Though the Alien franchise started nearly a decade earlier, the Predator series has followed a similar trajectory. Thirty-five years later, the original Predator remains one of the best sci-fi/action movies of all time. Yet despite its best efforts, 20th Century Studios hasn’t been able to catch lightning in a bottle. Neither audiences nor critics bought […]
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Several months before The X-Files debuted on television, Fire in the Sky invaded movie theaters hoping to exploit tabloid interest in alien abductions. Promotional materials boasted its ‘based on a true’ premise and promised a frightening abduction scene. In addition, the cast included plenty of recognizable faces including a rising star in DB Sweeney. Despite […]
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Sometimes good movies just find their audience. Such is the case with the 1997 independent Canadian sci-fi/horror hybrid, Cube. After Cube screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, it only saw a marginal theatrical release. But late-night showings on cable television and VHS gave this Kafkaesque thriller a much-deserved second chance. Followed by two so-so […]
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Based on Jack Finney’s 1954 science fiction novel, The Body Snatchers, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is classic of 70s sci-fi and horror. Its paranoia-laden premise is one easily adapted to a number of contexts and time periods – its relevance never wanes. Not surprisingly then, Finney’s story has been adapted in some form or […]
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Horror fans love when nature takes a bite out of humanity. And it can’t just be a regular-sized animal or insect. The bigger, the better. Following the massive success of Jaws, studios rushed to some version of a larger-than-average animal attacking a small community. Grizzly, Orca, Tentacles, Razorback – they all copied Steven Spielberg’s formula […]
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Somewhere in the mid-1990s, before Scream revived the genre, horror wasn’t in the best place. Arguably, the year 1995 was the nadir for horror in the decade of flannel and grunge. Yes, Se7en shocked audiences across cineplexes that year. Maybe you personally loved Demon Knight, though it’s hardly a classic. But Vampire in Brooklyn, Village […]
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Nobody’s perfect. Even the best have an off-day once in a while. Critics and horror fans alike regard John Carpenter as one of the genre’s greatest filmmakers. Certainly, the praise is well placed. Carpenter’s filmography includes bona fide classics – Halloween, The Thing, and Escape From New York. And his smaller movies – Assault on […]
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The Alien and Predator franchises have at least one thing in common. Both feature iconic movie monsters who have outgrown their respective series. At present, there are more bad Alien movies than good ones. Occasionally a Predator sequel surfaces to divide the fanbase. Critics dismissed Predator 2 and the recent re-quel, The Predator. Neither Alien […]
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