Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction Films
“intense depiction of very bad weather”* Well, the film is out, and the reviews are in. Predictably, the critics carping over TWISTER’s alleged failings have proved that they don’t appreciate the wonders of cinema magic, for this movie is a wonder to behold. Working from a simple premise (storm chasers pursue tornadoes in the hope …
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH may be fashioned from a variety of film-making techniques, but there is one intangible element that holds the film together: pure imagination. Springing to life first in the fertile mind of author Roald Dahl and then planted like a seed in the equally fertile mind of stop-mo¬tion director Henry Selick, …
Don’t be surprised if, much like the titular fruit, you feel you’ve been cast adrift in this live-action/stop-motion animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl children’s classic. The story of a boy’s fanciful trip to New York City, accom¬panied by the insect inhabitants of a massive peach, seems to have been a victim of an historic …
Existential angst in the form of cyberpunk anime from Japan. A form of artificial intelligence has become self aware, and now it`s seeking a way to escape from cyberspace into the real world. Ironically, the special forces tracking it down are formerly human beings whose bodies and brains have been so enhanced with modern technology …
It is no masterpiece, but after some of the schlock seen this year, it is nice to see a science-fiction horror film that delivers. Basically, this is “ALIEN on Earth,” featuring some of the best on-screen visualizations of H.R Giger’s work since Ridley Scott piloted the Nostromo to stratospheric box office success. The hunt-and-chase plot …
“Sugar” and “Spice” are not opposites. So why are they the names of Two-Face’s girlfriends (Drew Barrymore and Debi Mazar), when everything about him is supposed to be split into opposing dichotomies? Apparently, “Leather” and “Lace,” the monikers used in the script, were deemed to suggestive for the family audience Warner Brothers was trying to …
The Auguest 1993 issue of Cinefantastique magazine (Volume 24, Number 2) featured a cover story on JURASSIC PARK, including interviews with Michael Crichton, Stan Winston, and many others. The dino-packed issue also featured articles on Roger Corman’s CARNOSAUR, plus PREHYSTERIA and the DINOSAURS ATTACK bubblegum cards. Other articles included an alternate cover story on the …
“Paradigm” was just another word for a model, but as scientists used it, the term meant something more, a world view. A larger way of seeing the world. Paradigm shifts were said to occur whenever science made a major change in its view of the world. -Michael Crichton, JURASSIC PARK In his novel Jurassic Park, …
Read More “JURASSIC PARK: Michael Crichton on Adapting his Novel to the Screen”
In discussing his live-action dinosaurs in JURASSIC PARK, makeup effects expert Stan Winston referred to Willis OBrien’s KING KONG as “yet to be surpassed.” But the praise ir O’Brien had an edge. Winston bore the confidence of one who expected his work to be the top dog come June. But dinosaur film fans, who have …
Read More “Interview: Stan Winston on making Jurassic Park's full-size dinos live and breath”
The January 1989 double issue of Cinefantastique (Volume 19, Numbers 1 & 2) magazine features an extensive cover story on the career of “Vincent Price: Horror’s Crown Prince.” This survey of Price’s fifty years in Hollywood and his legacy in the genre was written by Steve Biodrowski with David Del Valle and Lawrence French, with …