Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction Films
By Anna L. Kaplan FARSCAPE takes risks. FARSCAPE refuses to be pinned down to one style or one way of doing things. Executive producer David Kemper decided long before starting season three that he wanted to do an episode of FARSCAPE mixing live-action with cartoons. It took a long time, and all of his personal …
Read More ““Farscape” Season Three: “Revenging Angel” Takes On Cartoons”
“I will not permit anyone else to sacrifice their life for mine.” – Aeryn Sun “What do you mean, anyone else?” – John Crichton SEASON OF DEATH *** Production #10301. Airdate 3/16/01. Written by Richard Manning. Directed by Ian Watson. As John Crichton lies speechless on the operating table near the fallen Diagnosan, Scorpius has …
Tim Burton’s “Elephant Man” After hiring on as a director to projects developed without him (PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE, BEETLEJUICE, BATMAN), Tim Burton showed what he could do when he developed a project of his own. The result is this sweet 1990 fantasy that for the first time crystallized the latent themes in the director’s …
When reviewing disreputable genres, it is not uncommon to extoll the virtues of little known films in the hope of starting a buzz that will attract attention to films that might otherwise be obscured by more high-profile projects. To some extent, this happened with PERFECT BLUE, the anime psycho-thriller that received an art house theatrical release in …
The October 1999 issue (Volume 31, Number 8 ) featured a cover story on the X-FILES television show, plus preview articles on DUDLEY DO-RIGHT, ANGEL, LOST SOULS, THE ASTRONAUT’S WIFE, and UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN. Articles from this issue can be accessed under the Archives listing for October 1999. The contents for this issue are …
LAKE PLACID is the next step in the evolutionary process that led from JAWS to ANACONDA. The unlikely but amusing story has a JURASSIC-size Salt Water Crocodile showing up in an isolated lake not too far from the Easter Coast (having apparently migrated across the Atlantic). Needless to say, in order to keep the horror …
The surprise sleeper success of 1999, this ingenious science fiction thriller easily surpassed THE PHANTOM MENACE in imagination, action, acting, and effects – if not in box office. It also spawned two action-packed sequels that, unfortunately, illustrated the law of diminishing returns, as what once seemed fresh and original quickly decayed into repetitious formula. Excellence …
The best you can say for this film is that everyone meant well; unfortunately, the road to hell is paved with…well, you know the rest. Basically, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play the latest generation in a family of witches, who have been cursed by an ancestor whose love was betrayed. Now, if either one …
“It’s awful; it’s just awful,” gasps Marg Helgenberger in one scene of this absolutely abysmal follow-up to the entertaining 1995 hit, and viewers are likely to find their heads nodding in agreement, because truer words were never spoken. It is as if the filmmakers suddenly realized the quality of their own work. This self-awareness is …
The James Bond franchise has become the cinematic equivalent of those stadium-rock tours by mega-successful ‘60s bands: they are bigger and more elaborate than ever before, and they make tons of money from eager ticket-buyers; while critics carp about recycling past glories, new fans get to go out and see something they have previously experienced …