No visit to DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book chapter on mad scientists would be complete without renewing one’s acquaintance with one of the other men of science who fell to their studies, the infamous Dr. Jekyll. This silent film, using Robert Louis Stevenson’s original novel to inspire its tale, features John Barrymore in…
Tag: experiment
Splice (2009) – Vincenzo Natali
The next title in DK Canada’s Minsters in the Movies book, as I continue my way through the chapter on mad scientists is Splice, starring Adrien Brody and the always exemplary Sarah Polley. This film is very much the mad scientist take on parenting with all the mistakes and the oedipal complexes taken to a…
From Beyond (1986) – Stuart Gordon
Cult favorite actor Jeffrey Combs is the mad scientist in the next title featured in DK Canada’s highly enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book. Based on the seven page short story by H.P. Lovecraft the story follows Crawford Tillinghast (Combs) and a group of scientists that have developed the resonator, an experimental machine that can allow…
Altered States (1980) – Ken Russell
William Hurt is on the search for the purest truth, and that, in this case, places him squarely in the mad scientist chapter of DK Canada’s very enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book. Eddie Jessup (Hurt) is a scientist seeking the ultimate truth, and finds himself experimenting with isolation chambers and a ritualistic, possibly hallucinogenic…
Shivers (1975) – David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg’s first feature film is the next entry in the Mad Scientist chapter of DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book. That being said the mad scientist in this film doesn’t survive the opening credits, though his foul plan does. Set in a lone apartment building, the Starliner, which owns the island it is…
War of the Worlds (1989) – He Feedeth Among the Lilies, and The Prodigal Son
This week, War of the Worlds attempts to tie into the alien abduction phenomena, in He Feedeth Among the Lilies. Written by Tom Lazarus, this episode first debuted on 30 January, 1989. Team Blackwood begins to look into stories of close encounters, and discover the morthren are abducting people, implanting them with a device that…
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962) – Joseph Green
It’s time for another bad movie featuring a mad scientist as I continue to enjoy the fantastic tome DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies. This time the scientist, Bill (Jason Evers) by name is obsessed with transplants, and brains, and grafting organs, limbs and tissues. When he receives a call that something has gone wrong…
V – The Miniseries (1983) – Part Two
Part two of the iconic science fiction mini-series V, written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, aired on 2 May, 1983. It aired the following night after part one, no week’s wait, not even a couple of days. This was an event, and for two nights it ruled television. Continuing it’s sci-fi retelling of Nazi Germany…
Space: 1999 (1976) – Ring Around the Moon, and Missing Link
Ring Around the Moon is the first episode up this week, as I continue my travels with Moonbase Alpha. Written by Edward di Lorenzo this story first debuted on 15 January, 1976. A strange yellow energy field has an adverse effect on one of the Alphan techs, as a strange planet pulls it into temporary…
Space: 1999 (1975) – Guardian of Piri, and End of Eternity
Computer is causing problems, and Moonbase Alpha has drawn close to a strange planet which is having adverse effects on the Alphans. Guardian of Piri was written by Christopher Penfold, and first debuted on 13 November, 1975. As the moon draws closer to a odd world, computer’s data, and mechanical instruments become increasingly unreliable, Eagle…
The Mind Reels 