Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 143 i SciFi Now

It’s starting to feel like the Eighties nostalgia trend is reaching its zenith. You can’t escape it, whether it’s the Marvel soundtracks, the glorious neon in B-movies, the omnipresent Carpenter synths or every little thing in Stranger Things. The Eighties are more popular now than they were back then, so you’d be forgiven for starting to find it all a little wearying. But there’s an undeniable power to nostalgia, and those of us who grew up on movies, shows, games and music from that era find ourselves irresistibly drawn to this stuff. So, the fact that Ready Player One, the biggest nostalgia bible of our times, is being brought to the screen by Steven Spielberg is undeniably exciting. This is the man who gave us so much of what we’ve…

It’s Sabrina, but not as you remember her’ might be the easiest way to describe Robert Aguirre-Sacasa’s incredible comic Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, which told the story of everyone’s favourite teenage witch in a moody, dark and deeply creepy Seventies horror movie style. We’ve been at fever pitch levels of excitement ever since we heard that Aguirre-Sacasa would be adapting his comics for a Netflix series, not to mention the fact that Mad Men’s Kiernan Shipka (who stealthily became one of Mad Men’s MVPs over the years) had been cast in the title role. A new round of casting announcements has finally been made and every choice has been just perfect so far. First up, Michelle Gomez, who had more fun than possibly any actor has ever had as Missy…

RIFT Director: Erlingur Thoroddsen Cast: Björn Stefánsson, Sigurður Þór Óskarsson BFI Flare says: “It’s about an ex-couple who reunite at a remote house in the Icelandic outskirts and sense a presence. It functions as a really quite frightening supernatural thriller, but it also really tackles themes of homophobia and depression.” THE CARMILLA MOVIE Director: Spencer Maybee Cast: Elise Bauman, Natasha Negovanlis BFI Flare says: “It’s an evolution of a Canadian web series based on Carmilla the J Sheridan Le Fanu book. It’s a kind of lesbian vampire romp. It’s super fun, interesting, and the web series has a real cult following. This film is a step up.” GOOD MANNERS Director: Marco Dutra, Juliana Rojas Cast: Isabél Zuaa, Marjorie Estiano BFI Flare says: “It’s a subversive fairytale. It’s difficult to talk…

What can you tell us about your character? Nate’s the tip of the spear, he’s a pilot, he’s also an instructor for these young cadet pilots and his mandate is to train these young pilots to be the best they can be. How does jumping into this universe compare to joining something like the Fast & Furious franchise? It’s a little different, I mean there’s a lot of world building in Fast as well, but there are definite sci-fi elements that are interesting and you’re building a world that Guillermo del Toro created, you’re living in that world, which I think is cool. I think it’s inspiring and exciting to be a part of something like this. How did you find shooting the action sequences inside the Jaeger? Not very…

FEELING GOOD Having taken full control of David’s mind, the Shadow King took the opportunity for a Sixties dance through his imagination to the strains of Bassnectar’s remix of Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’. BOLERO How do you freeze time and move bullets in the same moment? If you’re Oliver Bird, you conduct it into happening, as the notes of Maurice Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ manipulate reality. PAUVRE LOLA What better way to convey how David feels about Rachel than a Bollywood-inspired dance sequence set to a Serge Gainsbourg song? This brief scene in the first episode was a great introduction to Legion. THE RAINBOW CONNECTION Things got creepy when David hinted at something wrong with his subconscious by singing a Muppets song and nodding to ‘what’s on the other side’ of the…

CAVES The Descent While we’re sure that spelunking is a great way to feel alive and to explore the wonder of the earth below us, Neil Marshall’s modern classic made us hyperventilate with fear even before the creatures showed up. ANTARCTICA The Thing The case could be made that Outpost 31 was doing valuable research. The case could also be made that they were setting themselves up to be a buffet for a shape-shifting alien monster. 1630s NEW ENGLAND The Witch If you’re going to be a pilgrim in a land you don’t understand, stick with your group. Don’t let pride and piety take you and your family to the edge of a forest that offers endless disaster and a possessed goat. WRECKAGE OF AN ALIEN SPACECRAFT Alien So, you’ve…

Details 18// 87 mins // 1990// // Released Out now Director Lucio Fulci Cast Lucio Fulci, David L Thompson, Malisa Longo, Jeoffrey Kennedy Distributor 88 Films Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulci was never one to hold back on the schlock, so it goes without saying that this gruesome riff on Fellini’s 8 ½ is as stomach-churning as you’d expect. However, what may surprise those new to the film is its darkly comic and self-reflexive tone. Fulci plays ‘Dr Lucio Fulci’, a renowned director of violent movies who seems to be having a breakdown. Everyday occurrences cause him to remember the most brutal moments of his films in vivid detail. How long will it be before he transfers his murderous visions into reality? Devotees of the filmmaker will get the most…

Details 18// 140 mins // 2017// • // Released 2 April Director Takashi Miike Cast Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, Sôta Fukushi, Hayato Ichihara Distributor Arrow Video Japanese fi lmmaker Takashi Miike’s 100th film may not be as provocative or gruesome as his most notorious works like Ichi The Killer or Audition, rather a crowd-pleaser that balances heart and bloody battles with great skill. His take on Hiroaki Samura’s long-running manga tells the story of an unkillable warrior who agrees to work as the bodyguard for a young girl on a quest to avenge the deaths of her parents. Given his prolific nature, it can be hard to know which brand of Miike you’re going to get, but Blade Of The Immortal fi nds a middle ground between the epic scope…

Details 15// 350 minutes // 2018// // Released 12 March Creator Kris Mrksa Cast Lydia Wilson, Joel Fry, James Frecheville, Claire Rushbrook, Tara Fitzgerald Distributor BBC A missing person mystery gets the horror treatment in the BBC’s latest venture into genre drama. After the suicide of her mother, Requiem follows cello virtuoso Matilda Gray (Lydia Wilson) as she tries to come to term with what happened and figure out the cause. Finding a box of newspaper cuttings about a child that went missing years ago amongst her mother’s things, Matilda’s search leads her to the small town of Penllynith but the residents seem to be hiding something. It’s not long before Matilda’s feeling of being unwelcome turns into something more sinister. Starting at London’s Southbank Centre, Requiem quickly sets up…

Details Author: Jen Williams Publisher: Headline Price: £14.99 Released: 8 March Jen Williams makes a triumphant return to the world of Sarn and her Winnowing Flame trilogy with The Bitter Twins. We pick up after the conclusion of The Ninth Rain, in which Sarn’s mortal enemies the Jure’lia have returned, a legendary Eboran war beast has been hatched, and our central trio of Vintage, Tormalin, and Noon have to work out what they’re going to do about it all. As the situation grows ever more precarious, Tor and Noon find themselves searching out an old Eboran legend, which may hold the key to the Jure’lia’s defeat. Williams gleefully subscribes to the idea that sequels get bigger; we see more of Sarn, more characters are introduced, and the histories of politics,…

Details Author: Robert Dinsdale Publisher: Del Rey Price: £12.99 Released: Out now Tucked away down a side street in Edwardian London is the most wonderful toy shop imaginable. Papa Jack’s Emporium sells patchwork dogs that are as loyal as the real thing, paper trees that really put down roots, and intricately painted toy soldiers who march off to war with one another. But when a real war begins in 1914, the magic of the toyshop fails. Because while this novel starts out as a comforting fantasy, it becomes something much darker. Spanning nearly fi ve decades, The Toymakers tells the story of a pregnant teenage runaway who finds refuge in the Emporium and stays to witness its destruction. It’s a story of sibling rivalry, of cruelty and racism, and, inevitably,…

Details Author: Jasmine Gower Publisher: Angry Robot Price: £8.99 Released: 8 March Daisy Dell is a Modern Girl in this story set in an alternate history of the Twenties. She’s a young, beautiful, progressive woman, working her way up in the world. She’s also a magician. And her new job at a mysterious document management company turns out to be more than it first appears. Soon, Daisy’s dodging bounty hunters and smuggling faeries around the grimy Soot City, caught in the crossfire as two dishonest politicians battle for the upper hand. It’s an irresistible concept, adding a fantasy layer to the illicit world of bootleggers and speakeasies that emerged as a response to Prohibition, but it’s more fun in theory than in execution. Jasmine Gower’s prose is clunky, so self-conscious…

A new Jen Williams book is always a cause for excitement, and the extent of that excitement is pretty remarkable given that The Copper Promise, her first published work, arrived as recently as 2013. Thus far The Winnowing Flame trilogy has proven to be as immersive, thrilling and wonderful as The Copper Cat books, and the second instalment has finally arrived in The Bitter Twins. Now, determined human explorer Vintage, wine-loving vampiric Eboran Tormalin and liberated witch Noon face the fact that the monstrous Jure’lia have awoken… Can Sarn be saved this time? Where do we find Tor, Noon and Vintage at the start of The Bitter Twins? Our heroes find themselves in a world that has changed enormously almost overnight, and they are scrambling to keep up. The Ninth…

Details Writers: Jordie Bellaire, Vanesa R. Del Rey Artists: Jordie Bellaire, Vanesa R. Del Publisher: Comics Price: $9.99 Released: 4 April On trend and on point, Jordie Bellaire and Vanesa R Del Rey’s occult-horror comic Redlands rides the wave of witch appreciation, exploring timely themes and casting a compelling spell in this opening volume. A postscript from the first issue sets out the series’ stall: ‘You, the angriest of angry souls, feeling unheard or alone – this book is for you… it should offer respite and serve as an emotional occult-heavy buffet that delivers the fun, the crazed, the demonic, the sexy, the heartbreaking and the human.’ Although, by then, Redlands’ quirks and qualities have been on full display. The first chapter opens on the Florida town of Redlands in…

We all love a good rule in genre movies. You can’t get rid of The Babadook, don’t say Candyman’s name five times, don’t go in the water or Jaws will get you. A Quiet Place, the latest directorial effort from The Office star John Krasinski, has a doozy: if you talk, monsters will come for you. “I know!” laughs Krasinski, who tells us that the pitch was so good it pushed him into a genre he wouldn’t normally dabble in. “I can’t watch horror movies, I’m too much of a scaredy cat,” he tells us. “So, I had just signed on to the show Jack Ryan that I’m doing and one of the producing groups is Platinum Dunes [best known for movies like Ouija, The Purge: Anarchy and a bunch…

We’re still a long way away from Doctor Who’s return on BBC One, but every snippet of info and glimpse of anything new has been eagerly snapped up by fans. So, while there’s a lot we don’t know about what to expect from Jodie Whittaker’s stint in the TARDIS, we’ve finally got a new logo, unveiled on this rather excellent poster. Out with the bulky silver, in with the sleek burnt orange. Meanwhile, we’re still hearing more about who won’t be involved behind the scenes than who will. Longtime composer Murray Gold has announced that he’s left the show having provided the music since its return in 2005, and three writers have confirmed that they won’t be penning episodes for Series 11: Jamie Mathieson (zombies in space ep ‘Oxygen’ and…

READY PLAYER ONE We have found that it is very hard to look at this poster for Steven Spielberg’s brand-new film Ready Player One without falling completely and utterly in love with it. And trust us, we have been staring at it for a long time now because every time we look at it we find another cultural reference that makes us squeal with excitement. We’re loving the composition of the characters and the font of the main title just screams gamer. This poster has pretty much everything you want from an Eighties film that was not actually made in the Eighties at all, from the Drew Struzan-style portraits to the excessive lens flares to the subtle neon pink. As if we wasn’t already hyped up enough about this film…

THE IRON GIANT The Iron Giant has a prominent role in the trailer which unfortunately means you’ll have to bawl your way through the classic animated film again. You could also read the Ted Hughes book The Iron Man, which the film is based on, but Ready Player One seems to be taking a more direct influence from the film. BACK TO THE FUTURE AND KNIGHT RIDER There’s a lot that the Ready Player One film has changed from the book – thankfully, Parzival’s choice of car isn’t one of them. He drives around the OASIS in a DeLorean fitted with the KITT interface from Knight Rider. It’s a pretty sweet ride. SAY ANYTHING The classic Eighties romcom featured the most Eighties of iconic images – John Cusack holding a…

“The most common response I have heard is: ‘I have no idea what's going on but I'm loving it,’” laughs Dan Stevens. “I do find that each subsequent script reconfigures the current one I’m reading, and they always take at least three or four readings. It’s often in a stage direction, because, like most actors, I don't read them, and I come on set and say: ‘Wait. There's a cow?’ And: ‘Oh. Yeah. That was the bit where I wasn't speaking.’ It’s there. There's always something that you miss.” Very few shows last year made the same kind of impact as Noah Hawley’s Legion. While it may not have had the publicity or big-name heroes of other comic book TV series, it immediately made an impression as something daring, unusual…

There’s something special about a really good ghost story. The horror genre covers an incredible range of subjects and much broader territory than many give it credit for, but ghost stories get under your skin like nothing else. They’re the ones that stay with you long after you leave the cinema or close the book. They’re haunting. “I can’t remember exactly what the strapline of The Haunting was but it’s something like: ‘Whether you believe or not you cannot deny the terror,’” Andy Nyman tells us. “It’s quite brilliant because that’s one of the joys of a ghost story. It’s that frisson of ‘I know that was a film, I know that was a story and I know it’s not true and I know it’s silly but I’m just going…

1937 Jackie Ormes becomes the first popular female black cartoonist. Her comic strip Torchy Brown ran for three years, then was picked up again in the Fifties. 1935 Marjorie Henderson Buell creates Little Lulu. The Friends of Lulu, an organisation founded in 1994 aimed at promoting comics to women, is named after it. 1909 Rose O’Neill creates The Kewpies – the first woman to create a popular comic strip. 1938 Fiction House begins publishing adventure comics, featuring a number of strong female characters (including Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle) and boasting a number of female creators. 1941 Tarpé Mills creates the superhero comic strip Miss Fury. 1942 Dorothy Woolfolk becomes the first female editor at All-American Publications (later to become DC Comics), before joining Timely Comics (Marvel’s predecessor) in 1944.…

VAMPIRE’S KISS Arguably the best-known of all of Cage’s manic performances. The fact that he ate a live cockroach is somehow less interesting than his choice to do an almost-English accent and mimic silent movie facial expressions. GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE Possibly concerned that his previous turn as Johnny Blaze was a little too safe, Cage takes it up a million notches for the Neveldine/Taylor sequel. Pissing fire, screaming: “SCRAPING AT THE DOOR!” Wonderful. THE WICKER MAN Neil LaBute’s monstrous remake of one of the greatest horror films ever made also features one the least predictable Cage performances, as he goes from 0 to 100 with a swift kick to the chest. FACE/OFF Cage does spend most of the John Woo classic as sad-eyed Sean Archer in the wrong…

“You’re going to get a lot of spidery surprises in this movie. But the statistics on arachnophobia are so hard to incorporate into the marketing – so many people are arachnophobic in certain cultures and in other they’re not really scared about spiders at all,” considers producer Mark Lazarus, when SciFiNow arrived somewhat precariously onto the Gold Coast Roadshow Studios-set of Australian scifi action adventure Guardians Of The Tomb back in January 2016. At that point in time the film was actually called Nest and was being alluded to as the next major spider flick since 1990’s creepy crawly classic Arachnophobia, (and to a lesser degree 2002’s Eight Legged Freaks). The snappy one-word title was consistent with director Kimble Rendall’s equally Australian shot shark thriller Bait, which instrumentally became the…

Details N/A // 102 mins // Out now Director Julius Onah Screenwriter Oren Uziel Cast Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Brühl, John Ortiz, Chris O’Dowd, Zhang Ziyi, Aksel Hennie, Elizabeth Debicki Distributor Netfl ix/Paramount Nothing dates reviews quite like discussing the marketing surrounding a film, but when it comes to the Cloverfi eld franchise, the pre-release hoopla inevitably becomes part of the conversation regarding the final product. During Super Bowl 2018, an ad revealing the title and first footage of The Cloverfield Paradox ran, announcing that the film would be available on Netflix once the game ended. This reveal followed rumours that the long-delayed movie, previously titled God Particle, would be skipping a cinema run from the franchise’s usual distributor, Paramount. It’s quite the mic drop when it comes to…

Details TBC // 101 mins // 30 March Director Wes Anderson Screenwriters Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Kunichi Nomura, Jason Schwartzman Cast Bryan Cranston, Jeff Goldblum, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray Distributor 20th Century Fox Hachik ō’, a dog who continued to wait for his master for nine years after his death at Shibuya station like clockwork entered the Japanese culture as a symbol of loyalty in the Thirties. Statues have been erected in his honour and numerous films about his relationship with owner Professor Ueno have been made. These are the kind of dogs that inhabit Wes Anderson’s delightful stop-motion animation despite being tossed aside to an island of trash by order of a fascist ruler. Set 20 years in the future on a fictional island, this dystopian tale is intricately…

Details 12// 120 mins // 2017// • • VOD// Released 26 March Director Zack Snyder Cast Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher Distributor Warner Bros Home Entertainment After Batman V Superman, many weren’t expecting much from Justice League. But Zack Snyder has actually had a pretty good go at it, breathing new life into his version of what a comic book movie should be. The two-hour running time is also a bonus. Though Wonder Woman is always going to be the most interesting character in this company, the Flash and Aquaman make for solid new additions in their proper DCEU debut; they don’t contribute much in the grand scheme of things, but they add a dose of much needed excitement. However, the film doesn’t…

Details 15// 81 mins // 1970// // Released Out now Director Chou Hsu Chiang Cast Chang Mei-Yao, Yang Li Hua Distributor 88 Films While the description on the back of The Enchanting Ghost Blu-ray makes reference to the barking mad Japanese classic House, this 1970 Hong Kong horror has its own specific brand of eccentricity that is at once somewhat baffling and totally endearing. The film stars Chang Mei-Yao as Yang Ru Yu, a student who is forced to find shelter in a haunted house after his father’s home is repossessed. There, he encounters a beautiful young woman (Yang Li-Hua) who tells him that she is not a ghost, but similarly down on her luck. The two promptly fall for each other, but the locals refuse to believe that the…

Details 15// 121 mins // 2017// • // Released Out now Director Yorgos Lanthimos Cast Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan, Alicia Silverstone Distributor Curzon Artificial Eye There will come a point while watching The Killing Of A Sacred Deer when you’ll find yourself laughing, and then question whether doing so makes you a terrible person. The latest film from the director of The Lobster and Dogtooth delights in putting its affluent, seemingly perfect family through hell and in mining that place where the darkest humour and nastiest horrors meet. Our ‘victims’ are the Murphy family, who open themselves up to harm when surgeon Steven (Colin Farrell) invites intense but amiable teen Martin (Barry Keoghan) into their home. This young man has a specific agenda, as Steven’s wife Anna (Nicole…

1. The Expanse “The Expanse series by @ JamesSACorey. The TV series got me hooked and I can’t put the books down. #rocinante #BookClub” @Craigsg1 2. The Australia Trilogy “The Australia Trilogy by James P Smythe. Fascinating look at a dystopian future, and a real page turner. #BookClub” @ConinaUK 3. The Invisible Library “The Invisible Library series by @Genevieve-Cogman great stories set in fantastic worlds. #BookClub” @philbooty 4. Women Of The Otherworld “The Women Of The Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong, best urban fantasy series ever! #BookClub” @BeardedWhovian “WICKEDLY ENTERTAINING... WE CAN’T WAIT FOR THE THIRD” 5. The Tiger And The Wolf “Recently finished The Tiger And The Wolf from @ aptshadow – one of those ‘just one more chapter’ books and can’t wait to read the follow-ups! #BookClub”…

“I’m reading The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle. Early days yet but I’m having a real fun time reading it. #BookClub” @GaryRenton2 “Planetfall by @ EmApocalyptic landed on the doormat this morning. Enjoying it very much so far. #BookClub” @andyangel44 “Just finished reading Catalyst: A Rogue One Story by James Luceno. My second book by Mr Luceno after reading Tarkin. Big fan of @ starwars and this book paves the way for @ RogueOneMovie nicely. #BookClub” @Redjackal69 “Just fi nished The Mermaid & Mrs Hancock, which was brilliant, and have just started Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body & Other Parties! #BookClub” @Cfpercy “Hollow City by @ ransomriggs. Fab.” @Jerryturner262 “Dark Matter by @blakecrouch1 I’m half way in so far and it’s brilliant. #BookClub” @ALEXAND02354422 “Just finished B. Catling’s The Vorrh,…

Details Author: RJ Barker Publisher: Orbit Price: £8.99 Released: Out now RJ Barker’s novel Age Of Assassins was one of the most enjoyable debuts of last year. Sadly for Girton Club-Foot, the years since he and his assassin master Merela Karn were forced to disappear haven’t been kind to anyone. The good news is that he’s able to reunite with his friend Rufra. The bad news is that his best pal turned king is locked in a struggle for power and needs Girton to sniff out which of his council members is plotting against him. The worse news is that Merela is in a poison-induced coma, which means that there’s no one to help Girton curb his temper and the dark magic that calls to him… It’s generally a good idea…

The word ‘dystopia’ covers a broad landscape but it’s a subgenre that comes with its own prepackaged imagery. We seem to have a clear idea of what the beginning of the end of the world looks like, which presents a big challenge to illustrators. How do you go back to world-defining, important novels and bring that original, unfiltered vision to life? The Folio Society is bringing out a new edition of Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, a novel about a futurisitic totalitarian state in which everyone is monitored. They’re also reissuing their edition of Ray Bradbury’s classic Farenheit 451. We spoke to artists Kit Russell and Sam Weber about the challenges and joys of finding the spirit of these two works. SAM WEBER, FAHRENHEIT 451 ILLUSTRATOR Were you familiar with Fahrenheit 451,…

Thomas Senlin has found himself in a bit of a bind. At the start of Senlin Ascends, the buttoned-up school teacher had travelled to the legendary and beguiling Tower Of Babel with his young wife, then promptly lost Marya and his worldly possessions, forcing the start of a quest to find her and survive the various gangs, traps and thieves. Josiah Bancroft’s debut was ambitious, fiendishly inventive and utterly gripping and he’s continuing Senlin’s epic journey with Arm Of The Sphinx. Where do we find Thomas Senlin at the start of Arm Of The Sphinx? Tom has transformed from a snooty headmaster into a pirate, or at least half of one. He’s been disabused of the notion that the Tower of Babel is a beacon of civility or human progress.…

What are your memories of your father? Dad was dad to me. He didn’t sit me down tell me what life was like in World War II or working for the LAPD. I was simply too young. What I remember is The Next Generation. I was 13 when that started and I remember some of the rumblings around the household when he was developing that. You began researching your father’s life for the documentary Trek Nation. Did you find out anything surprising about him? I knew him as dad, and he was the authority figure but I saw some of his vices and his losses of temper. I’ve spent a lot of time around fans and everyone was putting him up on this pedestal and praising him. I needed balance…

EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT Roddenberry’s aborted Seventies project titled Battleground: Earth, about a group of aliens landing on Earth under a banner of peace (only with ulterior motives), finally made it to the screen in 1997, lasting for fi ve seasons. ANDROMEDA Originally titled Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, this more obviously Star Trek-styled series headlined Kevin Sorbo as Dylan Hunt, captain of the starship Andromeda, whose mission is was to restore peace and civilisation to the universe. It lasted five seasons between 2001 and 2005.…

NOSFERATU (1922) The haunting, iconic silent movie featured such a spookily authentic embodiment of Dracula (Count Orlok for legal reasons) that most believed German actor Max Schreck must have been a real vampire. DRACULA (1931) “I bid you welcome!” Try saying that without conjuring up the iconic image of the heavily accented Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi at the top of a dusty castle staircase in Universal’s stagey yet vintage masterpiece. HAMMER DRACULA (1958-1973) Tall, dark, brooding (and progressively mute), for some Christopher Lee is the quintessential Count – a role he assumed (with decreasing degrees of enthusiasm) in seven Hammer films and three further non-studio related productions. COUNT DRACULA (1977) In this fine BBC mini-series adaptation, the dark, romantic seducer is emphasised…

“HERE WE HAVE JOAN OF ARC, A FAVOURITE SUBJECT OF MINE.” PROFESSOR HENRY JARROD “EVERYTHING I EVER LOVED HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM ME, BUT NOT YOU, MY MARIE ANTOINETTE, FOR I WILL GIVE YOU ETERNAL LIFE.” PROFESSOR HENRY JARROD “THEY ALWAYS WANT A BODY!” BRUCE ALLISON “YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE THAT, MY DEAR.” PROFESSOR HENRY JARROD “YOU KNOW, HER EYES DO FOLLOW YOU.” BRUCE ALLISON “AS MY LATE FRIEND MATTY DON USED ’T WATCH TO SAY, HER IF A FIGURE GIRL THE MEN WON’T.” CATHY GRAY “HERE’S PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND HIS ASSASSIN JOHN WILKES BOOTH. ONE OF MY FEW CONCESSIONS TO THE MACABRE.” PROFESSOR HENRY JARROD “IT’S SORT OF A SHOCK TO SEE YOUR HEAD DETACHED IN THAT WAY.” SUE ALLEN “I’M AFRAID THAT THE VISIT OF SUCH A…

ACTOR (THEATRE OF BLOOD) 1 Edward Lionheart in Theatre Of Blood gets a little too into acting when he starts to kill off his harshest critics in the style of Shakespearean deaths. WITCHFINDER (WITCHFINDER GENERAL) 2 The truly vile Matthew Hopkins takes pleasure in hunting down, torturing and subsequently murdering those suspected to be witches. MAGICIAN (THE MAD MAGICIAN) 3 Not only is Gallico The Great a star magician, he is also a master of disguise and inventor of spectacular stage-magic effects. UNDERTAKER (THE COMEDY OF TERRORS) 4 Waldo Trumbull is the one of the worst undertakers on the planet, reusing coffins and killing future clients to keep his business going. CONCERT ORGANIST (THE ABOMINABLE DR PHIBES) 5 Theology and music expert Dr Anton Phibes puts his organ-playing on the…

THE WALKING DEAD First aired: 31 October 2010 IMBb user rating: 8.4/10 Broadcaster: AMC Genre: Drama, horror FEAR THE WALKING DEAD First aired: 23 August 2015 IMBb user rating: 7/10 Broadcaster: AMC Genre: Drama, horror Z NATION First aired: 12 September 2014 IMBb user rating: 6.7/10 Broadcaster: Syfy Genre: Action, comedy, horror IZOMBIE First aired: 17 March 2015 IMBb user rating: 8/10 Broadcaster: The CW Genre: Comedy, mystery, romance SANTA CLARITA DIET First aired: 3 February 2017 IMBb user rating: 7.6/10 Broadcaster: Netflix Genre: Comedy, horror…

STAR TREK – IN CONCERT Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra Conductor: Ernst van Tiel Saturday 2 June, Auditorium 2:30pm and 7:30pm £30-£70 CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND IN CONCERT Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and English Chamber Choir Conductor: Ernst van Tiel Thursday 14 June, Auditorium 7:30pm £30-£70 JURASSIC PARK IN CONCERT The Czech National Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Ben Palmer Friday 28 – Saturday 29 September, Auditorium 2:30pm and 7:30pm £21-£66 HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN IN CONCERT Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra Conductor: Justin Freer Wednesday 24 October, Auditorium 2:30pm and 7:30pm £23-£70 AN EVENING WITH JOHN WILLIAMS INCONCERT London Symphony Orchestra Conductor: John Williams Friday 26 October, Auditorium 7:30pm £21-£90 STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE IN CONCERT London Symphony Orchestra Friday 16 –…

Welcome to Memory Bank, the corner of the magazine where we look through old issues of SciFiNow and try not to get emotional/cringe too hard. This month, we’re heading to 2009 and to look through issue 24. With 2009 came the final chapter of Battlestar Galactica, and Dr Gaius Baltar (James Callis) and Number Six (Tricia Helfer) adorned the cover. “It’s not a happy ending, we’re left with hardly anyone,” said William Adama actor Edward James Olmos of the show’s last episodes. “It’s not a situation where you can get to a point of saying to yourself: ‘Gosh, you know, that was kind of predictable.’” He wasn’t wrong! “It’s a fantastic ending,” said Jamie Bamber, who played Lee ‘Apollo’ Adama. “Our show’s always been a real saga about a journey.…

BRACER PHOENIX “That’s the muscle,” enthuses Boyega, and you can see why. It’s chunky, it’s heavy duty, and it’s got a vortex cannon that fires from its chest. Boom. SABER ATHENA “The lean, acrobatic Jaeger,” as Boyega puts it, this twin-bladed badass is reminiscent of China’s Crimson Typhoon (although this one is orange, of course). TITAN REDEEMER Referred to on the official site as ‘the wrecking ball’ thanks to that seismic Morningstar on its left hand, TR looks to be the equivalent of Russia’s Cherno Alpha. GUARDIAN BRAVO Remember the sword from the first film? Guardian Bravo’s got the next gen version: the Elec-16 Arc Whip which allows it to attack from range. GIPSY AVENGER The lead Jaeger with Jake Pentecost at the helm. This is the next stage of…

One question that fans have been asking since the series was announced is, of course, when will David’s father show up? We all got very excited when we got a glimpse of Professor Xavier’s wheelchair towards the end of the first season, and Stevens tells us that it was a big moment for the cast and crew too. “Lauren Shuler Donner, who is one of our executives, was also one of the executives on all the X-Men movies. She is practically the godmother of X-Men. Well, she arranged for Professor X’s wheelchair to be shipped up to Vancouver by Fox. It was the real wheelchair used in the movies and there was this incredible unveiling of the crate holding this famous wheelchair on set. And in the show, I think…

DO listen carefully The key to your survival may have been an innocuous comment made by a stranger days ago. Dismiss nothing, remember everything. DON’T take a room to yourself It doesn’t matter if you’re exploring a haunted house with a group of strangers. If you’re staying the night, buddy up. DO have a clear conscience Ghosts are often a manifestation of your own guilt, so if you’ve got a nasty little secret, you’re screwed. DON’T think the best of them As anyone in any Ring film will tell you, some ghosts don’t just want to be set free. Some want to keep taking their revenge forever, so don’t let them out. DO believe Scepticism will only drag things out and make the realisation all the more painful. Ghosts are…

BITCH PLANET This series by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro centres on a women’s prison in a dystopian world where women can be imprisoned for being ‘non-compliant’. MS MARVEL This series by G Willow Wilson and (originally) artist Adrian Alphona has the charm and fun of Spider-Man while dealing with tensions regarding race and immigration. SECRET SIX Writer Gail had a good run on Wonder Woman and her Birds Of Prey is great, but the antiheroic (and hilarious) Secret Six is her masterpiece. SAGA You won’t find better art anywhere right now than Fiona Staples’ award-winning work on Saga. Writer Brian K Vaughn makes sure the art isn’t the only selling point. HARLEY QUINN Amanda Conner writes and provides covers for Harley’s solo series. Power Girl, boasting more…

1 ARACHNOPHOBIA Julian Sands accidentally sends a rare, super-aggressive spider to a small town in California which promptly breeds and creates an army of tiny but deadly arachnids. Can arachnophobe Jeff Daniels and exterminator John Goodman save the day? 2 EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS Okay, this isn’t particularly creepy but it is a lot of cheesy B-movie fun, as Tom Noonan’s spider collection is super-sized by toxic waste and attacks David Arquette’s desert town. Stars a young Scarlett Johansson. 3 THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN House spiders are nothing to worry about, unless you’re suddenly shrunk to the size of an ant. The hero of this Richard Mathesonpenned tale has to battle a hungry spider to stay alive… 4 THE BEYOND One of Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulici’s finest and craziest movies…

Details 18 // Various mins // Various // // Released Out now Directors Tibor Takacs, Ken Russell, Robert Kurtzman Cast Stephen Dorff, Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Peter Capaldi, Andrew Divoff, Robert Englund Distributor Lionsgate UK Following last year’s lavish reissues of schlocky horror classics, Lionsgate has opened their Vestron vault once more for another set of films you probably remember gazing at in Blockbuster. The quality of the films may be patchy but there’s no questioning the love they’ve been given with HD transfers, commentaries and interviews galore. First up is 1987’s The Gate (★★★), which stars a young Stephen Dorff as a kid who discovers a strange rock in a hole in his back yard. When his parents take off for a few days, Glen, his best friend Terry…

Details 12// 89 mins // 1982// // Released 19 February Directors Jim Henson, Frank Oz Cast Jim Henson, Kathryn Mullen, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz Distributor Sony Pictures If you mention The Dark Crystal to people of a certain age, chances are the responses you’ll get will range from the rapturous to the traumatised. Jim Henson’s dark fantasy is challenging for its young audience and all the more memorable for it. As Henson’s daughter Lisa notes in the Bluray’s documentary, it’s as much the vision of artist Brian Froud and Henson’s co-director and collaborator Frank Oz, and that vision’s ambition still impresses. The best-remembered moments are probably the most upsetting (the “trial by stone” or the draining of the poor defenceless Pod) but there’s so much to the film beyond its…

Details 15//109 mins //1990// // Released Out now Director Volker Schlöndorf Cast Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall, Aidan Quinn Distributor Fabulous Films It’s next to impossible to review a film on its own merits when it’s based on a famous book and has recently been adapted into probably the best TV show of 2017. So let’s say, right off the bat, that this 1990 film adaptation is not as good as the TV show. It does, however, cover much the same ground. Set in a future dystopian America, now known as The Republic of Gilead, fertility is dangerously low and fertile women are sent into wealthy households as ‘handmaids’, to bear the children that the infertile wives of powerful men are unable to bear. Kate, or Offred, is one…

I was given a copy of Robert Holdstock’s Mythago Wood as a 19th birthday present by a friend at university in Birmingham, where I was studying English. At the time I was having my tiny mind blown apart by a course appropriately entitled ‘Theories of the Mind’, which was an introduction to Freudian and Jungian concepts of human consciousness and how they relate to the study of literature. I was, however, successfully managing to avoid any actual work in favour of playing too much Dungeons And Dragons; the necessary background reading for which was the standard epic fantasy texts: Tolkien, Moorcock, Vance, McCaffrey, et al. I’d churned through The Belgariad, Julian May’s Pliocene Exile Saga, the various Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant – God help me, I’d even read the first…

Details Author: James Brodgen Publisher: Titan Books Price: £7.99 Released: Out now James Brogden has followed Hekla’s Children with another tale of long-buried horrors unearthed, but the author’s interest in British history and folklore is combined with an ambition and narrative slipperiness that makes this a compelling chiller in its own right. The story begins with a fantastically rendered moment of horror in the form of an accident, as Rachel Cooper loses her arm while on a canal holiday in the Black Country. Her phantom limb syndrome takes on an otherworldly dimension when she realises that her missing limb can reach into the world beyond and draw the dead back into the realm of the living. However, there’s a price to be paid and a balance to all things, and…

Details Author: Annalee Newitz Publisher: Orbit Price: £8.99 Released: Out now Coming with the endorsement of William Gibson, Lauren Beukes and Neal Stephenson, io9 co-founder Annalee Newitz’s debut lives up to the hype. It’s a cyberpunk thriller but the author is more interested in big questions than big futuristic fight sequences. The story is divided between Jack, a pirate who reverse-engineers patented drugs to sell to those who can’t afford the corporate fees, and a military robot named Paladin, who is assigned to assist agent Eliasz in hunting Jack down. As they near their quarry, they become closer in unexpected ways. Newitz’s tech and science expertise is on display in Autonomous and she has fun with the details (there is something wonderful about the fact that our pirate heroine operates…

Details Author: Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell Publisher: Head Of Zeus Price: £18.99 Released: 5 April The Tangled Lands is a collaborative fantasy from Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell, set in the world of Khaim, a world ruined by magic. A deadly thorn called bramble crawls across the land wherever magic is used, forcing an empire to its knees. Split into four connected vignettes, the book explores different perspectives throughout the world. The tales, two each, from Bacigalupi and Buckell complement each other well, covering a range of social strata and genres. The Alchemist is the first from Bacigalupi and does the most heavy lifting in establishing tone and political landscape, which has ramifications throughout the rest of the book. Given the relatively short amount of time in which we…

Dream projects like Aliens: Dead Orbit don’t come around often. This limited series sees writer/artist James Stokoe given the keys to the franchise kick-started by the yin-yang cinematic visions of Ridley Scott and James Cameron. As showcased in works both creator-owned (Orc Stain) and licensed (Godzilla: The Half-Century War), Stokoe’s style is part-Moebius, part-manga. His linework is intricate and detailed, but imbued with an intense kinetic energy and expressive compositions that leap off the page. Stokoe’s skill for texture and tension is in full effect in this suspenseful sci-fi horror comic. Dead Orbit tells the story of Engineering Officer ‘Wassy’ Wascylewski, the last crew member of an ill-fated Weyland-Yutani space station that investigates a distress call from an unmarked, jerry-rigged salvager ship. They find only three of the ship’s crew…

Few TV writers’ names are as marquee-friendly as Gene Roddenberry’s. In that original Star Trek title sequence, his screen credit zooms in before even William Shatner’s. In 1985, he became the first ever TV writer to be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ask any keen TV watcher who Gene Roddenberry is and you’ll get: “The creator of Star Trek.” Yet Roddenberry’s relationship with Star Trek was a complicated one. He was deeply possessive of the show, but he was also – occasionally – resentful of it. And while Trekkers deified him, Paramount was less smitten, often preferring to keep him as far away from Star Trek as they could without alarming the fanbase. Gene Roddenberry would have loved to have fathered another series that was adored…

1 THE MENAGERIE (STAR TREK) The Star Trek Original Series’ only two-part story, this episode actually reuses footage from the then-unaired first pilot, The Cage, into a rather pleasingly rich episode. 2 THE SAVAGE CURTAIN (STAR TREK) Aliens force Kirk and Spock to join forces with figures of good throughout history (Abraham Lincoln, Surak) vs. evil historical figures (Hitler, Genghis Khan). 3 DATALORE (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION) In Roddenberry’s last writing credit on a Star Trek series, the Enterprise crew discover and reassemble Data’s long-lost ‘brother’, Lore. 4 THE OMEGA GLORY (STAR TREK) In this episode, Kirk goes head-to head with insane starship captain and a deadly plague while also trying to stop an intertribal war. 5 THE CAGE (STAR TREK) Star Trek’s first pilot episode. It is missing…

“I was looking for an innovative design concept for the way the characters would look… to get away from the [Bela] Lugosi’s or the previous Dracula [films which had] followed that direction and tried to do something more striking and one-of-a-kind. When you do things like that you’re always on the verge of the ridiculous,” Francis Ford Coppola said on the DVD commentary with regards the creepily uncanny aesthetic he employed for his epic horror Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Being on the verge of the ridiculous is certainly part of the captivating, dark and erotic allure of this idiosyncratic and authentic 1992 adaptation of Stoker’s classic gothic romance, even if it wasn’t as faithful as the title would suggest. Coppola’s son Roman directed the film’s powerful pre-title prologue sequence, which harks…

Vincent Price may now forever be the Merchant of Menace, but he didn’t start out that way. He had always been a respected character actor, but before the Fifties, Price was best known for his supporting dramatic roles. He put himself on people’s radars after his work in 1939 horror Tower Of London opposite Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff, but it was still only a side part. Finally in 1940 he was cast as the title character in The Invisible Man Returns before gravitating back to non-starring roles in noir thrillers like The Web (1947),The Long Night (1947) and The Bribe (1949). As far as the film industry was concerned, Price was destined to be the villain and never the hero, and he built himself a reputation for playing maniacal…

ALL ABOUT MARSHALL 1. What is Marshall Teller’s favourite American football team? 2. In which US state did Marshall grow up before moving to Indiana? 3. How many siblings does Marshall have? 4. What are Marshall’s parents’ names? 5. Who plays Marshall? EERIE 6. What is the title of the very first Eerie, Indiana episode? 7. In which episode did Dash X first appear? 8. What is Eerie’s population count at the start of the series? 9. Which famous dead singer is thought to be alive in Eerie? 10. What is the name of the club that Edgar Teller joins in episode 16? DETAILS 11. Who needed an organ transplant in the episode ‘Heart On A Chain’? 12. What kind of monster does Simon’s brother trade places with on Halloween?…