Good Old-fashioned Mystery

Whenever I see a re-run of Believe it or Not on AXN these days, it just makes me remember the good old days of the show, back when it was GOOD. More a show about wonders and mystery rather than a freak show laced with cheap T&A.

Years ago, I remember as a kid seeing the first Ripley’s Believe it or Not show, which started off with a really beautiful title sequence, with animated versions of the Ripley’s cartoons whizzing by to a great musical score that started off creepy and teasing, then becoming more wondrous as the title of the show came on. The show then was hosted by Jack Palance, who was OLD even then. He of the hissing, wheezing voice was actually cool, despite a pretty painful prologue sequence where he acted out the entire assassination of the Russian monk Rasputin all by his lonesome.
Back then, the shows were more about mystery, natural and historical weirdness, ghost stories and monsters, or science oddities. Any human wonders were far more interesting than what we see in contemporary shows. Well, I guess the shows had to update to the times… and the present times just aren’t as magical as the older days.

It’s the same with other shows of the same vein. When That’s Incredible started off, I LOVED it best for the really creepy ghost stories they would feature, such as the story of Resurrection Mary, the Amytiville Horror and other American spooks. Eventually though, like Believe it or Not, the show began to focus more on stunts and more mundane feats.

Another favorite of mine was the often creepy In Search Of shows, an old, hard-to-find series hosted by Leonard Nimoy. The show dealt primarily with myths and monsters, legends and mysteries that included Bigfoot, Nazi Gold, The Bermuda Triangle and more. That was a good, spine-tingling series that you just don’t see these days.
Today, we see guys with bee beards, lingerie made of Heaven-knows-what, the biggest house of cards, and guys who suck things up with their eyes. For creepy mystery, all we have is… Nginiig: The Hidden Files.

Sigh. Oh well. All things come around and go around. Maybe someday we’ll have a return to really good mystery shows. I just hope that I’m not as old as Jack Palance when it happens. Heh.


Mystery Pic


Tekken 5’s new Boss may be this sinister figure.

Speaking of mystery, who is THIS in this screenshot from a new cinematic from Tekken 5? From the clothing and the twin spikes atop the figure’s head, it appears to be Heihachi Mishima, who has been reported DEAD in the Tekken 5 story. Upon close inspection, the figure seems to be actually aflame, and has shiny, metallic skin. It does not even look totally human. Recent literature released by Namco also mention that this creature seems to have been chained and imprisoned in Heihachi’s Honmaru shrine long before the explosion after the Jack Robot attack, so it is likely not the senior Mishima. After the destruction of the shrine, something (this thing) apparently escaped from the debris, unseen into the night.
News of Heihachi’s death have had many speculating that this was the end of Mishima Karetsu, but someone else has apparently taken over immediately after, so it was all business as usual. Taken over by whom?

Is this figure, called by some speculators as “Ogre Hei” Tekken 5’s new boss?

We’ll see as Tekken 5 is released in arcades this October.