we had at points. I was popular.
October 17, 2009 at 1:57 am
I felt exactly the same way. HBO was like miracle TV for kids. You could always look forward to seeing some great shit that would never appear over the airwaves. Once, my parents, myself and my brother (we were only 8 and 10 years old) were watching Dressed To Kill. Needless to say, the parent had no idea what the movie was about and everyone was embarrassed.
More embarrassed than Quentin here……
October 17, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Yeah, it was funny watching STRIPES with my parents. Tho they let me watch pretty much anything growing up. I mean, I watched the brutal THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE with my mom and elder relatives.
As fer the clip above, I’m on Quentin’s side. Here’s a jackass standing there taping in his face like he’s a zoo exhibit. I’ve been with Mr. T when photogs have come by to leap out snapping pix and he always handles it personally. I give him points for that and I can see how tiresome it must be.
October 31, 2010 at 1:27 am
book office are nice, and they are very useful too “”