AMC now streaming B-movies online

Yes, now you too can watch poorly-dubbed Italian classics like Playgirls and the Vampire, for free, on AMC. This is the perfect way to celebrate Halloween, unless you a) live near abandoned barns you can explore or b) have a goodly amount of small-batch bourbon and a toolbox of Hammer films at the ready. (Parties are also good.)

Also good is the fact that AMC is streaming episodes of the original Prisoner series, to tie-in with their upcoming adaptation starring Ian McKellen as the sinister No. 2 and Jim “I played Jesus” Caveziel as the prisoner, No. 6. As much as I love Ian McKellen, I maintain the opinion I held this summer: No. 2 should always be played by a new actor in each episode, to heighten No. 6’s uncertainty and set his usual “three steps forward, two steps back” pace. Ian McKellen will probably make an excellent No. 2, but so would Ricky Gervais. Go back and watch the original episodes, and you’ll know what I mean. To my mind there was no need to Galactica-fy The Prisoner by adding gritty realism; even during its most zany moments the series was emphatically bleak and nihilistic, with little potential for hope in either the system or the humans living in it. It didn’t matter that the Village’s prisoners wore primary colours and got hot cocoa each night before bed — they were watched as they slept, drugged by their caretakers, and betrayed by the people they trusted most on a regular basis.

If you want to see a real response to The Prisoner, go watch Dollhouse.

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