Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 145 i SciFi Now

“IT’S THE THRILLS AND CHILLS OF SEASON ONE BUT MORE OF A CLAUSTROPHOBIC FEEL”AARON MARTIN If the 1997 classic, I Know What You Did Last Summer taught us anything, it’s that when you’ve covered up killing someone, the last place you should go back to is the scene of the crime. Yet, that’s what the main characters do in the second season of Slasher. Subtitled ‘Guilty Party’, Season Two of the Canadian horror series centres on a group of summer camp leaders who take a winter trip to the wilderness to recover a body they hid there after a revenge killing five years earlier. “It’s set in the scariest environment I can think of, which is the middle of the woods in winter,” creator and executive producer Aaron Martin tells…

Until recently, Drew Pearce’s Hotel Artemis was just a mysterious entry on some very cool actors’ IMDB pages. Now, we’ve seen the trailer and we could not be more excited for the directorial debut of the screenwriter of Iron Man Three and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, which features an incredible cast facing off in a heavily fortified hotel in a dystopian near future. Sterling K Brown (The People Vs OJ Simpson) leads as a “one last job” crook who takes his wounded brother (Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry) to the Hotel Artemis, a members-only hospital run by the Nurse (Jodie Foster) where you can get a new organ 3D-printed or a dose of healing nanobots. Strict rules keep the Artemis a violence-free zone, but the problem is that the brothers have…

DO take advantage of the gaps Is there an iconic event that’s never been shown? A beloved storyline that’s never been filmed? This is your chance. DON’T cover old ground The whole point is to bring something new. Don’t just recreate the same old stuff with younger faces, no one wants to see that. DO stay faithful With the previous point made, don’t go so wildly off-book that you lose sight of who the character is. You’ll only enrage the fans that way. DON’T be afraid try a new tone Has the universe you’re working in gone camp? Or is it grim? Freshen up the world by going in the opposite direction. DO avoid too much fan-service A few references are fine. But if all you do is stuff your…

“THERE ARE TWO IDEAS THAT ARE CONSIDERED AMERICAN THAT WE GROW UP WITH,” Aaron Moorhead tells us. “That we are raised to be kind of anti-authoritarian for the most part – we’re supposed to be, at least. We idolise that, even if a lot of people are followers. But simultaneously there’s the arrogant idea that everyone else might have it wrong and you have it right, so it’s like: ‘There’s this organised religion, that’s not right, but the 12 of us with all our guns in the woods, we’ve got it figured out!’ That’s anti-authoritarian but it’s also like this arrogant idea of: ‘Oh, really, that guy has it figured out! Okay!” We’re talking cults and authoritarianism with Moorhead and his filmmaking partner Justin Benson, the duo behind genre-bending indies…

DAVID HALLER AND SYD BARRETT Notes: Spend too much time away from each other Most arguments are settled with a dance-off KARA DANVERS AND MIKE MATTHEWS Notes: On again, off again relationship Mike isn’t home often and it’s taking its toll on Kara BARRY ALLEN AND IRIS WEST-ALLEN Notes: Grew up together Carry a lot of denial at the fact that they’re basically siblings OLIVER QUEEN AND FELICITY SMOAK Notes: Act like they’re soulmates but their history is alarming They’re a very self-centred couple MATT MURDOCK AND ELEKTRA NATCHIOS Notes: Both turn up with a lot of new bruises every week Spend most of the sessions flirting – weird JESSICA JONES AND LUKE CAGE Notes: There are some serious trust issues on both sides They both appear to think they…

A YEAR AFTER JULIA DUCOURNAU’S RAW SHOCKED AUDIENCES the world over with its bold and darkly comic story of hereditary cannibalism, another French first-time director is behind one of this year’s best and most original genre films. Coralie Fargeat’s Revenge updates the controversial rape-revenge movie for the 21st century, with a feminist perspective that goes deeper into the roots of sexual violence than most classics of the genre. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, the film also manages to be a madly entertaining, deeply funny, visually stunning treat. We talked to Coralie Fargeat about the genesis of the project, opting for sharp characterisation, and turning movie violence into an artistic gesture. HOW DID YOU GET THE IDEA OF MAKING A RAPE-REVENGE FILM? I didn’t actually aim to explore the rape-revenge…

Details 15 // 100 mins // Out now Director Jeff Wadlow Screenwriters Jillian Jacobs, Michael Reisz, Christopher Roach, Jeff Wadlow Cast Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Sophia Ali, Landon Liboiron, Nolan Gerard Funk Distributor Universal There’s a fine line between stupid and clever, and it’s a line that Blumhouse horror Truth Or Dare fi nds itself dancing all over during its 100-minute running time. It’s easy to sneer at the apparent barrel-scraping of its title but there’s a wickedly mean-spirited potential to the idea of forcing a group of friends to tell their darkest secrets to the people that it would hurt most and do things that would kill them or make them wish they were dead. However, despite one or two well-executed shocks and twists, it’s an opportunity…

Details PG // 72 mins // Out now Director James Whale Screenwriters RC Sherriff, Benn W Levy Cast Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Stuart, Lilian Bond Distributor Eureka Entertainment James Whale’s 1932 gothic horror The Old Dark House has long had a reputation as a neglected classic, so it’s wonderful to see it given such a handsome restoration and made available to see on the big screen. Whale made the film shortly after Frankenstein as he launched into an incredibly prolific period, and his fingerprints are all over it. The cinematography is stunning, the mood is electric, and the performances are a mixture of straight-faced seriousness and self-aware winking. Indeed, viewers who have been primed for a terrifying horror experience may be surprised by the high level of humour running…

Details 15// 103 mins // 2018// • // Released 21 May Director Adam Robitel Cast Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Spencer Locke Distributor Sony Pictures While it is wonderful to see Lin Shaye firmly established as the lead of a horror franchise, it is something of a disappointment that the fourth instalment of the Insidious franchise can’t match the solid chills delivered in Chapter III. On the one hand, this is the most personal Insidious fi lm yet, as Shaye’s medium/ghost hunter is forced to head to her childhood home to cast out the demon that scarred her family when she was a girl. On the other, it’s lacking in the tension and atmosphere that has made the series so enjoyable. Shaye makes the most of every bit of…

Details U // 100 mins // 2015// // Released Out now Director Sion Sono Cast Megumi Kagurazaka, Kenji Endo, Yûto Ikeda, Kôko Mori Distributor Third Window From early on, it’s clear that Sion Sono’s The Whispering Star is going to be about time as we watch Yoko Suzuki (Megumi Kagurazaka) going about her everyday routines. What takes longer for us to realise is that this traditional-looking kitchen is the interior of a spaceship and Yoko’s an android courier. In a future where teleportation allows for instant contact, Yoko’s old-school mission takes decades. Shot almost entirely in monochrome and with many of its lines spoken in subdued tones, the film gently parcels out its messages of loss and loneliness over a leisurely duration. Sono wrote the first draft 20 years before…

Details 15// 99 mins // 2018// • // Released 28 May Director The Spierig Brothers Cast Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Sarah Snook, Eamon Farren, Angus Sampson Distributor Lionsgate Home Entertainment It’s baffl ing how a story as fascinating as Sarah Winchester’s resulted in a film this drab and lifeless. Winchester certainly had potential: the facts are amazing, it’s nice to see Helen Mirren in a rare genre role and the Spierig Brothers have done good work on films likePredestination and Jigsaw. But not only does the film steadfastly refuse to take any steps out of the ordinary, it also has a lack of atmosphere which is unforgiveable given that it’s about one of the most notorious haunted houses of all time. The plot follows Jason Clarke’s psychiatrist as he’s sent…

Details N/A // 75 mins // 2018 // Download // Released Out now Creator Simon Barnard Cast Tom Meeten, Neve McIntosh, Alice Lowe Distributor Bafflegab Productions Bafflegab Productions brings us their version of Clive Barker’s 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart, famously adapted on film in 1987 as Hellraiser. This pacy, punchy adaptation launches straight into the familiar tale of lifelong ne’erdo-well Frank Cotton getting in way over his head with a gang of otherworldly pleasure-seekers. His brother Rory and Rory’s wife Julia move into the house where he disappeared, and an accident brings Frank back as a monstrous half-man in need of blood to regrow his body. Audio is a great medium for Barker’s story, allowing the squelchy sound effects to construct the nasty visuals in your head. Admittedly, it…

Details Author: Claire North Publisher: Orbit Price: £18.99 Released: 24 May Claire North imagines the UK as a place where human rights have been scrapped and the country has basically been taken over by a wealthy company. It’s not a far cry from where we could be headed. Crime is punishable by fine, which means the richer you are the more likely you are to get away with murder. It is Theo Miller’s job, as an employee of the Criminal Audit Office, to place value on law breaking and in turn place value on human life. This dystopian fantasy paints society as a form-filling, hellish place to inhabit where gentrification and privatisation are lived out to absurd and damaging extremes. Areas are cordoned off for the elite and the poor…

Details Author: Peter Newman Publisher: HarperVoyager Price: £14.99 Released: 14 June The Deathless are immortal beings who protect their lands from the sprawling forests of the Wild, a place of monsters and darkness where ordinary folk dare not tread. Safe in their floating crystal castles, the various Deathless dynasties have co-existed in alliances that work against the Wild. However, when assassins strike at the Sapphire family, tensions inevitably rise and it becomes clear that the Wild has far more influence over the Deathless than they would like to admit. Blending genres is a surefire way to add depth to a novel and Peter Newman stirs several into his fantasy with apparent ease. The political intrigues and machinations of the Deathless meld seamlessly into the horrors of the Wild, with romantic…

Details Author: Jeff Noon Publisher: Angry Robot Price: £8.99 Released: Out now After plunging his private eye John Nyquist into a world of light and dark in A Man Of Shadows, Jeff Noon delivers a sequel of sorts in this engrossing literary noir. The ‘of sorts’ means that newcomers shouldn’t have any problem jumping in, and the world of Storyville is easier to get your head around than the world of Dayzone and Nocturna. Here, story is everything, whether you’re creating a narrative or wrapped up in someone else’s. When we pick up with Nyquist he’s in full detective mode. He’s being paid to follow a man, but a trip to a Melville tower block ends up with him killing the target in self-defence and hiding from crooks with a…

“2015 to 2018 has certainly been a bit of a rollercoaster for me,” says Claire North on the direction her literary output has taken in the last few years. The UK has swung to a strange and frightening place where injustice is rife and plans to abolish the Human Rights Act are actual conversations had in the political arena – thankfully put on hold for the time being while the Government make arrangements for leaving the European Union. In North’s dystopian novel, human rights have been abolished and an aggressively wealthy company has taken charge of the country. The poorest members of society live on the fringes, eat substandard grub and are allowed nowhere near the rich elite. If you choose to live outside those rules, you’re on your own…

Details Writer: Evan Dorkin Artist: Jill Thompson Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $19.99 Released: 9 May One of the best comics you’ve probably never read, the six-time Eisner-winning series Beasts Of Burden receives a handy paperback introductory collection, bringing together four short stories that first appeared in disparate Dark Horse anthology books and an ensuing four-issue miniseries, originally published between 2003 and 2009. These are spooky suburban tales of horror from the perspective of a group of dogs (and two cats). Gradually, Beasts Of Burden encompasses all types of horror and starts to construct a fictional world of its own, as our good boys and girls grow from petrified pups into apprentices in the order of Wise Dogs – the animal kingdom’s first port of call against all things paranormal.…

 What if the little voice in the back of your head told you to kill? That was the start of GX Todd’s Defender, an excellent post-apocalyptic tale that followed Pilgrim and Lacey as they travelled across a ruined America in search of the latter’s young niece and realised a greater and fantastically deadly conflict was taking place. Now, the story continues with Hunted… “THE READER REACTIONS ARE THE BIGGEST HIGHLIGHT OF THE PROCESS FOR ME. I LOVE IT” GX TODD What can you tell us about where the story picks up in Hunted? It’s set a few short weeks after Defender, where two very different groups are hunting down Lacey, Addison and Alex. It all becomes a race against time as to which group gets to Lacey and her gang…

Were one to imagine the first meeting of Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz at Yale University, chances are, it might be a scenario in which two dedicated film buffs ended up swapping movie recommendations. However, as Herz explains, the reality was anything but: “The only thing I gave a shit about back then was that Lloyd had a TV in his room” laughs the producer. “He let me watch his TV. That is what appealed to me. He was not some snotty upper class spoilt Yale student which was common back then. He was cerebral. He was a good guy. “But Lloyd was a senior and I was a freshman so I did not know him so well. I only knew him for about a year when he was there.…

We were all thrilled when it was announced last year that Hulu had commissioned a pilot based on Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s Locke And Key. The comic book series is a true modern classic and it’s had a tortured journey towards an adaptation. Sadly, it looks like that journey isn’t over just yet. After finding a cast (including Frances O’Connor, Megan Charpentier, Nate Corddry and Danny Glover) and getting one of the genre’s hottest directors in IT’s Andy Muschietti, Hulu has passed on the pilot. This is a blow to those of us who’ve been rooting for Locke And Key since the 2011 Fox pilot entered pop culture history as the best thing to never be picked up for a series. A film adaptation by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto…

You can’t move for Eighties nostalgia right now, so what better time to go back and watch the movies that inspired all the references? At this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival, The American Nightmare strand will be screening classics from the likes of John Carpenter, George A Romero, Tobe Hooper and Joe Dante. Programmer Niall Greig Fulton tells us why you can’t afford to miss it… What can we expect from The American Nightmare strand? It’s a golden opportunity to see Eighties genre classics on the big screen again. It’s a significant year for EIFF in terms of horror as there are also screenings of Stephen Norrington’s Blade and Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark. How difficult was it to whittle down the film selection to the ones you’re showing? Very. There were…

THE MEG With the movie basically being about a giant shark, any poster for a film like The Meg would usually have been in danger of being a bit too serious or far too cheesy, but this poster is happily poised in the middle ground. Perhaps the fact that there isn’t too much going on in the poster was a conscious effort to ensure that middle ground was well and truly nailed…? That doesn’t mean the poster is boring, though, far from it. It has a huge shark! And look at those giant teeth! It says all it needs to say really, and we have to admit that the fact that the tiny diver at the top is probably Jason Statham in flippers and a wetsuit just makes it even…

Alden Ehrenreich is HAN SOLO What can we expect from this younger Han? Everything we’ve heard so far suggests that this is a young man finding his way. Sure, he’s jaded after being tossed out of flight academy, but we can expect some idealism too. Joonas Suotamo is CHEWIE While much of the hype around the film has focused on the meeting between Han and Lando, we can’t wait to see how the unbreakable bond between Han and the Wookie was forged. Woody Harrelson is TOBIAS BECKETT Every outlaw needs a mentor, and Beckett is the man who makes Han realise that even rogues need a code. He’s also the one organising the heist at the centre of the movie, bringing Han and Chewie into a dangerous world. Donald Glover…

DEADPOOL – Pool to his friends – is a strange beast. And not just because, well, he’s a strange beast. It makes an odd, warped sense that Deadpool as a character makes no sense. Created as recently as 1991, he quickly became a recognisable character, delivering solid (if middling) comic book sales and popping up all over comic cons and T-shirts. His popularity can’t be down to X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009 – technically Deadpool’s big screen debut – because he didn’t even get to don his classic costume in that movie (and Ryan Reynolds was mystifyingly swapped for a different actor halfway through). So how is it that even before the first film landed, Deadpool was a recognisable and beloved character? The only comparable character is probably Harley Quinn,…

DOES NISKA GET TO KICK ASS AGAIN IN SERIES THREE? There are some absolutely amazing kick-ass bits that we shot, which may or not may not involve a rain machine! It is very dramatic. If anything, there is more than the first two series put together. At the beginning of this series I was like: ‘We have got to have comfy hardcore shoes and not the little heels I was running around in in Series One.’ YOU MUST ENJOY THAT? Oh yeah. It couldn't be more different from what I am like in real life, so it is very cathartic to be able to smash a pane of sugar glass. In the smash club scene in Series One, they gave me a rubber bat and padded all the stunt guys,…

AMELIA It’s obvious that Amelia has been under a tremendous amount of stress since the loss of her husband, and her son Samuel requires constant attention. However, I am concerned about her description of this children’s book she claims to have received. She says she can’t get rid of it… MARGARET WHITE Of course, I respect Margaret’s beliefs and I know she feels very passionately about raising her daughter Carrie to be a good Christian girl. However, I can’t help but worry that she’s shielding her too much from the outside world, and that her methods will cause resentment and rage… NORMA BATES I have yet to actually meet with Mrs Bates. Her appointment was made by telephone, and all my attempts to contact her have been (very politely, it…

SPEAKING TO LIN SHAYE VIA TELEPHONE IS A SURREAL EXPERIENCE. At first, her instantly recognisable, disembodied voice makes you feel as if she’s instructing you through The Further in her role in the Insidious films as parapsychologist Elise Rainier. After a few seconds her bubbly persona shines through as she guides us through her genre career, talking at a break-neck speed and occasionally breaking to giggle or belly laugh at the cheeky stories she tells about the people she has met and worked with over her over 40 year career as an actor. Lin Shaye has about ten genre movies listed as in post- or pre-production and filming. Among those titles, she’s slated to appear in Nicolas Pesce’s The Grudge reboot and a new Re-Animator flick alongside Brad Dourif. She…

“I DON'T LIKE BULLIES; I DON'T CARE WHERE THEY’RE FROM.” STEVE ROGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER “THE TRUTH IS A MATTER OF CIRCUMSTANCES; IT’S NOT ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE ALL THE TIME. AND NEITHER AM I.” NATASHA ROMANOFF, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER “I CAN DO THIS ALL DAY.” STEVE ROGERS, MULTIPLE FILMS “THAT THING DOESN’T OBEY THE LAWS OF PHYSICS AT ALL!” PETER PARKER ON CAP’S SHIELD, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR “I KNOW I'M ASKING A LOT. BUT THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IS HIGH. IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN. AND IT'S A PRICE I'M WILLING TO PAY. AND IF I'M THE ONLY ONE, THEN SO BE IT. BUT I'M WILLING TO BET I'M NOT.” STEVE ROGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER “SOMETIMES I WANT TO PUNCH YOU IN…

A FEW YEARS AGO, THE THOUGHT OF SCHOOL STUDENTS MARCHING THROUGH THE STREETS AND FIGHTING FOR GUN CONTROL WHILE THE ADULTS IN CHARGE DID NOTHING WOULD HAVE SOUNDED LIKE THE PLOT OF A DYSTOPIAN SCI-FI. THIS YEAR, IT’S THE NEWS. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME, THERE’S A GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT ON TEENAGERS. THEY MAY NOT BE ABLE TO VOTE, BUT GENERATION Z HAVE ALREADY PROVEN THAT THEY CAN PROTEST AND INFLUENCE BY STANDING UP AND SPEAKING OUT. Though Marvel’s Runaways (created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage) first premiered in the US on Hulu last November, it’s hard to ignore the parallels to the current climate. Based on the graphic novel by Brian K Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, it’s about a group of teenagers that has to unite…

Details 15 // 102 mins // 11 May Director John Cameron Mitchell Screenwriters Philippa Goslett, John Cameron Mitchell Cast Alex Sharp, Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman, Ruth Wilson Distributor Studiocanal A punk musical about a teenage boy hooking up with an alien based on a short story by Neil Gaiman should be bonkers and awe inspiring. The costumes are designed by Sandy Powell and the project is overseen by the man who directed and starred in cult musical Hedwig And The Angry Inch. All the ingredients for something cosmically grand are there and yet the result is something that manages to be both wildly inventive and weirdly derivative. It’s 1977 in Croydon where Enn and his two friends, John and Vic, are searching for an after party. When they come across…

Details 15 // 92 mins // Out now Director Fritz Böhm Screenwriters Fritz Böhm, Florian Eder Cast Bel Powley, Liv Tyler, Brad Dourif, James Le Gros, Collin Kelly-Sordelet Distributor Warner Bros ‘Do you want to hear a story? Do you want me to tell you about the Wildling?’ Fritz Böhm’s feature debut Wildling opens with a story of monsters and bestiality told by a dad (Brad Dourif) to little Anna (Arlo Mertz) at bedtime. Yet the place where Anna hears this story – a wooden cabin in wild forestland – mirrors the mythic tropes of daddy’s fairytale, suggesting a certain fluidity between his fictions and her reality. The truth is daddy is always trying to control both Anna and her narrative, through words and diet and medicine – and over…

Details 15// 135 mins // 2018// • // Released 28 May Director Alexander Payne Cast Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz Distributor Paramount Home Media Distribution Scientists develop a method of shrinking people in a procedure known as ‘downsizing’, and it’s quickly seen as a way to both save the planet and get rich quick. Volunteers start undergoing the procedure and moving into their dream houses within tiny communities. Though we’ve often seen humans being shrunk down to size in sci-fi, the film’s concept still feels fresh and its execution unique. A lot of thought was clearly put into the science behind the fiction – candidates’ teeth are removed before being downsized so their heads don’t explode, and people with artificial bones and metal plates are considered ineligible – and…

Details 15//94 mins //2018// • // Released Out now Director Don Michael Paul Cast Michael Gross, Jamie Kennedy, Tanya van Graan Distributor Universal When some scientists are devoured at an Arctic research base, veteran monster hunter Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) and his son Travis (Jamie Kennedy) head up from Nevada to kick some monster ass… and that’s it, really. The most disappointing thing about this film is the lack of storyline. Tonally, it is also quite far removed from the classic Stampede Tremors fi lms, with the bad language and puerile humour of Tremors 5 unfortunately still present. There’s nothing wrong with either of those things per se, but they just fall flat here. Things don’t get off to a promising start, with a fairly generic opening sequence featuring some…

Details 15// 91 mins // 2018// • // Released Out now Director Sam Liu Cast Christian Slater, Billy Brown, Liam McIntyre, Vanessa Williams, Tara Strong Distributor Warner Bros Home Entertainment After hearing of an object that supposedly guarantees entry into heaven after you die, Amanda Waller brings together a group of imprisoned villains, including Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Killer Frost and Copperhead, to form Task Force X, who agree to track it down in exchange for a year knocked off their sentences. An extended RV road trip, a visit to a male strip club and a lot of chicken nuggets later, the group looks to be close to retrieving the mystical artefact. Fast-paced and frequently funny, Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay is just generally better than David…

Details 15// 118 minutes // 1984// // Released Out now Creator Barry Hines Cast Karen Meagher, Reece Dinsdale, David Brierly, Rita May Distributor Simply Media No one ever forgets the experience of watching Threads. The 1984 BBC TV movie, directed by Mick Jackson and written by Barry Hines, is arguably the most devastating piece of television ever produced in this country. It’s perfectly crafted, totally human and so completely harrowing you’ll think that you’ll probably never want to watch it again. But the thing about Threads is that it doesn’t go away. In the Noughties it seemed to have taken on a cult status that bordered on urban legend (‘you think that film’s upsetting? Have you seen Threads?’), and now our world leaders are so terrifying that the argument has…

Details 12// 600 minutes // 2018// // Released Out now Creators Irwin Allen, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless Cast Molly Parker, Toby Stephens, Parker Posey, Taylor Russell, Mina Sundwall Distributor Netfl ix It’s fortunate for Netfl ix’s Lost In Space reboot that it only has to clear the bar of the naff 1998 movie to be considered an improvement, and this take on Irwin Allen’s Sixties SF TV series shows that it’s capable of doing so. Although it looks spectacular and is moderately gritty (it never reachesBSG levels), Lost In Space 2018 remembers that this is a show about a family. When a larger mission to colonise a new world runs into trouble, the Robinson family’s ship crashes on an undiscovered planet. At first, they’re struggling to stay alive in the…

1. America City “@chriszbeckett’s America City because it sounds scarily plausible! #BookClub” @ToneSibley 2. The Saga Of Seven Suns “I recently fi nished The Saga Of Seven Suns space opera series by Kevin J Anderson (@TheKJA), and I must say that I enjoyed the h3l out of it. #BookClub” @EatonKrone 3. The Handmaid’s Tale “The repressive bible-inspired regime of The Handmaid’s Tale is chilling, particularly when you add that only a small percentage of women can bear children following an unexplained pollutant #BookClub” @iankmoore 4. Ready Player One “Ready Player One. Cause I’m gonna be senior in 2045 and still can play computer games. #Book-Club” @Amywiel “ITS ENERGY IS INFECTIOUS AND ITS IDEAS ARE PROVOCATIVE” 5. Ack Ack Macque “Ack Ack Macaque by @garethlpowell because Cigar Chompin’, Gun Weildin’ Monkey…

“A Spell In The Country by @HeideGoody and Iain Grant - two of the funniest authors around, on the top of their game #BookClub” @andyangel44 “Been enjoying The Incredible Hulk: Crossroads, where Hulk is banished by Dr Strange to the otherworldly crossroads. #BookClub” @paul_bowler “I picked up Smoke Eaters from @ SeanGrigsby and am loving it. Plus there are dragons. Bonus! #BookClub” @farscape08 “Just started Embers Of War by Gareth L Powell so far enjoying the story very much! Got to love space ships who know their own minds... #BookClub” @johntheboy “Currently reading Idle Hands by @T_A_Fletcher good to get back into the dystopian adventure of Wild Alan and Bloody Nora again. #BookClub” @Cascararogue “I’m reading Rise Of Fire by Sophie Jordan and it’s okay. #BookClub” @JasminMaaz “Been reading Meddling…

Details Author: Roger Levy Publisher: Titan Books Price: £8.99 Released: Out now The brave new world of Roger Levy’s first novel in over a decade is not an overly welcoming one. There are criminal gangs, the unsettling idea of immortality via lottery, and a world named Bleak that is as inhospitable as its name. Diving into the book, with its multiple story strands and uncanny way of pushing the truth further away from the reader with each clue, feels a bit like jumping off a cliff but it’s a leap worth taking. Earth has been abandoned, and wealth has determined the divvying up of the new interplanetary system. On an intensely religious planet named Gehenna, a young boy named Alef makes friends with an intense, dangerous child. Their friendship will…

Details Writers: Justin Jordan, Nikki Ryan Artist: Morgan Beem Publisher: Image Comics Price: $16.99 Released: Out now To say that The Family Trade is swimming in the same waters as Assassin’s Creed and Dishonored would be a kind understatement. The Free Republic of Thessalia, known by the locals at The Float, is a sort of ocean-bound, Renaissance Venice, an isolated community of former seafarers whose social hierarchies still mirror the above/ below deck divisions of their maritime ancestors. Keeping the higher-ups in check is a secret, working-class society of assassins, spies and con artists called The Family, who lurk in the Float’s shadows. Familiar, perhaps, but once we’re introduced to Jessa Wynn, our curly-maned heroine, and her quest to uncover the Float’s conspiracies, this detailed world becomes a fine set…

MOTHER’S DAY (CHARLES KAUFMAN, 1980) The release of Mother’s Day in 1980 is probably the best point at which to identify the genesis of the Troma identity. The film is a about a mentally deranged mother and her two sons torturing three women who have been camping in the woods. With bad taste, full of politically incorrect torture and torment and heavy handed dark comedy, this is nonetheless a tense slasher film. THE TOXIC AVENGER (MICHAEL HERZ AND LLOYD KAUFMAN, 1984) Troma’s most successful figurehead emerged with this surprise hit about a nerd who turns into a superhero after being exposed to toxic waste and to this day, it probably still keeps the company afloat. Inspiring three sequels, the original movie is the best example of the company’s body-horror comedy…

What did you want to bring to the part of Louis Creed? I wanted to be as truthful to the novel as I possibly could. Stephen King was at a lot of the early rehearsals when we got to Maine, so his influence was very present. He would sit at the reading table, drink a can of Jolt, which has three times the caffeine and four times the sugar of other sodas, and read out loud from the obituary. It was very funny actually. Louis has to go through intense emotional torment in the film. How did you prepare for these scenes? Luckily, I was young and angry at the time so that helped. As the film progressed Louis felt more isolated, more frustrated, angrier and more saddened. I could…

Wonder Woman 2 EXPECTED RELEASE November 2019 The sequel to 2017 hit Wonder Woman, Diana Prince returns to save both the world and the DCEU. ROLES CHEETAH: Female, 30-50s, any ethnicity. Must look a bit like a cat. MYSTERY CHARACTER: Male, any ethnicity, 20-50s, doesn’t mind secrets. Audition to find out more. Though we probably won’t tell you more even if you do get the role. CONTACT patty.jenkins@themyscira.com REPLIES KRISTEN WIIG, PEDRO PASCAL The Boys EXPECTED AIR DATE Sometime in 2019 A CIA squad is tasked with keeping superheroes in line in this fresh take on the world of TV comic book heroes, developed by Evan Goldberg, Eric Kripke and Seth Rogen, and based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. ROLE BILLY BUTCHER: Male, Caucasian, 40-60s.…

If you’re a horror fan, you may well be familiar with director Lawrie Brewster. Along with writer and partner Sarah Daly, he’s delivered the blistering The Unkindness Of Ravens and black and white throwback The Black Gloves among others. Now, in addition to working on his own indie projects, he’s giving fellow genre filmmakers a helping hand with Hex Studios. “Hex Studios was created out of a dream to continue the legacy of Hammer, Amicus and American International Pictures from the golden age of horror/science fiction in the Fifties and beyond,” he says. “Thanks to our friends from across the world, which include producers and production companies, we’ve been able to create an international alliance of shared interests and ambitions that will see us produce and distribute independent horror/fantasy films.…

It’s that time of year again: Sundance London will be showing a selection of the very finest films that graced Park City earlier this year, and it’s one hell of a line-up. Aubrey Plaza, Matt Berry, Craig Robertson and Jemaine Clement star in An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn, the new dark comedy from The Greasy Strangler writer-director Jim Hosking. Documentary Half The Picture explores the difficulties that face women directors, Laura Dern stars as a woman remembering an abusive relationship in Jennifer Fox’s drama The Tale, and Idris Elba makes his directorial debut with Seventies London gangster drama Yardie. The big draw for genre fans, however, is the fact that Ari Aster’s horror movie Hereditary will be playing. Toni Collette stars a woman who believes that something terribly wrong…

Welcome to Memory Bank, the only 300 words of the magazine where we look back at past issues and reminisce about what was going on in the world of sci-fi, fantasy and horror. This month, we’re flicking through issue 61, where we examined American Horror Story’s first season, and asked: ‘Has TV gone too far?’ It turns out that it could go a lot further. “Everyone is terrified of the idea of people breaking into their house,” co-creator and executive producer Ryan Murphy told us. “That was the impetus — what scares us… We’re not interested in making a slasher series. We’re trying to talk about fears in society, and what these people are really afraid of.” Seven years on, it’s still doing just that. The issue also marked the…

The last couple of Star Wars films have seen a graceful passing of the torch between the great Peter Mayhew and Finnish newcomer Joonas Suotamo, as the latter doubled Chewie in The Force Awakens before stepping into the role properly in The Last Jedi. Now, fresh off playing a Chewbacca still grieving for his old friend, Suotamo is back in the suit to show us how the two lifelong allies first met. What can you tell us about Han and Chewie’s first meeting? I can say that we find Chewie in a bit of harm’s way in this film. And yeah, we do get to see how the two characters formed this legendary partnership and how they met. But as to how, I don’t want to spoil the details for…

METROPOLIS, 1927 Fritz Lang’s definitive piece influenced everything that followed. His ‘false Maria’ was a design model for George Lucas’s C-3P0 for a start. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, 1951 Who can forget their first glimpse of humanoid robot Gort zapping the the US military with its visor-fired death ray? 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, 1968 Arthur C Clarke’s tale became an arthouse staple courtesy of Stanley Kubrick and the softly spoken killer HAL. WESTWORLD, 1973 Before the TV series was Michael Crichton’s movie; his early foray into amusement park mayhem. Here it’s robots rather than velociraptors. STAR WARS, 1977 Who can forget their first glimpse of Darth Vader, who as we know was ‘more machine now than man’. C-P30 and R2D2 were pretty cool, too. ALIEN, 1979 Ridley Scott’s…

SPIKE Buffy The Vampire Slayer to Angel After sacrifi cing his life in the Buffy fi nale, James Marsters’ snarky vamp materialised in Angel’s fi nal season and completely stole the show: “You’re a wee little puppet man.” JOHN CONSTANTINE Constantine to the Arrowverse Sadly, Matt Ryan only got one season on his own show before NBC pulled the plug, but after an appearance on Arrow he is being teased as a Legends regular. MARTHA JONES Doctor Who to Torchwood Freema Agyeman’s medical student had a relatively brief run as a companion but crossed over to join Captain Jack and the Torchwood gang after leaving the TARDIS. WORF Star Trek: The Next Generation to Deep Space Nine Michael Dorn returned to the Star Trek universe to join Deep Space Nine’s…

“THESE STORIES HAVE TO BE TOLD BECAUSE SO MANY KIDS FEEL LIKE THEY’RE ALONE”AUBREY JOSEPH WITH NEW SUPERHEROES GRACING THE SMALL SCREEN EVERY YEAR, IT’S BECOMING MORE AND MORE DIFFICULT TO ENTICE VIEWERS AND CONVINCE THEM THAT EACH NEW SUPERPOWERED SERIES IS GOING TO BE SOMETHING THEY HAVEN’T SEEN BEFORE. WHICH IS WHY MARVEL’S CLOAK & DAGGER IS SETTING OUT TO BE SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Like Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan’s comics, the show follows a pair of teenagers, Tyrone Johnson (Aubrey Joseph) and Tandy Bowen (Olivia Holt), as they develop superpowers and begin to attempt to understand them. Tyrone can engulf others in darkness and transport them through the Darkforce dimension, while Tandy has the ability to emit daggers made of solid light that drain living beings of vitality.…

INSIDIOUS Over the course of four films Lin Shaye’s medium Elise Rainier has become the franchise lead – she’s consistently brilliant and grounds the franchise. DEAD END This 2003 indie has its flaws but Shaye is stunning as the deranged matriarch of a family who can’t escape a woodland road. It’s a performance that will stay with you. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET Okay, so it’s not a massive part, but we all remember seeing Shaye as Nancy’s teacher in Wes Craven’s classic. CRITTERS 1 AND 2 Everyone’s got a soft spot for Critters, and Shaye has a hilarious cameo as Sal in the 1986 original alongside M Emmet Walsh. She returned for the 1988 sequel.…

KEVIN FEIGE THE PRESIDENT OF MARVEL STUDIOS, HE’S BEEN OVERSEEING PRODUCTION ON MCU FILMS SINCE THE FIRST IRON MAN. IF ONLY ONE PERSON COULD TAKE THE CREDIT FOR THE MASSIVE SUCCESS OF MARVEL STUDIOS, IT’S THIS GUY. JON FAVREAU THE DIRECTOR OF THE FIRST TWO IRON MAN MOVIES HELPED TO SET THE REAL-WORLD TONE OF THE MCU, AND HE CONTINUES TO ACT IN THE FRANCHISE AS HAPPY HOGAN. WITHOUT THE SUCCESS OF IRON MAN, THERE WOULD BE NO MCU. JOSS WHEDON THE FIRST PERSON TO BRING THE AVENGERS TOGETHER WAS WRITER/DIRECTOR WHEDON. THE FRANCHISE COULD STILL HAVE FALLEN APART IF THE BIG CROSSOVER DIDN’T WORK, BUT AVENGERS ASSEMBLE WAS A STONE-COLD TRIUMPH. JAMES GUNN THE BRIGHTLY-COLOURED, FUNNY, JUST PLAIN WEIRD GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY WAS A RISKY OUTLIER, BUT THANKS…

RHENZY FELIZ (ALEX WILDER) “Alex has a pretty good relationship with his family. But when that question is first posed, like: ‘What’s going on here?’ it's hard for him. He doesn't want to accept it. But at the same time, he is a very smart kid, so he’s more about the facts. He’s more about: ‘Let’s find out what's going on here…’” ALLEGRA ACOSTA (MOLLY HERNANDEZ) “Molly is passionate, so she goes by her gut feeling on a very strategical plan. She knows what she wants. But I think it’s already hard for Molly… It just comes as a shock. But you realise at a certain point in your life, unfortunately, that you have to grow up. So I feel like that’s what it comes to.” VIRGINIA GARDNER…

Details 15 // 90 mins // Out now Director John Krasinski Screenwriters Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, John Krasinski Cast Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe Distributor Paramount There’s been a lot of discussion about what makes a film ‘horror’ recently, but you won’t come away from A Quiet Place wanting to place it in any other genre. The third directorial effort from The Offi ce star John Krasinski (and his first genre movie) is a nerve-wracking experience that has a brilliantly simple pitch: if you make a sound, you die. Humanity has fallen to a race of monsters who use their incredible hearing to track their prey. Lee and Evelyn (Krasinski and real-life wife Emily Blunt) have managed to keep their family alive in a rural farmhouse by…

Details PG // 105 mins // Out now Directors Liang Xuan, Zhang Chun Screenwriter Liang Xuan Cast Ji Guanlin, Su Shangqing, Xu Weizhou, Yang Ting, Pan Shulan Distributor Manga Entertainment Directors Liang Xuan and Zhang Chun have been trying to put their feature animation together since 2004 and their passion is certainly evident on screen. Drawing on ancient Chinese mythology, Big Fish & Begonia is an ambitious and emotional tale. We’re told that there is a realm underneath the human world where magical beings spend their lives in harmony. As part of a coming-of-age ritual, adolescents are sent through a maelstrom into our world for seven days, living as dolphins and forbidden from interacting with people. But when a young man dies saving Chun from a hunter’s snare, she brings…

Details PG //105 mins //2017// • // Released 21 May Director Lee Unkrich Cast Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor Distributor Walt Disney Studios Home Now that Pixar seems to be famous purely for how good its films are (with only a few exceptions) the bar is raised higher with every new release. Its latest output Coco doesn’t only reach the bar; it effortlessly leaps over it without even breaking a sweat. Set in both Mexico and the afterlife, the film follows 12-year-old music lover Miguel Rivera as he’s accidentally transported to the Land Of The Dead after stealing a guitar from the mausoleum of his great-great-grandfather, renowned Mexican musician Ernesto de la Cruz. In order to return to the land of the living, Miguel…

Details 12// 82 mins // 2018// • // Released 14 May Director Junpei Mizusaki Cast Roger Craig Smith, Tony Hale, Grey DeLisle, Tara Strong Distributor Warner Home Video A time travel experiment by Gorilla Grodd has pretty cataclysmic consequences in this fascinating anime take on the Caped Crusader and his various friends and foes, who are transported back to Feudal Japan. Because of his physical distance from the event, Batman arrives after everyone else and finds that the supervillains have each staked a claim to different areas, with the Joker and Harley coming out on top. Getting home is a priority, but the tech that sent them back could have a terrible impact on their future… Director Junpei Mizusaki and character designer Takashi Okazaki are obviously having a fantastic time…

Details 15//111 mins//1997// // Released Out now Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa Cast Kôji Yakusho, Masato Hagiwara, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa, Yoriko Dôguchi Distributor Eureka Entertainment Genre fans will tell you that it’s hard to pin Kiyoshi Kurosawa down. He’s made some truly terrifying chillers, including the original Pulse (Kairo), and then he’s made affecting arthouse fare like Journey To The Shore and Tokyo Sonata. 1997’sCure is much closer to the former, a faintly meandering but totally compelling and deeply scary blend of police thriller and horror that is now available on home video in the UK for the first time thanks to Eureka Entertainment. Kôji Yakusho (13 Assassins) plays detective Keniche Takabe, tasked with investigating a string of grisly murders. None of the perpetrators have violent histories, but they felt compelled…

Details 12// 88 mins // 1975// // Released Out now Director Hua Shan Cast Danny Lee, Wang Hsieh, Terry Lau, Yan Man-tzu Distributor 88 Films With giant monster movies enjoying a Hollywood revival, 88 Films’ beautiful restoration of Shaw Brothers’ classic The Super Inframan is a blast of fresh air for everyone who’d rather be watching men in suits duke it out in choreographed fight sequences than CGI creations destroying cities. When Princess Dragon Mom and her mutant army attack Hong Kong, the fate of the world is in danger. Luckily, a professor has been working on a project to turn a man into a superhero, and Inframan is born. Aside from the Saturday morning pleasures of man-in-suit monsters, there’s a real energy and invention to Hua Shan’s ambitious adventure.…

Details PG //452 mins //2018// // Released Out now Creators Mark Hudis, Barry Sonnenfeld Cast Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Warburton, Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes Distributor Netfl ix Following a stunning first season, A Series Of Unfortunate Events needed to do something special for Season Two if it was to stand any chance of topping it. The latest episodes don’t reach that goal, instead offering more of the same. However, that’s no bad thing; it retains Season One’s whimsy and gothic flair, while bringing in a cast of new characters and unfortunate situations for the Baudelaires. Things get truly grim for Violet, Klaus and Sunny as the upsetting saga continues with ‘The Austere Academy’. Having spent Season One attempting to escape the clutches of Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris), the Baudelaires…

Details Author: GX Todd Publisher: Headline Price: £18.99 Released: 31 May The second instalment in GX Todd’s four-part The Voices series doesn’t waste any time hanging about, but readers may be surprised that the heroic Lacey isn’t there to greet them (for a little while at least). Instead, Todd switches focus and broadens the scope of her post-apocalypse world, introducing two groups of survivors who have the same goal. One is a collective of kindhearted souls led by Albus, who’s receiving visions from his sister Ruby of three women in need of his help and the horrors to come if they fall into the wrong hands. The wrong hands are being controlled by the malevolent voice we encountered at the end of Defender, who is just as determined and more…

Details Author: SJ Morden Publisher: Gollancz Price: £10.99 Released: Out now Given the choice between serving out a life sentence in prison or taking a high-risk job on Mars, which would you choose? For Frank Kittridge, it’s a no-brainer. He’s locked up on a murder charge, but leaving the planet offers him a chance to rebuild his life, maybe even win back the respect of his son. So he’s put through gruelling training and then shipped off to Mars – along with a team of other convicts, whose job it’ll be to construct a living facility before NASA arrives to take over. On Mars, everything goes wrong, because of course it does. The idea of sending a bunch of barely trained criminals to do the work of highly skilled astronauts…

 Details Author: RS Ford Publisher: Titan Books Price: £7.99 Released: 12 June “THE IMMEDIATE THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT A DEMON IN SILVER IS JUST HOW MUCH FUN YOU’RE HAVING” Magic has not been seen for over a century, but when a young woman, Livia, exhibits powers that she nor anyone around her understands, a chase ensues. Livia is sought by several factions, each with a vested interest in the farm girl. Among them is notorious mercenary Josten Cade, who becomes caught up with Livia’s plight. The immediate thing you notice about A Demon In Silver is just how much fun you’re having. RS Ford plunges you into the action with the rakish Josten and builds a world from there. It’s one which feels sprawling, with a weight of history behind…

Details Writer: Ed Piskor Artist: Ed Piskor Publisher: Marvel Comics Price:£16.99 Released: Out now “Dear Reader, I hope you enjoy this love letter. It was made with you in mind. Turn the page and enjoy.” So begins an astonishing journey through X-Men continuity as chewed up, regurgitated and reconstituted by comics mix-master Ed Piskor. As with Piskor’s Hip Hop Family Tree, a four-volume retelling of the wayward narrative that binds together hip-hop culture, this is formalised fandom – possibly the nerdiest, most obsessive project you’ll find on shelves this year. On first glance, this may seem a straightforward task. Surely this is a simple, linear, blow-by-blow account of events as originally told in every issue of X-Men, starting with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s influential 1963 origins, right? Not quite.…

“If this is my one superhero story, I’m happy with that.” Following his acclaimed and award-winning series Hip Hop Family Tree, indie comics artist Ed Piskor tackles the X-Men universe in his ambitious Marvel Comics project, X-Men: Grand Design. Covering decades of comics, Grand Design seeks to iron out hundreds of issues of continuity, incorporating iconic incidents, origin stories and spin-offs into one digestible timeline. On the phone from Pittsburgh, Piskor takes us behind the scenes of Grand Design, lets us in on his own X-Men origin story, and breaks down his unique approach to comics history. Where do you start with a project like this? And then how do you go about turning it into its own work? When I floated the idea to Marvel, I re-read everything. And…

Troma has long realised the need to sell audiences on excess even when the final film does not quite deliver. As such, the snore-inducing likes of Stuff Stephanie In The Incinerator (1989) and A Nymphoid Barbarian In Dinosaur Hell (1990) achieved rental success through gloriously misleading monikers (to put this into perspective – the latter title features no nudity or sex). However, when Troma picked up the downbeat psychological horror movie Combat Shock, wherein a Vietnam veteran with a baby who is deformed from Agent Orange exposure begins to lose his mind, the company realised it probably needed a slightly different spin on the picture in order to get people into the cinema. “American Nightmares was the original name and Troma wanted to change it to Combat Shock after they…

NEWTON HAVEN (THE WORLD’S END) 1 The end of the world begins with Newton Haven, spurred on by one group of friends’ innocent attempt to complete a pub crawl. ROYSTON VASEY (THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN) 2 Royston Vasey likes to keep to itself, which is best for all of us. It’s local town for local people, after all. COVINGTON (THE VILLAGE) 3 The residents of a 19th-century community in Pennsylvania are stalked by creatures that surround their home in M Night Shyamalan’s twisty psychological horror. HOGSMEADE (HARRY POTTER) 4 With lots of tourist spots, from the Shrieking Shack to the Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade is for everyone. It’s best explored in the snow, or under an invisibility cloak. DERRY (IT) 5 The Maine town of Derry has acted as the setting…

“It’s a scary ass film, I hate c kids, lol!” @Oldman980 “One of the best, most faithful and creepiest ptations of Wyndham’s work. Had the pleasure of saying this to one of the Midwich Cuckoos in person, Martin Stephens aka David Zellaby. Wyndham like King illustrates beautifullly how the ordinary deals with the extraordinary.” @kimnmilard “Scared me to death when I first saw as a Not much better now though, lol!” @AnthonyHerod “I really like this version of John Wynham s Midwich Cuckoos, his second best novel after The Day Of Triffi ds. The 1995 version was good, the sequel Children Of The Damned and the 1962 fi lm The Damned with Oliver Reed had much in common with these films, typical of the Sixties.” @ja1eg2eb3ge43 “Creepy as hell. But…

MANHUNTER 1. Who plays Will Graham to Brian Cox’s Hannibal Lecktor? 2. Which Scottish serial killer did Cox base his performance on? 3.In which year was Manhunter first released? 4. Who directed the film? 5. Which Thomas Harris novel is Manhunter based on? SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 6. Who directed The Silence Of The Lambs? 7. What is the real name of the serial killer known as Buffalo Bill? 8. Where is Hannibal Lecter being kept at the start of the film? 9. What does Lecter demand from Clarice Starling in exchange for clues about Buffalo Bill? 10. Who is Lecter following when he calls Starling from an airport in Bimini? HANNIBAL RISING 11. In which country is Lecter Castle located? 12. Who plays the character of Lady Murasaki in…