(aka Screamers, Island of Mutations, Something Waits in the Dark) There is no more welcome a surprise than to watch a film expecting very little and discovering that one has instead found a wild and entertaining minor gem. But it does happen once in a while, even when you’ve seen most of the notable SF […]
Read more "Island of the Fishmen [L’isola degli uomini pesce] (1979)"You have to admit that the names alone are enough to get you in the door: James Cameron’s pet project which he wrote and produced, but which was directed by Robert Rodriguez? It definitely gets your attention. Now it seems somewhat odd that Cameron would pick a lesser known Japanese Manga and Anime to adapt, although […]
Read more "Alita: Battle Angel (2019)"Honorable Mention — Probably I’m not sure where to file this one. Is this a science fiction film? Maybe. Could be. Depends. Is it just another time travel fantasy, then? Perhaps. Could be. But there are hints… We might come closer comparing it to an episode of The Twilight Zone, because of its final, paradoxical […]
Read more "Le temps de mourir [The Time to Die] (1970)"This is probably the blackest, ugliest, most pessimistic SF film ever made. It is also the most punk cyberpunk film ever made. It explodes onto the screen in a ferocious blaze of color as a lone, masked nomad wanders through orange-tinted wastes, then buries us in a despairing, crumbling city on the edge of the […]
Read more "Hardware (1990)"I suppose, after six years of Italian Hercules films they were starting to run out of ideas. Mind you, if you look at the Italian title for this one, then you’ll see that it was actually part of the long running series of Maciste films, who was basically indistinguishable from Hercules by the Sixties. Technically, […]
Read more "Hercules Against the Moon Men [Maciste e la regina di Samar] (1964)"A young girl, struggling with her mother’s death, Dad’s new fiance and a bully at school, orders a Mail Order Monster, a robot that is supposed to solve all her problems. Little does she realize that she’s a character in yet another one of these movies about children, death and monsters like A Monster Calls […]
Read more "Mail Order Monster (2018)"This is one of the most absurd movies ever made. I love it. It shreds the classic, near perfect Ray Bradbury story it’s based on into tiny, unrecognizable pieces. I love it. Its so called science makes less sense than anything you’ll find in any Fifties SF film. And I do mean any of them. […]
Read more "A Sound of Thunder (2005)"Aaaand once again we find ourselves watching One Million B.C. Well, at least the dinosaur bits. I honestly have no idea how many films have stolen those classic “lizards with fins” effects from that film. I’ll admit that some of the sequences are staged with stunning effect, particularly the volcanic eruption and its aftermath, but […]
Read more "Untamed Women (1952)"Once again I find myself enjoying a film that a lot of people absolutely hated. To put this in perspective, I saw it within a day or two of seeing Venom — which I also enjoyed. In my review for Predator 2 I pointed out how much of the Predator mythology came from the second film — and […]
Read more "The Predator (2018)"I have to admit I find the whole notion of Lionel Barrymore as a mad scientist rather…odd. Yes, he was a member of the legendary Barrymore family of great actors, and was considered to be one of the greatest actors of his age. But, he is best remembered for the grouchy old men he played in […]
Read more "The Devil-Doll (1936)"
rivets on the poster 