The next stop for me in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book is the works of James Cameron, and this is where he got some of his start (and where a behind the scenes worker, Bill Paxton, also did some work) as the film’s production designer. Cameron did some special effects work for this Roger Corman produced B-movie (something…
Tag: b-movie
Universal Soldier (1992) – Roland Emmerich
Sometimes you are just in the mood for something blatantly mindless, poorly written, and violent fun. Well, the next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book should provide me with more than a healthy dose of that as I dive into the works of Roland Emmerich. How he keeps getting A-list stars to work with him…
Toronto After Dark 2016: Blood Father -Jean-Francois Richet
Action night concluded Sunday night for the Toronto After Dark film festival as Mel Gibson, previous person non grata in Hollywood, returns to form in this pulse-pounding thriller. This is not the place for me to ruminate on Mel Gibson’s career or his personal life and substance abuse, instead I want to talk about the…
Village of the Damned (1960) – Wolf Rilla
The Sci-Fi Chronicles plunges me into B-movie horror filled with creepy blonde-haired children in this classic that is still a little unnerving. Based on the novel, The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham this one still has the power to make the viewer uneasy. Strange things are afoot in the English village of Midwich when…
Resident Evil (2002) – Paul W.S. Anderson
The Sci-Fi Chronicles now plunges me into the most successful video game/film adaptation to date, based on Capcom’s Resident Evil series, the film brings the survival horror nature of the addictive and occasionally terrifying video games to the theatrical world. This entire series has been a guilty pleasure for me, and I was happy…
The Last Man on Earth (1964) – Ubaldo Ragona
Screenwriter and novelist Richard Matheson is up next in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, specifically his story, I Am Legend, so today, we’re looking at the first film iteration of his apocalyptic tale. Released in 1964, this version stars the incomparable Vincent Price as Doctor Robert Morgan. Price’s distinctive voice gives us an opening narration…
Monster on the Campus (1958) – Jack Arnold
Jack Arnold makes one more appearance in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, and this time, it takes us to school, with Monster on the Campus (I personally feel they could have dropped the ‘the’, but oh well). This one is, sadly, nowhere near as fun as Creature from the Black Lagoon, or The Incredible Shrinking…
Tarantula (1955) – Jack Arnold
My time with director Jack Arnold continues, thanks to the Sci-Fi Chronicles. This time around, we find ourselves int he middle of the desert menaced by a giant spider. But don’t worry, things work out in the end, and we’re all saved by Clint Eastwood. Really. Near a small desert town, Professor Gerald Deemer…
This Island Earth (1955) – Joseph Newman
A flawed but enjoyable space opera is my next port of call in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, and is notable also because it was one of the first color science fiction films to be made, and This Island Earth does like to show off its Technicolor look, and boasts some pretty solid effects considering…
The Day of the Triffids (1963) – Steven Sekely
The Sci-Fi Chronicles brings me yet another film I’ve never seen, and yet feel I know, because it shows up everywhere, The Day of the Triffids. based on the classic science fiction tale by John Wyndham. This adaptation fairly mangles the original novel, tagging on a Hollywood Happy ending, or as happy as a…
The Mind Reels 