PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Science Fiction Sunday 846

Quatermass TV Serial 1979 Written by Nigel Kneale, directed by Piers Haggard. Verity Lambert was the Executive producer. A four part TV serial that aired in October and November 1979 on ITV. The producers created a 100 movie version called The Quatermass Conclusion for the US and other countries. John Mills stars as Bernard Quatermass.

Set in a troubled future with massive urban collapse in the worlds largest cities. Quatermass has retired to a small town in Scotland. He's come to London to appear on a TV show only to get attacked near the studio. A man called Joe Kapp helps run the baddies off. He's an astronomer who was scheduled to appear on the same show. He has a radio telescope. The show is about the joint American and Russian space program. Two ships are to dock but something happens and they are destroyed.

Joe takes Quatermass back to his home which is next to his radio telescope. They encounter the Planet People, hippy like young people who believe that space aliens will take them to another planet for a better life. Turns out space aliens are taking them but not to another planet. A bright beam of light turns them into ash. Over time Quatermass figures out that it's aliens and they're harvesting humans for something, much like humans harvest musk deer for their musk.

Quatermass assembles a team of scientists to figure out how to fight the alien. He's going to set off a 35 kiloton nuclear weapon. He's going to attract the alien's attention by faking a gathering of young people. Quatermass and Joe are going to manually set off the nuke. As the trap is set the Planet People arrive, among them is Quatermass's grand daughter. Joe is killed and Quatermass has a heart attack, his grand daughter helps him set off the bomb. The Earth survives and so far no alien attacks. Maybe they are gone. Who knows.

I saw the movie version back in the 80s and hadn't watched it since. It's my least favorite of the Quatermass stories. The 204 min TV version is fairly well done but show going and rather depressing. Originally the BBC had the production but let it go after reasoning the budget was too much for them and the story too depressing. ITV got it and it didn't pull in the punters as they hoped. I'm thinking I wouldn't bother with it again. You can see both the serial and the movie version on Dailymotion.

Friday Night Movies 1046

Tilbury 1987 Written by Þórarinn Eldjárn and Viðar Víkingsson, directed by Viðar Víkingsson. An Icelandic TV film based on the folk horror tale of the Tilberi.It's part of the Severn folk horror box set All The Haunts Are Ours.

The movie is set during WW2 when the British were stationed in Iceland in 1940, the US moved in when they joined the war effort in 1941. A teen age farmer called Auðun wants to be a champion swimmer, he goes to Reyjavik to use the larger pool than the one available in his village. He encounters the British Army who are dating the local ladies. 

Auðun knows a couple of the ladies, Gudrún and Sigrún both came from his village. Auðun has a big crush on Gudrún but it turns out she's dating a General in the British Army. The General is an odd looking guy and as the story unfolds it turns that's the least interesting part of his personality. As Auðun digs into the General and his lady friend he finds out that the military man is a tilberi and Gudrún is his victim.

There's a fair bit of day to day life going on, some swimming and some interaction with the British soldiers. Auðun tries to investigate the tilberi but he's not much of a detective. Some of the activity is rather comical, the dance sequence is fun, and some of the gore effects are both serious and silly. The Icelandic sense of humor is rather dour but I enjoyed the quirky story. It ends with one of those scenes that have little meaning.

I though this was more entertaining than the other two films I watched this evening. I'd watch it again some time. I want to take a look at the extras at some point. 

The Dreaming 1988 Written by Mario Andreacchio, Rob George and Stephanie McCarthy, directed Mario Andreacchio. An Australian movie infused with aboriginal mythology. Part of All The Haunts Are Ours set.

Dr Cathy Thornton treats an aboriginal woman who was beaten by security guards after she broke into a museum with some native friends. She dies leaving Cathy upset. That night she dreams the dead woman is outside her window and some whaling men break into her house. Her father Bernard is an archaeologist who's arguing with his university over a dig on Kangaroo Island. He calls Cathy the next day to tell her that her mother has died. The university shuts down the dig because of aboriginal protests but Bernard doesn't care, he's gone back to the island. Cathy follows.

Cathy continues to have bad dreams. More horrible things happen, her husband dies and she pushes her father off a lighthouse when he chases her up the tower. It's all rather lack luster and dull. I sure didn't care that much for it. I'm unlikely to watch it again. The aboriginal story line is the most interesting thing in the movie. There is some nice scenery, especially along the coast and on the island. It all makes me less likely to want to purchase the second Severn box set of folk horror.

Kadaicha 1988 Written by Ian Coughlan and directed by James Bogle. Another from the Severn box set All The Haunts Are Ours. It's also called Stones Of Death.

Someone is killing local teenagers. Turns out some of the houses are built over an aboriginal burial ground. Naughty, naughty. Gail's dad Eric is the developer who built the houses, knowingly illegal. Her friends have been attacked and she's on the hit list. Eric refuses to believe her it's supernatural and more kids die. The rest of the movie is filled with running about and murdering teens.

It's pretty much average but slightly more entertaining than the previous movie. I'd watch it again but who knows when that's going to happen. I do want to check out the extras at some point.

Friday Night Movies 1044

In The Dust Of The Stars 1976 Written and directed by Gottfried Kolditz. An East German SF film we watched on DVD back in 2009. You can read it, I'm pretty much of the same opinion. None of the links work anymore. We watched the Deaf Crocodile Blu-ray box set it shares with Signals.

The crew of the spaceship Cynro receive a distress call from the planet Tem 4. The leader of Tem 4 says it was a mistake and everything's fine. It's not, the leader of Tem 4, The Boss and his minion Ronk are big liars who are up to something. Ronk invites the crew to a party, everyone goes but Suko, the ships navigator. Other weird stuff happens, it's finally revealed that Ronk and The Boss have slaves in their mine. The slaves revolt, Suko is killed and Captain stays behind for some reason.

I'm sure the film looks nicer than the old DVD we watched ages ago. I liked it better this time despite it's rather pokey pace. It's definitely goofy.

Freckled Max And The Spooks 1987 Based on the Allan Rune Pettersson novel Frankenstein's Aunt, written by Jaroslav Dietl, Joachim Hammann, Juraj Jakubisko, Jozef Pastéka and Alan Rune Pettersson, directed by Juraj Jakubisko.

The 7 episode TV production of Frankenstein's Aunt was cut down into a 96 min film. You can see the TV show on YouTube, sadly in German with German subtitles. I used the Easy YouTube Video Downloader to download them and add AI generated subtitles. They subtitles seem Ok but the image is only 480p, rather fuzzy. I'm game to watch the program but who knows when I'll get to it. The 7 episodes run 52 mins each, that's a lot of missing material even after removing all the credit bits.

Frankenstein's aunt Hannah wants to find a bride for her nephew so he can carry on the family name. Frankenstein's monster is called Albert. Max is a little orphan boy who stumbles into a castle filled with the sort of fun stuff you'd find in older type horror film, the series was intended honor the Universal Monster Films of the 30-40s but with a humorous bent aimed at kids. Albert is a dumb monster but he means well. Plenty of slapstick and wall smashing going on.

There's a few people in the cast I knew, Ferdy Mayne plays Dracula, similar to his Count von Krolock in The Fearless Vampire Killers. I knew Eddie Constantine and Viveca Lindfors but everyone else was a stranger. 

The story is fun, there's plenty of noise and slapstick but I was tired and having trouble staying awake. I don't think I missed much but details are weak in the noggin the following morning. I might want to see it again sometime but it wouldn't be for a while. I wouldn't be picking up the Blu-ray. 

Science Fiction Sunday 842

Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams Series 1 2017-8 Developed by Ronald D Moore and Michael Dinner. Ten episodes based on PKD short stories aired on Amazon Prime in 2017-2018.

Half the episodes were filmed in the UK and half in the US. There's a bunch of name actors involved: Timothy Spall,Geraldine Chaplin, Steve Buscemi, Greg Kinnear, Sam Witwer, Anna Paquin, Maura Tierney and Brian Cranston were the ones I knew. There were plenty more I didn't know.

Episode Titles and Story Title:

The Hood Maker - The Hood Maker

Impossible Planet - The Impossible Planet

The Commuter - The Commuter

Crazy Diamond - Sales Pitch

Real Life - Exhibit Piece

Human Is - Human Is

The Father Thing - The Father Thing

Autofac - Autofac

Safe And Sound - Foster, You're Dead

Kill All Others - The Hanging Stranger

The episodes were about 50 mins each and the stories adapted were rewritten, some more than others. The Hanging Stranger get re-titled Kill All Others and the story changed from a secret alien invasion to mind control by the government. I actually read the story just a few mins ago. Way different. Autofac was a bit more like the story. I didn't check any of the other stories. 

Enjoyment wise, it's a mixed bag, some I found more interesting than others. Some just left me cold, I didn't care for those stories. It's often compared to Black Mirror, which started in 2011, the 3rd Series came out in 2016, PKD's Electric Dreams came out the following year. It has a similar feel but not quite as sharp as BM. Sometimes BM leaves me cold too. I still prefer Charlie's Wipe Work.

I don't think I'll ever get back to Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams but I know I'll watch some of my favorite Black Mirror stories again. 

Science Fiction Sunday 839

Bolt From The Blue 2023 Written and directed by Jack Martin. This is Jack's first feature film, he'd directed a few shorts. He worked on a few films in other capacities, he was a PA on Godzilla VS Kong. I found the film on YouTube at one of those channels that chop the credits off the film and re-title the movie to hide the real title from the real owners. I find that rather sleazy in general.

Matt Walsh plays a crooked scummy business type called Micheal, his company works on various alternate forms of energy, he's always looking for government money to fund projects. Amy's proposal is passed over for a similar project from Danny. The company's gotten letters from a guy in Alaska and Micheal thinks there might be something there he could use. He sends Mia to Alaska to steal what she can. Matt doesn't like her, he loves his favorite employee Danny, Mia goes because she's weak and tired.

The guy in Alaska is Lucas Fletcher, he's the son of a couple of who were lightning catchers. They were trying to harness the power of lightning strikes. They disappeared in a big lightning storm 25 years ago. Lucas grew up hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, all the people on the whole island on thinks Lucas is a crazy person. He lives with his aunt Amy, she thinks he's crazy too. He's is a crazy person, totally lost in this catching lightning project. I found him very annoying. The movie is written so he's the hero and that makes the story rather weak. Most of the characters are dopey and poorly developed. 

I could hardly get to the end. FF saved me. The movie looks nice, they have nice locations and decent production values. I gave it a 3 on the IMDb, the story pulls it down for me. Not something I would watch again, same with the next movie.

TwoTwo 2023 Written and directed by Jun Hoskulds. This is her second feature, she directed The Sublet in 2008 and a short a couple years before that.

I'm not sure what the movie is about, there's so little explanation about what's going on. Mostly it's random scenes with characters interacting with other characters but doing very little to flesh out the story. I gave up on it pretty quickly and sped up the movie to get to the end faster. Nothing much explained there either and an enigmatic ending. Very much a waste of my time. Not going to watch it again. 

Friday Night Movies 1037

Panda Plan 2024 Written by Wei Xu, Meng Yida and Luan Zhang, directed by Luan Zhang. A Jackie Chan action comedy.

Jackie plays a version of himself, he goes to a zoo to take part in sponsoring a rare version of the panda. An Arab sheik wants the panda, some mercenaries want his $100 mil. The Sheik has a sad backstory that is revealed at the end. That could have been easily left out, it's so heavy handed and cliched. 

Jackie arrives at the zoo, shortly after the mercenaries arrive to get the panda. Things don't go so easy for the mercenaries with Jackie there. It's like they bought their slapstick in bulk and spread it all over. There's some good number of fight scenes but it's mostly low throttle martial arts and silly action bits. I'm impressed Jackie can do some of the stunts himself. You can often tell when it's a stunt double.

It's all very colorful and noisy, the story is too simple, generally the script is weak, it's more suitable for kids and grans. There's plenty of jokey bits but no one dies. A baddie gets panda poop in his mouth. People are knocked out, even Jackie, he was knocked out during a stunt involving putting his head in a headlock. There's plenty of gun fire but no one gets shot. The animals were CGI. There was a robot delivery cart with a personality. He was always chatting up the ladies.

I enjoyed it for the most part but it's not up to Jackie's older action comedies. It still made money in the theater in China, it cost $24 mil to make and pulled $36 mill out of the Chinese box office. I had picked up a copy when I saw it on Amazon, I try to buy all the Jackie films, I'd hope to watch it again sometime.

Signals 1970

I watched this August 2024 and posted a comment on Science Fiction Sunday 809. There's a link there to the version of the film I watched on YouTube. The Blu-ray we watched was much better looking. All that didn't make the dull script much better. People's minds were wondering between the gulf between the sentences. I didn't mind that the time I watched it before but I bet I watched it at 1.5 speed. It does help a lot of stories out.

Science Fiction Sunday 835

Masters Of Science Fiction - The Complete Series 2007

A series of six stories that were adapted from SF writers John Kessel, Howard Fast, Robert A Heinlein, Harlan Ellison, Walter Mosley and Robert Sheckley.

The stories are a mixed lot but none of them are very positive. Kessell's is post apocalypse, Fast's story has alien's tell the Earth to stop fighting among themselves or die, Heinlein's story is about a synthetic man who just wants a cigarette or some candy, Ellison's story is about a plague ship of mutants getting screwed by the Earth government, Mosley's story is a look at laws and policing, Sheckley's story is about a robotic bird that meters out justice.

Mick Garris is involved and this is a series that apes the format of his Masters Of Horror series. Like that series the stories here have a bit of a sting at the end that reminds me the future isn't going to be so bright with certain people in charge. Sadly the message isn't going to get to the bad people, they don't read or watch this sort of nonsense.

The production values are pretty good and there are plenty of great actors in the cast. Most of the stories were OK but I didn't think I'd bother with the series again. I've got more entertaining shows to watch and rewatch.

The Quatermass Xperiment 1955

The Quatermass Xperiment 1955 Based on the BBC TV production The Quatermass Experiment by Nigel Kneale, screenplay by  Richard Landau and Val Guest, directed by Val Guest. Produced by Anthony Hinds for Hammer Film Productions. I watched the Kino Lorber Blu-ray.

Brian Donlevy plays Professor Bernard Quatermass, he's waiting for the rocket ship he launched into space to return. The ship crashes and only one man of the three man crew emerges. He's damaged and can hardly communicate with anyone. The only evidence of the other two are their still sealed spacesuits. They take the astronaut to the Rocket Group's hospital to see Doctor Briscoe and Doctor Blake. They don't know what happened to him.

The Astronaut mutates, his hand merges with a cactus, he kills the man his wife sent to get him out of the hospital. He scares his wife and goes on the run. He kills some people who cross his path, eventually he mutates so much they need to kill him. It's not a good film to recruit astronauts but there's no room in science for feelings. 

It's a pretty good film and I've seen it a few times before. The KL has two commentaries, one with Val Guest and another by Gary Gerani. There are some interviews and featurettes with Val Guest. They don't have the US version of the film, The Creeping Unknown, but they do have a featurette on the differences between the two versions. Over all a nice Blu-ray, one I plan to watch again sometime in the future.

 

Science Fiction Sunday 815

Magellan 2017 Written by Scott Baird and Rob York, directed by Rob York. An SF movie I watched on Amazon Prime.

An astronaut goes on a 10 year mission to the moons of some of the larger planets. NASA has picked up some signals from there. The astronaut picks up the transmitters and starts touching them with his bare hands. Things get a bit odd before the movie peters out.

It's rather dull and frustrating. The astronaut doesn't act very much like an astronaut. His rather cliched wife doesn't have the mental capacity to deal with his long absence. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Alien Hunt 2024 Written and directed by Aaron Mirtes. An SF film made in Tennessee. It was on Amazon Prime.

Some hunters have to deal with an alien creature that looks remarkably like the alien in Alien. It's got a so-so script that's filled with cliches, the actors are amateur, the sets and setting says low budget. I'd give this one a miss.

Friday Night Movies 1014

The Chronicles Of Riddick 2004 Written and directed by David Twohy. We watched the alternate cut of the film from the Arrow 4K Box Set. It looks very nice.

Vin Diesel is Riddick, a notorious criminal who's been hiding for five years since the events in Pitch Black. A team of bounty hunters lead by a guy called Tombs attack Riddick but get beat down. Riddick steals their ship and escape. On Helion Prime he looks up Imam, a character from Pitch Black, just as the planet gets invaded by the Necromongers. Imam is killed and Riddick escapes. The Necromongers are vicious and deadly, they capture planets and assimilate their citizens or kill them.

He's freedom is short lived, he captured and discovered to be a Furyan. He escapes again only to be captured by Tombs. He talks them into taking him to the prison on Crematoria. There Riddick is reunited with Jack from Pitch Black. Meanwhile the Necromongers are still interested in Riddick, Commander Vaako is sent to find and capture Riddick. Vaako is successful and brings Riddick before the Lord Marshall. There's a big fight and Riddick is now the head of the Necromongers. 

It's been years since I've seen the movie. For some reason it didn't do well at the box office or with the critics. I enjoyed it then and still do. Last year I bought the Blu-ray set with all three movies, still haven't watched it. I will at some point.

Jim Ripple's Robotor 1935 Based on the 1929 Ukrainian novel Iron Riot by Volodimir Vladko, screenplay by Georgly Grebnev, directed by Alexandr Andriyevsky. A Russian film set in some unknown capitalist country where the locals speak English.

Jim Ripple is a robot designer, he's trying to make robots to replace the workers on an assembly line. He thinks that robots will bring the price of goods down and destroy capitalism. Things don't go so well with that plan, the workers strike and the company uses the robots against them. Poor Jim is killed and trampled by the robots.

It's kind of interesting but rather dull at times. I wouldn't need to watch it again.