PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Science Fiction Sunday 525

Beyond The Trek started out under the title Teleios but they changed it for some reason. I don't like the new title much but the DVD was only a buck so I thought I'd take a chance. I thought the cover was very similar to the cover of the 2015 season of The Expanse. The cover on BTT doesn't represent anything from the movie. No one gets spaced. Beyond The Trek came out in 2017 and it was written and directed by Ian Truitner. In 2020 a corporation genetically modifies humans and in 2047 five adult GM humans man a spaceship heading for a deep space mining ship that's in trouble. Their mission is to find out what happened and retrieve the special cargo. There's only one survivor and he's all crazy and hairy. They shave his head and try to figure out what the series of word puzzles he's giving them mean. At the same time the GM humans are having some issues. They find that the corp is another evil bunch of fucks. Who's tired of movie corporations with black agendas? The corp had installed a bio code in the GM humans and it's reacting with their systems. It eventually will destroy them. They can slow the process down with un-GM human blood. Who's the only guy with that? The crazy guy and they'll need all his blood. Then on top of that the special cargo is bio-hazard and dangerous to everyone on Earth. The corp has a cure for it already ready to sell. That's the least interesting and cliched part of the story. There's plenty of talking and a bit of action before things turn to shit and everyone dies. It looks pretty good, especially since the budget was only a million smackaroonies. Nicely designed sets and spaceship activity. When it was all done I didn't seem to care much. I doubt I would watch it again.

I upgraded my copy of A Clockwork Orange. The movie is from 1971 and I had a laserdisc, from the 90s, which I had copied to a DVDr in 2005. It looked pretty fuzzy when I looked at the disc recently. Hamilton Books has a $6.95 double disc DVD so I bought that. It looks much better and there's a commentary by Malcolm McDowell and film historian Nick Redman. I found the movie still entertains and the commentary was a nice bit of icing. Malcolm has plenty of stories to tell. The second disc has some documentary stuff that I haven't watched yet. Well worth the add to my collection.

Science Fiction Sunday 524

I watched a three pack of SF movies today. It's called End Of The World - Post Apocalyptic Triple Feature. All three are on a single disc from EONE Films. There are no extras.

Goodbye World 2013 Here's a modern take of the 1955 film Day The World Ended. A bunch of friends gather at the cabin of one their number just as some terrorist group screws up things. It's all pretty vague concerning what happened out there, the real focus is on the lives of the friends and the changes in the local population. I was bored for a lot of it, it's a drama first and SF second. I wouldn't watch it again.

Bloodrayne: The Third Reich 2010 The third Bloodrayne film was written by Michael Nachoff and directed by Ewe Boll. This time Rayne is fighting Nazis in WW2. It's not that good a movie but there are a lot of Nazis getting sliced up by Rayne's twin swords. It's not a comedy but I did laugh out loud a couple of times. Not at jokes. Michael Pare plays a Nazi who becomes a Dhampir like Rayne. She takes it upon herself to put an end to him. There's a lot of fighting and Nazi killing. There's a fair bit of nudity, part of the movie is set in a brothel. No real reason to see it, I doubt I'd bother with it again, though it's the most watchable of the lot. Amazing, what with it being a Ewe Boll movie and all.

After The Dark 2013 The movie is set in a school in Jakarta, the philosophy teacher has an exercise for the class on their last day. He's a dick, through and through. The idea is there's a nukefest and the group has to pick ten, from the 20 students, to survive in a bunker for a year. The students pick identities from a box, then add more detail for the next two scenarios. I didn't find it that interesting. I doubt I'd watch it again.

Science Fiction Sunday 523

I have a couple of movies today that are as different as could be, yet they share a basic story element. At their core it's all about world domination. First up, Queen Of Outer Space, a 1958 SF movie about the first trip to Venus. It's based on a Ben Hecht story called Queen Of The Universe. There's a bit on the commentary track by film historian Tom Weaver where he talks about that story and not being able to find a copy anywhere. It wasn't a published story, it's the film written out like a short story. The screenplay would be based on that. Charles Beaumont wrote the screenplay and Edward Bernds is the director.

Zsa Zsa Gabor gets star billing but Laurie Mitchell as the evil Queen Yllana gets the much more interesting part. She just doesn't get to show her face. 

Three astronauts are delivering a scientist to the space station when it's blow up by a ray from space. The ship gets hit and goes out of control. The men pass out and wake on the planet Venus. Lucky for them it's got breathable atmosphere. They explore, only to get caught by some ladies in short skirts and high heels. I think this movie has the most running, or quick walking, in high heels that I've ever seen. We see endless corridors filled with short skirts.

The guys get brought up before the Queen, there they learn she's been the one attacking the Earth, it's part of her plan to take over the Earth. Now the guys have to figure out how to defeat the Queen. Lucky for them they've got help from Zsa Zsa and her group of unsatisfied women. The men of Venus have been defeated and banished by the Queen. Many of the women want the men back and they find the men of Earth appealing. They've really grown desperate. Que the kissing. 

Eventually things get sorted out and there's some more kissing. It's all pretty silly and I had a laugh. It's not a great movie but it's fun. It gets a 4.6 on the IMDb and I don't think that's too far off. I was glad to find the Warner Archive DVD used for under 7 bucks and happy to find there was a commentary track. Joining Tom Weaver to talk about the film is Laurie Mitchell, who played Queen Yllana. They have an entertaining conversation, and only occasionally forget to talk. Glad to add it to my collection, I'll want to watch it again someday.

I could say the same about Wizards. I hadn't seen Ralph Bakshi's 1977 animated film in many years. Bakshi produced, wrote and directed the film. I had a copy I recorded off of a laserdisc but it was pretty fuzzy. I saw a cheap copy of the DVD and picked it up. The movie looks good and it's still entertaining. There's a nice commentary by Ralph Bakshi. There's also an interview with Bakshi, a still gallery, trailers and TV spots.

Science Fiction Sunday 521

Finally wrapped up UFO today. The last 7 episodes were about as good as the others. There were less security lapses this time but the humans are taking a beating at the hands of the aliens. Since there are no more shows I only wonder if we survive. Luckily, for me, I'll forget about that by the time I've finished this post. I did notice that they used that red dress again. That lady gets caught by the aliens and turned into a bomb. She nearly blows up the Shadow HQ. Now I'm done with the series and I won't have to watch it again. I'll keep the DVDs, they might be out of print someday, then I can sell the set for some money, which I can use to buy something better.

Science Fiction Sunday 520

I watched a couple of disc of UFO and the episodes were somewhat better than the previous batch. There's an origin show but it's tainted with too much melodrama with Striker and his failed marriage. His wife, thinking his long hours are due to an affair, decides to leave him. While arguing on the stairs Ed slaps his wife when she won't listen to him. She falls down the stairs and it's all touch and go at the hospital. I can't seem to catch a break with Striker, the more I see of him, the less I like him. There's a commentary with Ed Bishop, who plays Striker, but it's not that good, after a while he forgets to talk. They should have had someone there to moderate. I was happy to see a really young Susan Jameson in one episode. That's her in SHADO HQ in a shiny dress. Some might have seen her in New Tricks where she played Alun Armstrong's wife. She's actually married to another New Tricks cast member, James Bolam. Only 2 more discs to go.

Science Fiction Sunday 517

I started watching UFO, the Gerry Anderson TV show from 1970. The first disc has 4 episodes and other than a brief bit of the first episode I haven't seen these for decades. Maybe since the 70s when I watched it on Canadian TV. I remember enjoying it then.

Ed Bishop is the head of SHADO Commander Ed Straker and he fights aliens. For some reason they made him the head of film studio as a cover. Not sure that I think they'd need to do that but one episode they use the studio to set up a bit for a guy they eventually recruit. Still, it seems the Commander has more than enough to be getting on with.

There's plenty of Gerry Anderson miniature work and plenty of action. I thought the episodes were a bit slowly paced but there's little I can do about that. In the commentary for episode 1 Gerry mentions that he thought it was a bit slow too. I'll see how they pan out on the other discs.

Science Fiction Sunday 516

Today I watched both movies in one of the many Midnite Movies DVD sets. I have been picking up the Midnite Movie series when I see them. They're a good deal, the movies vary in quality but are usually entertaining. The discs are pretty bare bones, just a trailer for an extra. First up was Invisible Invaders, a 1959 movie about invading aliens who are invisible. That's tough to see. It was written by Samuel Newman and directed by Edward L Cahn. Samuel was the story editor on the Perry Mason TV show from 1961 to 1965 and he wrote a number of episodes. I've only seen one of his feature films, the 1951 Tarzan film Tarzan's Peril. Edward has directed several low budget SF and Horror films, here's 3 you might know, Creature With The Atom Brain, Invasion Of The Saucer Men and It! The Terror From Beyond Space. The last film is my favorite of his works.

Robert Hutton, Jean Byron, Philip Tonge and John Agar are the main cast. Robert and Philip are scientists, Jean's Philip's daughter and John is an Air Force Captain guarding the scientists. They have a fairly good looking lab, with plenty of props but no other people. Much of the movie is filmed there. The outdoor scenes are mostly woods and there are more extras there. The aliens attack, and as you know, no one can even see them. Some of the aliens animate dead bodies and move the corpses about. The aliens are pretty much the dicks here, what with planning to take over the world and all.

The scientist's are looking for a weapon to defeat the invisible invaders. There's a bit of running about outside. It's dangerous out there, the zombie like aliens are looking for the secret lab. They've managed to destroy a lot of the human cities and kill a lot of people. They plan to eliminate the human's and live on Earth. See, it's non-stop dickishness from the invisible douche-bags from space.

Eventually the scientist's come through with the goods and their weapon blasts those aliens right out of the dead. The left over human's are saved. Hooray. I liked it, even though it's not that great, there's a bit of excitement, some shambling dead, and a goofy weapon. I gave it a 5 and that's what it's score is on the IMDb. I've seen it before and might watch it again someday.

The second movie is on the other side of the disc. It's called Journey To The Seventh Planet and it came out in 1962. It's another John Agar film and it was directed by Sidney W Pink. Sid co-wrote the movie with Ib Melchior. Sid was a producer, writer and director, he directed 6 films, I've only seen this one and Reptilicus.

John is the Captain of a spaceship to Uranus. When they get there they find a strange place that's similar to Earth. It's shrouded in a barrier that they can pass through. People and places appear as they look around. People and places from their minds. One of the men is fearful of rats and the party is attacked by a giant rat.

Eventually they figure out some alien is manipulating them and they have to figure out how to beat him.

Maybe it's not as well made as the other movie but it has a nice mix of seriousness and goofiness. Sid's just not as good a film maker as Edward was. I still gave it a 5 on the IMDb, a 4 seemed too low, it's got a 4.8 average there. I was glad to see it again. I had forgotten the story from the first time I saw it 15 years or so ago. I doubt I'll wait 15 more years to see it again.

Science Fiction Sunday 512

Breezed through the second disc in the Space Precinct series. It's got 5 episodes and no extras. That's one of the main characters after she'd been killed in her hospital bed. It was a weird thing, killing off a main character, but it happens. Then they killed off two more of the main characters. What's up Space Precinct? Oh, you can fix it with time travel. Good on ya! The rest of the episodes are all about the same as the ones in the first disc. Enjoyable but rather light weight.

Science Fiction Sunday 511

I decided to watch the first disc of Gerry Anderson's Live Action TV Show Space Precinct 2040 today. It's got 5 discs so that's today and the next four Sundays sorted. The show is only the one season, there were 24 episodes, and they aired in 1994 and 1995.

Ted Shackleford is Lieutenant Patrick Brogan, he was an NYPD Detective, but when the show starts, he and his family have moved to the planet Altor in the Epsilon Eridani. Patrick is working for the Demeter City Police. Rob Youngblood plays his partner Jack Haldane and Simone Bendix plays Office Jane Castle. Nancy Paul plays Ted's wife Sally and Nick Klein and Megan Olive plays his children, Matthew and Elizabeth. Many other actors play humans and aliens. I didn't recognize many names from the IMDb listings, Ray Winstone, Idris Elba and Maurice LaMarche.

The first disc has 5 episodes.

Protect and Survive - Burt Kwouk is an informant who gets blown up for talking to the cops. Brogan and Haldane know who did it but need some proof.

Enforcer - A couple of aliens are taking over the protection racket among the citizens of Skall Street. One of them has the power to kill with her mind.

Body And Soul - Brogan and his son find an abandoned ship on an asteroid. On the way back to Alton someone sends a self-destruct message to the ship. After barely escaping with their lives, Brogan goes on the hunt for the baddie.

Double Duty - Drugs and murders take up most of Brogans time for this episode.

The Snake - Brogan and Haldane battle the alien extortionist The Snake.

The stories are OK, better than most of Anderson's puppet shows, and the characters are fairly descent. The aliens are interesting enough and there are a good mix of them. Some of the jokes are pretty weak and Brogan's son is due a "Stupid Boy" on occasion, The sets and props are good, as are the special effects and miniatures. It's not going to be in my top ten SF shows but I'm enjoying them.

Science Fiction Sunday 510

I watched the Outpost trilogy today. I had seen the first one but I see it was back in 2011. I hardly remember anything about it, corridors and snarling Nazi zombies mostly. Since I haven't seen the rest I decided to watch all three in one go. They're mostly horror but there's SF at their core, in that they deal with the outcome of scientific experiments by the Nazis to make super soldiers, AKA zombies. There a small number of films in that genre. All three films are made in Scotland but set in some unnamed Eastern Block country.

Outpost 2008 Directed by Steve Barker, screenplay by Rae Brunton, story by Rae Brunton, Kieran Parker and Steve Barker. They turned in a decent script, wrote some interesting enough characters and a good villain.

Ray Stevenson is an old mercenary who gets hired by Julian Wadham to guard him on a trip into a bad area. They make it to the entrance of an underground bunker without any trouble but once they get there things go bad pretty much right away. One guy gets shot by someone in the woods. Inside the bunker they get the generator working and turn on the lights. It turns out that the bunker was home to Nazi experiments during WW2. Julian is looking for a device the Nazis left behind. Sadly, their presence has activated the dead Nazis. One by one the men get cut down as they battle the snarlin' Nazi zombies. Their relief is too far out to save them.

I think it's the best of the trio. I give it high marks for the cast lead by Ray Stevenson. He often gets these tough guy roles and he does really well in them. In Outpost he's backed up by a good cast of people that I don't really know. Michael Smiley had been in a couple of movies that I had seen but I didn't remember him in either. No matter, they all do a good job on their characters.

Most of the movie is set in the underground bunker that the Nazis built. It's a all concrete, corridors and rust. And Nazi zombies. They did well making those sets and all the props. The make up is pretty darn good. I like that the story moves along at a nice pace, there's good action scenes and plenty of other stuff going on. Now I've seen this twice and I'd still watch it again. I gave it a 6 on the IMDb, it's not quite a 7 for me.

Outpost: Black Sun 2012 Steve Barker directed and co-wrote the script with Rae Brunton. The movie starts soon after the first.

Catherine Steadman plays a Nazi hunter like her dead father. She's on the search for a scientist named Klausener. She finds one of his old Nazi pals and after interrogating him to a heart attack she gets a clue and a ring with wings. In an area near the bunker she runs into Richard Coyle, they get intercepted by a small group of soldiers. The couple prove to be somewhat useful to them and they all wind up at the bunker. As you might guess, those Nazis are still there. They're still dead and they're even more active than before.

I didn't find this quite as entertaining as the last. It's still entertaining enough, there's plenty of running about, yelling and Nazi zombie killing. I wasn't quite as impressed by the super fast cutting of the shaky cam footage shot for the fight scenes. That got tiring pretty fast for me. Some of the CGI additions to the scenes aren't quite as good as you might hope. I only gave it a 5 in the end but I'd still watch it again.

Outpost: Rise Of The Spetsnaz 2013 Kieran Parker takes the director's chair for the third film and Rae Brunton is the script writer. This film is a prequel, set in 1945, to the first two films. It pits the Russian Spetsnaz forces against the Nazis.

A team of Spetsnaz soldiers cross paths with the German's from the bunker in the first movie. The German's pick up soldiers and peasants from the area to experiment on. We finally get to see more of the facility and how the experiments are going. Not so good, most of the test cases explode from the injection of serum and the rays of the machine from the first two movies.

I enjoyed it and I thought it was about as good as the second movie. I gave it a 5 on the IMDb. I thought Kieran did a pretty good job for his first movie. He hasn't directed any more but he continues to produce movies. I liked the characters and the script was good. The story moved along OK. I'll watch it again someday.