Science Fiction & Fantasy Reviews (Page 4)

Sam Phillips is playing with his son outside the family cottage when night sets in abruptly and a blinding bright light appears, accompanied by high winds. Suddenly, Sam is gone. His wife Rachel assumes he walked out and left them. Three years later she has a live-in lover. Tony, the young boy is not interested in bonding with his ‘new father’ and sticks to his story that dad was taken by a bright light and that he will return. A strange and dangerous creature from another world arrives in the area and impregnates a woman living on her own with her dog. In a process which inevitably kills her, she gives birth to a full-size and fully-formed Sam. He returns to his old house where it is as if nothing has changed with his son. The boyfriend wants the newcomer gone, but Rachel grows to love him again as his memories return. What she doesn’t know is that Sam is now different, and has also passed-on surreal mental abilities to his son...

Xtro is a home-grown horror set in and around London. It just survived on the edge of the countless banned ‘Video Nasties’ of the 1980s, and deservedly so because it isn’t simply gore for gore’s sake. It’s a long time since I’ve seen this film; it gained a certain notoriety, like Inseminoid. In actuality it’s much better than I remember. Part of the reason has to do with the quality of the picture, which is quite staggeringly crisp and sharp. This is one of those examples similar to the Hammer Blu-ray releases that make you believe you are watching a new film with a period setting. This set has been assembled with real care, displaying a definite love for the project. This film certainly carries its own unique identity. The genres cross between science fiction, horror, 1970s to 1980s panache (wherein everyone’s a photographer, model or artistic painter), and Twin Peaks-style surrealism.

You may have to pay more than you would for a standard Blu-ray, but this box set incorporates a  veritable plethora of special features. Take a deep breath: Choice of Theatrical or Video Cover Artwork; a New Restoration with Optional Original and Alternative Endings; the UK Original Video version, and New 2018 Director’s Version; Xploring Xtro – a New 57 Minute Documentary with cast and crew; The World of Xtro – a New Featurette; Beyond Xtro – Looking Ahead to the New Reboot Xtro – The Big One with director Harry Bromley-Davenport; Xtro Xposed; Loving the Alien: Tribute to Philip Sayer featuring Exclusive Brian May Music Tribute; Original Soundtrack CD; and Soft Cover Book with informative text and stills… And breathe.

The best of these extras for me is The World of Xtro. Director Harry (the name of the ‘female’ snake in the film) Bromley-Davenport is generally self-deprecating. He calls this their ‘little movie’ and calls it ‘an awful mess’ or words to that effect. We hear from Xtro’s number one fan. While the director tells us they didn’t have the time or money to film linking scenes, here we are told the weirdness of the film benefits from their absence. The fan proves convincingly that scenes were carefully planned. The boy, Tony, has a toy black panther in a cage; the moment he causes the clown to make an appearance the panther is seen to be free of the cage – a  foreshadowing of what is to come. There are many examples like this if you pay close attention. What makes the craziness work is the entire story is grounded in the emotion of the family; all affected in different ways by events. The acting in this respect is very good by all concerned.

This film deserves more attention than it will probably get. One of the better shock-horror films of the 1980s. Give it a try. The amount of extras earns it an extra point.

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2018)

A couple, along with their elder daughter and son, and younger autistic son, embark on a camping holiday at Brown Mountain in North Carolina. After camping at their first stop point, the kids see spherical lights in the night sky. The boy captures them on a camcorder which he always has with him. The next day, they drive to the next site, but the satellite navigation takes them down an endless winding road. They are almost out of fuel when they reach a tunnel, blocked with long-abandoned cars. The father and boys go looking for help, but are accosted by not-quite-seen creatures. The father is taken, and the boys are forced to run away to warn the others. Suddenly, they are on the run in the woods from beings which can only be aliens. A lone man living in the hills could mean their salvation or their end...

This is another one of those supposed fictional/true-life events; camcorder footage found by the government, and all that… Yawn! But I have to say, like some kind of guilty pleasure, that I actually enjoyed this film. It’s no classic, but it’s certainly the best running-round-with-a-camera one I’ve seen.

Firstly, there is a strong, valid reason for everything being filmed – it’s not a coincidence that sudden occurrences are caught: the younger boy is autistic; he films practically everything. It’s something he needs to do, a sort of self-help therapy. Secondly, unlike most of these cheaply-made a lot-about-nothings, there is not only a final frame reveal, but the  viewer is rewarded with a number of visual set-pieces. Depending on what you are used to seeing, they are potentially shocking moments, filmed very maturely and with a great deal of thought as to how to get the most out of what they have.

The aliens are well-realised, and wisely shown in quick cuts or in shadow/silhouette, etc. Less is definitely more here. There is very good use of lighting, too, to accentuate the fear factor. Sound is utilised too much and too cheaply in horror films these days, with slamming doors and echoing sounds in corridors, etc. – however, here it is used in conjunction with the lighting to phenomenal effect. The scene where our characters are hiding in the barn is actually a suitably anxious moment.

So, there’s plenty to enjoy here. It gives new life to this tired sub-genre. Oh, and watch past the end credits, as there is a short  additional scene worth seeing. 

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2014)

The female presenter (played by Emily Booth of the Horror Channel) of a tacky UFO investigation TV show is sent by her boss to an island off North Wales to investigate the reports of a young woman being attacked and impregnated by an alien lifeform. Along with her cameraman and sound man, she takes along two talentless actors (a tall, effeminate man, frightened of his own skin, and a Barbie-like model who is the girlfriend of her boss) to re-enact what supposedly happened at an ancient stone circle. Here they meet an uber-geek, the founder of a UFO society, who is also at the stones looking for proof of a visitation. No one really believes the pregnant girl’s story until a UFO lands on the stones and they learn just how violent the occupants can be. The girl’s three scary brothers seem able enough, but this turns out to be a larger scale problem than they could ever envisage...

Now, how would I describe Evil Aliens? I suppose a dark comedy, science fiction, horror gore-fest would be most succinct. This is another example of a writer/director project, this time at the hands of Jake West. The film had a strange effect on me, although admittedly I wasn’t expecting too much in the first instance, because most fag packet writer/directors are doomed to failure and are forced to commit to one or the other. Not everyone can be John Carpenter or Guillermo del Toro. My first impression was that it was a little silly, rather than funny, and the dialogue somewhat ‘talky’ and annoying – even if it was realistic in the circumstances. However, once the real action got going I found myself increasingly warming to the characters and situations. Certain aspects of the film reminded me of Inbred, another home-grown dark comedy which grew on me, and another example of classic Britishness in style.

I  was impressed by the way the characters became very natural, individual and distinct as the tension was cranked-up. Some of them are forced to adapt and change to survive, and the leaders who emerge are not always the ones you would expect. Having sympathy for the characters is not something you expect to do in this type of film. It is, after all, extremely gory, and could be seen to be in bad taste if not for the fact the plot and situations have their tongues very firmly in cheek throughout. However, the two best characters in evidence are the strangest and most violent of the island’s three brothers, and the Barbie-like model/actress who walks into the farmhouse in pink and high heels but later turns into a  gun-toting action heroine. The two become a  sort of unlikely  partnership.

The make-up and prosthetics work is very good, and the visual effects on the whole well worth the year it took to realise them for the screen. There are a couple of areas where it doesn’t quite work: one being the flying debris from an explosion, the other being fire (which, to be fair, special effects have never been able to make look entirely real, no matter how much money is thrown at them). The action sequences are what make this movie work so well. There are a number of darkly comical sequences when I was caught between pulling a face and laughing out loud. Straight music is used to good effect in some of these. When the three brothers first arm themselves and go out into the night to confront some of the aliens, it is to the background sound of a Spaghetti Western. The best sequence though – and guaranteed to make anyone laugh with  appreciation – is when the TV presenter’s camera man drives a combine harvester across a corn field scattering and shredding scores of  aliens before him, to the tune of The Wurzels’ ‘I’ve Got a Brand New  Combine Harvester!’

Just a word about Norman Lovett (comedian and TV’s original Holly in Red Dwarf); he is woefully underused here, having only one scene but one in which his talent and charisma shines through. There are some nice extras on the disc, which include: Interviews with cast and crew; Extended, Deleted, and Unused Scenes; Bloopers & Outtakes; and A Guided Tour of Life Creations (the make-up, model and prosthetics company). This is a home-grown gem which, once through the clichéd first fifteen minutes, any fan of horror, science fiction and comedy is sure to enjoy.

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2015)

Four boys, Henry, Beaver, Jonesy and Pete, save a mentally challenged boy from being taunted and beaten by older boys. Douglas Cavell, soon known as Duddits because of his hands raised exclamation of "I duddits" instead of "done it", now sees the boys as close friends. Duddits is discovered to be more than he seems when he imparts certain abilities on them, including telepathy and uncanny seeing skills, which help them find a missing girl. Years later, and now adults, the four are enjoying their annual reunion when a sick man staggers from out of the woods. Inside him gestates a worm-like parasitic creature, which leads to an early confrontation with a large alien to become known as Mr Gray. All the natural creatures inhabiting the mountainous areas flee and are quickly superseded by the army, led by Colonel Abraham Curtis. Curtis quarantines the region and incarcerates all those who carry the rust-like infection of the aliens. An attack on a crashed spacecraft triggers its self-destruction, but the menace is far from over. Curtis plans on sterilising the entire area, but the four friends have other ideas. When Jonesy is possessed by Mr Gray his subconscious retreats to the Memory Warehouse, the only part of his mind that the invader can't penetrate. Henry realises that Duddits' extraordinary abilities means he knew this would happen from the time they were boys, and that he was always the focus of their group. But Duddits is older now and is sick with leukaemia...

In previous reviews I have revealed that I am not a fan of Stephen King on the printed page. A wealth of original ideas are often tainted by the need to describe the floral wallpaper and regency furniture, information most readers simply don't want to know. Film adaptations are another matter, however. Although there have been some derisory attempts to convert King's fertile imagination to celluloid form, a handful of films based on his books have succeeded spectacularly: The Dead Zone, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile, to name but a handful. Whilst Dreamcatcher is not as emotionally compelling as these, it is gripping all the same. You get the impression that all the stops have been pulled out to produce the best film possible from the book. Acting, special effects and scenery combine in a not often seen synergy.

Question: How do you show alien parasitic creatures gestating inside human or animal hosts without seeming to emulate the science fiction classic Alien? Answer: you make the connection obvious by having the military nickname them "The Ripleys". Much as this description may make you think otherwise, appearance and motives are not even close to the Alien movies, and even Mr Gray turns out to be a shape-changing creature which uses the standard alien look, albeit on a much larger scale, for its own nefarious motives. The scene with the worm parasite in the toilet is both hilarious and chilling, and was said to have been used as a location in the book by King because he felt it was the only room left in a house which people don't want to see beyond in a movie.

The Dreamcatcher of the title is mainly a metaphor for the prophetic bonding of the four friends. As a child Duddits creates an image in the air of a Red Indian dreamcatcher (which is said to have had the ability to prevent bad dreams from taking form, or allowing evil spirits through) in the air. The four friends later create the real thing; four circles with another in the centre representing Duddits. It hangs in the cabin where they meet yearly. Donnie Wahlberg, as one of seven headlining names in the film, will no doubt receive plaudits for his portrayal of the adult Duddits, when clearly Andrew Robb as the young version is so much better. He is a little aloof, somewhat strange and yet very friendly, and all of this comes across extremely well.

The mass exodus of animals from the forest looks Jumanji-like, when this kind of CGI was in its infancy, but as we witness the movements from a distance the shortfalls are not so evident. There is so much to appreciate here. The spiral architecture of the Memory Warehouse, packed-out from floor to high ceiling with dusty boxes, and labelled with subject information, is impressive, as is the way we see Jonesy inside the room protected from Mr Gray, even though he is possessed by the creature.

The picture and sound quality on this widescreen version is superb. Extras include five alternate or extended scenes, an interview with writer Stephen King (in which he comes across friendly and enthusiastic), a behind the scenes feature, a visual effects feature, a film trailer and DVD ROM stuff. Coupled with the film running time of 134 minutes, all on one disc, this makes for an impressive and cost effective package.

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2003)

An engineering scientist called Thomas Jacobs invents a device which records and places you into your own memories. The purpose is to help people with psychological problems, and to separate real from false memories. He is approached by a backer representing the Justice Department, which wishes to invest. In return for making him and his family very wealthy, he is persuaded to adapt his device to place someone mentally into the memories of another person. The test subject is a dangerous criminal convicted of brutally killing his girlfriend. Thomas agrees to demonstrate the machine himself, and spends time watching the man’s memories from within. However, when the time comes to leave, Tom finds he is trapped inside the man’s head. For four years, he is obliged to repeatedly witness past events from the point of view of the convict. But then a slight malfunction in the system allows the convict to notice his presence. The desperate man is convinced he is innocent of the charge of murder, and so forces Tom to uncover the truth or stay imprisoned within his head forever...

This is another one of those films which surprises you with its originality and inventiveness. This is no big budget blockbuster, and works all the better for it. It is well crafted and tightly edited so that it hits the ground running and is constantly evolving and picking up pace. The plot is intriguing, but the background gives it just as much substance. I like the fact that, within the scene of a given memory there are points of detail which have been forgotten. These are filled-in by the programme, and Tom has to carefully trigger the clarity of these details. Whilst initially taking for granted what he is told about the situation, Tom becomes guardedly sympathetic to the convict’s plight as more information is uncovered and doubt overcomes him.

In retrospect, the storyline of Extraction allows for many of the memory scenes to be repeated with only minor alterations, without ever seeming like the movie is scrimping and saving on its costs. This consequence may have also reduced the filming schedule. Nevertheless, it’s well worth a look for those who enjoy technological science fiction or murder mystery thrillers, as it straddles both genres. 

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2013)

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases the  outstanding New Line Cinema and Metro Goldwyn-Mayer movies The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – in a Trilogy Boxset. They are mastered in stunning 4K Ultra HD resolution with High Dynamic Range, which showcases a wider colour spectrum (brighter, deeper and more lifelike) for a much improved viewing experience. The remastering was overseen by original director Peter Jackson...

Peter  Jackson, of course, famously adapted J. R. R. Tolkien’s timeless The Lord of the Rings trilogy of books into the films The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. So ground-breaking and successful were they that the studios wanted Jackson to move directly on to The Hobbit – a prequel of sorts. However, he had worked tirelessly for five years on three films back-to-back and was desperate to do something else. It was reported that the studio executives threatened to give The Hobbit film to someone else, but he was determined to have a break. It was well that they waited for him, because Jackson essentially made three long but very fine movies based on only a single book – and a relatively short book, come to that. One of the writers for the film was Guillermo del Toro, a director I have a great deal of respect for (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, etc.). In the films, Bilbo Baggins is politely goaded by the wizard Gandalf into accompanying a band of warrior dwarves in an epic journey to take back their home in Erebor from the fearsome dragon, Smaug. They are obliged to tackle Orcs, Goblins, Mountain Giants, and a host of other hazards. The cast includes Ian McKellan, Martin Freeman,  James Nesbitt, Sylvester McCoy, Kate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch, and many, many more.

I mention the word ‘stunning’ in the first paragraph, and I don’t use  it lightly. Many 4K releases fail to impress, as they are simply up-scaled or poorly mastered offerings. Some truly stand out. V For Vendetta, The Dark Knight Trilogy, and the John Carpenter films Escape From New York and The Fog are good examples of how they should be. Even Carpenter’s The Thing was released as a Blu-ray but with 4K remastering of the original negatives, and it’s so good that I spent much of the viewing time appreciating scenery I had not seen in detail before. I would certainly place The Hobbit Trilogy in this top class group of releases. There appears to be more depth to the experience, and the colours are vibrant without being cartoonish. Everything seems more real and gritty; which is certainly what is required in a fantasy – albeit a Dark Fantasy from a classic book. I possess the original DVD releases of these films, and noticed no difference at the time because you come to accept the new technology as standard. But the difference between the DVD and 4K viewing pleasure is tantamount to the distance between The Shire and Erebor.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is also available in the same format: both have the Theatrical Version and the Extended version of each film (6 discs in each set). These contain only the films, no extras. Both trilogies are also out in Steelbook format. It should be pointed out that in the Summer of 2021 a 4K UHD “Middle Earth”  Ultimate Collectors’ Edition featuring the Theatrical and Extended Versions of all six films, with new Bonus Content and Blu-ray versions of the films also included, is released. You might feel this is a bit of a con, but some people only want to see the films, and are not interested in the special features. Therefore, if you are a Peter  Jackson or Middle Earth keen enthusiast I would suggest waiting and saving your pennies for the Summer Ultimate set. My opinion is that these should have emerged at the same time. But as for this trilogy set, it’s practically faultless. 

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2020)

“In the worlds before Monkey, primal chaos reigned. Heaven sought order. But the phoenix can fly only when its feathers are grown. The four worlds formed again and yet again, as endless eons wheeled and passed. Time and the pure essences of heaven, the moisture of the earth, the powers of the sun and the moon worked upon a certain rock, old as creation. And it became magically fertile. That first egg was  named ‘thought’. Tathagata Buddha, the Father Buddha said, ‘With our thoughts we make the world.’ Elemental forces caused the egg to hatch. From it then came a stone monkey. The nature of Monkey was irrepressible…”

Confused? I’m not surprised. The pilot episode crams so much back story into the proceedings that it’s enough to turn anyone off before the series even begins. Try this synopsis instead: For his arrogance and troublesome nature, Monkey is given a lower position in heaven in order to teach him responsibility. However, when he eats the protected peaches of strength and immortality, and attempts to take over a position of power – even disrespecting the Buddha – he is expelled from heaven and trapped under a mountain for 500 years. The Buddha has written new scriptures and tasked a young priest, renamed Tripitaka, to journey to India to recover them. But the quest will be a dangerous one, so the priest is accompanied by the released Monkey who is controlled via a mentally-controlled headband which gives monkey pain when he becomes wayward. Also, along on the journey are two other expulsions from heaven, Pigsy (a humanoid pig monster creature of gluttony and lust) and Sandy (a humanoid sea monster and ex-cannibal).

By the end of the second episode the format is in place, the journey has begun, and Monkey has even fought and outwitted a thief demon. A water dragon makes the mistake of eating Tripitaka’s horse, and so is obliged to take the shape of a white horse and carry the priest for the entirety of the journey. It even talks to the others when it feels like doing so. All this sounds completely crazy, doesn’t it? But it’s great fun and in turns both ridiculous and extremely amusing. For anyone old enough to remember, the 1970s incorporated Kung-Fu mania in the form of Bruce Lee, the hugely popular series Kung-Fu (starring David Carradine), and even Kung Fu disco and pop songs! Monkey emerged in 1979, around the same time as the excellent The Water Margin. If the latter was the more serious and adult of the two, the former was aimed at a family audience and particularly kids - which is curious considering the backgrounds of Pigsy and Sandy. The whole thing is so quirky, the trio of guides/protectors bounce off of each other and are almost constantly in conflict with each other, even though they fight as a unit.

Fabulous Films have released a Blu-ray set of the complete series for the first time anywhere worldwide. There is also a complete DVD set (which is what I am reviewing). Monkey, a Japanese drama based on a Chinese tale from the 16th Century about a Buddhist priest from the 7th Century, was reworked for a British audience by scriptwriter David Weir, who had previously adapted The Water Margin. Monkey was screened on BBC2 in 1979 to much acclaim. They showed 39 of 52 episodes. David Collins who voiced the title character sadly passed away earlier this year. He has appeared in Doctor Who, Sapphire and Steel, and Gerry Anderson’s UFO.  Peter Woodthorpe who voiced Pigsy has also passed on. They have certainly left behind a legacy here. You may be interested to know that Miriam Margoyles voiced many of the female characters on the show, and Andrew Sachs voiced Tripitaka’s horse who is really a Water Dragon. The ‘lost’ 13 episodes were dubbed by Fabulous Films in 2004 using the original cast, and were narrated by Bert Kwouk (Cato in The Pink Panther films).

Although Restored, these episodes do not appear to have been remastered from the original negatives. In other words, they really should look brighter and crisper. But don’t let this spoil your enjoyment of a fondly remembered series. I didn’t notice any existing damage to the picture or sound, and it’s eminently viewable. It really is great to have some of these old shows returned to us from an age when we believed that if you missed it you’d missed it forever. Extras include a Documentary about the dubbing of the lost 13 episodes, and PDF Scans of original dubbing scripts.

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2020)

It’s the year 2035. Only one percent of the Earth’s population has survived following a catastrophic disaster. They live underground while the animals and insects claim the old cities. ‘Volunteers’ are picked to suit-up and risk the uninhabitable surface. One such person is ex-violent criminal Cole (Bruce Willis). After a successful excursion, he is put before scientists and chosen to be sent to the past. He thinks it is 1996 – the time that the Twelve Monkeys phenomenon first appeared – but he is really in 1990. His sometimes violent attempts to warn people of what is about to happen land him in a insane asylum. Only Dr Kathryn Railly (Madeline Stowe) listens to his ravings. She has the distinct feeling she has seen him before. Armed with only two clues, together they must solve the puzzle of the Twelve Monkeys before humanity is made completely extinct...

Receiving this Limited Edition DVD version of Twelve Monkeys for review throws me back to when I had the original video release of the film. That is an irony in itself considering the nature of the plot. My first impression back then was that the story was left open and the film consequently not properly finished. However, a satisfactory conclusion isn’t always the most important part of a movie’s structure. So, a number of years and thousands of viewed films later I find myself with a different opinion. I’m not keen on films which are tied-up in neat little packages and are obliged to explain themselves. The way I look at this now is Cause and Effect. Time will not be compromised; any attempt to change it will throw you into a time loop.

Twelve Monkeys was inspired by Chris Marker’s 1962 short film La Jetee. This film wears the cloak of a science fiction, but breaking it down to its bare bones it’s something like The Butterfly Effect mixed with Groundhog Day or Happy Death Day. Then, thrown into the stew is Environmentalists, Political Activists and Insanity. It’s certainly a good romp, but it’s not the revelation it is claimed to be by some – although I’ll admit it’s arguably more relevant than it ever has been since the initial cinematic release.

Bruce Willis and Madeline Stowe are good together as the two key characters. Both reportedly took a pay cut in order to work with Terry Gilliam, who saw this as a premise similar to his previous film, Brazil.  Willis was given acting cliches to avoid by Gilliam, including the steely-eyed stare. The revelation here is the performance by newcomer Brad Pitt. Terry Gilliam was uncertain whether Pitt could play the required crazy/eccentric part, and so sent him to a voice coach. Subsequently, he discovered he need only have taken away the man’s cigarettes! Between the end of filming and the release of the film Brad Pitt’s star was in the ascendancy, having appeared in Interview With a Vampire, Legends of the Fall, and Seven.

Extra features include: a Feature Length Documentary The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys; and the Strictly Limited Edition contains a Twelve Monkeys Pandemic Mask.  

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2020)