Virus (1999) – John Bruno

Gale Anne Hurd serves as the producer on my next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles, 1999’s Virus. Once again, the film is packed with a fairly solid cast, Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Sutherland, William Baldwin, Joanna Pacula, and Marshall Bell, and once again, most of it is poorly executed. Based on the Dark Horse Comic…

The Relic (1997) – Peter Hyams

This one should have been a sure fire winner, a bestselling book, a family strong cast including Penelope Ann Miller and Tom Sizemore and a fun creature feature story, featuring work by Stan Winston and his team – so what went wrong? The Relic is my next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, as I…

Robocop 2 (1990) – Irvin Kershner

The Sci-Fi Chronicles lets me check in with Robocop next, and since I’d previously reviewed the first film, I’m jumping right to the second instalment. This film should have a lot going for it, Peter Weller returning to the role, directed by Irvin Kershner (the last film before his death) and a story by Frank…

Galaxy of Terror (1981) – Bruce D. Clark

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…

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…