‘Cannibal cat-people from outer space!’

Corpse Grinders II – aka The Corpse Grinders II – is a 2000 American science fiction horror film written, produced, photographed, edited and directed by Ted V. Mikels (Blood Orgy of the She-Devils; The Astro-Zombies). The TVM Global Entertainment production stars Sean Morelli, Andy Freeman and Chuck Alford.

The film is obviously a belated sequel to Mikels’ The Corpse Grinders (1971)

Landau and Maltby, the nephews of the original owners of Lotus Cat Food “For cats who love people” start up the family business again. Duplicated from the original are the nurse and doctor characters as well as the greedy grave digger and his wacky wife. What’s added to the mix in this sequel are cat-like aliens!

Reviews:

In The Corpse-Grinders 2, Ted V. Mikels takes the plot of the first movie – and I mean the exact plot of the first movie – and makes one crucial change. Instead of all of the cats in town going berserk, they don’t! Get it? It’s genius! Also, Mikels adds a new element to this already incredibly plausible and realistic story – cat people from space.” Ben Platt, Something Awful

“Overall, the picture’s a big mess, with a huge, largely sub-amateur cast of characters in a very loose collection of subplots. Many of the major roles are quite well-acted, with Morelli and Freeman, appropriately, the stand-outs – but the lower tiers are filled with the sort of performances that would not be tolerated in a community theater.” The Bad Movie Report

“Where the hell do I begin? The Acting is terrible. The Special Effects are terrible. The Production Design is terrible. There’s no incredibly-fake Presidential seal this time, but there’s plenty else to make fun of. The whole thing is not scary, funny or the least bit entertaining.” Alec Pridgen, Mondo Bizarro

“You just stare at the screen for 100 minutes trying to make sense of the assault upon your eyes that is hitting you. This movie goes nowhere, is random as hell, throws everything in that makes no sense, and it is very much the original movie’s script reused – especially names! – and then with an added side movie with aliens on the side.” Jason Grey, Triskaidekafiles

“If you’re not astounded by the camcorder level production values, the godawful special effects […] and the fact Mikels has managed to get almost everyone he knows to play a role in the film (including himself); then you’ll probably be too busy wondering how the movie looks even cheaper than the films Mikels made three decades prior.” Chris Hartley, The Video Graveyard

Main cast:

• Sean Morelli as Landau – The Curse of All Hallows’ Eve | Paranormal Extremes: Text Messages from the Dead | Astro Zombies: M4 | Astro Zombies: M3 | Mark of the Astro-Zombies | Cauldron: Baptism of Blood
• Andy Freeman as Maltby
• Chuck Alford as Caleb – The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher
• Liz Renay as Cleo – Mark of the Astro-Zombies; Blackenstein; Day of the Nightmare
• Myron Natwick – Sickhouse | iZombie | Shallow Ground | Project Vampire
• Shanti as Felina – Astro Zombies: M4 | Astro Zombies: M3 | Demon Haunt | Mark of the Astro-Zombies | Cauldron: Baptism of Blood
• Paul MacDonald as Dr. Howard Glass
• Cara Jo Basso as Angie
• Ted V. Mikels as Professor Mikoff
• Gene Paul Jones as Borath
• Spike Measer as Ubock
• Dolores Fuller as Patricia Grant – The Ironbound Vampire | Bride of the Monster | Mesa of Lost Women
• Philip Chamberlin as Mr. Yonkers
• Volmar Franz as Mr. Burnam
• William G. Stone as Dean Russo

IMDb

‘Crazy has come to town for a visit’

Undead is a 2003 Australian science fiction horror comedy film written and directed by Michael and Peter Spierig (Winchester: The House That Ghosts Built; Jigsaw; Daybreakers); it stars Felicity Mason, Mungo McKay and Rob Jenkins.

After losing her family farm to the bank, local beauty pageant winner Rene (Felicity Mason) decides to leave the small town of Berkeley. A number of strange meteorites are seen falling nearby, turning the local inhabitants into zombies. Rene and other survivors hide in the home of gun nut and alien abductee Marion (Mungo McKay).

The group ventures outside to scavenge, but encounter the zombies. Marion shoots one in the head and discovers that is the way to keep the creatures down. They try to flee, only to find a huge barrier surrounding the entire town, which Marion blames on the aliens that had taken him…

Reviews:

“When Undead sticks to the standard zombie-flick conventions, it’s a fairly successful (if not particularly unique) homage to Romero’s trademark sub-genre … but Undead also manages to wander deep into spacey sci-fi territory […] The end result is a movie that boasts several isolated scenes which stand out and command your attention, but it’s never able to congeal into a satisfying whole.” Scott Weinberg, DVD Talk

” …I don’t think the Spierig brothers have adequately defined what they want to accomplish. They go for laughs with dialogue at times when verbal jokes are at right-angles to simultaneous visual jokes. They give us gore that is intended as meaningless and funny, and then when the aliens arrive they seem to bring a new agenda.” Roger Ebert

“Relatively minor quibbles aside, Undead was a full meal that train-wrecked zombie carnage, kinetic style and creative ideas my way. Tag to that, its 50s invasion, zombie and Spaghetti Western feel and you get an indie power house that I’m proud to call “honey bunny”. This one has “Cult Classic” and “Fun Freaking Times” written all over it.” Arrow in the Head

“It’s not that Undead is bad, because I don’t think it’s actually that bad. Its problem is that the directing/writing siblings are unable to understand the need for sympathetic characters. Not a single one of Undead’s cast is likeable. Not a single one.” Nix, Beyond Hollywood

“ …not only does it refuse to explain itself: it also tries to mislead the audience, to fool it into thinking it’s going to play out the way a conventional zombie movie might. Any low-budget film that attempts this sort of misdirection is taking an incredible risk, but the result is a film that’s one of the most engaging and rewarding that the zombie subgenre has ever produced.” Braineater.com

” …it feels like two films, one a gore-drenched zombie movie with tongue considerably planted in cheek, and the other a puzzle film about alien abductions that takes itself seriously. The tone between these two aspects of the film is markedly different and never fully gels together or even explains much of what is happening until the very end.” Richard Scheib, Moria

Cast and characters:

• Felicity Mason as Rene
• Mungo McKay as Marion
• Rob Jenkins as Wayne
• Lisa Cunningham as Sallyanne
• Dirk Hunter as Harrison
• Emma Randall as Molly
• Noel Sheridan as Chip
• Gaynor Wensley as Aggie
• Eleanor Stillman as Ruth
• Robyn Moore as Officer in Locker Room
• Robert Jozinović as Man in Office
• Steven O’Donnell as Featured zombie

Wikipedia | IMDb

The New Mutants is a 2018 science fiction horror film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is the eleventh installment in the X-Men film series but plays up a horror angle.

The film was directed by Josh Boone from a screenplay co-written with Knate Lee, and stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton, Henry Zaga, Blu Hunt, and Alice Braga.

Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves…

The New Mutants is released by 20th Century Fox on April 13, 2018.

Cast and characters:

• Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin / Magik: a Russian sorceress who “uses teleportation discs to travel.” She is the sister of Colossus.
• Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair / Wolfsbane: a Scottish mutant “struggling to reconcile her religious beliefs with her power to turn into a wolf.”
• Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie / Cannonball: a Kentuckian mutant “who can propel himself into the air and is invulnerable while doing so.”
• Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa / Sunspot: “a Brazilian mutant with the ability to manipulate solar energy.”
• Blu Hunt as Danielle Moonstar / Mirage: a Native American mutant “who has the power to create illusions drawn from the fears and desires of a person’s mind.”
• Alice Braga as Cecilia Reyes: a mentor to the group, and “a medical doctor who has the ability to generate a protective bio-field around herself.”

Filming took place in Boston, Massachusetts, from July to September 2017, primarily at Medfield State Hospital (location for The Box and Shutter Island).

Wikipedia | IMDb

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters – Godzilla -怪獣惑星– Gojira: Kaijū Wakusei – is a 2017 Japanese CGI anime kaiju film produced by Toho Animation and animated by Polygon Pictures. The film is co-directed by Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, from a screenplay by Gen Urobuchi.

The first in a planned trilogy, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters is scheduled to be released theatrically in Japan on November 17, 2017, and will be released worldwide on Netflix thereafter.

In the year 2048, the human race is forced to leave Earth after decades of losing against Godzilla and other giant monsters. They take a twenty year journey to another planet called Tau Ceti e, but upon arrival, they discover that the planet has become uninhabitable.

As living conditions on their ship deteriorate, a young man named Haruo spearheads a movement to return to Earth and take it back from the monsters. The ship successfully makes the return voyage, but the crew discovers that twenty thousand years have passed and Earth’s ecosystem has evolved, with Godzilla reigning atop the new food chain…

Voice cast:

• Mamoru Miyano as Haruo Sakaki
• Takahiro Sakurai as Metphies
• Kana Hanazawa as Yuko Tani
• Yūki Kaji as Adam Bindewald
• Tomokazu Sugita as Martin Lazzari
• Junichi Suwabe as Mulu Elu Galu Gu
• Daisuke Ono as Eliott Leland
• Kenta Miyake as Rilu-Elu Belu-be
• Kenyu Horiuchi as Unberto Mori
• Kazuya Nakai as Halu-Elu Dolu-do
• Kazuhiro Yamaji as Endurphe

Wikipedia | IMDb | Official site

‘Fear is a state of mind’

Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1 is a 2017 German science fiction film written and directed by Christian Pasquariello. Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones) and André Hennicke (Pandorum; ABCs of Death 2) star.

An aggressive race of aliens took over Planet Earth and humanity’s at its end, living in giant bunkers below ground. Young military rookie S.U.M.1 (Iwan Rheon) is sent to the surface to save a group of unprotected survivors…

Reviews:

” …slow burn sci-fi without the ammunition to keep its entertainment artillery locked and loaded. Scenery has a gritty sheen and the story has enough intrigue to get S.U.M.1 going. Iwan Rheon also has the screen presence to keep pushing the plot forward. But admirable low-budget ambitions run short on unique ideas to maintain 90 minutes worth of momentum.” Ian Sedensky, Culture Crypt

“S.U.M.1 wants to deal with the effects of isolation, boredom and paranoia but sadly really only produces boredom. The film reuses the same footage over and over to depict how monotonous and regimented his existence is, it quickly becomes just as tedious for us.” Jim Morazzini, Beneath the Underground

“Packing in its special effects in the first and final scenes, this film saves on money in the long middle stretches, restricting the action to a single room and a small patch of trees. Having been told little about the nature of the enemy, SUM1 jumps at every unfamiliar sound or movement, and we are invited to do likewise. This technique is intermittently successful.” Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

Trivia:

The film was previously titled SUM.

IMDb

Inside Ben is a 2017 American science fiction horror drama film written and directed by Jeremiah Jett and Omar ‘Amaru’ D. Lewis Sr. It stars Philip Saad, Diana C. Salinas, Mike T. Tremblay, Omar ‘Amaru’ D. Lewis Sr., Ironica Nomura Hope and Fred Potter.

When a young man faces his fears, he learns agoraphobia isn’t his biggest problem…

Reviews:

” …moves into a science fiction horror that I will only say reminded me of Liquid Sky. The production would have been better off a short feature. It took a long time to develop while never letting us know much about the characters. Once it was into the swing of things, it was filmed mostly in the dark, with some scenes being totally black.” Michael Ledo

Filming locations:

Flint, Lansing and Marshall, Michigan, USA

IMDb | Facebook

‘The future unleashed every thing’

The Cloverfield Paradox is a 2018 American science fiction horror film directed by Julius Onah, written by Oren Uziel and Doug Jung, and produced by J. J. Abrams’s Bad Robot Productions. It follows Cloverfield (2008) and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016).

The movie stars Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo, and Zhang Ziyi.

The film was based on God Particle, a spec script from Oren Uziel which had the main plot of the space station crew but unconnected to Cloverfield. The script was acquired by Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot in 2012.

Only during production did Abrams decide to link the film to Cloverfield, adapting Uziel’s screenplay and adding scenes to establish this connection, following the same approach used by 10 Cloverfield Lane from its original script, The Cellar.

The film was based on God Particle, a spec script from Oren Uziel which had the main plot of the space station crew but unconnected to Cloverfield. Only during production did Abrams decide to link the film to Cloverfield, adapting Uziel’s screenplay and adding scenes to establish this connection.

In the year 2028, Earth is suffering from a global energy crisis. The space agencies of the world prepare to test the Shepard particle accelerator aboard the orbiting Cloverfield Station, which would provide Earth with infinite energy, while conspiracy theorists fear it will create the “Cloverfield Paradox”, opening portals to allow horrors from parallel universes to threaten Earth.

Among the crew is Ava Hamilton, who frets about leaving her husband Michael, a doctor, potentially for years, as their relationship struggles since the loss of their children to a house fire.

After about two years of unsuccessful testing of the Shepard, they eventually achieve a seemingly stable beam, but it then overloads and creates a power surge on the station. After restoring basic power, they find Earth has vanished from view, and the gyroscope that aids in the station’s navigation is missing. As the crew work on repairs, strange events begin to occur, including finding an unfamiliar woman called Jensen fused with wires inside a wall. Volkov fears something crawling beneath his skin…

Reviews:

“The Super Bowl trailer for Paradox gave the impression the movie would reveal the origin of the monster that appeared in the 2008 movie and was later on hinted at in the critically acclaimed 2016 follow-up — but it barely did that. Instead, it stalls the franchise as a pastiche of sci-fi cinema veiled in clever marketing.” Dino-Ray Ramos, Deadline

“The standout here is Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Hamilton. She genuinely does add a lot of emotion and layers to the character that made me sympathize for her. […] The Cloverfield Paradox is a colossal disappointment as its script is incredibly lazy, has next to no suspense, and its characters are unlikable due to thin character development.” Daily Film Fix

“J.J. Abrams, whose name is on the film as a producer, perfected the so-called “mystery box” method of storytelling that promises profound and shattering revelations only to pivot to bromides like, “We should all be nicer to each other” or “Let’s learn to forgive ourselves.” The script to this one falls well within that wheelhouse.” Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

“I’m still not sure what the paradox of the title is. Perhaps it refers to the impossibility of offloading a film to Netflix at the 11th hour, as Paramount has done, and still expecting it to be a hit.” Ed Power, The Daily Telegraph

“In Paradox, one is mostly struck by the need to push Alien and a half-dozen similar films from our minds, in the hopes of giving a damn about the sub-par space-station action before us. Seeming to understand how underwhelming the drama is, Onah stages some of his pivotal crew debates off-camera, letting us listen to colleagues bicker while we watch, say, CG footage of the station’s moving parts.” John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter

“Bogged down by generic action and characters, a confused plot, and an overall sense of been-there done-that, The Cloverfield Paradox, after a momentary burst of excitement, will likely fizzle out.” David Fontana, Film Inquiry:

“At its best, The Cloverfield Paradox is a serviceable space thriller.  At its worst, it is a  narratively flawed movie with some good acting and subpar character development.  The lead character played by Gugu Mbatha Raw is the only one that we get any kind of significant information about […] The entire cast especially Raw do a great job with the material they are given, but it’s really just not enough to save the movie.” B4 Reviews

Cast and characters:

• Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ava Hamilton
• David Oyelowo as Kiel
• Daniel Brühl as Ernst Schmidt
• John Ortiz as Monk Acosta
• Chris O’Dowd as Mundy
• Aksel Hennie as Volkov
• Zhang Ziyi as Tam
• Elizabeth Debicki as Mina Jensen
• Roger Davies as Michael Hamilton
• Clover Nee as Molly

Filming locations:

Principal filming took place in Los Angeles from June 10, 2016 and wrapped on September 23, 2016.

Wikipedia | IMDb

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‘The fantastic night of terror that menaced the fate of the world!’

Devil Girl from Mars is a 1954 British science fiction film directed by David MacDonald from a screenplay by James Eastwood and John C. Maher. It was produced by Edward J. Danziger and Harry Lee Danziger. The film stars Patricia Laffan, Hugh McDermott, Adrienne Corri, and Hazel Court.

Nyah (Patricia Laffan), a female alien commander from Mars, heads for London in her flying saucer. She is part of the advanced alien team that is looking for Earth men to replace the dying male population on her world.

Because of damage to her saucer, caused by entering Earth’s atmosphere and then colliding with an aircraft, Nyah is forced to land her damaged flying saucer in the remote Scottish moors, near a local village. She is armed with a raygun that can paralyze or kill, and she also has a tall, menacing robot named Chani…

Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk

Review:

A pioneering slice of British science fiction from 1954 – before Hammer’s Quatermass Xperiment opened the floodgates for the genre – Devil Girl from Mars is something of a curiosity. Too well directed by directed by David MacDonald to be hilarious but too trashy to take seriously, it’s an odd – and very British – take on the genre.

The film takes place entirely within a Scottish highlands inn out in the middle of nowhere, making it also a pioneer in the ‘British movies set in a pub’ sub-genre. The first half of the film introduces the characters – there’s inn owners Mr and Mrs Jamieson (John Laurie and Sophie Stewart) who have the sort of ‘hen-pecked husband / no-nonsense wife’ relationship so beloved in British culture, mysterious and well dressed Ellen Prestwick (Hazel Court), irritating child Tommy (Anthony Richmond) and barmaid Doris (Adrienne Corri), who has moved to Scotland to be close to ex-boyfriend Robert (Peter Reynolds), who is in prison after killing his wife.

It just so happens that Robert has escaped, and he turns up at the inn to hide out, employed by the Jamieson’s as a handyman. Unfortunately for him, Professor Arnold Hennessey (Joseph Tomelty) and reporter Michael Carter (Hugh McDermott) also turn up, having gotten lost while travelling to investigate claims of a crashed meteor, and Carter immediately recognises him. But before this revelation can go anywhere, events are interrupted by the arrival of a spaceship, carrying Martian Devil Girl Nyah (Patricia Laffan).

She’s quite the sight in her fetish wear cape and mini dress, black stockinged and booted legs and general dominatrix aura, and when she announces that she has come to take men back to Mars for the purpose of breeding (the Martian men having been rendered sexually useless after a war between men and women), you’d think there would be no shortage of volunteers. But thanks to a miscalculation, rather than landing in London, she’s arrived at a near-empty pub where half the men seem to be pensioners and everyone seems more interested in having a cup of tea.

Nyah does her best to convince them she means business – her ray gun disintegrates trees and tractors, and when she rolls out robot Chani – for no obvious reason, given that he does very little – everyone is amazed, including the audience who will probably fall off their chairs laughing at this extraordinarily clunky machine – imagine Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still made from toilet rolls and sticky-backed plastic. Seeing she means business, the men cut cards to see who will have to sacrifice his stiff upper lip and travel to Mars to be used as a sex toy – though their cunning plan is for whoever takes the trip to sabotage the ship and destroy it.

Devil Girl from Mars is nevertheless better than you might expect – though if this is a good thing or not is debatable. Certainly, in the pre-Martian part of the film, things plod when they ought to gallop, with characters introduced slowly and events spelled out by a radio announcer (saving on additional shooting to show the meteor and letting us know who is who before they are even seen on screen).

The film’s origins as a stage play are all too obvious. However, the performances are better than you’d expect in such a film – old fans and future talents like Laurie, Hammer star Court and Corri ensure that the film never slides into high camp. Of course, the characters are fairly weak – McDermott in particular seems so horrible and arrogant and has such an annoying transatlantic accent that the idea of Court falling for him within a couple of hours seems even more ridiculous than it otherwise would.

Buy DVD: Amazon.com

The arrival of the Devil Girl livens things up considerably of course. Laffan gives a haughty performances that is perfect for her space-dom character and plays the whole thing as if it is high-art. These moments of quality ensure that the film never becomes a hilarious Bad Movie, which is a pity, because it has all the right elements – but stubbornly refusing to play along, Devil Girl from Mars is simply too solid a film to ever work as a Good Bad Film, the high-camp of Nyah’s costume and her clunky robot assistant aside.

Still, that’s not to say you won’t get a lot of pleasure from the movie. There is much fun to be had here, not all of it intentional, and it’s better – certainly more memorable – than a lot of 1950s American sci-fi.

David Flint, HORRORPEDIA

Other reviews:

“Obviously, the striking Patricia Laffan as Nyah steals all her scenes, mainly due to her ahead-of-its-time black leather mini-skirt and long legs. She doesn’t have to overplay her lines, because they’re already pretty silly. The film doesn’t out stay its welcome, if you like fifties sci-fi and you’re forewarned about the tiny ‘pub invasion’ scenario, this shouldn’t disappoint.” Black Hole Reviews

“There is way too much talk in this flick, and what little action it contains is far too enclosed for the movie’s good […] Even with a Martian S&M queen running around zapping people with rayguns and siccing the galaxy’s shittiest robot on sheds and trees and shrubberies, there are long stretches of this movie that are soul-suckingly dull.” Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“hilariously solemn, high camp British imitation of U. S. cheapies” Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide

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“Devil Girl from Mars is not without its charms: Nyah’s bright black get-up, complete with a glossy helmet, is certainly an attention-grabber, and her robot sidekick is so phenomenally goofy that I couldn’t help but admire it […] But as far as entertainment value goes, Devil Girl from Mars relies a little too heavily on the spoken word to generate any real excitement.” Dave Becker, 2,500 Movies Challenge

” …rather set bound and high on talk and corny melodrama. Keeping the whole thing mildly amusing is Laffan, who’s pretty hilarious as the bitchy, humorless, short-skirted alien who seems to take great pleasure in tormenting the humans […] Dated special effects (thought not too horribly bad for the time) and some laughable lines (one of the hysterical females notes “I’m scared! Nothing like this has ever happened to me before!”) are good for assorted chuckles throughout.” Justin McKinney, The Bloody Pit of Horror

“Leave it to the British, the only people more sexually repressed than Americans, to make a movie about a creature from Mars seeking to mate with earthlings that’s less sexy than a science lecture on the periodic table of elements. Throw in acting below the standards of rural community theatre, plus “Martian” props and costumes already outdated when they were created in 1954, and you have all the ingredients of Devil Girl from Mars…” John Wilson, The Official Razzie Movie Guide

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“ …it is neither any better nor any worse than any other science-fiction film produced in the same equivalent budget arena during this decade […] With her cold, haughty demeanour and clad in a PVC mini-skirt and cape, what Patricia Laffan’s Devil Girl looks like today is a dominatrix from outer space (which was almost certainly not intended at the time).” Richard Scheib, Moria

“Settings, dialogue, characterisation and special effects are of a low order, but even their modest unreality has its charm. There is really no fault in this film that one would like to see eliminated. Everything, in its way, is quite perfect. This primitive effort at science fiction is quite enjoyably ludicrous.” Monthly Film Bulletin, 1954

“Strip-cartoon hokum with more emphasis on the hackneyed goings-on among the humans in an isolated Scottish hotel than the doings of its extraterrestrial visitor: silly enough to be enjoyable.” Alan Frank, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Handbook, Batsford, 1982

Choice dialogue:

“It’s not every day we have a distinguished professor from London, a writer for the newspapers and a right purdy lady staying here, so drinks on the house!”

Buy DVD: Amazon.com

Cast and characters:

• Patricia Laffan as Nyah, the Devil Girl
• Hugh McDermott as Michael Carter
• Hazel Court as Ellen Prestwick
• Peter Reynolds as Robert Justin/Albert Simpson
• Adrienne Corri as Doris
• Joseph Tomelty as Professor Arnold Hennessey
• John Laurie as Mr. Jamieson
• Sophie Stewart as Mrs. Jamieson

Release:

In the UK, the film was released by British Lion Films.

Wikipedia | IMDb

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‘Invaders from beyond the stars!’

The Green Slime – ガンマー第3号 宇宙大作戦 – Ganmā Daisan Gō: Uchū Daisakusen – is a 1968 science-fiction horror film produced by MGM in the United States and shot in Japan at the Toei Company studios by director Kinji Fukasaku (Message from Space). The screenplay was by Charles Sinclair, William Finger (co-creator of Batman) and Tom Rowe. It stars Robert Horton, Luciana Paluzzi and Richard Jaeckel.

A group of astronauts set out to stop a giant asteroid on a collision course with the planet Earth. They land on the asteroid, plant explosive charges and destroy it. Afterwards they return to the staging area, a space station called Gamma 3 in orbit around the Earth.

Unfortunately, a scientist from the mission has unwittingly carried a luminous-green substance on the leg of his spacesuit which quickly mutates into one-eyed, tentacled monsters with the ability to discharge lethal bolts of electricity.

The Gamma 3 crew fend off the alien creatures with their laser-based weaponry, only to discover the creatures feed off the energy which, in turn, allows them to multiply rapidly, sprouting the new creatures from their blood. As the creatures overrun the station the crew continues to fight back against overwhelming odds…

Reviews:

” … the charmingly wooden dialogue, low budget special effects, and silly plot make The Green Slime a campy experience for any age. It’s a quaint little movie that’ll have modern viewers chuckling at the 60s’ perception of the future, where the destruction of asteroids and the evacuation of space stations would be on par with mowing your lawn.” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

“Fearlessly using what are obviously toy miniatures to depict life in the future and the complications of space travel, the movie is almost like a weird kid’s dream brought to live. The plot is fairly thin and the love triangle aspect of the picture hurts the pacing here and there even if former Bond Girl Paluzzi looks hotter than hell in the film, but there’s so much going on here that, pacing problems or not, it’s hard not to have a good time.” Ian Jane, Rock! Shock! Pop!

“Sure, a bigger budget and a special effects master like Eiji Tsuburaya would have made the action more spectacular. Sure, some of the sets are boring. Sure, some sexuality would have been welcome. Don’t let it bother you, Dear Reader. Cut The Green Slime some slack, and enjoy.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

“Green Slime has it all: wooden acting, inane dialogue, laughable effects and production design so haphazard and chintzy that it’s already a self-parody. The creatures aren’t the least bit intimidating, because they’re so obviously heavy rubber suits worn by actors who can barely stand up in them. One good push from an insulated adversary, and they’d be helpless.” Michael Reuben, Blu-ray.com

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com

“Not a very convincing entry in the vegetable monster movie sub-genre… Paluzzi looks uncomfortable and is unconvincing as a space scientist while Jaeckel plays the role as he does sergeants in war movies.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction

“Some bad movies are so amusingly bad, they’re still memorable thirty-five years on even if you were bombed out of your butt when you first saw them. Green Slime, with its ridiculous dubbing, ludicrous creatures, and curvaceous female lead Luciana Paluzzi, is one of those films.” John Wilson, The Official Razzie Movie Guide

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“Originally an adult-only ‘X’ certificate in the UK, there’s little here that would scare the average Doctor Who fan, but its generous with bloody make-up jobs and close-up electrocutions. It’s the super-serious acting when faced with rubber monsters and furious pacing helps make this so enjoyable.” Mark Hodgson, Black Hole

“The most laughingly unconvincing monsters of any Japanese production in years.” Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film

The Green Slime theme song by Richard Delvecchio:

“What can it be; what’s the reason?
Is this the end to all the seasons?
Is this something in your head?
Would you believe it when you’re dead?
You’ll believe it when you find
something screaming across your mind … green slime!”

Wikipedia | IMDb | Promo image courtesy of Psychotronic Video

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‘Everyone is a science project’

Soft Matter is a 2018 comedy science fiction horror film written, co-produced and directed by Jim Hickcox. It stars Ruby Lee Dove II, Hal Schneider, Mary Anzalone, Devyn Placide, Mark Blumberg, Catherine Grady and David Dillard.

Two graffiti artists break into an abandoned, reportedly haunted research facility in hopes of creating an art installation. However, the hapless pair stumble upon a team of demented researchers who are in the process of resurrecting an ancient sea creature – who they now must fight in order to not become their next experiment…

Soft Matter is being distributed by Wild Eye Releasing later this year.

Filming locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

IMDb

The Damned – US title: These Are the Damned – is a 1961 film (released with censorship cuts in 1963) British science fiction film starring Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field and Oliver Reed. It was a Hammer Film production directed by Joseph Losey and based on H.L. Lawrence’s novel The Children of Light.

Middle-aged American Simon Wells is on a boating holiday on the south coast of England. In the town of Weymouth he meets Joan, a 20-year-old girl, who lures him into a mugging staged by her biker teddy boy brother King and his gang. Wells is beaten up and robbed.

Later Joan approaches Wells. While he is prepared to forgive and forget, she implies that he asked for it after trying to pick her up. At that moment King and his gang appear. After they threaten and taunt Wells, he sets off on his boat. As he pulls away he calls on Joan to join him which she does, defying her over-protective brother.

As they float off of the coast Joan tells Wells of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her brother whenever she gets close to other men, noting a previous time when he locked her in a cupboard. Though Wells urges her to escape with him, she decides to return to shore. Wells heads back, unaware that he is being watched by a member of King’s gang.

At night Wells and Joan return to a quiet part of the mainland and make love in a cliff top house surrounded by curious sculptures. Caught up and surrounded by the gang, the couple escape into a nearby military base. The house was rented by sculptress Freya Neilson whose lover, Bernard, is a scientist who runs the base. He will not discuss his work, warning her that he “might be condemning her to death”…

Reviews:

“Apart from that the film’s bizarre storyline, which suddenly stops being a tale of teen angst and dips its toe into much murkier waters, is enough to hold the interest over an hour and a half, even if Simon seems to forgive Joan the teenage temptress rather too easily. It’s actually an extremely grim affair once the pathetic gang antics are over and done with…” Chris Woods, British Horror Films

“The movie itself is a fascinating experience, and I do rank it with Hammer’s best movies, though it certainly doesn’t fit in easily with the rest of their output. Excellent performances abound in this one, though I feel the need to take special notice of Oliver Reed…” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

“None of the plot elements – romance, science fiction or teenage motorcycle gangsters – fuse and the movie is in turns naive, confusing, plain silly and tendentious. The cinematography is attractive, though.” Alan Frank, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Handbook

Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk

“Yes, it takes itself far too seriously, but in a way that’s it strength, a serious statement that eventually there is no hope – it’s that lack of a comfortable resolution that has stuck with its viewers over the years. The government here is one that is planning for doomsday and has no compunction about eliminating anyone who wants to believe there might be a glimmer of optimism about the future.” Graeme Clarke, The Spinning Image

“Ultimately, the film is a depressing one as there is no happy ending and no real satisfying outcome.  It is also a striking film, visually and otherwise and not one that you are soon to forget after you have seen it, especially as it ends with the haunting cry of the children trapped in their prison and you will hear them in your head even after the picture has ended.” The Telltale Mind

“The highpoint of the first wave of the British postwar Science Fiction films” Phil Hardy (editor). The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction, Aurum Press, 1984

Buy Hammer Fantasy & Sci-Fi book: Amazon.co.uk

“The performances are universally weak, and Losey’s clearly ambivalent attitudes to the demands of genre ensures that the film is never exciting. But as an ambitious oddity, it exerts not a little fascination.” Geoff Andrews, Time Out Film Guide

“A bona fide subversive classic, These are the Damned increases its grip on the audience as it speeds to one of the most doom-laden finishes in Science Fiction: “Help us! Help us! Please help us!” Glenn Erickson, DVD Talk

Choice dialogue:

“Never seen a clocktower before?”

Main cast and characters:

• Macdonald Carey …. Simon Wells
• Shirley Anne Field …. Joan
• Viveca Lindfors …. Freya Neilson
• Alexander Knox …. Bernard
• Oliver Reed …. King
• Walter Gotell …. Major Holland
• James Villiers …. Captain Gregory
• Tom Kempinski …. Ted
• Kenneth Cope …. Sid
• Brian Oulton …. Mr. Dingle
• Barbara Everest …. Miss Lamont
• James Maxwell …. Mr. Talbot
• Nicholas Clay …. Richard

Release:

A complete print was released in arthouse cinemas in 2007.

On 15 January 2010, The Damned was released on DVD in the USA as part of the ‘Icons of Suspense Collection’ from Hammer Films.

Wikipedia | IMDb

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‘He walks through walls of solid steel and stone!’

4D Man – aka The Evil Force (UK); Master of Terror (US reissue) – is a 1959 American science fiction film directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. (Dinosaurus!; The Blob, 1958) from a screenplay by Theodore Simonson and Cy Chermak. It was produced by Jack H. Harris (The Blob franchise; Schlock; Equinox) and stars Robert Lansing, Lee Meriwether, and James Congdon.

The Fairview production was released in the U.S. by Universal-International.

Brilliant but irresponsible scientist Tony Nelson (James Congdon) develops an electronic amplifier that he hopes will allow any object to achieve a 4th dimensional (4D) state. While in this state any object can pass freely through any other object.

Tony, however, fails to pay attention to the overload, which sparks an electrical fire that burns down his lab. This results in the university terminating his contract. Now unemployed, Tony seeks out his brother Scott (Robert Lansing) to help him with his experiment…

Reviews:

“Yeaworth’s direction is unsteady; some of the blocking results in odd eyelines, (Meriwether somehow ends up looking cross-eyed in her first glamour close-up!) and there are as many static scenes as there are dynamic ones. But the non-Hollywood effort is refreshing in its lack of slickness.”Glenn Erickson, DVD Savant

“It’s especially good in developing the characters; you’d expect bold, daring Tony to end up as the man who can walk through walls, but instead, it’s dull ol’ Scott. And yet the script carefully prepares us for this as well. The special effects of Lansing passing through walls, chairs, even people, are bold and imaginative, but always give themselves away with a visible matte line.” Bill Warren, Audio Video Revolution

“The character of Scott Nelson (excellently played by Robert Lansing) is so well established and the circumstances of his situation so well set forth that you understand fully why he takes to crime once he develops his abilities; these decisions don’t seem arbitrary or convenient.” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

“First, there’s the acting, which exhibits that same mix of wildly excessive over- and underacting that characterized the original Star Trek series, though admittedly not to such jaw-dropping degrees. Second, and perhaps more importantly, 4D Man is saddled with what must surely be the most utterly inappropriate background music in the history of cinematic science fiction. Every single scene unfolds to the distracting accompaniment of cacophonous beatnik jazz.” Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

” …the effects work in particular is very good. The film has an original and interesting idea, even if it is given a series of absurd explanations with nonsense about time being speeded up somehow allowing objects to pass through one another. Irvin S. Yeaworth gives it a scary, suspenseful edge.” Richard Scheib, Moria

“The disparity between the vitality of the younger characters and Scott’s corruption of that same thing proves surprisingly effective for what was a B-movie, but as with The Blob it was the pleasing simplicity of the central notion which made this interesting. Unexpectedly loud jazz score by Ralph Carmichael.” Graeme Clark, The Spinning Image

“This is a plausible bit of scientific hocus, and the compact story has enough to please the majority.” Kine Weekly“Rather too much of an emphasis on a hackneyed romance tends to hold up the proceedings but the film moves briskly enough, the idea is well used and the special effects effective.” Alan Franks, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Handbook, Batsford, 1982

Cast and characters:

• Robert Lansing as Dr. Scott Nelson – The Nest; Monsters TV series; Island Claws; Empire of the Ants; The Evil Touch TV series; Journey to the Unknown TV series
• Lee Meriwether as Linda Davis – The Munsters Today TV Series; Batman: The Movie (1966)
• James Congdon as Dr. Tony Nelson – When Worlds Collide
• Robert Strauss as Roy Parker – The Munsters TV series
• Edgar Stehli as Dr. Theodore W. Carson
• Patty Duke as Marjorie Sutherland – Grave Secrets: The Legacy of HilltopDrive; Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes; The Swarm; Curse of the Black Widow; Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby?; Night Gallery TV series
• Guy Raymond as Fred
• Chic James as B-girl
• Elbert Smith as Capt. Rogers
• George Karas as Sgt. Todaman
• Jasper Deeter as Dr. Welles
• Dean Newman as Dr. Brian Schwartz
• John Benson as reporter

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: The B-Movie Catechism

‘Terror has arrived’

Caught is a 2017 British science fiction horror film directed by Jamie Patterson from a screenplay by Dave Allsop and Alex Francis. The film was produced by Christina O’Shea-Daly, Jeremy Davis and Alex Francis. It stars Mickey Sumner, April Pearson, Cian Barry (Nina Forever), Ruben Crow, and David Mounfield.

In East Sussex, England, aliens were reportedly sighted in 1967: While on an afternoon walk with their children, two small town reporters notice the military camped on a hilltop. Debating the possible significance of this activity, they answer their door when two unusual strangers come knocking and find themselves held hostage in their own home.

Director Jamie Patterson has said: “This is a different kind of horror film. Inspired by films of the 70’s, I wanted a gritty, raw feel to the story because there’s nothing glossy about horror. This is my idea of alien art house.”

Caught opens in US theaters, On Demand and Digital HD on March 30, 2018.

Reviews:

“Caught is a decent entry into the home invasion genre, offering up a slight twist to the invaders that takes on a more literal sense as the film progresses. Other than that it does little to separate it from the pack, offering up adequate menace and not enough thrills.” Andrew Mack, Screen Anarchy

IMDb

‘Unleashed and hungry’

Bio•Slime – aka Bio-Slime – is a 2010 American science fiction horror film directed by John Lechago (Killjoy’s Psycho Circus; Feast of Fear; Blood Gnome; et al). It stars Vincent Bilancio, Victoria DeMare and Kelli Kaye.

Trapped in a room with one door and no windows, where cell phones do not work and no one outside can hear their calls for help, a group of seven people is under siege as a shape-shifting creature tries to enter…

The film was released in the UK on DVD by Second Sight Films on 19 February 2018 as Alien Contagion.

Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

” …Lechago’s movie succeeds thanks to the director’s energy and attention to detail. Undeterred by the pressure of a short schedule, the number of set-ups Lechago manages is impressive, and when blended with his brisk editing style, it creates the illusion of a picture that cost ten times the budget of Bio Slime.” Dave Wain, The Schlock Pit

“Most of the characters really serve no purpose other than to be monster chow, each suffering a dire, disgusting, and wholly unique fate at the pseudo-pods and tentacles of the slime-monster. All the creature effects, with the exception of a few of the tentacles, were practical effects — make-up, puppetry, and cinematography tricks. And they look great…” Terror Titans

” …the film does not really entertain and the reliance on nudity and gore takes away from the characters and the journey with them. Tom Devlin’s effects (Silent Night, Zombie Night) are truly remarkable; yet, more time needed to be spent on developing the sentient side of this dark gooey force. This floating tar thing had more to offer than just a few lines.” Michael Allen, 28 Days Later Analysis

“The creature FX design, it appears in different forms (from simple slime to grotesque creatures), ranges from pretty ok to really impressive. Some of the FX looks awesome and I guess the filmmakers spent most of the budget on special effects. There is gratuitous T&A, including female full frontal nudity, and a prolonged sex-scene.” Jorgen Lundin, Independent Flicks

“The blob effects are simple but effective without too much resorting to bad CGI, which makes me rate the movie higher. You also have to give the filmmakers credit for managing make a decent movie that is basically set in one room. It takes at least some talent to pull that off.” Joachim Andersson, Rubbermonsterfetishism

Main cast and characters:

• Vinnie Bilancio … Troy
• Victoria De Mare … Mary
• Ronnie Lewis …Hal
• Kelli Kaye … Shannon
• Gia Paloma … Annie
• Magic J. Ellingson … Jack
• Micol Bartolucci … Constanza
• Al Burke … Landlord
• Monique La Barr … Donna
• Tai Chan Ngo … David
• Ron Fitzgerald … Creature (voice)

Trivia:

The film was originally titled Contagion.

IMDb

‘Would you sacrifice your wife… your children for immortality?’

The Asphyx is a 1972 British science fiction horror film directed by Peter Newbrook (producer of Corruption; cinematographer of Crucible of Terror; The Black Torment) from a screenplay by Brian Comport (The Fiend; Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny & Girly), based on a story by Christina Beers and Laurence Beers. The Glendale production stars Robert Stephens, Robert Powell and Jane Lapotaire.

Utilizing an experimental photographic device, a scientist (Robert Stephens) captures what appears to be the image of the Asphyx: the ancient Greek spirit of the dead.

With the help of his adopted son (Robert Powell), he conducts further experiments and conceives of a way to harness the Asphyx and thereby gain immortality. But, as every visionary scientist should know, defying the laws of the natural and spiritual world unleashes dreadful consequences…

In the UK, The Asphyx is released on Blu-ray on 11 June 2018 by Screenbound Pictures.

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“A real curio, the film boasts first-rate performances from all involved and is truly amazing to look at, with some gorgeously ornate set design and silky photography, which admirably captures the misty feeling of an era gone by. The reason for the film’s lack of recognition probably lies in the fact that it can’t really be classified.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“If you can get by the occasional silliness, The Asphyx is one of the more ambitious British horror films of its time, marred mainly by an intrusively inappropriate score by Bill McGuffie that seems like it belongs in a lush romantic drama.” Mark Tinta, Good Efficient Butchery

“The actual horrors are a bit more understated, save for the unholy cries of the Asphyx and their intended victims as each cling to life in the moment of death […] The Asphyx is a gothic throwback that’s rich in drama, shocks, and an elaborate mounting that gives an improbable dime store story an unexpected heft.” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

“Not quite a genre classic, The Asphyx is a mostly intriguing mash-up of Victorian ghost story and steampunk revisionism that occasionally threatens to degenerate into inanity with its strident morality-play storyline and escalating improbability factor.” Budd Wilkins, Slant magazine

“Although John Stoll’s art direction, the acting and Young’s camerawork in Todd-AO are excellent, the static nature of the script fails to generate any of the cerebral excitement the theme demands, and leaves various contradictions and loopholes which hamper credibility.” Phil Hardy, The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

“While it’s never boring, the film mainly keeps your attention through its mixture of the morbid and the ridiculous […] It’s not a bad set-up, and the Victorian paraphernalia is nicely realised, but this is a silly film all over.” Graeme Clarke, The Spinning Image

” …Newbrook was an excellent cinematographer, but his handling of the action shows a lack of imagination and energy. The actors seem determined to compensate – particularly Robert Stephens, who shows no restraint in his efforts to inject intensity into scenes where there is clearly none on the page.” John Hamilton, X-Cert 2

Buy X-Cert 2: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

” …intriguing glimpses into Victorian psychical research and a strong cast, get the film off to a good start. Sadly, it soon degenerates into formula and farce, with Stephens’ theatrical delivery adding the mortal blow.” David Pirie, Time Out Film Guide 

“To compound all these absurdities the film has stiff actors in even stiffer costumes and a characteristically appalling Bill McGuffie score. Despite some distinguished credentials […] The Asphyx makes a dreadful hash of an arresting premise.” Jonathan Rigby, English Gothic: A Century of Gothic Cinema

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“If you’re in the mood for serious, contemplative, gloomy Gothic-tinged British horror, then you can’t do much better than The Asphyx […] it’s easy to suspend disbelief thanks to some intense and dedicated performances…” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

“A highly original premise makes this worth watching. Acting and technical work are of a high calibre, although the direction is a bit pedestrian at times.” Gary A. Smith, Uneasy Dreams: The Golden Age of British of Horror Films, 1956 – 1976

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

“The Asphyx is ultimately frustrating as a result of the distracting lapses of logic, talkiness, dull direction, and missed opportunities. It’s more of an exercise in the intellectual than the visceral, and if thought about too intently the movie begins to unravel. The film is beautifully photographed in widescreen by Freddie Young…” James J. Mulay (editor), The Horror Film, Cinebooks, 1989

Main cast and characters:

• Robert Stephens … Sir Hugo Cunningham – The Shout
• Robert Powell … Giles Cunningham – Frankenstein (1984); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982); The Survivor; Harlequin; Asylum; Doomwatch TV series
• Jane Lapotaire … Christina Cunningham – Crescendo
• Alex Scott … Sir Edward Barrett
• Ralph Arliss … Clive Cunningham
• Fiona Walker … Anna Wheatley
• Terry Scully … Pauper
• John Lawrence … Mason
• David Grey … Vicar
• Tony Caunter … Warden
• Paul Bacon … 1st Member

Filming locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Release:

The film is also known as Spirit of the Dead and The Horror of Death.

Wikipedia | IMDb

The Monster and the Girl is a 1941 crime science fiction horror film directed by Stuart Heisler from a screenplay by Stuart Anthony. It stars Ellen Drew, Robert Paige, Paul Lukas and Joseph Calleia. Horror veterans Onslow Stevens and George Zucco round out the cast.

The movie was released by Paramount Pictures.

A gangster named Scot Webster (Philip Terry) attempts to save his sister, Susan (Ellen Drew) from the clutches of rival gangster W. S. Bruhl (Paul Lukas). When one of Bruhl’s gang members catches Scot in Bruhl’s rented room, one of Scot’s aides is killed by a gunman. The man tosses him the gun and disappears. Scot is tried and executed.

A mad scientist (George Zucco) salvages his brain and transplants it into a gorilla. Using the strength of his new, bestial body, Webster begins stalking the gangsters to exact his revenge…

Reviews:

‘The first half of this movie is a mess; it’s a complicated, confusing story about a woman who marries a gangster, and trying to sort out the characters is a pain; you really start wondering why it’s considered a horror movie […] However, something very strange happens in the second half; once the brother’s brain is in the body of the gorilla, it becomes almost another movie and a memorable one at that.” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

” …basically what you get here is about a third of a monster movie, and a long wait for it. The monster parts make satisfying viewing, but what it takes to get there…. Well maybe that’s why God gave us fast-forward.” Dan Stumpf, Mystery File

“Monster’s screenplay has some very interesting points, including a mixture of noir and horror which, while not totally successful, offers some rewards, as well as its nimble manner in skirting the Code’s prohibition against prostitution. With one exception, the cast is also much better than one usually finds in horror films of this type.” AllMovie

“Surprisingly well acted, it is also directed with real flair, notably in a sequence where the gorilla (constantly threatened with betrayal by a puzzled dog who recognises his master somewhere in there) stalks the rooftop in parallel with his gangster-prey strolling in the deserted nighttime street below.” Time Out (London)

” …the producers have exhumed the old affair of the scientist and the simian with a transplanted human brain. Whimsically, the lady’s brother provides the brain for the marauding monk, making them relatives under the skin, so to speak, and confusing the family tree no end. Sometimes we can’t believe our eyes.” The New York Times, March 20, 1941

Cast and characters:

• Ellen Drew as Susan Webster
• Robert Paige as Larry Reed
• Paul Lukas as W. S. Bruhl – The Ghost Breakers
• Joseph Calleia as ‘Deacon’
• Onslow Stevens as J. Stanley McMasters – Them!; Mark of the Gorilla; The Creeper; House of Dracula
• George Zucco as Dr. Perry
• Rod Cameron as Sam Daniels
• Phillip Terry as Scot Webster
• Marc Lawrence as Sleeper
• Gerald Mohr as Munn
• Bud Jamison as Jim
• Emory Parnell as Policeman

Wikipedia | IMDb

Related: Going Ape! A Short History of Who’s Inside the Gorilla Suit – article

Upgrade – formerly Stem – is a 2018 Australian science fiction action horror film written and directed by Leigh Whannell (Insidious franchise; Saw franchise; Cooties). It stars Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, and Harrison Gilbertson. Jason Blum is serving as a producer through his Blumhouse Productions banner.

In the near-future, when technology controls nearly all aspects of life, a technophobe avenges his wife’s murder and his own paralysis-causing injury with the help of an experimental computer-chip implant called Stem…

Upgrade premieres at SXSW on March 17, 2018, and is scheduled for theatrical release by Blumhouse Tilt on June 1, 2018.

Cast and characters:

• Logan Marshall-Green as Grey Trace – The Invitation; Prometheus; Devil
• Betty Gabriel – Unfriended: Dark Web; Get Out: The Purge: Election Year
• Harrison Gilbertson as Eron – Haunt
• Benedict Hardie
• Christopher Kirby
• Clayton Jacobson as Manny
• Melanie Vallejo as Asha Trace
• Sachin Joab as Dr. Bhatia
• Benedict Hardie
• Michael M. Foster as Jeffries

Production:

On August 26, 2013, it was announced that The Spierig Brothers (Winchester; Jigsaw; Daybreakers; et al) were to direct Stem from a script by Leigh Whannell. On December 15, 2016, Blumhouse Productions announced that Leigh Whannell would be directing the film.

Principal photography began in March 2017.

Wikipedia | IMDb

The Beast of Yucca Flats – also known as Atomic Monster: The Beast of Yucca Flats – is a 1961 American science fiction horror film written, edited and directed by Coleman Francis. It stars Swedish former wrestler Tor Johnson, Douglas Mellor, and Barbara Francis.

The film was distributed by fledgling independent Crown International Pictures and is now in the public domain so free to watch online

Many critics have characterized it as one of the worst science fiction horror films made, and one of the all-time worst.

The movie was filmed without a soundtrack. Narration, voiceovers and some sound effects were added in post-production. To avoid having to synchronize the audio to the picture, characters only speak when their faces are either off-screen or not clearly visible due to darkness or distance.

In 2010, a belated sequel was released, Return to Yucca Flats: Desert Man-Beast.

A documentary, No Dialogue Necessary: Making the Beast of Yucca Flats was released in 2011.

Having taken a shower, a woman (Lanell Cado) is strangled by a mysterious man. It is implied that the killer molests her corpse. The identity of the murderer is never revealed and the killing is never discussed after that scene.

Elsewhere in Yucca Flats, Soviet scientist Joseph Javorsky (Tor Johnson) defects to the West. Javorsky is carrying a briefcase with various military secrets, including details of a Soviet moon landing.

Javorsky and his American contacts are attacked by a pair of KGB assassins (Anthony Cardoza and John Morrison). Javorsky flees into the desert, walking for a great distance, and removing much of his clothing. When he wanders in range of an American nuclear test, the bewildered Russian is transformed by radiation into a mindless beast. He proceeds to kill a couple in their car on a nearby road, prompting pursuit from two police officers named Jim Archer (Bing Stafford) and Joe Dobson (Larry Aten).

Meanwhile, a vacationing family ventures along the same road…

Buy DVD from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Reviews:

“… there is barely any dialogue. The movie is mostly just explained by the narrator… a very monotone narrator at that. Some of the stuff he says is just nonsense and sounds like rambling. It is kind of like he was voicing over a nature video and accidentally ended up voicing over a bad sci-fi movie.” Basement Rejects

“Tor Johnson, whose utter inability to emote, heroic resistance to gravity’s pull on corpulence, and seeming unawareness to differentiate between real life and fiction make him utterly irresistible to the human eye. I challenge any film critic to watch this film or any of his other classic B film appearances, and state that he dominates the screen like few cinema stars ever have.” Hack Writers

Buy DVD: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“There is a kind of bleak hopelessness in the film that I may even characterize as being postmodern. I think that to characterize Beast as a simple B movie that should have been left behind in the 1960s is an unfair treatment […] It is repetitive and obtuse, but still at its core, there is something poignant and indescribable.” Kings of Horror

“The Beat Poet narration and the off-kilter editing unintentionally provoke comparisons with Dementia. The shocking bad taste of the opening scene … involves something from the steamy 1950s underground.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

Buy Claws & Saucers: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

” …shot with virtually no dialogue and overlaid with hilariously pretentious and obtuse narration… the phrase “a flag on the moon” pops up so often it could be used in a drinking game. The most enjoyable aspect of this movie is its remarkably short running time.” Cavett Binion, AllMovie.com

“A really cheap, quasi-nuclear protest film […] Droning voice-over narration is used in lieu of dialogue as that process proved too expensive. Tor doesn’t have much to do but wander around; his fellow Wood crony Conrad Brooks shows up as a federal agent. Characters spend lots and lots of time climbing up and down the hills.” Videohound’s Complete Guide to Cult Flicks and Trash Pics

Buy Cult Flicks and Trash Pics: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

Alternate versions:

According to the film’s producer Anthony Cardoza (in an interview by film historian Tom Weaver), the opening shower and murder scene were added after the film was completed because director Coleman Francis liked the risqué material.

Some prints are edited to show the woman clothed for the duration of the scene (running 00:01:21), with the only forbidden flesh shown being a very brief topless flash as she towels herself in front of a mirror. Other prints have a slightly longer version of the scene (running 00:01:33) with more fleeting nudity.

Cast and characters:

• Tor Johnson as Joseph Javorsky/The Beast – Plan 9 from Outer Space; The Unearthly; The Black Sleep; Bride of the Monster; et al
• Bing Stafford as Jim Archer
• Larry Aten as Joe Dobson
• Douglas Mellor as Hank Radcliffe
• Barbara Francis as Lois Radcliffe
• Ronald Francis as Randy Radcliffe
• Alan Francis as Art Radcliffe
• Jim Oliphant as Vacationing Husband
• Linda Bielema as Vacationing Wife
• Anthony Cardoza as KGB Driver/Helpful Neighbor
• Bob Labansat as Javorsky’s Bodyguard
• John Morrison as KGB Passenger
• Jim Miles as Javorsky’s Driver
• Eric Tomlin as Motorist Run Off Road
• George Prince as Man Who Reports Murder
• Conrad Brooks as Man at Airfield – Plan 9 from Outer Space; Bride of the Monster
• Graham Stafford as News Boy
• Lanell Cado as Strangled Woman
• Coleman Francis as Gas Station Attendant/Newspaper Patron
• Marcia Knight as Jim’s Woman
• Joseph Luis Rubin as Police Officer

Filming locations:

Although fictionally based on the real-life Yucca Flat, actual shooting locations for the film were all in California: Santa Clarita (desert scenes), Saugus (airplane scenes) and Van Nuys (opening scene interior).

Trivia:

The film’s total budget was estimated at $34,000.

Wikipedia | IMDb | American Film Institute | Internet Archive

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Alien from the Deep is a 1989 Italian science fiction horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti [as Anthony M. Dawson] (Cannibal Apocalypse; Seven Deaths in the Cat’s Eye; Castle of Blood; et al) from a screenplay by Tito Carpi (Tentacles; Last Cannibal World; Seven Murders for Scotland Yard) and produced by Franco Gaudenzi. It stars Daniel Bosch, Marina Giulia Cavalli, Luciano Pigozzi, Robert Marius, and Charles Napier.

Two members of Greenpeace discover that a local factory sheds radioactive waste into an active volcano, which has created a terrifying creature that wreaks havoc in the area…

Reviews:

“Outside of Charles Napier’s (Silence of the Lambs) performance in the role of a megalomaniac colonel, who has been hired to protect E-Chem Corporation secrets, the rest of the cast are stale and forgettable in their respective roles. Ultimately, Alien from the Deep is bottom of the barrel Euro-Cult schlock…” Michael Den Boer, 10K Bullets

“It sucks that the creature doesn’t make an appearance for nearly an hour into the film but there’s enough gunplay, explosions and jungle chases to keep the momentum moving forward […] a mighty entertaining film.” Ken Kastenhuber, McBastard’s Mausoleum

” The alien (or whatever it is) really steals the show, though, especially when it’s finally shown in all its oversized, awkward glory for the big climax complete with more flashing lights, smoke, and explosions than a Duran Duran video.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“What is perhaps surprising is just how dated it is. The script uses old hat explanations, some of which have not been in use for a good thirty years. The alien is a standard 1980s ripoff of H.R. Giger but this sits alongside atomic energy threat themes from the 1950s and 1970s ecological concerns.” Richard Scheib, Moria

“The movie isn’t particularly gory but it does have some awesome scenes where snakes somehow take down a small army of guys with M-16s and frequent use of the word ‘balls’ scattered throughout…” Ian Jane, Rock! Pop! Shock!

“No, Alien from the Deep didn’t win any Oscars, but to hell with those – it’s a helluva entertaining monster movie, packed with action, stunts, some gore, explosions and of course an alien-monster-thingie directly from the volcano of our imagination.” Fred Anderson, Schmollywood Babylon

It’s not a problem that it’s a bad film. That, I feel, was a given […] Admittedly, the final 20 minutes when the laughably crappy monster rears its claw and a few minor explosions blow the shit out of toy cars etc, is great.” Sex Gore Mutants

Choice dialogue:

“Don’t touch me, you snake squeezer! You’re all alike! Men like you think you’re real men just because you got a pair of balls!”

“I think it’s some kind of claw, Colonel!”

“Fear is contagious! You gotta nip it in the butt!”

“This isn’t f*ckin’ Vietnam, ok! But I said I’d stop the Greenpeace bastards and I will!”

Main cast and characters:

Daniel Bosch … Bob
Marina Giulia Cavalli … Jane [as Julia Mc. Kay]
Luciano Pigozzi … Doctor Geoffrey [as Alan Collins]
Robert Marius … Lee
Charles Napier … Colonel Kovacks

Filming locations:

• Latina, Lazio, Italy
• Pagsanjan, Laguna, Philippines

IMDb

Bloodsuckers from Outer Space is a 1984 American comedy science fiction horror film written and directed by Glen Coburn (Tabloid!). It stars Thom Meyers, Dennis Letts, Laura Ellis, and Robert Bradeen.

On May 29, 2018, Vinegar Syndrome is releasing the movie on Blu-ray with the following features:

• Newly scanned and restored in 2k from 16mm negative elements
• Commentary Track with writer/director Glen Coburn, actor Thom Meyers, and cinematographer Chad D. Smith
• 34 Years Later: A 50 minute ‘making-of’ documentary
• Back To Bloodsucker Town: 15-minute featurette
• Bloody Arm Rip 101: A how-to guide on recreating the special effect from the film!
• Stills Gallery: Featuring over 100 images from Glen’s personal collection on the making of the film
• Reversible cover artwork
• English SDH subtitles

Texas farmers turn into zombies when they become infected by an energy field from outer space. The residents must escape before an overeager general can convince the President to drop a nuclear bomb on the rural town…

Reviews:

“Bloodsuckers from Outer Space could be one of the kings of low budget B-Movies […] has loads of odd but extremely funny lines of dialogue. It’s the kind of stuff that you can’t believe someone actually wrote down and then expected an actor to memorize.” Kryten Syxx, Dread Central

” …after a few minutes Bloodsuckers radically changes course, transforming into an anything goes comedy. Characters repeatedly break the fourth wall, commenting on the quality of their own fight scenes or how scary the incidental music is. These schizophrenic moments are what make the film so endearing.” Bill Burke, HorrorNews.net

” …a lot like the following year’s Return of the Living Dead, except that it isn’t funny or exciting.” Peter Dendle, The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, 2001

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

” …the acting and make-up effects are so dreadful, and the writing so amateurish, that there are several scenes and characters that will draw out a smile. At least everyone present was trying and it shows. The production as a whole gets an A+ for effort but a C- for presentation.” Jason McElreath, DVD Drive-In

“Bloodsuckers from Outer Space isn’t going to win any awards, but it’s fun and contains sporadic moments of (mostly) intentional greatness. There are far worse ways to kill a six-pack and an hour and 19 minutes. At the very least the new wave theme song is pretty choice and there are remarkably few fart jokes…” Travis Box, Dallas Observer

Cast and characters:

• Thom Meyes as Jeff Rhodes
• Dennis Letts as General Sanders
• Laura Ellis as Julie
• Robert Bradeen as Uncle Joe
• Glen Coburn as Ralph Rhodes
• Kris Nicolau as Jeri Jett
• Pat Paulsen as the President

Filming locations:

Dallas, Texas, USA

Release:

Bloodsuckers from Outer Space premiered at Joe Bob Briggs’ Drive-In Movie Festival in October 1984. Actor Pat Paulsen attended the premiere and later said that he was embarrassed by the quality of the movie.

Buy DVD: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Karl-Lorimar Home Video released the film on home video in 1986 and Media Blasters released it on DVD on December 30, 2008. A 30th Anniversary DVD was released by Whacked Movies on November 11, 2016.

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Dread Central