Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 156 i SciFi Now

It might not feel like it at the time of writing, but spring is just around the corner. Yes indeed, the cold weather is starting to be driven back and the sun will be coming out soon enough. Oh, don’t get us wrong, we don’t think it’s ever going to stop raining, but we’ll take the glorious sunshine of Shazam! as a stand-in for a little while. Yes, that was a tortured and tenuous link to our coverage of DC’s big bright comedy which promises to be their lightest movie yet. Shazam! certainly seems like it’s operating in a very different universe to the murky grimdark of Batman Vs Superman and the cast and director told us that this is pure wish fulfilment magic. There is something wonderful about the…

After the smash hit that was Thor: Ragnarok, you might have expected director Taika Waititi to start filling his dance card with blockbuster after blockbuster. Instead, he’s turned to TV. He’s executive producing the TV adaptation of his cult film What We Do In The Shadows – as well as directing a number of episodes – and is one of the directors who will be working on Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian. Despite once joking on Twitter that he’d be “fired within a week” if he was ever handed the reins of a Star Wars movie, he recently told us that he has indeed wrapped filming on The Mandalorian without being fired. “It was a dream come true to be immersed in the Star Wars universe and to get to just…

1 R-BOY When it comes to Neil Marshall’s take on Hellboy, a lot of fans are very excited about the fact that it’s rated R. Actor Alistair Petrie, who plays Osiris Club head Lord Adam Glaren, knows the weight R-rated films hold, and knows they mustn’t be taken lightly. “It frees you,” he tells us. “You’re not restricted by things that a) you can show, and b) things you can say… It frees the relatively dark things that the piece can examine. I would never call it a gratuitous R rating, an R rating for the sake of being an R rating.” 2 WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT DAVID Fans of Ron Perlman’s portrayal of Hellboy in Guillermo del Toro’s film version of the story are eager to see what…

Way back in 1982, Stephen King and George A Romero teamed up to terrify and delight horror fans with their throwback anthology chiller Creepshow. One pretty decent and one incredibly terrible sequel followed, and that seemed to be that… until the good folks at Shudder revived it for a brand-new TV series. Creepshow is masterminded by effects legend (and frequent Romero collaborator) Greg Nicotero who will also be directing a good chunk of the series. He will be joined behind the camera by the likes of Roxanne Benjamin (Southbound), David Bruckner (The Ritual), Rob Schrab (Community) and John Harrison, who scored and was first assistant director on the original film. The various stories come from a rogues’ gallery of awesome genre authors, including Joe Hill (NOS4R2), Joe Lansdale (Bubba Ho-Tep),…

JOKER (4 OCTOBER 2019) Director: Todd Phillips Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz Quick pitch: A stand-alone Joker origin story. Light or dark: We’d say pretty dark, going by the Gacy-esque clown make-up, psychological trauma and how serious the casting is. However, both reported main influences After Hours and The King Of Comedy are dark comedies and Phillips is an unpredictable directing choice… BIRDS OF PREY (7 FEBRUARY 2020) Director: Cathy Yan Stars: Margot Robbie, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor Quick pitch: Possibly R-rated Harley girl gang movie. Light or dark: It remains to be seen how much of David Ayer’s grim Suicide Squad stylings make it through but we’d put money on this being more of a blast. Everyone looked like they were having fun…

AS A SOCIETY, WE’RE NO STRANGER TO ALIEN INVASION. WHETHER IT’S A SNEAKY INFILTRATION OR AN EXTRAVAGANZA OF LASER BEAMS, WE’VE SEEN IT ALL BEFORE. But what we see less of is what comes next. What happens when the aliens have their feet under the table and human society has just… got used to them? That’s the subject matter explored in upcoming film Captive State, a thriller set ten years after an alien invasion in which the aliens won. “Society has sort of rebuilt itself and continues as normal,” director Rupert Wyatt tells us, “but there’s a key difference in that we are now living under a collaborating government, a puppet government.” Wyatt is no stranger to sci-fi; after all, he’s the man who relaunched and reinvigorated the Planet Of…

If there’s a face to Pet Sematary, it’s the golden-eyed stare of the Creed family cat Church. Ellie’s beloved pet is the film’s first victim of the road, and when he comes back, he’s significantly less friendly. Hissing, scratching, jumping, offering disembowelled small creatures as tribute… he’s essentially the nightmare version of the family feline, and while we have all seen this behaviour before, getting a cat to perform on cue isn’t the easiest task. “There were like six or seven cats,” Clarke remembers. “We had different cats for different scenarios, they all looked the same. There was your main cat which was your workhorse, your guy who’s the go-to cat in any situation. Then there was your scratching, swatting cat, the cat that would strike out on cue with…

Release Out now Directors Mike Mitchell, Trisha Gum Cast Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish Distributor Warner Bros Certificate U The first LEGO Movie may have a special place in your heart thanks to its catchy theme song, and the way it not only played with the father and son relationship but also reminded big kids about the effervescent power of imagination. The sequel moves the story on by toying with the sibling relationship as a brother and sister duel it out in a similarly creative way to deliver a fast-paced adventure through popular culture that explores the toxic effect of gendered marketing on young boys and girls. Leading off where the first film finished, a new type of toy is in town with Duplo bricks, assorted candy-coloured…

Release Out now Director Sam Raimi Cast Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley Distributor Studiocanal Certificate 15 Format There are people out there who might try and convince you that Evil Dead 2 is not the greatest film that has ever been made but why on earth would you listen to them? Sam Raimi’s horror comedy classic is every bit as anarchic, gleeful and as gory as you remember it being and it’s impossibly rewatchable too… Maybe it’s all the blood, maybe it’s the brilliant gags, or maybe it’s watching Bruce Campbell get hurled around the screen like a rag doll before he fixes a chainsaw to his hand and becomes a one-liner spitting icon. But you know all this. The question is: does Studiocanal’s new 4K release…

Release Out now Directors Phil Johnston, Rich Moore Cast John C Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P Henson Distributor Walt Disney Certificate PG Format When the steering wheel of Sugar Rush breaks, Ralph and Vanellope leave their retro arcade world behind and venture into the internet to try and buy a new one. In the digital world, the pair’s friendship is pushed to the limits, especially when Vanellope falls in love with gritty online game Slaughter Race. The film provides a fresh take on the characters and their computerised world, but where the first adventure concentrated on Ralph and his need to be accepted, the sequel takes a look at Vanellope and her need for adventure. With it comes an entertaining, often genuinely moving exploration of the power (and…

Release 25 March Director Wes Craven Cast Adrienne Barbeau, Louis Jordan, Ray Wise, Dick Durock Distributor 88 Films Certificate 15 Format While we wait to see how well the James Wan/Len Wiseman Swamp Thing TV series is going to turn out, it’s a great time to go back and take another look at Wes Craven’s cheerily eccentric 1982 movie. Swamp Thing ’82 has long enjoyed a reputation as something of a ‘good/bad’ classic and it’s easy to see why, as the master of horror delivers endless chases through the Carolina swamps, a preening villain and action sequences that feel like they belong in the Incredible Hulk TV show. While the most obviously ‘Wes Craven’ touch is the appearance of Last House On The Left’s Krug as the baddie’s chief heavy,…

Release Out now Showrunner Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler Cast Natasha Lyonne, Charlie Barnett, Yul Vazquez, Greta Lee, Elizabeth Ashley, Brendan Sexton III, Dascha Polanco Distributor Netflix Certificate 18 Format Amy Poehler, Natasha Lyonne and Leslye Headland take an idiosyncratic look at existentialism and what it means to be a good person in their new comedy-drama Russian Doll. When software engineer and recreational drug user Nadia Volvokov (Lyonne) leaves her birthday party early for a wild night with a stranger, the celebrations are cut short when she’s hit by a car and killed. To her surprise, she’s suddenly back at the same birthday party, staring into the same bathroom mirror, but alive. Things feel a little déjà vu-y as she leaves again, this time looking for her lost cat,…

1. The Bone Season “ The Bone Season by @say_shannon The sheer detail poured into her version of clairvoyance is mind blowing! #BookClub” @PasmineJalmer 2. Unheimlich Manouever “...by @TracyFahey beautiful heartbreaking supernatural stories. #BookClub” @GNHorror 3. The Copper Cat “...by Jen @ sennydreadful Williams. It is a rollicking good ride (BEST final scene EVER in my opinion). #BookClub” @andyangel44 4. The Beauty Of The Wolf “...by @ TheSallyGardner because we LOVE fairy tale retellings, particularly Beauty & the Beast retellings. #BookClub” @Cfpercy 5. Empire Of Sand “...by @ tashadrinkstea. Gorgeous novel and an emotional rollercoaster. #BookClub” @Blane_ Firewing…

“Shattermoon by @DominicDulley Tis very good so far.” #BookClub” @ Jerryturner262 “The audiobook version of @ StephenKing IT - listening on long bus ride to/ from work. Really into it, listening with eyes closed at one point and a person bumped me as they sat down and startled me. #BookClub” @ LangleyBoy37 “Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut as never read him before and he’d been recommended to me a lot. Very little to go and I’m disappointed to say I don’t get it at all. #BookClub” @ BritNightmares “Star Wars: Thrawn audio book, read by Marc Thompson. His impression of Emperor Palpatine is eerily uncanny. #BookClub” @ safcinexile “Kill River 2 from @lil_cam_ron great read so far. #BookClub” @ bloodyflicks “Terry Pratchett’s Thud! Only 70 pages in and I’ve already…

Release Out now Writer MT Hill Publisher Titan Books Price £8.99 Anyone looking to escape the grim reality of the state of the world should brace themselves before diving into MT Hill’s near-future SF. Although it does dart further into the future over the course of its story (and, at one point, into the sci-fi novel written by one of the characters), Zero Bomb begins in a ‘the future tomorrow’ time period of rolling terrible news, climate change, terror attacks, government oversight and post-Brexit collapse. Remi is struggling to cope with the recent death of his daughter Martha, deciding to abandon his wife and make his way to London to start again. He’s starting to have some semblance of a life when he’s attacked by a self-driving car, and approached…

I came to E Nesbit as a child, young enough that the differences between me and the children in her books seemed immaterial. Sure, they were white English Edwardian children in quaint dresses and sailor suits who talked casually about savages, and I was arguably one of the savages. But I was used to being a marginal presence in the books I read. It was what I had in common with Nesbit’s children that drew me in – their sense of fun; their thirst for excitement; their occasionally fractious, always entertaining relationship with their siblings. I also lived in a secure family environment inimical to adventure. And I too benefited from societal inequalities I only dimly understood – like Nesbit’s kids, my family had a servant, something not uncommon in…

It’s hard to believe, perhaps, that it has been 21 years since Ring (or Ringu to give the correct Japanese spelling) unleashed its ghoulish spell across audiences in the Far East before becoming a word-of-mouth sensation to horror-hounds all across the globe. The UK had to wait two years to see the motion picture, by which time fright-fans in Japan had already sat through two sequels across dual timelines (1998’s disastrous Rasen aka Spiral and 1999’s better-received Ring 2), a slick South Korean remake ( Ring Virus, released in 1999) and a prequel/genesis story Ring 0: Birthday (2000). Add to this mix two seasons of a tangentially-related Ring television series (airing in 1999), a cavalcade of cash-in titles, usually featuring a raven-haired ghost-girl from beyond the grave, and the renewed…

RING: KANZENBAN (CHISUI TAKIGAWA, 1995) The original, and actually probably the least seen, of the entire franchise – this made-for-TV effort, and close adaptation of the original Ring novel, can be found kicking around online. It is surprisingly sleazy, and quite nasty (including a rape scene) but for completists, it is worth seeing just to know how it all began… RING (HIDEO NAKATA, 1998) Merely one of the most influential and important horror titles of all time, this two-person creeper (literally, a husband and his ex-wife attempting to trace the genesis of a cursed videotape) is extremely stylish, scary and superbly executed. It is little wonder that this changed the face of J-horror overnight. Great use of sound too! SPIRAL/RASEN (GEORGE LIDA, 1998) Shot at the same time as the…

See how you did with our arbitrary scoring system 16-20 PAUL ATREIDES You are the chosen one. And like all chosen ones, you’re lightyears ahead of everyone else. Your superhuman powers and messiah-like qualities mean that no one stands a chance of reaching your level of awesome. 11-15 DUNCAN IDAHO As a fan favourite, everyone is always on your side, which makes competition a hell of a lot less daunting. A sword master and Duke Leto’s right-hand man, you’re always looking for a challenge and a chance to prove your worth. 6-10 BARON HARKONNEN As the big bad, no one likes you but you also don’t care. You’re disheveled and covered in pustules, and you break all the rules to get ahead. But you won’t get there any other way.…

So. We’re just over a month from the second half of the era-ending Avengers movie and good lord, they’ve been good at keeping things under wraps. Oh sure, we could break down that 30-second teaser until the cows come home (and we have, don’t get us wrong), but at this point, the only thing more powerful than the sense of ‘how they hell are they going to end this?’ is the real sense of dread that this could be the last time we see these characters who we’ve spent the last decade with……

EPISODE IX JJ Abrams’ closing chapter of the current trilogy will be arriving on 19 December 2019. CASSIAN ANDOR SERIES Rogue One’s Diego Luna will be reprising his role as the Rebellion spy in this live action series for Disney Plus, set before the events of Rogue One (for reasons that will be obvious to anyone who has seen the film). Whether any other Rogue One characters will be joining the series remains to be seen. RIAN JOHNSON TRILOGY Disney were so impressed with Johnson’s The Last Jedi that he’s been handed the reins of his own trilogy, which will be separate from the ‘Skywalker saga’. WEISS AND BENIOFF MOVIE SERIES Game Of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss have their next project lined up – a new series…

“It’s the ultimate wish fulfilment movie, really,” says director David F Sandberg. “Because what kid hasn’t dreamed about being like Superman? This is a kid who gets to basically be Superman.” While we’re afraid that is the only mention of the big blue boy scout that’s dropped into our chats with the team behind DC’s Shazam! (sorry, anyone hoping for a definite yes/no on a Cavill cameo), it’s that “gets to” part which is most important to focus on. We’ve already seen the DC movie universe pivot away from the glowering fury and suffering it chose to lead with. That shift began with Wonder Woman and there’s every indication that “more fun” is very much the tone they’re going for from now on (well, for the most part, more on…

WE ALL KNOW that Dwayne Johnson is an extremely busy man. He makes about five blockbuster movies a year, produces documentaries and TV series and inspires us all with his Instagram-ed cheat meals. With that being said, he’s also been attached to star as villain Black Adam since 2007 back when Peter Segal was going to direct a much earlier incarnation of Shazam!. That version died, but Johnson recommitted to the role back in 2014 and has been hyping it ever since… and we’re still waiting. It was confirmed some time ago that Shazam and Black Adam would make their debuts separately before clashing in a subsequent team-up, and Sandberg and Johnson have said that the villain won’t be appearing alongside Zachary Levi this time out (although there’s always the…

ANOTHER EARTH (2011) Marling broke out with this SF she co-wrote with director Mike Cahill. She stars as Rhoda Williams, a woman struggling with incredible guilt whose life changes when a seemingly exact copy of our Earth suddenly appears in the night sky. Is this the chance for a fresh start or the opportunity to repeat the same mistakes? SOUND OF MY VOICE (2011) The same year saw the release of her first feature collaboration with Zal Batmanglij. The film follows two documentary filmmakers who infiltrate a cult run by Marling’s mysterious mystic who claims to have travelled back in time from the future. It explores some similar themes to The OA but in a more traditional thriller context. I ORIGINS (2014) Marling was just on acting duties in Mike…

FULL HERO CLOVIS (Sleepwalkers) Stephen King’s deeply strange incestuous kinda-vampire horror sees good cat Clovis tear evil Charles Brady’s face to shreds. Good boy, Clovis. HEROIC WITH ATTITUDE THE CAT (Coraline) He’ll help Coraline Jones find a way to stop the Other Mother, but he’ll do so while giving the impression that he’s not particularly impressed. GOOD CAT Jiji (Kiki’s Delivery Service) Sassy cat Jiji is the adorable creature companion for teenage witch Jiji, and it’s profoundly upsetting when she can no longer understand him. NOT VERY HEROIC JONESEY (Alien/Aliens) Okay this shit-head isn’t really a villain but he’s responsible for getting Brett killed and basically the nail-biting last 20 minutes of Alien. VENGEANCE DRIVEN THE BLACK CAT Villainous? Maybe. Maybe not. In this often-filmed Poe tale, the black cat…

The reveal of Madam Satan’s true identity in the Season One-A finale was accompanied by the reveal of her true face, which Michelle Gomez was – and still is – hugely excited by. She tells us that the reveal involved two stages: one involving a prosthetic on her face, and one involving a full-head puppet of Madam Satan. “They put half a prosthetic on my upper face, from my nose to my forehead, which you couldn’t even see in close up because they’d done a full head wrap of me a few weeks before,” she tells us. “They also did makeup underneath the prosthetic on my face, so when I go to peel it off my forehead you can see all that green and black and horrible, revolting gunge underneath…

ULYSSES (AVAN JOGIA) Aimlessly drifting through his early 20s and prone to apocalyptic paranoia, Ulysses is obsessed with the beautiful Gabriel. “I’d never played a character with zero ambition,” laughs Jogia. “I mean he’s a sexual astronaut – that’s how I describe him. So, I think he’s exploring his sexuality and how we can interact inside the world. It was interesting to play someone who’s kind of stumbling and smiling, self-loathing and sexual exploration is so often hand-in-hand with guilt and it’s so nice to see the character’s just like ‘damn’!” CARLY (KELLI BERGLUND) Attending acting classes by day and camming by night, Carly is always there to bring Ulysses back to earth but is struggling to get invested in sex with her boyfriend. “What I…

PHILIP J FRY “Fry is pretty much my younger self. I was whiny and nasally and I was lucky to be able to dial it up in my dotage. I wanted to have a character that everybody could relate to and I thought my plain vanilla voice would provide that. It’s also a voice nobody can grab ahold of because it’s not cartoony. Other voices are so over-the-top that a lot of people can do them – I needed Fry to be a total departure. I wanted him to sound like he just happened to walk into everything.” PROFESSOR HUBERT FARNSWORTH “The idea of the Professor is that he was 147 years old and I thought God, if you’re 147, you’ve got to be rickety and wavering in your voice.…

DUMBO (Dumbo) All it takes is a magic feather, but never drink and fly… DONKEY (Shrek) Faith, trust and pixie dust! Now I’m a flying talking donkey! APPA (Avatar: The Legend Of Aang) Never let your size get in the way of your dreams. NATHAN PETRELLI (Heroes) Flying gets a lot easier when your loved ones’ lives depend on it. BUZZ LIGHTYEAR (Toy Story) It’s not flying. It’s falling, with style. SETH BRUNDLE (The Fly) Teleport yourself while there’s also a fly in the transmitter pod. You’ll probably be fine. PETER PAN (Hook) Just hold that happy thought.…

Release Out now Director Matthew Holness Cast Sean Harris, Alun Armstrong Distributor Spirit Entertainment Certificate 15 Format Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace creator Matthew Holness executes a drastic change of gears with his feature directorial debut, a grim tale of trauma and isolation that gets under your skin. Sean Harris is exceptional as Philip, a puppeteer who returns home after suffering some kind of disgrace. His unpleasant uncle Maurice (Alun Armstrong, similarly fantastic) is waiting for him, and there’s the terrifying puppet Possum in his suitcase who refuses to be disposed of… A sense of unease permeates the film as Holness uses cinematography, set design and a great score by the Radiophonic Workshop to create something that feels like a nightmare. His choices never feel like affectation. Instead we’re plunged into the…

Release 11 March Director Antonio Climati, Alain Deruelle Cast Marco Merlo, Fabrizio Merlo, May Deseligny Distributor 88 Films Certificate 15/18 Format 88 Films continues their mission to bring as many Euro cannibal schlock horrors to high definition as possibly with two very different picks. The first is The Green Inferno and it’s surprisingly fun. Sold as a Cannibal Holocaust sequel but completely unrelated, it follows a group of adventurers heading into the jungle to find a lost professor and upends a lot of the clichés in the process, and although it can’t help tipping into the schlock its audience demands in the second half, its sense of humour is very welcome. The same cannot be said of French effort Cannibal Terror which is painfully slow, mean-spirited and uneventful as one…

Release 26 March Writer Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy Publisher Rock The Boat Price £8.99 Just how far can swinging a magic sword get you in a futuristic dystopia where the galaxy is at the mercy of an all-powerful corporation? Pretty far, it turns out. Once & Future sees the latest incarnation of King Arthur embracing her destiny. After pulling Excalibur from a gnarled tree on the ravaged remains of Old Earth, Ari Helix awakens Merlin and summons Morgana, kicking off the whole familiar cycle all over again. But the details this time are different: Ari, Arthur’s human host, is a queer woman of colour, a refugee whose home planet has had a massive wall built around it; her Guinevere is the queen of a Renaissance fair-themed planet; and…

Release Out now Writer Justin Call Publisher Gollancz Price £14.99 Orphan Annev is training to become an avatar at the Academy, a prestigious role that is coveted by many but achieved by few. His mentor, a priest, counsels him against becoming too entrenched in the Academy workings however, due to a secret the boy carries. Annev just wants to be a hero, but as the two aspects of his life become more and more entwined, he finds himself following a path that points more towards him becoming the villain. And not just any villain, but a resurrected, vengeful god. At first glance, Master Of Sorrows seems doggedly conventional; a teenage boy comes of age with an elderly man as his mentor and an affinity with magic that has been outlawed…

Release Out now Writer Jenn Lyons Publisher Tor Price £16.99 Things aren’t looking good for Khirin when we meet him in Jenn Lyons’ fantasy. He’s in prison talking to a Talon, a demon with a taste for violence and a dark sense of humour, but as he begins to tell the story of how he got there, it’s clear that the teenager hasn’t had it easy… Lyons splits chapters between Khirin and Talon who are both relating his life from different starting points. He picks up with being bought by a shadowy group at a slave auction, while she begins with him working as a thief by night, brothel musician by day. It’s clear Khirin has a knack for getting into trouble and there’s a reason for it. See, it…

Although it did not last long, the period in which Sadako cursed Hollywood horror by making producers turn to teen-orientated terror offerings was not inconsiderable. Bolstered by the huge success of The Ring, in 2002, it soon seemed that every producer in LA was flying to Tokyo with a blank cheque book seeking to buy the rights to Anglicise the ‘next big thing’. Fast out of the gate was The Grudge, produced by Sam Raimi, in 2004. Closely adapted from Ju-on: The Grudge (2003), the film was remade by its own director, Takashi Shimizu, and scored almost $200 million on a $10 million budget. Rated PG-13, and marketed towards a young audience, it might have frustrated hardcore horror lovers, but it inspired a sequel (also from Shimizu, in 2006) and…

JOE DANTE “I’m devastated to report that one of my best friends and most treasured collaborators has passed away. I ‘grew up’ (kinda) watching Dick Miller in movies from the Fifties on and was thrilled to have him in my first movie for @RogerCorman… We hit it off and every script thereafter I always looked for a role for Dick – not just because he was my friend but because I loved watching him act! But he leaves behind over 100 performances, a bio and a doc – not bad for a guy who hardly ever enjoyed a starring role.” EDGAR WRIGHT “RIP Dick Miller, surely the king of character actors. A friendly, funny face in Gremlins (1 and 2), Piranha, the original Little Shop Of Horrors, Not Of This…

BEST FILM THE HOLE IN THE GROUND While Irish horror film The Hole In The Ground has been sweeping up great reviews left, right and centre, it’s also slowly been building up a solid portfolio of posters. This special edition one-sheet by Voidonauts is everything we love in a horror poster, which can loosely be summed up with the phrase ‘covered in hot pink’. However, the intensity of the hot pink (a usually fun party colour) isn’t so overwhelming as to upstage the poster’s grim sense of foreboding. RUNNER UP PET SEMATARY This creepy Pet Sematary poster is a wonderful homage to the old Stephen King book covers, but for the digital age. BEST OF TV WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS The latest poster for the What We Do…

Horror fans have been waiting a long time to see The Twisted Twins’ remake of David Cronenberg’s body horror classic Rabid. Jen and Sylvia Soska were brought on board back in early 2016 to find a new approach to the story of a woman who develops a monstrous secret after her treatment following a terrible accident, and now, finally, we’re only a few months away from its release. “Oh my, there is so much to look forward to,” enthuses Jen. “It’s a love letter to mister David Cronenberg and while we’re not fans of many remakes, we could not bear the thought of filmmakers who do not love or understand his work to touch the film. So, there’s a lot of love for not only the original but his entire…

HAVING MADE A name for himself as IT’s scene-stealer Eddie Kaspbrak, Jack Dylan Grazer is about to pull the same trick as Billy Batson’s superhero fanatic best bud Freddy Freeman. Possibly even more excited by Billy’s transformation than he is, Freddy is on hand to help him figure out his powers and share in the adventure. What jumped out at you about the character? He really spoke to me, I really related with him and his mannerisms and his interests and he was so fun. I just felt like that was a really easy character for me to play just because I related with him so much and I was really intrigued by him and excited to play him. Freddy obviously has a pretty extensive history [becoming Captain Marvel Jr…

FAWCETT COMICS The character of Captain Marvel, as he was originally called (well… technically, he was originally named Captain Thunder, but that name was already taken), was created by C C Beck and Bill Parker for Fawcett Comics back in 1939 and it ended up being the biggest-selling superhero comic book of its time, outselling even the likes Superman and also launching a number of spin-offs. However DC Comics, which back then was known as National Comics, sued Fawcett Comics for copyright infringement, claiming that Captain Marvel was, in fact, a rip-off of Superman. After 12 years of litigation and trials that could not actually reach a decision, Fawcett agreed to settle the case out of court, pay damages, and never publish Captain Marvel ever again. Though this was largely…

Earth is a mineral-rich planet with a pleasant climate and abundant resources, making it an appealing destination for both interstellar travellers and galactic conquerors alike. However, potential colonisers should be wary of Earth’s 7.5 billion human inhabitants, who can be extremely aggressive when provoked. However, if you manage to subdue them in the initial invasion, then you may find Earth to be a pleasant home away from home! Here are our steps to a successful occupation… STEP 1: PLAN YOUR ARRIVAL An accidental crash-landing can be turned into a victory, but it does put you on the back-foot, and you may find yourself confined to living on a reservation. When coming to Earth, you must remember the three Ps: Plan, Prepare, and Plan again! Similarly, if you are seeking asylum…

EVERYONE’S GOT A first Stephen King memory. Maybe it’s Pennywise the clown introducing himself to poor Georgie through a Derry storm drain or Jack Torrance stalking the corridors of the Overlook Hotel. It could be Carrie White taking revenge on the classmates who mocked her, or Paul Sheldon meeting his number one fan. The point is, there’s a chance that Pet Sematary wasn’t your first Stephen King but if you’ve read it, you’ve never forgotten it. The story of a family torn apart by grief and the terrible price they pay when trying to make it better was so grim that King initially decided against publishing it. Instead, it became one of his best-loved works, with the childish misspelling of the title belying the raw dread of the concept. “It’s…

When the trailer for Pet Sematary hit, it was revealed that a major change had been made to the story. In the novel, it’s toddler Gage who is killed and brought back by the dark powers of the burial ground. In the new version, it’s eight-year-old Ellie. “The switch was something that had already been in the script for a while before we came on board to direct, but honestly it was one of the things that really excited us,” Widmyer enthuses when we bring up the change. “You should try and switch things up and take chances as long as you’re sticking to the essence of the novel. For us, in the novel Ellie is the one that is asking about death. She’s the one who’s scared about the…

HOW DID SABRINA’S PARENTS DIE? Her mother might have moved on from Limbo, but the mystery surrounding Sabrina’s parents’ deaths persist. Were they murdered? Does it have something to do with Satan’s plans to turn Sabrina into his right-hand woman? And how exactly does Madam Satan feel about her Dark Lord’s growing interest in Sabrina? IS LUKE REALLY IN LOVE WITH AMBROSE? When Luke was first introduced, he was the audience’s chief suspect in the murder of a young warlock – and yet somehow he became Ambrose’s love interest, with a little help from one of Hilda’s love potions. Is Luke a murderer who has just been enchanted into loving Ambrose? WHAT IS DOCTOR CERBERUS? Hilda’s adorable new love interest, her manager at the book shop/café where she works, was…

“THAT’S THE BEST!” laughs writer-director Nicolas Pesce. “My favourite movies are the ones where half the audience is cracking up and half the audience is thinking that they’re insane for laughing.” We’ve just told the man behind Eyes Of My Mother and Piercing about the awkward fits of giggles that echoed around the FrightFest screening of his new movie, which stars Christopher Abbott and Mia Wasikowska as a man who plans to murder a prostitute and the sex worker who has her own dark secrets to bring to the table. It’s extremely twisted, very funny and totally unpredictable and it’s sure to be a midnight favourite. AFTER AUDITION Piercing is based on a novel by Ryu Murakami, the Japanese author who also penned the source material for Takashi Miike’s…

It’s no secret that Futurama was packed with more brains than one of its mind-controlling Brain Slugs but as series co-developer David X Cohen reveals, its smart thinking ran deeper still – even spanning hidden languages. “It was a lesson we learned from The Simpsons,” he reveals. “It was one of the first shows – if not the first show – to put jokes on signs, and in Futurama, we thought we’d cash in on that. The clearest example being the alien language that we made which started in the pilot. It was a replacement code where there was a different symbol for each letter but we didn’t give away the key.” Astute viewers picked up on Futurama’s secret language and made short work of it but Cohen and his…

Release 29 March Director Jonas Åkerlund Cast Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen, Jack Kilmer Distributor Arrow Films Certificate 18 Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund comes well-equipped with knowledge of the music industry from working with the likes of The Prodigy, Madonna, Lady Gaga and Rammstein. He was also the drummer in Swedish black metal band Bathory back in the early Eighties, just around the same time the infamous Euronymous began his quest to create a pure Norwegian black metal scene with his band Mayhem. It all ended in disaster and Åkerlund turns his life story into a bloody, eye-opening horror film about toxic masculinity. The film earns its 18 certificate with stomach turning, explicit sequences of extreme violence, while at the same time cannily satirising the scene through the band members’ exceptionally…

Release 11 March Director Julius Avery Cast Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Pilou Asbaek, John Magaro, Mathilde Ollivier Distributor Paramount Pictures Certificate 18 Format War movies can get a bad rap for being stuffy. It’s not their fault; most are based on straight history so there’s only so much they can switch up. Thankfully, Overlord takes creative liberties as it follows four American soldiers tasked with destroying a German radio tower. During the mission, they stumble across horrific human experiments being carried out at its base, which make subjects super strong, durable and savage. The film delivers on gore – there’s a screaming severed head and a Nazi scientist running around with half his face blown off – and the best thing about it is how realistic it looks. Many of…

Release Out now Director Chee Keong Cheung Cast Oris Erhuero, Katarina Leigh Waters, Carlos Gallardo Distributor 101 Films Certificate 18 Format Blood runs freely in this ambitious and over-extended zombie action movie, which is pushing so hard for an epic feel in every department but ends up overwrought and overlong. Still, things do get off to a rather promising start as a squad of badass international soldiers enter quarantined South East England to find the only scientist who might have a cure for the zombie plague. Director Chee Keong Cheung has energy to spare and creates some eye-catching and extremely gory set-pieces early on, but there is just not enough story here to keep the engine running. The film has far more success with the quirky little details than the…

Release 8 April Director Jeannot Szwarc Cast Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer Distributor Final Cut Entertainment Certificate PG Format Those familiar with Richard Matheson’s more doom-laden work may be surprised by this gentle, affecting love story which he adapted from his own novel. While Somewhere In Time is considerably sweeter than some of the I Am Legend author’s best-known work, it still has a classic Matheson hero at its centre in playwright Richard Collier (Christopher Reeve) who is trying to travel through time to 1912 and the beautiful actress Elise McKenna (Jane Seymour). Reeve is well-cast in the lead, ably conveying Richard’s square-jawed determination as well his giddy romanticism and making a delightful pairing with Seymour, whose guarded actress begins to like the idea of a life of her…

Release Out now Writer Nina Allan Publisher riverrun Price £14.99 ‘Unclassifiable’ can be a lovely thing. It’s easy to understand why we’re always in such a rush to put stories into a genre, and then a sub-genre, whether you’re a publisher, reviewer or a fan, but there’s something wonderful about taking a step into an uncertain world. Especially when you’re in the hands of someone as capable as Nina Allan. While her last two novels, The Race and The Rift, could be classed as science fiction without too much of a stretch, The Dollmaker is different. There’s more than a touch of Angela Carter to it, for sure, but Allan is absolutely not limiting herself to one touchstone here. It’s a fascinating blend that seems so varied that it’s initially…

Release 12 March Writer Sarah Maria Griffin Publisher Titan Books Price £8.99 There’s something lurking behind the wallpaper at the house on Iona Crescent. Something dark. Something hungry. When 14-year-old twins Mae and Rossa first go to stay with their great-aunt Rita and her gorgeous (but terrifying) ward Bevan, they are drawn into a web of magic and heartbreak. And though they thought they had escaped, it comes back to haunt them again three summers later, as the darkness really sinks its claws in. If Sarah Maria Griffin’s previous novel, Spare And Found Parts, was a smart, futuristic take on Frankenstein, Other Words For Smoke could be read as a witchy, feminist response to Alan Garner’s The Owl Service. They share a kind of delirious creepiness, both evoking the wooziness…

Release Out now Writer Samantha Shannon Publisher Bloomsbury Circus Price £16.99 Samantha Shannon’s latest, The Priory Of The Orange Tree, is set in a world divided by religion. In Virtuedom in the West, they believe in the Saint and vilify all draconic beings. They are led by Queen Sabran, who is under pressure to make an advantageous marriage and secure the Berethnet line with an heir. In the East, they worship water dragons and are protected by the Dragon Riders. As the old threat of the Nameless One arises, four people – Ead, Loth, Niclays and Tané – find themselves swept up in conspiracies, alliances, and the legends on which their respective faiths are founded. Shannon’s novel is striking in the level of detail she brings to the fictional world…

Having delivered a dazzling new spin on the Frankenstein story with the superb Spare And Found Parts, author Sarah Maria Griffin has turned her attention to another classic genre with her skin-crawling horror Other Words For Smoke. It follows twins Mae and Rossa, who return to the house on Iona Crescent three years after spending an unforgettable and dangerous summer there with their great-aunt Rita and her ward Bevan. Whatever it was that frightened them has only grown stronger in their absence… Your first book wasn’t exactly ‘genre’ but you’ve moved into it with your last two. What draws you to horror? So, my first book was a collection of weird essays about my first year living in America – one year out of three spent there. I write non-fiction…

Two outsiders begin a tentative written relationship in Nina Allan’s latest novel The Dollmaker. Andrew and Bramber share a passion for dolls, and when he finds out her remote home is actually a mental institution, he sets out to rescue her while reading the short stories of her beloved dollmaker Ewa Chaplin. The novel’s split between Andrew’s narration, Bramber’s letters and Ewa’s stories and is a beguiling blend of genres. We spoke to Allan about how it came together... How did The Dollmaker first come about? I first had the idea for The Dollmaker more than a decade ago. I wrote a rough draft and then laid it aside. Bramber’s story especially was still not entirely clear to me, and I knew I could not, at that point, bring the…

Perhaps even more evocative and eerie than Ring, when Hideo Nakata helmed Dark Water in 2002 he certified himself as one of the leading faces of international fear cinema (a title he’s sadly since scrambled to keep a grasp on). Telling the story of a single mother, who begins to experience a strange leakage in her Tokyo apartment from the flat above, Dark Water remains the finest moment of the golden age of J-horror. “It was not a big budget film,” says the director. “I was lucky to have Hitomi Kuroki as my actress in Dark Water. She had sharp eyes and looked a little boyish. She had a vulnerable presence and the audience related to her. Just as with Ring, it was a ghost story so not entirely realistic.…

Alien has long been a stone-cold classic and left a major imprint on scifi and horror movies since its release in 1979. Its glorious, immersive cinematic genius and legacy is still continuing to this day, with a franchise that has spawned eight films including prequels and crossovers with the Predator. Tom Skerritt who played Dallas, the captain of the doomed Nostromo that set out on a fateful mission 40 years ago zips us back to the late Seventies to describe his experiences on set. He chats to us about his time spent watching Ridley Scott in action, how the film came together, his reaction to that iconic chestburster scene and Jones the cat. What was your first encounter with Ridley Scott like? I don’t honestly remember when or where we…

THE RIPLEY-ESQUE HEROINE Though it’s taken Hollywood years to catch up with the fact that women are beings with agency and the ability to fight the worst kinds of evil there have been some great examples over the last few decades who have taken matters in to their own hands and battled with monsters to save the day. Sarah Connor is a great warrior in a similar vein with more recent examples including Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil and the entire female cast of Annihilation. HR GIGER STYLE MONSTER Since HR Giger won an Oscar for his visual effects and design work in 1980, there have been many imitators who have paid homage or simply ripped off his Lovecraftian meld of man and machine. The spiky, large incisors, the black,…

When Dutch director Paul Verhoeven let RoboCop roam the dystopian city streets of Detroit in 1987, the result was a smart satire on corporate greed, consumerism and rebirth that explored a cyborg super cop’s lingering humanity. It became an instant science fiction classic. When a sequel was greenlit and Verhoeven passed, there was seemingly only one man suited for the job – the same filmmaker that George Lucas had appointed to expand his Star Wars universe a decade earlier. “ The Empire Strikes Back was a broader adventure that introduced all new characters, so your mind went wider as opposed to just going again,” considers Mark Irwin, who was the cinematographer on RoboCop 2. “Irvin Kershner wasn’t afraid of the rules… the first RoboCop laid it all out and so…

Deemed ‘unfilmable’ by producers and studio executives, Frank Miller’s original script for RoboCop 2 was subsequently rewritten by The Wild Bunch scribe Walon Green before making it to the silver screen. Nevertheless, in 2003-2006 thanks to Avatar Press, the famed creator behind The Dark Knight Returns had his original vision for the sequel transformed into a nine-part comic book series entitled Frank Miller’s RoboCop. Very much a product of its time, Miller’s comic rages against corporate Eighties America, with all the custom bloody carnage retained from the original film. Front and centre is a psychiatrist, in the mould of Faxx, with a preoccupation to tackle Detroit’s violence via conformity. Just like in the movie she sees a criminal sociopath as an ideal candidate for ‘RoboCop 2’ as appose to a…

DO YOU REMEMBER EVERYTHING ABOUT DAVID LYNCH’S DUNE, OR ARE YOU AWAITING THE REMAKE FOR A RECAP? FIND OUT WITH OUR QUIZ! SAND PAPER 1. What is the real name of the desert planet that is also known as ‘Dune’? 2. What is the name of the powerful poison used by the Bene Gesserit to help induce their abilities? 3. What are Weirding Modules? 4. What is the commonly used nickname for the drug melange? 5. Which of the following is not given to melange users as a result of taking the drug: a) a longer life span, b) heightened vision, or c) expanded consciousness? SANDWICH 6. Who rules the universe at the start of the film? 7. What is the name of the organisation involved with interstellar travel and…