Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 168 i SciFi Now

You can’t keep a good monster down. Back in 2017, the failure of Universal’s The Mummy was so widely reported on that it seemed like the studio’s icons were down for the count; that photoshopped image of Hollywood stars and that logo destined to be a reminder of not counting your franchise chickens before they hatch. But nothing ever really dies in Hollywood. Tom Cruise sprinted from the wreckage back into the welcoming arms of the Mission Impossible franchise and doubled down by getting that Top Gun sequel made. Alex Kurtzman, who seemed to come out best in the reports of production chaos by virtue of not being in control of the mess, went back to TV and steadied the ship of Star Trek: Discovery before helping to launch Picard.…

Batman Robert Pattinson The High Life star was cast as Batman last year – to his own surprise, as much as everyone else’s – and he’s been in fight training to get in shape for the role. His Batman is much earlier on in his career than Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight, and it’s currently unclear whether R-Batz is in fact a younger version of Batfleck. The film is rumoured to take place in the Nineties, so...maybe? Alfred Pennyworth Andy Serkis Given that Serkis has worked with director Reeves before, it’s not a huge surprise that the actor is coming on board as Alfred. Equally adept at comedy, drama, and being a complete psycho, his Alfred could go in literally any direction. Commissioner Gordon Jeffrey Wright The Westworld star is taking…

1 RETURNING TO BRITANNIA Without going into spoilers for those who’ve only seen the first season, Worthington-Cox tells us where Britannia’s second picks up with her character, Cait, the young Cantii woman on the run and on the cusp of her own future: “Two years have passed since the first season. When we find Cait at the beginning of Season Two, she’s been on a gruelling journey trying to figure out how she fits into this prophecy she’s been told she’s part of. She continues that journey over the course of Season Two, going through many trials, coming up against many challenges, all trying to figure out who she is.” 2 GROWING UP Worthington-Cox has loved playing Cait across multiple seasons, with a third on the way. “I think the…

Welcome, scientists! It’s a packed day, here’s your guide to our incredible roster of guest speakers! 9am - Breakfast 10am - Me and my robot shadow – Dr Otto Octavius will be talking us through the unique relationship he formed with his mechanical appendages since they were fused to his body. He is aware of his nickname, please refrain from mentioning it. 11am - Signings 11:30am - Across space and time – We are very excited about this meeting of minds! Dr Emmett Brown and Dr Seth Brundle will be joining us for a fast-paced chat about relocating matter through time travel and teleportation. 1pm - Lunch 2pm - Lose yourself – Our keynote speaker for this event is Jack Griffin, who promises a frank chat with our old friend…

The Witcher: Season One Toss a coin to your Witcher! Release Out now Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich Cast Henry Cavill, Anya Charlotra, Freya Allan, MyAnna Buring, Jodhi May Distributor Netflix Certificate 15 Format By the time you’ve read this review, chances are high that you’ve binged The Witcher, got the song stuck in your head, enjoyed the memes and are by now possibly quite sick of it. It’s interesting that the adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s books got a moderate kicking from early reviews, many of which compared it unfavourably to Game Of Thrones, only to go on to be a massive hit. Because we don’t need every fantasy show to be Game Of Thrones. Sometimes we need them to be fun. On the downside, much of The Witcher’s plotting is…

“Just finished Babel 17 which was really good. Now reading The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch which is beginning to take off after a bit of a slow start. #BookClub” @AKAPaoloVerdi “Just getting to the end of The Unspoken Name by @AKLarkwood. Excellent world building and storytelling. A stunning debut. #BookClub” @andyangel44 “Just started Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I’m already enjoying it but it’s quite the chunker. #BookClub” @PasmineJalmer “The Hero Of Ages (Mistborn book 3) and GODDAMN if Brandon Sanderson is not bloody excellent at what he does. #BookClub” @Pugzly101 “Starting new 2020 reading with the supernatural chiller Cribbins by@RachaelHD. Some good detail and atmosphere so far. #BookClub” @ParsonsFiction “Reading The Lost War by @authorjla, really enjoying it so far! Only about a third of the way through,…

Although the story of Kayako and her deadly son are wholly original, The Grudge has its basis in one of Japan’s oldest tales of revenge-from-beyond-the-grave: The Ghost Story Of Yotsuya In Tokaido – which dates back to the play from Tsuruya Nanboku IV, written in 1825 (just four years before the author’s death). This was the landmark story that introduced the idea that someone’s spirit would be in a state of unrest if their worldly body was murdered. It is from this basic setting that the original Japanese horror film classics, such as the famous Kaneto Shindo-helmed black-and-white masterpieces Onibaba (1964) and Kuroneko (1968), achieved their narrative skeleton – and ultimately led the way to more modern hits such as The Ring, in 1998, and The Grudge. “The Grudge was…

For those of us who saw Event Horizon on the big screen or rented the VHS from Blockbuster, the idea that this is the kind of film that doesn’t get made anymore is still hard to get your head around. Still, it’s been 23 years since the big-budget sci-fi horror burst onto screens to a muted (to put it kindly) critical response and disappointing box office receipts, and since then those of us who crave a giant gory gothic horror set in space have been increasingly starved for content. But nostalgia isn’t the only reason why Paul WS Anderson’s film has retained its cult classic status. It’s not flawless, we wouldn’t make that claim, but it’s got a great concept, a fantastic cast, a brilliant practical set, gruesome gore effects…

“Technology isn’t really effective, it doesn’t really expose its true meaning […] until it’s been incorporated into the human body,” says writer-director David Cronenberg during the 2004 DVD commentary track to his 1983 psychological horror Videodrome. Decades before the advent of interactive Smart TV, virtual reality and the mainstream internet, the ‘king of venereal horror’ conceived this nightmarish and highly prescient foresight into how media technology could ultimately invade our bodies and our minds. The film centres on Max Renn (James Woods) a jaded cable TV station executive who yearns for edgier, hard-hitting content but gets more than he bargained for after intercepting a pirate signal that broadcasts a sadomasochistic subterranean TV show dubbed Videodrome. As Max becomes infatuated by the brutal torture broadcasts, he is seeped into and becomes…

Q. Who, or indeed what, is your favourite horror movie or TV monster, villain or creature? JONATHAN HATFULL EDITOR A. The Thing A cheat given that it turns its hosts into a whole range of gooey monstrosities, but man is the warmest place to hide. ABIGAIL CHANDLER DEPUTY EDITOR A. The Gentlemen from Buffy They scared the bejeesus out of me. It’s the smiling and polite clapping that gets me. POPPY-JAY PALMER NEWS EDITOR A. Audrey II from Little Shop Of Horrors He’s a mean, green mother from outer space and he’s bad. MARCUS FAINT ART EDITOR A. Annie Wilkes Frightened me away from my dream of being a successful writer... my troubles with punctuation di’dnt help either RACHAEL HARPER SUB EDITOR A. Count Dracula…

DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Everyone, let’s stand up and give the Legends Of Tomorrow a round of applause. The new season of the Arrowverse’s most delightful show may have been seriously delayed on its way to the UK, but this throwback one-sheet is a beautiful demonstration of why you can’t keep these heroes down. It’s a riot of eras and styles, encompassing all the storytelling possibilities on offer. Plus, there’s camp counsellor John Constantine looking particularly Eighties, and who can argue with that? GRETEL & HANSEL It’s the little details that make this one-sheet so chilling. The shoes caught in the branches, the children watching Sophia Lillis… BACURAU We love an art poster. The reds speak to the fervent political commentary in the film and there aren’t enough posters with…

What other franchises does Jason Blum have in his sights? With Halloween officially saved and the Universal Monsters overhaul in progress, we take a look at the other horror series that Blumhouse has been sniffing around… Scream Now that the TV series has officially died a death, could there be another life for the Wes Craven-Kevin Williamson Nineties meta classic? More importantly, would we want one that wasn’t directed by Wes? I Know What You Did Last Summer Hollywood’s continued insistence that this is worth reviving suggests that someone somewhere has a decent take on the forgettable slasher (Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy wrote a script back in 2014). But who knows? Hellraiser There have been so many attempts at rebooting the franchise over the years, but Dimension chose to…

Our totally accurate personality test will tell you how you can expect to fare during an alien invasion – or any other apocalyptic event CROWDS ARE FLEEING FROM A DISASTER. DO YOU... A. GET OUT OF THE STAMPEDE AND RUN FOR COVER. B. ZIGZAG DOWN THE STREET SCREAMING. C. CURL INTO A BALL AND CRY. SHOPS ARE BEING LOOTED. WHAT DO YOU LOOT FIRST? A. FOOD AND FUEL. B. GO NUTS AT SELFRIDGES. C. LOOTING IS ILLEGAL, SO YOU STAY INDOORS. YOU HAVE BECOME AWARE OF AN ENEMY PICKING OFF SURVIVORS. DO YOU: A. OBSERVE THEM AND STRATEGISE, WAITING FOR YOUR MOMENT. B. RUN AT THEM WITH A BIG STICK. C. BEG THEM FOR YOUR WORTHLESS LIFE. Mostly As: YOU’RE A BORN SURVIVOR. NICE WORK. Mostly Bs: YOU’RE A PANICKER.…

THE ANIARA - INFINITE DELAYS We regret to inform passengers that due to an unexpected collision with debris, the Aniara’s course has been altered. However, our captain assures us that there is hope of rescue. Passengers are encouraged to use our Earth memory AI Mima to alleviate depression. UPDATE: Our Earth memory AI Mima is no longer operational due to self-termination. THE NOSTROMO – CANCELLED Businesses awaiting ore cargo from the USS mining ship Nostromo please note that the ship has self-destructed. We believe this to be due to the rogue actions of one Warrant Officer and has nothing to do with any xenomorphs. Rest assured that we are tracking the progress of the one lifeboat that was launched. UPDATE: Colonial marines please report to the Sulaco for…

Having wowed readers with his Southern Reach trilogy (the first of which was adapted into Alex Garland’s Annihilation), author Jeff VanderMeer has seen a change in the descriptors of his novels in the last few years. Suddenly, his tales of a scorched future in which mankind has tortured nature to the point that it fights back violently aren’t that weird… With Dead Astronauts, VanderMeer returns to the world of his novel Borne, a time-slipping marvel that follows characters as they battle against The Company. Did you always know that you’d return to the world of Borne? No, but even as I was finishing up Borne, the three dead astronauts nagged at me. They lodged in my imagination like a question and I couldn’t get them out. How did this story…

Everyone, of course, knows The Grudge, as well as Hideo Nakata’s hit twosome of The Ring and Dark Water, but the glory days of J-horror (probably from Sadako’s first appearance in 1998 through until the end of the Noughties) gave fans of the form a lot more to groove to. Some of the series that emerged have been difficult to keep up with – with Tomie (which appeared in 1999 from Ataru Oikawa) spawning seven sequels and a TV spin-off, most of which are unavailable outside of Japan – but perseverance is the key to find some of the less known gems. Undoubtedly Ju-on’s success in 2002 began to shape the scene – although the curious should look out for Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse (2001), which was a massive hit in…

DAMIEN THORN (THE FINAL CONFLICT) An early Hollywood role for Sam, as he starred as the grown-up version of the Antichrist in the Omen threequel. His hissing about the Nazarene is delightful. MARK (POSSESSION) We should be clear and state that Isabelle Adjani is the star of Possession and her performance is an all-timer, but Neill is wonderful as her keening, desperate husband, jealous of a tentacle monster. DAVID JENKINS (MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN) John Carpenter’s family-friendly romantic comedy adventure take on the HG Wells classic is mostly forgettable, but Neill is perfectly smooth as the evil government operative. JOHN TRENT (IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS) Carpenter’s last great movie allows Neill to go from confident investigator to raving lunatic in an extremely meme-friendly performance. “I’m sorry about the…

SEDUCTIVE TELEVISION When Debbie Harry’s lips emerge out from within a TV screen urging James Woods to plunge his head inside her televised mouth; it lent new meaning to the term TV consumption. PULSATING VIDEO Another defining moment that is a credit to special physical effects maestro Rick Baker is when the cherished Betamax video cassette that Max is holding pulsates to life in his hand. TORSO TERROR One moment you’re innocently sitting on the settee watching TV, the next your torso mutates into a disturbing vaginal slit for video cassette insertion. All part and parcel of a David Cronenberg body horror flick. FLESH GUN Another credit to the power of Eighties creative physical effects is the one-shot sequence where Max’s revolver sprouts metal rods and fuses into his wrist…

UNLIKE PREVIOUS SEASONS, which have typically centred on just one of the best-selling novels in which the show is based, Outlander’s eagerlyanticipatedfifth instalment is set to blend two; introducing elements of the sixth book, A Breath Of Snow And Ashes, as the series covers number five, The Fiery Cross, in its entirety. “We knew we were going to move the timelines around,” explains Caitriona Balfe, who plays history-hopping, former combat nurse Claire Randall. “I think, with our show, the unique thing – well, I suppose not that unique – is that we have a very clear blueprint with the books.” But Balfe’s co-star Sam Heughan, who plays her onscreen husband Jamie, is quick to note that while Season Five does “stick close” to the literature, it has a few tricks…

“It definitely wasn’t something that I approached anyone with,” laughs Leigh Whannell. “I had no burning desire to make an Invisible Man movie at all.” Before we all get a little affronted on behalf of Dr Griffin, the legacy of Universal monsters, the spirit of HG Wells and mad scientists/people who drink experimental chemicals without testing them everywhere, it should be noted that Whannell’s mind wasn’t exactly on the horror genre in early 2019. The writer of Saw and Insidious had moved into the sci-fi action genre with his barnstorming second directorial effort Upgrade, and he tells us that he had his eye on more explosions, not chills. “I had been well and truly bitten by the action movie bug,” he enthuses. “Designing car chases and fight scenes is very…

The reintroduction of the Borg meant that one character in particular was on course for a return: Jeri Ryan’s Seven Of Nine, although the character has undergone some changes in the last 20 years. So much so that “when the first script finally came out I panicked,” Ryan admits. “Abject terror. I couldn’t hear her voice, because it was so different, it was so much more casual, more slangy. She was so specific for those four years on Voyager. She had changed and she had grown, of course, but she was still very stylised in her speech patterns and her physicality and all of that. And this was so entirely different and I absolutely panicked… She was a cool character, but I didn’t want it to be a different character…

Ruby Sparks The Manic Pixie Dreamgirl trope is ripped to absolute shreds in Zoe Kazan’s refreshing feature debut screenplay, in which she herself stars alongside her long-term partner, Paul Dano. The idea of the dream girl who was born only to serve her man and keep him happy, and brought to life by a writer was also seen in the 1960 episode of The Twilight Zone: ‘AWorld of His Own’. Child’s Play Evil dolls and puppets have always been a mainstay in the horror genre. This is never more apparent than in the Eighties when Brad Dourif provided the menacing growl for serial-killer doll Chucky in the classic film, Child’s Play. His phrases bear an uncanny resemblance to the 1963 Twilight Zone episode, ‘Living Doll’, where a terrifying toy repetitively…

47 Metres Down: Uncaged Outside the box Release Out now Director Johannes Roberts Cast Sophie Nélisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju, Sistine Rose Stallone Distributor Altitude Film Entertainment Certificate 15 Format Following the surprise success of the low budget ‘shark movie without that much shark’ 47 Metres Down, returning director Johannes Roberts has clearly been given more to play with in this unrelated follow-up, although a disappointing US box-office haul means it’s straight to DVD over here. The set-up is bigger, as four teenage girls go diving in a recently discovered Mayan cave only to discover a blind hungry Great White lurking amongst the ruins. There are a couple of incidental randos to be chomped, the sharks are on display more (although the CGI occasionally suffers from over-exposure), and there’s a…

The Grip Of It “The Grip Of It, by Jac Jemc. Fantastic haunted house narrative, one of the best I’ve read since The Haunting Of Hill House. #BookClub” @lhbizness Night Train “Night Train by @quantick gripping with a narrative reveal that keeps you guessing as to what is going on. #BookClub” @GNHorror The Plague Stones “The Plague Stones by @skippybe Folk horror at its finest with a satisfying backstory and characters you can root for. #BookClub” @Rozza1210 Carrie “I recently read Carrie after only having seen the films and they don’t do it justice. The book is miles better. #BookClub” @garyjs7 Ghoster “Ghoster by @JasonArnopp A haunted mobile phone - what’s not to love? #BookClub” @andyangel44…

JU-ON: THE CURSE (TAKASHI SHIMIZU, 2000) This is where The Grudge begins, with murdered housewife Kayako. The highlight is seeing future starlet Chiaki Kuriyama – from Battle Royale and Kill Bill – although she has little screen time and does not even remember making the movie! JU-ON: THE CURSE 2 (TAKASHI SHIMIZU, 2000) The continuation of the events introduced in the previous movie as well as some threads that establish the basis of the 2002 mega-hit. The first two films in this franchise are very cheap efforts which were made for the Japanese DVD market. JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (TAKASHI SHIMIZU, 2002) A well-performed and narratively curious haunted house movie – with a genuinely spine-tingling villain in the ghoulish Kayako and her son Toshio, we would argue that this trendsetting terror…

”Renewed respect for the universe. Also haunted me for a while. I still worry about Miller.” @fiona_rodrigo “Still scarred by *that scene* after all these years.” @FilmLandEmpire “I absolutely adore it. Mixing my two favourite genres into one epic movie!” @SongWarmonger “Loved it. Takes the haunted house story, sticks it in space and throws in some genuine scares and unsettling imagery. Quality cast too.” @TheBozDog “I love every silly frame of that movie.” @DirRobSavage “Fantastic. Some great production design and some super-creepy moments. Also! Laurence Fishburne’s reaction to *that* video.” @pickassoreborn “Love it. Wish so much hadn’t been cut, but then again, perhaps not seeing helped.” @LegendandLore “Incredible... up until the final 20 minutes or so.” @FuriousDee “Event Horizon is a great horror/sci-fi film, full of gross-out gore, and the…