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45 Articles

Does anyone else out there feel like they’re the star of their very own sci-fi show right now? Aside from the coronavirus-related worries, technology is now at a point where I feel like I could be on the bridge of the USS Enterprise. I can access the world’s information from the palm of my hand, and acquire top level content from my computer or TV. I can even ask Alexa or Siri to switch off my lights after a long evening of binge-watching some genre goodies. We may all be a bit tired of our homes right now but we are truly lucky to be able to do what we can from the comfort of our sofas. However, sometimes it can all be a bit much. What to watch? Where do…

Q. What home entertainment show/ film are you most looking forward to? RACHAEL HARPER EDITOR A. The Umbrella Academy Season Two Mainly because I’ve been desperately wondering for all this time what happens next! ABIGAIL CHANDLER DEPUTY EDITOR A. What We Do In The Shadows Season Two The first series was a wonderful surprise aand one of my favourite new shows last year. MARCUS FAINT ART EDITOR A. American Gods Season Three This season could be where we see some epic-scale god-battling and I can’t wait. ANNIE MCKENNA SUB EDITOR A. Truth Seekers What can I say, my favourite comedy/horror duo have never let me down yet. And this time ghosts are involved too!…

“We were having coffee one time and Justin’s like: ‘Hey I had this weird idea, it’s about a pill…” Aaron Moorhead explains of the inception of his new movie Synchronic. We’re speaking to him and filmmaking partner Justin Benson via the magic of Zoom one early morning. “After that came the idea of the paramedics.” Set in New Orleans, Synchronic follows paramedics Dennis (Jamie Dornan) and Steve (Anthony Mackie) who witness the affects a new legal drug, named Synchronic, has on the victims who take it. When Dennis’ daughter ends up being one of those victims, it’s down to the duo to investigate the drug. “We wanted someone who could investigate it, but not cops,” says Aaron on the reasoning behind the paramedic choice. “We almost always make a movie that’s about two…

‘I WILL SHOW YOU TERROR IN A HANDFUL OF DUST.’ These words, first appearing in print adverts in 1988, introduced the world to a new horror-fantasy comic book: The Sandman. Written by Neil Gaiman, then unknown, for DC’s Vertigo imprint, it told the tale of Dream, aka Morpheus, one of a cadre of immortal beings. A blend of mythology, history and fantasy, it quickly transitioned from cult hit to mainstream success, with Gaiman – alongside Alan Moore and Frank Miller – feted as an integral part of the late-Eighties graphic novel renaissance. Unlike other comic creations, Sandman has never been adapted into other mediums – until now. But, rather than film or TV, Sandman will become an ‘audio movie’, written, directed and sound-designed by veteran radio drama pioneer Dirk Maggs. It’s a…

Mars Needs Moms

“It’s not a traditional space movie,” says writer-director Alice Winocour of her earthbound drama about a female astronaut’s intensive training programme for her journey to the International Space Station. Set in the near future, we are told it is the final mission before humans can fly to Mars (something NASA states could be possible by the 2030s). It has similar themes to recent films like Damien Chazelle’s First Man and James Gray’s Ad Astra but sets itself apart with a distinct female perspective that explores the act of balancing motherhood and career. Winocour watched those films, but after she had written her screenplay for research and as a way to look at the detailing in space suits. “My movie is different from those films,” she says. “My film is about detachment.…

Mars Needs Moms

The Ex From Hell

It’s been 79 years since Noël Coward’s comic play, Blithe Spirit, debuted in West End theatres, and 75 years since he adapted it for the big screen with his friend and revered director David Lean. The supernatural classic starring Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings and Margaret Rutherford won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects; its depiction of a luminous green ghost, a memorable marvel. Since then, multiple versions have played on Broadway, in London’s theatres, and on radio and television. Former artistic director of the Hampstead Theatre, Edward Hall’s spirited adaptation marks the 75th anniversary of Lean’s comedy and shows that Coward’s ghost story about death has lots of life left in it still. Fleshing out characters’ backstories and taking the narrative in a new and timely direction, with undercurrents of…

The Ex From Hell

Ray Harryhausen The Centenary

As one of the most influential stop-motion animators, Ray Harryhausen’s career spanned decades, incorporating classics such as Jason And The Argonauts and Clash Of The Titans. His special effects are so seminal that, though his early films were made almost 60 years ago, they still hold up today. Harryhausen influenced countless artists after him and took special effects to a new level. His unique vision and memorable creations make the movies he worked on stand out – you always know when you’re watching a movie with a Harryhausen stamp on it. On 29 June 2020, Harryhausen would have turned 100 and there will plenty of festivities to mark the occasion. To celebrate in our own SciFiNow way, we spoke to John Walsh who created a documentary about the visionary and who will be…

Ray Harryhausen The Centenary

SHE ani't your PUDDIN'

Say what you like about DC’s film slate, but its animation game has always been top notch. DC fans of a certain generation were raised on Batman: The Animated Series and the Justice League cartoon, and DC’s animation runs the gamut from the child-friendly delights of Teen Titans Go, to adult-skewing material like its animated adaptation of The Killing Joke. Harley Quinn is its latest animated series, and it’s definitely on the adult side of DC’s slate. The opening scene alone will tell you what to expect: bad language, bones snapping through flesh, sharp satire, and a no-sacred-cows approach to the Bat-verse. This is a world where Commissioner Gordon is a harassed drunk, Bane is the butt of everyone’s jokes, and Harley is… well, Harley is who she always is. She’s…

SHE ani't your PUDDIN'

SEASON TWO, BABY

Season Two of Harley Quinn has already started airing in the States. Schumacker promises that Harley and Ivy’s evolving relationship will be front and centre in Season Two, and that “we delve into King Shark’s backstory”. New characters will also be joining the roster – here’s who to look out for... CATWOMAN Harley and Ivy are two thirds of the Gotham City Sirens, so it was only going to be so long before Catwoman, the final third, showed up. This version is voiced by Sanaa Lathan. MR FREEZE None other than Alfred Molina is joining the cast as Mr Freeze, one of the few big-name Bat-villains not to show up in Season One. BATGIRL Kaley Cuoco’s sister Briana Cuoco will be voicing Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, donning the fan-favourite ‘Batgirl of Burnside’ costume. DEX-STARR?? “We had Dex-Starr, the blood-vomiting Red…

SEASON TWO, BABY

MY AMAZING LIFE!

Love you! Aww, me and Mr J back where it all began in 1992 - Batman: The Animated Series! This was my first ever episode, and boy did we show that stuffy old Commissioner Gordon who was boss. Happy times. Ain’t we a cute couple? Shame he had to keep trying to destroy my self-esteem and blow me up and what-not. My own book, back in 2013! Kind of been running ever since then. Seven years and counting No biggie. I guess these days the ladies would call this kinda behaviour a ‘red flag’, huh? A girl’s gotta have girlfriends around her, it ain’t healthy to always be trying to please your man. Catwoman’s a little too much of a do-gooder for me, and I betcha there’s something fishy going on with her and the Bats.…

MY AMAZING LIFE!

That's home entertainment

With streaming services launching faster than a ‘next episode’ option and TV offering on-demand and recording services of their own, the genre goodies available from our small screens is getting bigger. Also, with the budget-busting successes of Westworld and The Witcher, the small screen’s budget is getting bigger. Heck, each episode of the last season of Game Of Thrones felt like a film in its own right. Even the small screens themselves are getting bigger, better, thinner and smarter with each generation. Some are even curved. With the simple click of a button or a quick shout-out to Alexa or Siri, we have access to a plethora top-notch content. All of that choice can be a little disarming – but fear not! From the newest offerings on Netflix and Prime, to…

That's home entertainment

What to look for on streaming platforms part one

Space Force STARRING: Steve Carell, Owen Daniels, Noah Emmerich, John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow CREATORS: Greg Daniels, Steve Carell WHEN: 29 May WHERE: Netflix GENRE: Sci-fi/comedy Space Force centres on general Mark R. Naird (Steve Carell) who finds himself roped into leading a newly formed sixth branch of the US Armed Forces named Space Force. His mission is to get the US to the moon again quickly and achieve total space dominance. Moving his family to a remote base where he and a team of scientists and ‘Spacemen’, the show is set to be a workplace comedy. Snowpiercer STARRING: Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs, Mickey Sumner CREATORS: Graeme Manson WHEN: 2020 WHERE: Netflix GENRE: Sci-fi Based on both the 2013 film and the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige the show follows the passengers of the Snowpiercer, a huge continuously-moving train that carries the last of…

What to look for on streaming platforms part one

JAPANESE FRANCHISE, Violet Evergarden, has been one of the biggest recent success stories for Kyoto Animation, the acclaimed animation studio – behind such titles as A Silent Voice, K-On! and Liz And The Blue Bird – that publishes the novel series and produces the animated adaptation. In the UK, Netflix is the home for the 13-episode TV version, and is now also hosting a feature continuation, titled Eternity And The Auto Memory Doll. It’s set in the aftermath of a great war. A young ex-soldier, Violet Evergarden, is employed at a writers’ agency and goes on assignments to ghost-write letters that can help connect people – ‘doll’ is the term used to refer to this line of work. Abandoned as a child, Violet lost her arms trying to save her beloved…

What to look for on streaming platforms part two

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier STARRING: Daniel Brühl, Desmond Chiam, Miki Ishikawa, Anthony Mackie CREATOR: Malcolm Spellman WHEN: 2020 (TBC) WHERE: Disney+ GENRE: Sci-fi/fantasy After (spoilers!) Steve Rogers hands over the Captain America shield and mantle over to Sam Wilson aka The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) at the end of Avengers: Endgame, we have been waiting to see the new iteration of Cap himself in this new series for Disney+. Mackie isn’t the only actor to reprise his Avengers role, Sebastian Stan is also coming back as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, as is Daniel Brühl as criminal mastermind Zemo and Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter. The series is also set to star Desmond Chiam (The Shannara Chronicles), Miki Ishikawa (The Terror) and Wyatt Russell (Overlord). Not much has yet been revealed on what plot the series will follow but…

What to look for on streaming platforms part two

Go back and binge

Castle Rock Season One and Two STARRING: Sissy Spacek, Bill Skarsgård, Lizzy Caplan, Tim Robbins CREATORS: Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason WHERE: STARZPLAY WHEN: Now GENRE: Horror Horror anthology series based on the works of Stephen King. Doom Patrol STARRING: Diane Guerrero, Alan Tudyk CREATOR: Jeremy Carver WHERE: STARZPLAY WHEN: Now GENRE: Sci-fi/fantasy Doom Patrol follows our favourite band of tragic superhero misfits. Pennyworth Season One STARRING: Jack Bannon, Ben Aldridge, Hainsley Lloyd Bennett CREATOR: Bruno Heller WHERE: STARZPLAY WHEN: Now GENRE: Sci-fi/fantasy Set in the Batman universe, Pennyworth follows the origin of our favourite butler, Alfred Pennyworth.…

Go back and binge

“THE OFFICE HAD wrapped and that experience was so fulfilling for me that I wanted to do something very ambitious next,” explains Greg Daniels over a Zoom call while discussing his latest show, Upload. The creator of The ‘American’ Office, Parks And Recreation and some of the most beloved TV characters in modern history returns to screens in May with a sci-fi show on Amazon Prime. Set in the near future, it depicts a world where virtual reality offers a new afterlife where humans can choose to be uploaded before they die. The seed for the show had been with him for many, many years. “I had the idea a really long time ago when I was looking for sketch ideas, when I was a writer on Saturday Night Live. I…

The best afterlifes on TV

The Good Place The Good Place keeps it classic with its version of the afterlife: good people go to The Good Place, bad people go to The Bad Place. Over four seasons that traditional notion was examined, and found wanting, leading to a comedy with more twists and more discussions about Kant than your average sitcom. Black Mirror : San Junipero Black Mirror’s best episode presents a digital afterlife, where people can choose to live in the era of their choice, at whatever age they want, and have all the experiences they missed out on. It’s like reincarnation, but you’re still yourself. Miracle Workers Heaven is a crumbling business, and the CEO just wants to move on. That’s the premise of Miracle Workers, where Daniel Radcliffe is a pencil-pushing angel and Steve Buscemi is a…

The best afterlifes on TV

Someone's Watching Me

I SEE YOU is a puzzle movie where revealing the exact horror sub-genres it sticks with to the end, or even to its halfway point, constitutes as a spoiler. Penned by American actor-turned-writer Devon Graye (Dexter, The Flash), directed by Brit Adam Randall (who helmed Netflix Original sci-fi iBoy) and starring Helen Hunt and Jon Tenney, the Ohio-filmed movie benefits from knowing as little as possible, beyond the basic premise that concerns a series of abductions in a small town coinciding with the apparent haunting of a family’s home. That said, there’s still plenty to discuss without giving the game away. Speaking to SciFiNow at last summer’s Edinburgh International Film Festival, Adam Randall (carefully) told us about his film… HOW ARE YOU SELLING THIS FILM WITHOUT SPOILING IT? It’s been very difficult from…

Someone's Watching Me

What to look for on T V

Penny Dreadful City Of Angels STARRING: Natalie Dormer, Daniel Zovatto, Rory Kinnear, Nathan Lane CREATOR: John Logan WHEN: July WHERE: Sky Atlantic GENRE: Fantasy horror Moving on from its Victorian Britain setting, Penny Dreadful is spinning off into the Golden Age Hollywood of the Thirties. It promises to tackle everything from Nazi espionage to Mexican-American folklore. Dispatches From Elsewhere STARRING: Jason Segel, Richard E Grant, Sally Field, André Benjamin, Eve Lindley CREATOR: Jason Segel WHEN: From 29 April WHERE: AMC GENRE: Sci-fi mystery This weird mystery series from Jason Segel sees a group of people following clues given to them by the mysterious Elsewhere Society, leading them into a conspiracy – or maybe just a game. What We Do In The Shadows Season Two STARRING: Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén CREATOR: Jemaine Clement WHEN: May WHERE: BBC Two GENRE: Comedy horror Adapting a much-loved film into a…

What to look for on T V

Emerging Mysteries

WHEN LOOKING FOR inspiration for a TV show, you can do a lot worse than turning to Spielberg. “One of the huge influences on us is the Steven Spielberg movies of our youth,” says Michele Fazekas, one half of Emergence’s showrunning team, along with Tara Butters.“E.T. is basically a family that gets a new member, and if everyone would just leave them alone, they would be fine. That is a really big touchstone for us.” Emergence sees small-town police chief Jo (Fargo’s Allison Tolman) take in a child she finds at the scene of a plane crash. The girl, Piper (Alexa Swinton), has no memory of who she is, and is at the centre of a mystery that will explain her strange powers, and put Jo and her family, including ex-husband…

Emerging Mysteries

Looking ahead LOOK INTO OUR CRYSTAL BALL AT SOME SHOWS TO LOOK FORWARD TO...

Loki STARRING: Tom Hiddleston, Sophia Di Martino, Richard E. Grant, Owen Wilson DIRECTOR: Kate Herron WHEN: 2021 WHERE: Disney+ GENRE: Sci-fi/Fantasy Tom Hiddleston will be back as the cheeky trickster and from the looks of the teaser trailer, he has got himself involved with the Time Variance Authority, an organisation which monitors timelines. The series is also set to star Owen Wilson. The Watch STARRING: Samuel Adewunmi, Marama Corlett, Richard Dormer, Adam Hugill WHEN: TBC WHERE: BBC GENRE: Fantasy Based on Terry Pratchett’s Ankh-Morpork City Watch which follows City Watch and its commander Sam Vines (Richard Dormer), the series is also set to star Marama Corlett as Corporal Anua and Adam Hugill as Constable Carrot. The Third Day STARRING: Jude Law, Gianni Calchetti, Amer Chadha-Patel, Paddy Considine Writer: Dennis Kelly WHEN: TBC WHERE: HBO GENRE: Sci-fi The Third Day is about a man (Jude Law) and a woman (Naomie Harris)…

Looking ahead LOOK INTO OUR CRYSTAL BALL AT SOME SHOWS TO LOOK FORWARD TO...

The Man With The X-Ray Eyes It’s X-cellent Release 4 May Director Roger Corman Cast Ray Milland, Diana Van der Vlis, Harold J. Stone Distributor Second Sight Certificate PG Format Imagine if you could see through things. Or, more specifically, imagine the medical possibilities if you could – surgeries can be done a lot more effectively and patients can be diagnosed immediately. That’s what Dr Xavier (Ray Milland) has in mind when he develops eye drops that leave the human eyes able to see through objects. Experimenting the eye drops on himself, Xavier finds he can see through clothes, then thick objects and finally people. Deeming the experiment a success, he uses his new-found ability to help those in need. However, the more he uses the drops, the less he can control the ability, and what starts out as…

The Mandalorian Gung-ho Mando Release Out now Showrunner Jon Favreau Cast Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers, Rio Hackford, Gina Carano Distributor Disney+ Certificate PG Format VOD With the Skywalker saga drawing to a divisive conclusion with The Rise Of Skywalker, there’s a weight of expectation around Disney+’s first live action Star Wars series. Barring a couple of forgiveable Stormtrooper-esque misfires around the midway point (Firefly won’t be losing its status as the best space western series just yet), The Mandalorian exceeds those expectations with eight episodes of solid entertainment. Set five years after Return Of The Jedi and the fall of the galactic empire, the show focuses on a bounty hunter known as The Mandalorian or Mando (Pedro Pascal) whose path gets drastically altered when he is offered an under-the-table job that yields unexpected results. His journey is accompanied by a…

The REVISIT Omen

“Dick said to me: ‘There must be nothing in this movie that you can’t believe is [real] – the whole force of this movie is going to be the critical mass of a man’s paranoia coming to be realised as actual,’” recalled The Omen scribe David Seltzer regarding director Richard Donner’s intentions for the 1976 horror film. Two years before convincing audiences that a man could fly with Superman, the filmmaker was attempting to achieve a level of believability out of a story where the devil murders an American diplomat’s newborn and replaces him with the offspring of a jackal… who happens to be the Antichrist. “I wanted to treat this like a reality […] teasing out the psychological instead of the fantastical. Less on blood and gore and effects and…

The REVISIT Omen

LIGHTENING STRIKES Gregory Peck’s TWA flight from LA was hit by lightening. Three days later the same flight (carrying scribe David Seltzer) was hit by lightening too. RESTAURANT BOMBING Whilst filming in London, Peck’s favourite restaurant was Scott’s. The IRA bombed it on the one evening the actor decided not to go out for dinner. PLANE CRASH On the day that a private plane was originally intended to be chartered for production, it crashed into a car on the runway, killing all-on board and tragically also the family of the pilot who were in the vehicle. LION’S DEN After the filming of a (deleted) ‘lions scene’ at Windsor Safari Park, a guard was killed by the animals after leaving his booth door ajar. DECAPITATION Following production, special effects designer John Richardson was involved in a car accident that beheaded…

Top 10 chilling moments from REVISIT TheOmenseries The Omen

1 “LOOK AT ME, DAMIEN! IT’S ALL FOR YOU” (THE OMEN, 1976) A seemingly idyllic birthday party for Damien is cut chillingly short when, out-of-the-blue, his young nanny (with a noose around her neck), utters the immortal line before jumping off a roof to hang herself in full view of the assembled crowd. 2 FATHER BRENNAN IMPALEMENT (THE OMEN, 1976) Poor Patrick Troughton meets an untimely demise after warning Gregory Peck that Damien is the Antichrist: impaled by a church spire that is struck by lightening in a terrifically timed sequence shot at Bishop’s Park, London. 3 CHURCH CAR ATTACK (THE OMEN, 1976) Damien’s sudden violent outburst in the backseat of a car, as the Thorns approach Guildford Cathedral, is one of The Omen’s standout shocking moments, chillingly undercut by Jerry Goldsmith’s haunting choral score. 4…

Top 10 chilling moments from REVISIT TheOmenseries The Omen

ADDAMS FAMILY (1991/1993/1998) Hart is perhaps best known for portraying the Addams’ resident disembodied hand Thing in director Barry Sonnenfeld’s whip-smart 1991 adaptation starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd. Hart reprised the role in 1993 sequel Addams Family Values and 1998’s direct-to-video Addams Family Reunion. QUICKSILVER HIGHWAY (1997) Staying in the horror genre, Hart next appeared in Quicksilver Highway, a TV movie based on Clive Barker’s short story ‘The Body Politic’ and Stephen King’s short ‘Chattery Teeth’. Reunited with his Addams Family colleague Christopher Lloyd, Hart starred in the latter, playing a pair of hands who rebel against their owner. ANGEL (1999) Sticking with the small screen, Hart next put his nimble digits to work in the debut season of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer spin-off series Angel. Keen eyed viewers will find…

“IT’S BEEN A LONG, STRANGE TRIP,” ADMITS RODMAN FLENDER, DIRECTOR OF 1999’S BLOOD-SOAKED, POT-FUELLED HORROR COMEDY IDLE HANDS. 21 years have passed since Flender and his cast – led by Devon Sawa, Seth Green and Jessica Alba – unleashed their tongue-in-cheek tale of a demonically possessed hand hellbent on slaughtering anyone who crosses its path, and a lot has changed. Back in the late Nineties, teen comedies were enjoying a welcome resurgence in the wake of coming-of-age classicAmerican Pie and with Idle Hands, Flender – fresh from helming low-key horror Leprechaun 2 and segments of Tales From The Crypt – looked set to inject this already winning formula with a devilish dose of dark humour. Then, everything changed. “It was just the wrong movie at the wrong time,” he reflects. “I…

PUNK GOES POP(CORN)

BLINK 182 AMERICAN PIE (1999) The trio from the pop punk band Blink 182 Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker and Tom DeLonge can be seen cutting their band practice short to spy on Shannon Elizabeth and Jason Biggs’ rude web-cam session in sex-mad classic American Pie. GOOD CHARLOTTE NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE (2001) No one was safe from Not Another Teen Movie - an Airplane!-esque send up of anything related to this youth-led sub-genre. It was Good Charlotte who stepped up to the plate, covering a number of classic tracks like Footloose during the inevitable prom sequence. BOWLING FOR SOUP CROSSROADS (2002) Back in 2002 pop icon Britney Spears’ made her big screen debut with a leading role in this road trip comedy drama. Soundtracking her journey were Bowling For Soup in a split-second appearance that remains one of…

PUNK GOES POP(CORN)

The Princess Bride

‘Heroes. Giants. Villains. Wizards. True love. Not just your basic, average, everyday, ordinary, run-of-the-mill, ho-hum fairy tale.’ These words plastered on the promo material of The Princess Bride could not have been more true. A fantasy adventure that’s as cleverly witty as it is thrilling, a classic fairytale love story that’s neither classic nor quite a fairytale, The Princess Bride is as wide-reaching as it is enduring. Released in 1987 and directed by the legendary Rob Reiner (who had just directed This Is Spinal Tap in 1984 and the Stephen King classic Stand By Me in 1986), The Princess Bride was adapted from the 1973 book of the same name by William Goldman (who also wrote the screenplay for the movie). It centres around the love story of Westley (Cary Elwes)…

The Princess Bride

It really is not short of… charm…

“As you wish.” The words Westley utters to Buttercup which actually means ‘I love you’. Swoon. “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” Inigo has sworn to say these words to the six-fingered man who killed his father. “Anybody want a peanut?” Fezzik has a great gift for rhyme. Yes, yes, some of the time… “Inconceivable!” We couldn’t have a quotes list without Vizzini’s classic line. Though we do not think he means what he thinks he means… “But for now, rest well and dream of large women.” When Fezzik passes out after a fight with Westley, the latter wishes him some very pleasant dreams. “They’re so perky, I love that.” Miracle Max can’t help but be distracted when thinking about his perfect sandwich. Same. “Mawage is wot bwings us togeder today.” Peter Cook as ‘The Impressive…

It really is not short of… charm…

‘INTO A SHOW-WORLD GROWN WEARY OF NAMBY PAMBY PLOTS STALKS THE GIGANTIC FIGURE OF KONG! IT COMES LIKE A GIFT FROM A SHOWMAN’S HEAVEN… BIG… ORIGINAL… STARTLING… TO BLAST AWAY WITH ITS DRAMATIC DYNAMITE THE LETHARGY THAT HOLDS SHOW BUSINESS IN ITS GRIP! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MONTHS COMES A SHOWMAN’S PICTURE…’ This hard-sell is from a press book promoting King Kong to cinemas in 1933. No doubt the exhibitors, struggling for dimes in the Great Depression, thought it was marketing gas about a film with a big ape. They didn’t know everything the press book said was true. Many viewers today only know Kong from the 21st Century movies. However, Peter Jackson’s epic 2005 version keeps to the story of the 1933 film, which goes like this: A maverick, reckless…

KONG’S LEGACY

For decades, Willis O’Brien hoped to remake Kong. He came close in 1952 when Cooper invited him to make a colour ‘Cinerama’ version, but this was cancelled when a key technician died. A decade later, O’Brien pitched ‘King Kong Vs Frankenstein’, but maddeningly for him, the RKO producer he approached sold the idea to Japanese studio Toho, where it transmogrified into the 1962 monster-mash King Kong Vs Godzilla. O’Brien did however work on two small-scale imitations of Kong. The first was rushed sequel, Son Of Kong, which opened in December 1933, nine months after Kong premiered. It sees Denham return to Skull Island and find a friendly ‘Little Kong’. It was followed by Mighty Joe Young (1949), about a ten-foot gorilla brought to America (Joe would be remade by Disney in…

DANGEROUS GAMES

One of the most interesting Kong-related films doesn’t have any giant monsters; The Most Dangerous Game (aka The Hounds of Zaroff). It’s a 1932 horror film about a shipwrecked man who encounters a benign-seeming Russian Count, Zaroff, on a small island. Unfortunately, Zaroff hunts people for sport, making the film an ancestor of such ‘death games’ as The Hunger Games and this year’s The Hunt. Overlapping with Kong’s production, the films used the same artificial jungle sets at times. Moreover, three of the Kong actors appear in markedly different guises. The heroine is a brunette Fay Wray (she has a blond wig in Kong). Denham actor Robert Armstrong here plays Wray’s doomed drunk brother, and the African-American actor Noble Johnson, who plays the Skull Island chief in Kong, is ‘whited’ up…

PREDATOR 2 AT 30

“IT’S SO OVER THE TOP,” laughs Stephen Hopkins, director of sci-fi sequel Predator 2. “I just sort of went for it and made the biggest, boldest, loudest movie I could make. I was only 29 years old – I was like a rampant child, running around Los Angeles, blowing the shit out of everything and making things as bloody as possible.” He’s not wrong. 1990’s follow-up to Die Hard director John McTiernan’s stealthy original has none of the slow-burn patience that made that movie an unexpected classic. Instead, Hopkins – fresh from helming horror sequel Nightmare On Elm Street: The Dream Child – reintroduced one of Hollywood’s most iconic extraterrestrials with all the subtlety of a bulldozer. “It was a film made in a guerilla style by a bunch of…

PREDATOR 2 AT 30

DEADLY ON THE DANCEFLOOR

Any Predator fanatic will no doubt have seen a hazy viral video featuring battle-ready hunters breaking into a synchronised dance routine. How did such a bizarre clip come to be? “It was shot during lunchtime,” reveals Hopkins, remembering how the LA Lakers came to portray the City Hunter’s rescue crew. “Danny Glover was a huge fan of the Lakers and knew them all. When they were in their suits I came back from lunch and they presented me with this VHS tape and it was them doing this incredible rap sequence with dry ice in the spaceship. I’m glad it’s made it out because I couldn’t remember where it was until about a year ago. It’s a unique piece of filmmaking!”…

DEADLY ON THE DANCEFLOOR

Crafting such a technically complex movie as Predator 2 was no small feat – and to make matters even worse, the locals where the movie was shot weren’t exactly co-operative either. “It was tough back then,” says Hopkins, recalling the film’s rather tense production. “We filmed in a part of downtown LA which was really quite dangerous – and we shot around 11 weeks of nights. We got shot at and all sorts and we had gangs protecting our base camp. I was this silly, blonde-haired English twit who was driving around downtown LA and getting lost. One night on the way to set, a big truck pulled up behind me and pushed me out in front of a red light into traffic.” The trouble didn’t stop there either: “One night we…

You Put Your (Big) Foot In, Your (Big) Foot Out

Max Brooks has a plan. For pretty much everything. The author of Harlem Hellfighters, The Zombie Survival Guide, Extinction Event, World War Z (he also wrote the screenplay for the movie) and now his new novel, Devolution, knows a lot about how the world might end and has some pretty good ideas about what to do when it does. Devolution follows the residents of a secure, ecologically-sound town on the slopes of Mount Ranier. When a massive, long dormant volcano erupts near Seattle (resulting in the town being both cut off and largely forgotten as the massive relief effort focuses elsewhere) they have to learn how to survive and to prepare for the coming winter… The volcano has also driven a pack of very large, very hungry, Sasquatch creatures away from…

You Put Your (Big) Foot In, Your (Big) Foot Out

YOUR READS What have you been reading this month?

Shadows Of The Short Days by @alexander_dan which was gross and excellent and We Are The Dead by Mike Shackle which was very good indeed! @HamSpanner Currently reading Dusk Mountain Blues by @SrBuffaloKnight and book two of The Fall by @stcampitelli #BookClub @FromTheWastes #Batman ‘Cacophony’ has been read, reading ‘The Widening Gyre’ now both by @ThatKevinSmith @DarkKnightAl79 Re-reading War Of The Worlds. The ending holds a bit more clout these days for some reason... @KeziaUrch I’m checking out the Battlestar Galactica trilogy. Three novels based on the hit TV show. Need some cylons in my life right now #BookClub @farscape08…

YOUR READS What have you been reading this month?

SERIOUSLY SLAYING IT

Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming book, The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires? Growing up, I hated my mum’s book club; I thought they were just a bunch of silly housewives, but when I got to know them as adults I realised I was the idiot. These women had dealt with things I could barely even dream of handling and they’d done it while keeping their kids in the dark about the difficulties they’d faced. For years, I wanted to write a book that reproduced my experience, going from dismissing them to being impressed by them, and finally all the pieces came together with Southern Book Club. It’s about a book club that becomes convinced their new neighbour is a vampire and must be destroyed. Which…

SERIOUSLY SLAYING IT

AUTHORS ON AUTHORS RAMSEY CAMPBELL ON M R JAMES

Montague Rhodes James (1862–1936) is one of the absolute masters of the British tale of terror. He refined the tale of supernatural terror and, given his fondness for narrative play and overt references to generic tropes, can be cited as one of the field’s first modernists. His ghost stories are a British institution. I’ve seen them praised for their cosiness, their atmosphere of academia and Edwardian male camaraderie, and their reputation for providing a comfortable shiver or two. I would say all this underrates and misrepresents the author’s contribution to the genre. Far from being cosy, his stories frequently present a reassuringly ordinary setting that is invaded by the malevolent and terrible. Sometimes everyday objects take on or harbour hideous life, and at times the juxtaposition of these elements borders on…

AUTHORS ON AUTHORS RAMSEY CAMPBELL ON M R JAMES

TWO-FACED TERROR

Duality’s an old theme in fiction: light and darkness, good and evil, God and the Devil. The concept seems at first sight to be crucial to an understanding of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella, The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde. When we speak of the human equivalent of wolves in sheep’s clothing, it feels natural to describe them as ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ types. Stevenson’s tale is a brilliant, brutally effective rendering of the many-sided nature of the human psyche. That nagging fear that even the best of us are shadowed by our very own Hydes – an urge to transgress, a pull to cruelty and vice – is a recurring motif across human cultures. Behind it lurks an even more terrifying thought. What if the real evil is…

TWO-FACED TERROR

JEKYLL AND HYDE ON SCREEN

Jekyll and Hyde have made their presence felt in a number of films and TV shows Apart from straight adaptations, there have been plenty of looser takes on the tale. Steven Moffat’s one-series Jekyll saw James Nesbitt play a descendant of the doctor in 2007, while looser interpretations of the legend include Jerry Lewis’s The Nutty Professor (1963) and the Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing team-up, I, Monster (1971). Stephen Frears’s gore-spattered Mary Reilly (1996) aimed to address the story’s lack of significant female characters with its focus on Jekyll’s housemaid, while Ralph Bates gained a beautiful – and beastly – female alter ego in 1971’s Dr Jekyll And Sister Hyde. Klimowski chooses a few other titles as favourites. “There are several. The early black and white films come to mind with Spencer…

A FRIEND TURNED FIEND

Stevenson learnt French from a man called Victor Richon, and it was at his home that the writer met another language teacher, Eugène Chantrelle. Stevenson befriended him, but a horrifying revelation awaited. The cultivated man with whom he’d discussed Molière over drinks was not all he seemed. In May 1878, Chantrelle was tried and executed for the poisoning by opium of his wife, Elizabeth, apparently to benefit from a life insurance payout. It emerged at the trial that he had been violently abusive from the start, and it was widely believed that Chantrelle had committed more than one murder. Lawyers alleged that the teacher had been prone to kill guests in both his homeland and Britain with a poisoned dish of opium-laced cheese on toast. Author and Stevenson enthusiast Jeremy Hodges uncovered…

A LOOK BACK AT SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE COVERS

ISSUE #001 DOCTOR WHO Back where it all began, with a fresh faced David Tennant leaping at us. ISSUE #010 IRON MAN SciFiNow provided great coverage of the MCU over the years, starting right here. ISSUE #044 THE GREATEST SCI-FI FILMS The simplicity and stark nature of HAL 9000 and its ominous red glow. ISSUE #058 STAR WARS CELEBRATION This collector’s edition with Luke Skywalker was the classiest in the galaxy. ISSUE #082 THE WOLVERINE That yellow popped! Sadly the film couldn’t quite live up to the standards of this cover. ISSUE #091 GAME OF THRONES Mother of Dragons. Check. Burning Border. Check. Plus Gremlins!?!? CHECK. ISSUE #100 GUILLERMO DEL TORO Beautifully illustrated by Rich Davies. A promise of what was to follow inside. ISSUE #114 THE GEEK 100 Imagine having to cram all of this awesome genre content on to one cover! ISSUE #125 FANTASTIC BEASTS Beautifully themed! A true reflection of the Wizarding World.…

A LOOK BACK AT SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE COVERS

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