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Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: War of the Worlds

24/01/202620/01/2026Dr. K1 Comment

January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

Released: 29 June 2005
Director: Steven Spielberg
Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Budget: $132 million
Box Office: $603.9 million
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 76% / 42%

Quick Facts:
Byron Haskin’s award-winning 1953 adaptation of sci-fi classic The War of the Worlds (Wells, 1898) led to a television show and inspired similarly-themed alien invasion movies, knock-offs, and a widely celebrated musical adaptation from Jeff Wayne. This big-budget, modern-day reinterpretation reunited director Steven Spielberg with star Tom Cruise and drew visual and narrative inspiration from 9/11. Industrial Light & Magic designed the sleek alien walkers to be both intimidating and horrific to fulfil the filmmakers’ wish to emphasis the futility and devastation of war.

The Review:
Like the 1953 film, this big-budget adaptation of The War of the Worlds is set not in Victorian England, but in then-modern day America, beginning in Brooklyn, New York and following deadbeat dad and longshoreman Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) as he desperately tries to get his kids to the presumed safety of Boston, Massachusetts when aliens suddenly attack. Ray starts the film as a bit of an asshole. Though he’s said to be a hard worker as a crane operator down at the docks, Ray’s not in the business of working more hours than he has to, citing union rules about overtime (and, honestly, rightfully so), and is therefore seen to be arrogant and condescending. Ray’s a keen mechanic, filling his house with car parts and booming through the streets in his prized 1966 Shelby Mustang, and neglecting to fill his refrigerator and cupboards since he favours takeaways. Ray’s so self-absorbed that he completely forgets when he’s due to meet his kids at his house, though his pregnant ex-wife, Mary Ann (Miranda Otto), is well past arguing about his tardiness and irresponsibility. Instead, she glares at him and makes snap criticisms, all with the general idea of urging him to do better by moody teenager Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and inquisitive youngster Rachel (Dakota Fanning). Although Rachel is begrudgingly polite to her dad, Robbie has no interest, preferring to ignore him, call him “Ray”, criticise his lack of parenting skills, and generally give him a hard time. Ironically, Robbie emulates his father’s dress sense more than he realises and is just as irresponsible, stealing his car and dragging his feet on his homework and rejecting Ray’s questionable attempts to bond with a sneering angst. Rachel is surprisingly mature for her age, ordering healthy foods and giving Ray pointers, only for him to balk at both since he clearly doesn’t like deviating from his junk food or receiving criticism for his parenting.

*When aliens suddenly attack, deadbeat dad Ray must rise to the occasion to protect his estranged children.*

Luckily for Ray, he’s given the perfect opportunity to step up when a mysterious storm looms overhead and lightning repeatedly strikes the ground, setting off an electromagnetic pulse and fries all vehicles and electronics and terrifies Rachel. Curious, Ray wanders outside and is amazed when a gigantic alien machine bursts from the street with an ominous honk. The towering Tripod immediately sets to work vaporising the terrifying crowd, reducing them to dust and tattered clothes, and Ray races home covered in an ash-like substance that was once his neighbours, too shellshocked to properly explain what happened and desperately urging his kids to flee before the Tripod reaches their block. Despite Robbie demanding answers and Rachel suffering a panic attack, Ray loads his kids into the one working vehicle (thanks to a solenoid change) and races away as the Tripod decimates the area, barely able to describe what happened to his terrified kids. Ray’s struggling to hold together when they get to Mary Ann’s home in nearby New Jersey, desperately trying to keep his kids calm and wrap his head around the death and destruction he’s witnessed and succeeding only in scaring or alienating them further. Ray’s stress only increases when a Boeing 747 partially crashes into the house, littering the street with burning wreckage and bodies that Ray desperately shields Rachel from and angering Robbie so much that he becomes obsessed with fighting against the invaders. Ray’s very much against this not just because the Tripods are so massive, intimidating, and dangerous, but also because a newswoman (Camillia Sanes) reveals that aliens travelled through the lightning bolts to pilot the walkers, meaning humanity is facing a violent extermination from an extraterrestrial force. Refusing to risk their lives by joining the military effort, Ray frantically focuses on getting his kids to Boston, partially because he’s underequipped for the crisis but also because he knows the kids are better off with Mary Ann. Along the way, the car is literally ripped apart by an angry mob desperate to get to safety, forcing Ray to pull out his pistol to drag Robbie and Rachel out of their path as the mob fights over the vehicle.

*The devastating attack inspires fear, rage, and paranoia as survivors fight or flee from the aliens.*

A momentary respite at the Hudson River quickly turns into another fight for survival when the Tripods arrive, capsizing the ferry and abducting many survivors. Ray and his kids are caught up in the military’s desperate counterattack and witness how unstoppable the Tripods really are as they shrug off damage with energy shields and vaporise tanks and troops alike. Ray sees this as a futile effort, seeing only death when the Tripods appear, and frantically argues with Robbie when he insists on witnessing and aiding the fight. In an emotionally charged moment, Ray’s resolve falters and his reluctantly lets Robbie go to forge his own path, hoping that they’ll be reunited in Boston when it’s all over. Still rattled from this, Ray gratefully accepts shelter in Harlan Ogilvy’s (Tim Robbins) basement, struggling to reassure and calm Rachel following her brother’s absence and quickly realising that Harlen is a danger to them. When the aliens carve up the grounds outside, spreading their disturbing red weed by harvesting their human captives, Harlen grows more unstable, ready to fight back when a probe and pilots investigate his house. Ultimately, Ray’s forced to have Rachel distract herself with a lullaby as he kills Harlan offscreen in a way we never see but which understandably unsettles him, both of them being severely traumatised by everything they’ve witnessed but doing whatever they can to survive. While I’m no fan of Tom Cruise, this is one of the few movies he’s in that I can tolerate and admit that he does a decent job. He makes for a great and very believable jackass father and has the stature to pull off an “Everyman” figure, one whose first instinct is to run rather than oppose such an overwhelming force. Like the book’s narrator, Ray bumps into many characters, learning more about the aliens as he goes and witnessing how devastating their attack is each time, which only compels him to keep moving. Like the book, the focus is squarely on our main characters and their attempts to survive rather than the fight the invaders, which only makes the aliens more ominous and dangerous.

*As daft as the aliens look, their technology and assault of the planet are horrifying and intimidating.*

Thanks to advancements in technology, H.G. Wells’ iconic Tripods were finally brought to life in all their terrifying glory, booming a trumpet call of war that echoes the long-running musical and appearing more horrifying than ever as Spielberg uses them as an allegory for the 9/11 attacks. Spielberg fully commits to the iconography of the Tripods, forgoing the other alien tech to focus on the massive, highly advanced war machines that vaporise everything in their path, crush buildings with their advance, and scoop up victims with their tentacles. Despite its different setting, War of the Worlds is far closer to the book than the previous adaptation, with the Tripods upturning a ferry and seeding the land with red weed from their victims to terraform the Earth. However, Spielberg alters the origin of the aliens, which apparently prepared for their invasion by burying their machine thousands of years ago and are never said to be from Mars. The aliens also look very different to the book and the first film, being strange, gangly creatures with three legs and little evidence of advanced intelligence beyond their unstoppable war machines. While the narrator (Morgan Freeman) repeats that the aliens were motivated to attack by envy, desiring Earth’s rich natural resources, they’re seen to be largely ignorant of our society, culture, and technology despite having observed us for generations. Their strategy is simply to overwhelm with superior numbers and force, littering cities with destruction and ash, leaving bodies floating in rivers and toppling entire cities within hours. I was impressed by the special effects used to bring the Tripods to life and they’re framed as especially intimidating against the rainy night sky, though I would’ve preferred to see the machines be simply armoured rather than having energy shields and for the aliens to look a bit more unique rather than appearing as cousins to the invaders from Independence Day (Emmerich, 1996).

*Once again, Mother Nature defeats the unstoppable invading forces to ensure an emotional ending.*

Having lost Robbie and living somewhere between denial and desperation, Ray wishes only to take shelter until the aliens leave but is driven to extreme measures when the paranoid Harlen endangers him and Rachel with his crazed obsessions. Despite this, the alien probe spots him and Rachel in the dilapidated house, forcing a terrifying Rachel to flee into the night and be abducted by one of the towering machines. Determined to keep Rachel safe, Ray grabs a grenade belt from a nearby military vehicle and voluntarily gets himself abducted to save her, revealing the grotesque bio-organic nature of the walkers as he’s sucked inside to make more red weed and instead feeds it the explosives. Exhausted and barely coherent, Ray and Rachel shuffle alongside a gaggle of other survivors into Boston, which has conveniently been largely spared much damage. Ushered on by the military, Ray’s amazed to find the Tripods have collapsed in the street. When another comes stumbling by, Ray and the others take shelter in an underpass but his keen eye spots that a flock of birds are nesting on the walker’s cockpit. Though struggled against the cacophony of the Tripod’s trumpet, Ray alerts the nearby soldiers, who quickly take up offensive positions and blast the Tripod with a barrage of rocket launchers. Damaged, the machine finally goes down and ejects one of its pilots, which quickly withers and chokes to death much like the decaying red weed. As ever, the narrator explains that the aliens were undone by the microbes we’ve become immune to over countless generations, Incredibly, Ray then carries Rachel to Mary Ann’s childhood home, which is unbelievably untouched by the devastation. Amazingly, not only are Mary Ann and her family alive, but Robbie’s somehow there too, allowing Ray to embrace his rebellious son and complete his character arc into a caring and determined father. While this makes for a sombre and emotional ending, I still think it would’ve been better to leave Robbie’s fate ambiguous (perhaps have Ray immediately leave to go looking for him?) if only to really sell how devastating this alien attack was for our main characters.

Final Thoughts:
While I’m a big fan of the original book, I have to say I’ve never been much of a fan of this big-budget adaptation. A lot of that is due to my personal dislike for Tom Cruise, who I just find annoying and underwhelming, and how disappointed I was that it wasn’t set in Victorian England to really hammer home how insignificant we are against the invaders. I also disliked changing their origin so they arrive on lightning bolts and pilot machines buried thousands of years ago. Simply having the Tripods and their pilots arrive on a meteor storm would’ve been far better for me, as would implying they came from Mars at least in a throwaway line. However, I must begrudgingly admit that War of the Worlds is far closer to the source material than the 1953 film, including mor side characters and events from the book since we’re following a regular guy rather than the military. I liked this aspect and how ill-equipped Ray is at dealing with this crisis since he can’t parent properly, so he’s completely out of his depth and survives only through sheer luck. I really liked Ray’s relationship with Rachel and Dakota Fanning’s work as a mature yet terrified little girl forced to rely on an unreliable father. Robbie was a pain in the ass who stupidly thought he could make a difference in an unwinnable fight. A commendable belief, for sure, but I would’ve preferred to see him die, be injured, or have his fate left ambiguous for his efforts. The Tripods are fantastically realised here, constantly lurking in the background and devastating everything in their path and depicted as a nigh-unstoppable force that only Mother Nature can topple. The snake-like probe and the weird alien designs weren’t as impressive, unfortunately, though it was chilling seeing the tattered clothes, wreckage, and bodies they leave behind, especially considering how the visuals echoed 9/11. Overall, I find this to be quite mediocre but it’s probably the best War of the Worlds adaptation I’ve ever seen…I just wish it’d starred someone else in the lead role.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy this big-budget version of The War of the Worlds? Do you agree that Tom Cruise drags the film down or did you enjoy his performance? Were you a fan of how the film changed the aliens’ origins and their physical depiction? What did you think to the Tripods and the film as an allegory for 9/11? Would you have wanted to fight the invaders or would you flee? Which adaptation of The War of the Worlds is your favourite and how are you celebrating sci-fi this month? Leave a comment below with your input, check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other War of the Worlds media for the site

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: The Blob (1988)

22/01/202618/01/2026Dr. K2 Comments

Released: 5 August 1988
Director: Chuck Russell
Distributor: Tri-Star Pictures

Budget: $10 million
Box Office: $8.2 million
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 69% / 59%

Quick Facts:
This rightfully celebrated remake of the 1958 cult classic reunited screenwriter Frank Darabont with director Chuck Russell and saw Lyle Conway, Stuart Ziff, and Tony Gardner collaborate on the gruesome and inventive special effects, which utilised silk bags filled with Methyl cellulose. Though widely praised as a more cynical piece evocative of the more rebellious 1980s, attempts at another remake have constantly stalled.

The Review:
Shifting its setting to Arborville, California The Blob initially begins in a similar fashion to the 1958 original, though with some fun twists. In place of Steve McQueen we have star quarterback Paul Taylor (Donovan Leitch), a gifted youngster from a wealthy background who, despite nursing what looks like a concussion, attracts shapely cheerleader Megan “Meg” Penny (Shawnee Smith). Despite his bravado, Paul’s wingman, Scott Jeskey (Ricky Paull Goldin), gets cold feet when buying condoms ahead of his late-night tryst with Vicki DeSoto (Erika Eleniak) when football loving Reverend Meeker (Del Close) corners him in the local chemist. Wishing to appear virtuous rather than a creep who practically date rapes girls, Scott paints Paul as a wayward soul, much to the disgust of pharmacist Tom Penny (Art LaFleur). This lands Paul in hot water when he pops over (in his letterman jacket, of course) to pick up Meg and realises Tom is her father, though Meg mostly laughs it off while apologising for her bratty little brother, horror fanatic Kevin Penny (Michael Kenworthy). Unfortunately for Paul and Meg, Paul accidentally knocks down a panicked old hermit (Billy Beck). Like in the original, the vagabond investigated a flaming meteorite that crashed into the woods, poking it with a stick and ending up screaming in agony when a strange, slime-like substance latched on to his hand. Luckily for the “old dude”, ruffian Brian Flagg (Kevin Dillon) was fixing his motorcycle nearby and helped, though his presence immediately rubs Paul and Meg the wrong way as Flagg’s a known troublemaker who’s been in and out of juvenile detention centres and is very much an outsider amongst his peers and the town.

*Unlikely duo Flagg and Meg must come together when a violent, voracious blob threatens their town.*

Genuinely caring for the old man, who had applauded his earlier failed attempt to jump a busted bridge with his motorcycle, and to ensure Paul doesn’t pin the incident on him, Flagg accompanies them to the doctor’s office but quickly leaves after being frustrated by red tape. Paul is horrified to discover the hermit’s skin bulging alarmingly. Panicked, he pleads with the doctor (Jack Nance) for help, only to discover the old man dissolved from the torso down! Alarmed, Paul frantically calls Sheriff Herb Geller (Jeffrey DeMunn) but his chances at being a leading man like McQueen are dashed when the titular “Blob”, now vastly grown, envelops him and leaves Meg unconscious and hysterical after she walks in on him being consumed by the organism. Unfortunately, Paul had time to name-drop Flagg, so the moody outsider is apprehended and grilled by Deputy Bill Briggs (Paul McCrane), who’s convinced that Flagg was involved despite it being literally impossible for him to have melted the two to a mess of meat. Knowing this, Sheriff Geller sets Flagg free and he’s quickly sought out by a desperate Meg, who wants to verify what she saw. While at Fran Hewitt’s (Candy Clark) diner, Flagg dismisses Meg’s wild stories and gives her nothing but resentment, but his disbelief shatters when he hears a commotion and finds Fran’s cook, George Ruiz (Clayton Landey), literally being pulled down the drain by the Blob! Horrified, Brian and Meg take shelter in the freezer, discovering that the Blob is sensitive to the cold, and seek out Sheriff Geller once the coast is clear, oblivious that he, Scott, Vicki, and Fran have all been consumed by the amorphous, acidic creature.

*The mutated, man-made parasite excites Dr. Meaddows but spells gory doom for a small town.*

However, Flagg and Meg learn that Briggs is at the crash site. Looking for answers, they head over and find Doctor Christopher Meddows (Joe Seneca) leading a military operation of shady government types in haz-mat suits. While Dr. Meaddows is courteous, Flagg is a sceptical, wary bad boy who doesn’t trust or like authority figures so he’s unconvinced by Dr. Meaddows’ explanation that the Blob is an alien bacteria that once wiped out the dinosaurs. Of course, Flagg’s right to be suspicious. After escaping, Flagg overhears a conversation between Dr. Meaddows and Colonel Templeton Hargis (Jack Rader) that reveals the film has reimagined the Blob as a man-made parasite, an advanced form of warfare created during the Cold War that was launched into space in a satellite. Space radiation caused it to unexpectedly mutate and crash to Earth and Dr. Meddows is super excited at the prospect as it means one-upping those pesky Russkies. Accordingly, Dr. Meaddows orders Arborville be pacified with talk of a quarantine from a potential infection and then isolated to contain the Blob, even if it kills the town. Despite his better judgement, Flagg races to warn people using the town’s vast sewer pipes, reuniting with Meg after she was forced to flee down there with Kevin and his friend, Eddie Beckner (Douglas Emerson). Kevin and Eddie’s wholesome midnight screening of a slasher was interrupted by the Blob, which sent the cinema patrons fleeing or consumed them in a far more gruesome and bloody reimagining of the iconic scene from the original film. The Blob then doubles down by melting poor Eddie, leaving Flagg, Kevin, and shellshocked soldier (Bill Moseley) trapped in the sewers ahead of the explosive finale.

*The Blob is bigger, meaner, and more dangerous than ever thanks to fantastic practical effects.*

Although its origins are different, the Blob is still an amorphous, voracious creature driven only to consume and grow. Even when small, the Blob is tenacious, latching onto the hermit’s hand with a corrosive grip and melting him inside out. This sees it grow large enough to engulf poor Paul, who’s left a screaming, suffocating, melting mess within the creature’s jelly-like body. While the Blob was disappointingly absent for most of the 1958 film, it’s a persistent threat here, stalking through the grass to invade Vicki from the inside out, collapsing her in on herself to attack Scott with writhing tentacles. The Blob is far more versatile here thanks to improved practical and visual effects, appearing in various forms and sizes thanks to miniatures, animatronics, rear projection, and puppetry. Accordingly, it utilises tentacles to ensnare its prey, like when it entangles itself on Meg’s hair or yanks George down the drain. Other times, it simply engulfs its targets, slithering over the telephone booth to absorb Fran while still digesting lovelorn Sheriff Geller. The Blob’s increased screen presence delivers some fantastically gory kills and moments: Paul’s arm is ripped off and lies twitching and melting on the floor, a projectionist (Unknown) gets plastered to the ceiling and left gasping as he dissolves into the creature, and poor Eddie gets melted to a screaming, half-skeletal mush! The Blob grows “at a geometric rate” as a result, eventually becoming large enough to swat solders with giant tentacles, shrug off C4 and flamethrowers (leaving Reverend Meeker horribly burned), and growing thrashing appendages so strong they snap Briggs in half! Dr. Meaddows’ insane attempt to contain the creature and somehow turn it to his advantage see him disregard all civilian and military lives, leading to his deserved end when the Blob snags him through a manhole and leaves him a bloodstain within his suit.

*While C4 and a snow truck reduce the Blob to frozen fragments, its threat remains lingering by the end…*

Flagg’s rebellious nature and distrustful attitude see his hunch about Dr. Meaddows pay off in the worst way and, despite him planning to leave town, Flagg’s compelled to go back (he even chastises himself for having his head turned by a cheerleader!) Despite saving Meg, Kevin, and the soldier, Flagg is met with suspicion by the town thanks to Briggs’ prejudice and Dr. Meaddows insisting that Flagg is infected by some unknown pathogen and a danger to them. Flagg manages to instil some doubt into Briggs but, luckily for him, the Blob soon convinces the civilians of the true threat. After Colonel Hargis orders the Blob to eat some C4, the creature emerges bigger than ever and goes on a rampage, scooping up, swatting, and consuming everything in its path as the terrified residents flee to the town hall. Thanks to Meg, they fend off the Blob with fire extinguishers, buying Flagg time to commandeer one of Moss Woodley’s (Beau Billingslea) beloved snow making trucks and blast the Blob with freezing cold liquid nitrogen. The Blob reacts violently, overturning the snow truck and threatening to consume Flagg, so Meg completes her evolution into a forthright action heroine by distracting it with an assault rifle and priming some C4 attached to the snow truck. Though both are momentarily imperilled due to being snagged on wires or seatbelts, the two race to safety just as the explosive goes off, flash-freezing the Blob into thousands of ice crystals and bathing the town square in snow. Flagg and Meg embrace as the relieved residents come out of hiding and Moss helps transport the remains to the icehouse. However, Revered Meeker is left badly scarred and traumatised by the ordeal, which he saw as a sign of the apocalypse. Thus, some time later, he preaches of the Rapture and a coming doomsday and is seen to possess a single, writhing piece of the Blob, hinting that the creature may return for seconds…

Final Thoughts:
I was probably way too young when I first saw The Blob, but I don’t regret it one bit. This is another example of a remake done right as it takes everything that worked about the original and dials it up to eleven, with the twist that The Blob takes its premise very seriously and is much more of a monster movie/body horror than a cheap (if ambitious) B-movie. As over the top as Flagg’s roguish depiction is, I really liked his characterisation as an outsider who’s been abandoned by his family and is constantly misjudged but who has a good heart and rises to the occasion. Shawnee Smith did a decent job being more than just a pretty, screaming face but I did find her a bit weak compared to Kevin Dillon, though Flagg and Meg made for a good odd couple. I really enjoyed how closely the film sticks to the premise of the original but puts little twists on things, like having the bad boy be the lead protagonist, featuring the creature more to showcase the effects, and altering its origin to make it a man-made parasite as an example of humanity’s hubris and war-like nature. Every complaint I had about the original is addressed here as we see the Blob in full glory for each kill, which are suitably ghastly and disturbing thanks to some truly remarkable practical effects. I loved how the Blob consumed its victims, engulfing them and melting their flesh and bone and leaving them shrieking, helpless messes of meat within its churning body. The Blob was extremely aggressive, sprouting tentacles and changing form to overwhelm its prey and truly depicted as unstoppable rather than being downplayed as a prank. The Blob even has the balls to kill off a kid, something rarely seen in horror, and never fails to entertain me no matter how many times I see it.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Do you agree that The Blob is one of the best horror remakes out there? Were you a fan of bad-boy Flagg and his rebellious attitude? Did you like the changes made to the Blob’s origins or do you prefer it to be a purely space-bound creature? Were you impressed by the gruesome special effects and gory kills? Are you disappointed that we never got a sequel to this film? What sci-fi movies are you watching this January? Tell me what you think about The Blob in the comments, check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest more sci-fi content for the site.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: The War of the Worlds

20/01/202624/01/2026Dr. K1 Comment

Released: 13 August 1953
Director: Byron Haskin
Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Budget: $2 million
Box Office: $2 million (allegedly)
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 89% / 71%

Quick Facts:
As one of the forefathers of science-fiction genre, it’s perhaps no surprise that Herbert George Wells’s seminal 1898 alien invasion story The War of the Worlds is so widely lauded in mainstream and academic circles alike. After the book gained widespread notoriety from a radio adaptation, George Pal spearheaded the film version, which noticeably differed from the source material and reimagined H. G. Wells’s Tripods as flying machines courtesy of Albert Nozaki and his award-winning visual effects. Heralded as a sci-fi classic, inspired a follow-up television show, similarly-themed alien invasion movies, a slew of remakes and knock-offs, and a widely celebrated musical adaptation from Jeff Wayne.

The Review:
After humanity decimated each other in two World Wars, the Earth was on the precipice of dangerous and terrifying times. Advancements in nuclear and atomic science saw devastating weapons created and stockpiled, which threatened to destroy all life on Earth. Yet, as the omniscient narrator (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) relates, there are beings in the universe far above humanity’s petty squabbles. Far away on the long-dead red planet, unseen and malicious Martians observed our world with curious and envious eyes. Determining that the Earth was their best shot at migration considering how cold, dead, and hazardous the other planets are, the Martians begin a methodical invasion of our world with the simple crash-landing of a red-hot meteor outside Linda Rosa, California. Naturally, this draws immediate attention from the locals, film crews, and the United States military, who struggle to contain the resultant flash fires and rope in visiting scientists like atomic expert Doctor Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) to offer their insight. Dr. Forrester quickly discovers the meteorite is radioactive and guesses that it’s hollow, explaining why the impact didn’t destroy the town (or the whole planet). He is so intrigued by the arrival – and clearly captivated by local Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson) – that he decides to stick around and investigate the object further once it cools down, graciously accepting the hospitality of Sylvia’s uncle, Pastor Matthew Collins (Lewis Martin. While Dr. Forrester enjoys the square dance, part of the meteorite suddenly unscrews and a strange, mechanical, snake-like periscope emerges, flash-frying the nearby guards when they try to make contact and knocking out all the electricity and phone lines in the town with a burst of magnetic radiation (what we would now call an electro-magnetic pulse/EMP).

*Dr. Forrester is at the forefront when Martian flying machines attack the world.*

As more of the objects arrive, the military rolls in to secure the crash site. Major General Mann (Les Tremayne) takes charge, ordering a cordon and authorising lethal retaliation against the invader. Pastor Collins, reasoning that the Martians must be a higher lifeform and thus closer to God, attempts to make contact and is immolated by their “heat-ray”, alongside most of General Mann’s troops, when the Martians emerge from their meteorite (actually a cylindrical travel pod) in sleek, manta-ray-like craft that appear to levitate on magnetic beams. The flying machines obliterate everything in their path, easily resisting gunfire, mortars, and even aerial bombardment thanks to their impenetrable force fields. Dr. Forrester and Sylvia flee in a small plane but crash-land in a field, taking shelter in a nearby farmhouse and using the brief reprieve to bond. While Dr. Forrester has no family, Sylvia comes from a large, close-knit family unit and is thus terrified of the destruction caused by the Martians, who slowly sweep across the world as more of their cylinders crash to Earth. When one lands right by the farmhouse, partially destroying it and briefly injuring Dr. Forrester, the strange, squat aliens investigate and Dr. Forrester learns that they are as fragile as humans and, after reconvening with the remains of the military and scientific community, that they’re entirely dependant on their awesome technology. Research on the Martian’s blood also shows they’re highly anaemic while the severed electronic “eye” Dr. Forrester recovers gives some insight into how they perceive the world and humanity, but little advantage is revealed from this. As the world’s nations crumble under the Martian attack, the survivors are driven far from their homes, with the world’s military and surviving governments forced to co-ordinate from makeshift camps with the strangely untouched Washington, D.C., where efforts to mount an effective counterattack are explored.

*Though the atom bomb fails and all seems lost, the Martians are undone by Mother Nature herself.*

With the Earth on the brink of complete destruction, it’s decided to unleash a far deadlier and more powerful version of the atom bomb. Interestingly, no one (not even Dr. Forrester) objects despite the incredible risk and soldiers, civilians, and reporters observe the blast from dangerously close proximity, seemingly unafraid of any lethal fallout. The devastating force is barely an inconvenience to the Martians, however, thanks to their forcefields, and civilians are ordered to evacuate to the perceived safety of the mountains. Dr. Forrester and his colleagues are thus given the unenviable task of coming up a solution to the problem, an arduous request considering it’s predicted the Martians will conquer the world in just six days, and one almost immediately scuppered when those left behind descend into madness. Rioting, looting, and violence flood the streets, with Dr. Forrester forcibly removed from his car and separated from his vital equipment, seemingly dooming humanity thanks to greed and fear. Concerned only with reuniting with Sylvia, who was similarly forced from a bus heading to the Rocky Mountains, Dr. Forrester recalls a story she shared with him from her childhood where she took shelter in a church and finds her amidst a gaggle of terrified survivors praying for a miracle. Their prayers are seemingly answered when the flying machines suddenly lose control and crash midway through blasting the remains of Los Angeles. The survivors cautiously flood the streets and watch, amazed, as the Martians succumb to the bacteria and diseases humanity has long developed immunity against. Thus, at the very last second, the world is saved not by force or weapons, but by the simplest organisms of all as the planet itself repels its vicious invaders.

*Despite some differences from the book and some strange choices, the film remains a sci-fi classic.*

I’ve read The War of the Worlds a couple of times, but I haven’t committed it to memory. This film, while largely similar to the book, its noticeably different in that it’s set in America, follows a named (and somewhat educated) central protagonist, and depicts the Martians hovering around rather than stomping through cities in their Tripods. While the Martians utilised flying machines in the book, they were rarely seen, yet the visual of these sleek, deadly craft spewing red death has become iconic in the sci-fi genre. The film also places also more emphasis on the atomic bomb, as I recall, with the weapon depicted as humanity’s last, best hope against the invaders, and many supporting characters are omitted. Dr. Forrester and Sylvia take shelter in a farmhouse, but the curate is missing. The Martians don’t spread their red weed to terraform the planet, don’t capture or consume people, and are never seen engaging with the Navy. The Martians are also depicted very differently than in the book. Rather than being bizarre, octopus-like creatures with a mass of tentacles and bulbous main bodies (essentially being all brain and little else), the Martians are stumpy, gangly creatures with long, spindly arms and weird, biomechanic eyes. This was a strange choice that makes the creatures look more ridiculous than intimidating, though the scene where one fondles Sylvia is still somewhat striking and the cold, efficient ruthlessness of the flying machines more than makes up for how ridiculous the operators look. Indeed, the film emphasises that the Martians are biologically unremarkable, doubling down when they succumb to simple bacteria, and are only fearsome because of their machines, making for a startling allegory for the arrogance and warmongering nature of humanity.

Final Thoughts:
The War of the Worlds certainly earned its place as one of the quintessential sci-fi movies of the 1950s and beyond. It’s the classic story of aliens invading the Earth and set the blueprint for so many alien invasion movies, rip-offs, and parodies, and it all came from this loose adaptation of a centuries-old text whose message has only become more prevalent over time. The main showcase of the film might be the amazing special effects, but the character work is pretty good here, too. I liked Dr. Forrester as an unlikely hero. He knew enough to flee when faced with an overwhelming force and his first thought was also to learning more about their enemy than confronting it head-on, and to protecting others rather than giving in to fear and despair. Sylvia is largely here to look pretty, scream when the Martians attack, and lose herself to hysterics, but she gives Dr. Forrester strength and something specific to fight for and focus on. I enjoyed how stern but fair General Mann was and how utterly useless all our fancy weapons and military might were against this aggressive and advanced enemy. The visual of the Martians shrugging off an atomic bomb remains striking and seeing them slowly and methodically wipe out humanity across the world set the standard for later depictions of world-wide destruction. Sure, there are liberties taken with the text and the Martians themselves look kinda goofy, but their flying machines are now intrinsically linked with the story and have become a symbol of the genre. The War of the World’s message about the dangers of humanity taking their planet and lives for granted remains as true as ever, with us being hopelessly insignificant compared to Mother Nature, and the film remains a bleak, humbling narrative about how insignificant we are against such homegrown and outside forces.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Is The War of the Worlds one of your favourite sci-fi films? Did you like the changes made to the source material or were you annoyed to see the focus changed so much? Were you impressed by the special effects and the sleek flying machines or did you miss the lumbering Tripods? Do you believe alien life is seeking to conquer our world? Which version of The War of the Worlds is your favourite and how are you celebrating sci-fi this year? use the comments below to let me know, check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other War of the Worlds media for me to cover.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: The Blob (1958)

18/01/202622/01/2026Dr. K2 Comments

Released: 10 September 1958
Director: Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Budget: $110 million
Box Office: $4 million
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 67% / 52%

Quick Facts:
Based on 1950 reports of a strange substance falling from the sky and undergoing several title changes, The Blob was a showcase for rising star Steve McQueen. The special effects were created by Valley Forge Films using silicone mixed with red vegetable dye, time-lapse photography, and miniatures. A critical flop at the time, this cult classic inspired a far worse 1972 sequel, a well-regarded 1988 remake, and an annual “Blobfest” celebration and re-enactment in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

The Review:
What starts as a cosy night in the forest for “teenagers” Steve Andrews (Steven McQueen) and Jane Martin (Aneta Corseaut) quickly turns into an exasperating experience trying to convince their small Pennsylvania town of an unusual threat. Initially, Steve and Jane’s biggest concerns are making sure their relationship is legitimate. Jane seems reluctant to go too far with smooth talking Steve and he’s anxious to prove he’s not a hot-shot frat boy, dutifully keeping his hands to himself and offering to drive her back to town so he can apologise. However, Steve almost hits a panicked old man (Olin Howlin), who stumbles into the road after investigating a nearby meteorite crash. While poking around the red-hot rock, the old man witnessed the titular “Blob” seeping from the rock, which quickly affixed itself to his hand, driving him into a frenzy. Naturally eager to help, Steve loads him into his prized car and races to Doctor T. Hallen’s (Stephen Chase) office, unwittingly insulting fellow “teens” Tony Gressette (Robert Fields), “Mooch” Miller (James Bonnett), and Al (Anthony Franke) by outpacing Tony’s car. Although Steve gets the old man to Dr. Hallen in time, the doctor is stumped by the strange, parasitic growth on his hand, which has doubled in size and appears to be absorbing and dissolving the limb. After anesthetising the old man, Dr. Hallen asks Steve to find some clue as to what happened, causing Steve to attract kindly but authoritative Police Lieutenant Dave Barton (Earl Rowe) after accepting Tony’s challenge for a drag race. Luckily, Steve sweet talks his way out of it and makes amends with Tony’s crew, who reluctantly join Steve and Jane in discovering the remnants of the meteorite.

*Steve and his fellow “teenagers” struggle to convince the town of the Blob’s threat.*

While Tony and the others head to the cinema, Steve finds Dr. Hallen being consumed by the now larger and more voracious Blob. Rattled, Steve races to the police station for help, only to be met by aggressive scepticism from war veteran Sergeant Jim Bert (John Benson), who believes Steve’s talk of murder and monsters is an elaborate hoax. Dismissing Bert’s accusations, Dave checks out the doctor’s office with Steve, Jane, and Bert, finding it ransacked and Dr. Hallen missing, which only furthers Bert’s suspicions. Steve’s so flustered by what he saw and Bert’s accusations that he briefly questions himself, concerned that he somehow imagined the Blob, though Jane strengthens his resolve and he goes to recruit Tony’s crew in warning the town. Steve’s concerns only double when he spots his father’s (Hugh Graham) grocery store unlocked and he and Jane encounter the far larger and more bulbous Blob inside. They hide in the meat freezer and decide to set off the air raid sirens to get the town to listen. Surprisingly, most of The Blob is focused on this adolescent drama as Steve and the others desperately try to convince the town of the danger, with only Dave taking them seriously as Steve’s a good (if cheeky) kid who’s clearly terrified. Bert, however, is as unconvinced as the townsfolk, who constantly dismiss Steve’s warnings and regard the kids as delinquents pulling an elaborate prank. Jane’s father, Henry Martin (Elbert Smith), is particularly aggrieved by it all, seeing Steve as a bad influence, and Tony and his crew don’t help with that perception. Ironically, Tony and his friends are instrumental in stopping the Blob in the finale, working alongside Henry and even Bert to gather the town’s fire extinguishers. However, as many as forty deaths occur prior to that, primarily because the kids weren’t taken seriously.

*Sadly, the titular Blob is largely absent and its effects haven’t aged very well.*

And, I mean, why would they be? These “kids” all seem to be in their late twenties for starters and all they do is lounge around, having drag races and rotting their brains with bad horror movies (that, ironically, even the older townsfolk enjoy). Even when the townsfolk are warned of the danger, they’re more concerned about having their sleep disturbed and how they should dress for the crisis. It doesn’t help that Steve cannot accurately describe what he saw, mainly because it was so surreal and he barely caught a glimpse of the Blob as it devoured Dr. Hallen. There’s also no trace of the creature in the doctor’s office and any who encounter it (like an unsuspecting mechanic (Ralph Roseman)) are simply absorbed by the gelatinous creature. The Blob is an unknowable, mysterious thing that crash-lands in the forest near Steve and Jane. Silent and caustic, the Blob appears to be a parasite rather than a thinking, malicious alien organism, consuming living flesh and adding to its mass simply on instinct rather than actively stalking its prey. We barely see what the Blob is capable of as it mostly attacks offscreen, meaning we’re left relying on Steve’s shaken explanations and a few brief glimpses of the Blob. Although it’s accompanied by a jazzy theme song that’s as tone-deaf as some of the acting, the Blob largely disappears for a huge chunk of the movie as Steve runs around trying to convince people of the threat. Unsurprisingly, the amorphous creature’s effects have aged as badly as the re-dubbing peppered throughout the film, largely seen attacking miniatures or as stop-motion-esque goo badly spliced into the film. The creature is immediately said to be unstoppable after only minimal attempts to stop it. Bullets do about as much against it as acid, live wires, and fire, and that’s about all the townsfolk have to use, meaning they’re powerless to keep the animated glob from enveloping a diner Steve, Jane, and her well-meaning but naïve little brother, Danny Martin (Keith Almoney), shelter in.

*Luckily, all it takes to stop the Blob are some fire extinguishers and the hope that the Arctic stays cold…*

Of course, The Blob’s big showcase moment is its attack on the local cinema, where Tony and his crew enjoy a cheesy black-and-white horror flick with their girlfriends. Although they saw the remains of the meteorite, they’re clueless to the Blob’s threat but are begrudgingly convinced to help Steve and Jane warn the town, though their efforts are largely wasted until they cause a ruckus. While most of the town gathers outside in the shopping district, the cinemagoers remain glued to their film, unaware that the Blob has seeped through the vents and attacked the projectionist (Eugene Sabe). They soon realise what happened when the movie abruptly stops and the Blob oozes from the projectionist’s area, sending them fleeing and screaming into the streets. Sadly, we never get to see what the Blob does to those too slow to escape; we only hear from Dave that it’s a gruesome site. Enlarged to gigantic proportions, the Blob seeps from the cinema, finally convincing Bert of its threat, and summarily traps Steve, Jane, and Danny in the diner. Though Dave tries to electrocute the Blob, this just sets the diner ablaze, threatening a grisly end for those trapped inside. Luckily, Steve recalls that the Blob recoiled from the cold in the freezer and manages to radio Dave and have him gather up all the fire extinguishers they can find and aim them at the creature, successfully causing it to recede and freeze in record time. The film then abruptly ends with the frozen Blob being dumped in the Arctic by the Air Force and then shoehorns in a forced environmental message that warns that global warming will cause the creature to revive and threaten the world anew. Although the meat freezer scene established the Blob’s aversion to the cold, this is an extremely sudden and anti-climactic ending to a disappointingly dull B-movie that stretches logic to breaking point and leaves the movie on a cliff-hanger was certainly an ambitious choice, to say the least.

Final Thoughts:
I vaguely remember watching The Blob many, many years ago. Or, at least, parts of it. But I grew up with the 1988 remake, which was a gruesome piece of body horror cinema that I still regard as one of the best remakes. Watching the 1958 original only reinforces that as this is a ridiculously dull and toothless B-movie sci-fi flick. While Steve McQueen makes for a good leading man, I didn’t believe for a second that he was a teenager, and his performance is hampered by the comical, overly theatrical performances rampant in 1950s movies. Jane was essentially a blank piece of wood, there to worry about Dr. Hallen’s dog, cling to Steve when frightened, and bolster his resolve when it faltered. I quite liked Tony and his crew; they were fun anti-heroes who came through in a pinch, but extremely underdeveloped as characters. Bert was the dirt worst, judging the kids as delinquents due to his prejudices and embodying the town’s dismissive and apathetic attitude towards the youngsters, who are seen as nothing but troublemakers. Sadly, we’re stuck with these boring-ass characters for most of the film as the Blob disappears after eating that mechanic and is only talked about until Steve spies it in the grocery store, grinding the film to a halt as we watch these “kids” desperately try to warn the town of the creature’s threat. When the Blob does appear, it’s an impressive and ambitious series of special effects that haven’t aged too well but are still more entertaining to watch than the lead actors. The cinema sequence is an all-time moment, for sure, but I liked the gooey Blob effects when it attacked people and slithered under doors. Sadly, The Blob is largely forgettable beyond this. The ending comes out of nowhere and is a masterpiece of convenience, the environmental message is lacklustre and tacked on, and the overall plot of the kids having to prove themselves just didn’t grab me.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

Do you consider The Blob a sci-fi classic? Did you enjoy the focus on the teens trying to prove the creature’s threat or did you always find it boring? Were you impressed by the Blob’s special effects or were you disappointed by its lack of screen time? Would you poke alien goop with a stick? Have you ever attended Blobfest? Would you like to see a new version of The Blob and how are you celebrating sci-fi this January? Leave a like and a comment with your thoughts, check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other sci-fi content you’d like to see.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: The Fly II

17/01/202615/01/2026Dr. K1 Comment

Released: 10 February 1989
Director: Chris Walas
Distributor: 20^th Century Fox

Budget: $12.5 million
Box Office: $38.9 million
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 32% / 24%

Quick Facts:
Following David Cronenberg’s celebrated body horror reinterpretation of George Langelaan’s 1957 short story, Mick Garris repeatedly tried to pen a sequel to the 1986 hit under incredible studio pressure. Chris Walas, who created the gruesome special effects for the first film, helmed the sequel, and Keanu Reeves reportedly turned down the lead role. Though The Fly II was widely criticised (despite its impressive effects) and a third film fell through, the story continued in a 2015 comic book.

The Review:
If you thought watching a nightmare sequence of Veronica “Ronnie” Quaife (Geena Davis) suffering a gruesome childbirth in the previous film was bad, The Fly II doubles down by depicting another, very real birth, which convinced Davis to skip the film. Despite everything, Ronnie (Saffron Henderson) opted not to have an abortion, presumably out of her love for the tragically doomed Doctor Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) and also because the deceptive Anton Bartok (Lee Richardson) gave her some assurances about the birth. As Brundle worked for Bartok Industries, it makes sense that Bartok would claim the miraculous (if flawed) Telepods, but he reveals his true colours early on when he has Doctor Jainway (Ann Marie Lee) remove the distraught Stathis Borans (John Getz) from the birth and watches on dispassionately as Ronnie dies delivering a ghastly little larval sac containing her son, Martin. With his staff watching behind two-way mirrors, Bartok observes Martin’s rapid growth, the result of his father’s unique genetic malformation, which also sees his DNA contain dormant mutated cells. Young Martin (Matthew Moore) grows at an accelerated rate and boasts a photographic memory and advanced intellect, though he never sleeps and the staff quickly become exasperated with him. Bartok encourages Martin to think of his as his dad and has Dr. Jainway and Doctor Frank Shephard (Frank Turner) administer regular placebos to placate him while they monitor his development. Even as a youngster, Martin (Harley Cross) questions these shots, which are clearly haphazardly administered, and is infected by an insatiable yearning for knowledge and curiosity. Martin constructs a fun little helmet for himself that foreshadows his later fly form and reprograms his access to the Bartok laboratory as easily as he solves mazes.

*Brundle’s genetically altered son is drawn into completing his father’s work with the Telepods.*

While exploring, Martin befriends a Golden Retriever (Unknown) and shares his fears of dying comparatively young because of “Brundle’s Accelerated Growth Syndrome”. Martin also sees his father’s Telepods for the first time. However, while Seth solved the issue that caused the machines to rip living tissue inside out, the Telepods are damaged and they destroy everything sent through them. Despite the best efforts of Doctor Trimble (William Taylor) and the others, the Telepods are next to useless and Martin is horrified when his dog is reduced to a rabid, grotesque monster by the process. On his fifth birthday, the physically adult Martin (Eric Stoltz) finally gets his privacy when a seemingly remorseful Bartok gifts him a home off site and asks him to help with the Telepods. Though reluctant, Martin’s won over by a deleted scene of his father, who talks about how the Telepods “improved” him. While working late, Martin seemingly solves the problem on a whim, successfully teleporting a telephone, and excitedly searches for some organic material to test. He bumps into beautiful data filer Beth Logan (Daphne Zuniga) and is inspired to teleport her cactus, though is ashamed and embarrassed when the machine still struggles with organic matter. Luckily, Beth’s won over by Martin’s boyish looks and awkward charm and agrees to help with the problem. Martin finally feels a human connection after five years in a clinical environment, only to be taunted by Bartok’s depraved head of security, Scorby (Garry Chalk). Beth encourages Martin to come out of his shell and invites him to a party elsewhere in the office, where he overhears talk of a malformed creature kept under observation and is distraught to find it’s his dog. Heartbroken, Martin lashes out at Beth, assuming she knew of the animal, and mercifully puts his friend out of his misery in a truly heart wrenching scene.

*While Beth isn’t much but a pretty face, the villains are theatrically despicable.*

After having grieving, Martin invites Beth back to the lab to apologise and impresses her by showing that he cracked the Telepods in very much the same way his father did: by admiring the “beauty of the process”. Relieved to make amends with Martin, and to be gifted a cute little kitten (Unknown), Beth takes their relationship to the next level (a somewhat questionable act considering Martin’s still technically five years old…) However, Martin’s puzzled when a wound from a routine injection gone wrong becomes alarmingly infected and explores options to cure his condition with the Telepods, discovering (much like his father) that he can substitute his mutated genes for healthy ones by sacrificing a life. While working, Martin’s confused when he suddenly can’t reach Beth and she’s transferred to another building. Thanks to his genius, Martin patches through to Beth’s boat house and is infuriated to learn that Bartok deceived him again and placed cameras in his home. Oddly, Scorby reveals this by handing Beth video footage of them having sex, something he really didn’t need to do but then The Fly II isn’t exactly subtle about how devious and evil its antagonists are. Dr. Jainway and Dr. Shephard are constantly scowling at Martin or talking down to him and Bartok openly discusses his plans to study Martin once his transformation kicks in, which happens at an alarming rate once Martin discovers the hidden cameras. Upon viewing footage (that shouldn’t technically exist) of his father’s deterioration, Martin confronts Bartok, hurt to see the man he loved as a father figure so cold-hearted and dispassionate about encouraging his transformation and using his unique genetic material (alongside the Telepods) to be at the forefront of a “new age” for the world.

*Martin’s transformation ramps up by the end, creating a monstrous fly/human hybrid.*

Enraged, Martin showcases superhuman strength and speed as he flees the complex, his face noticeably growing tumours that are disappointingly second rate compared to the first film. After begging for Beth’s help, Martin seeks out Stathis, who has become a drunken, cantankerous, crippled recluse who vehemently refuses to help them and openly mocks Martin. When Martin forces his way into his home (an opulent abode I assume Bartok paid for to keep Stathis quiet), Martin learns of his father’s fate and adamantly refuses to utilise the Telepods to cure himself at the cost of another. Stathis begrudgingly sends the two on their way and, despite him experiencing bouts of despair, Martin’s demeanour turns to spite and arrogance as his condition worsens. As a natural born genetic anomaly, Martin’s transformation is far less ghastly than his father’s (though he still pops out his eyeball for some fun body horror) as he forms a cocoon, one Bartok gleefully watches over after Beth calls him in desperation. Bartok’s elation turns sour when Dr. Trimble reveals Martin boobytrapped the Telepods and things go even worse when “Martinfly” bursts from his cocoon and goes on a rampage. Bartok’s intentions couldn’t be more explicitly evil. While he talks of ending concepts like surgery with the Telepods and advancing science and medicine with the machines and Martinfly’s unique biology, it’s clear he’s primarily interested in profit and power. He visibly scoffs at Martin’s affection for him during their confrontation and thinks nothing of manipulating the boy-man into doing his dirty work, focused entirely on the big picture and willing to sacrifice anyone, even his closest supporters, to get what he wants.

The Fly II abandons all subtlety for a grotesque gore-fest in the finale.

While Martin’s physical transformation is nowhere near as gruelling or disturbing as Seth’s, with the make-up effects being more subtle and oddly incorporating webbing, his demeanour noticeably changes much like his father’s. Martin goes from rage to anguish to smugness across a few scenes, embracing his transformation even as Beth is horrified by it. It’s quite rushed as most of the film prior depicts Martin as an aloof and unique but otherwise healthy young man, so I think it might’ve been better to start his metamorphosis a bit sooner just to see how it changes him physically and emotionally. Martin forces a large cocoon to expediate his transformation and emerges not as a sickly, asymmetrical monster wracked with pain and struggling to survive but as a monstrous, four-armed brute at the peak of his strength. Martinfly is large, powerful, and quick, easily manhandling his prey, fleeing to the rafters, and navigating the facility’s ginormous ventilation shafts. Like his father, Martinfly retains a degree of intelligence, certainly enough to tell friend from foe and to drag Dr. Shephard’s dead body around to unsuccessfully use his key card. While the Martinfly puppet and animatronic are impressive, The Fly II abandons all the subtlety and emotional nuance of the last film to present a monster movie finale, with Martinfly strangling Dr. Shephard to death, breaking Scorby’s spine and tossing him like a sack of potatoes, and absolutely wrecking a poor, unassuming security guard (Pat Bermel) with his projectile “vomit drop”. The corrosive “fly vomit” melts this dude’s face to a screaming, steaming, skeletal mess (“Medical emergency”, indeed!) and leaves him shrieking on the floor as a barely breathing corpse. Another security guard (Andrew Rhodes) gets his head (and body) crushed by an elevator thanks to Martinfly, meaning The Fly II certainly focuses more on gore and a hefty body count by the finale.

*Martinfly’s gruesome rampage sees him returned to normal and Bartok receive his just deserts.*

Though he insists on capturing Martinfly alive for further study, Bartok’s not a complete fool. He has the Telepod lab sealed, keeps Beth as leverage, and orders Scorby and his men to cover every possible entrance. Naturally, Martinfly easily gets the drop on them and murders them in gleefully disturbing ways, pausing only to pet a dog (Unknown) and share a glance with the horrified Beth. While Beth showed some moxie when they first met and is a pretty face who offers Martin nothing but love and support, she’s easily overpowered by even Bartok when she wrestles with him over Scorby’s pistol and is basically here just to look good and scream when heads burst like water balloons. She has a touching romance with Martin but it’s a shadow of what Ronnie and Seth had in the first film. Martinfly dwarfs Brundefly, though, being a hulking, malicious monster driven to avenge himself on those who’ve wronged him and cure his condition. While Bartok threatens to shoot Beth and even blasts Martinfly a couple of times, the guy’s one monologue away from being a moustache-twirling James Bond villain and completely underestimates Martinfly’s durability and cunning. Martinfly grabs Bartock, forces him to input the Telepod code (fittingly enough, “DAD”), and muscles him into a Telepod, encouraging Beth to initiate his gene-swapping program. Despite Bartok’s protestations, Beth complies just as Bartok’s back-up arrives, successfully achieving what Seth couldn’t and swapping Bartok’s healthy genes for Martinfly’s mutated ones. This sees Bartok reduced to a misshapen, maggot-like mess and Martin fully restored (if covered in disgusting goop). Fittingly, the Bartok-Thing is placed into the same dungeon as Martin’s dog and left to endure an agonised existence as another failed experiment of the Telepods.

Final Thoughts:
I feel like I’ve ragged on The Fly II a bit more than I intended. It’s not as good as the last film, that’s for sure, but I think it’s better than many realise. Much of the plot is essentially the same, with a genius scientist struggling with a genetic abnormality trying to perfect teleportation, embarking on a romance along the way and transforming into a hideous creature by the end. However, The Fly II is definitely much more of a monster movie, especially in the finale, and has little of the same disturbing subtext of the last film. I guess it could be read as an AIDS allegory as Martin suffers for the sins of his father much like someone who’s HIV positive, but much of this subtlety is swept aside in favour of a deception so obvious it’s almost explicit and some delicious gore. Eric Stoltz does his best, portraying Martin as brilliant but shy and awkward, but pales in comparison to Jeff Goldblum and only really shines during his “I’m getting stronger!” speech. I majorly crushed on Daphne Zuniga as a kid and she’s still gorgeous now, but there’s not much for Beth to do here, meaning the villains steal the show with their smarmy, conceited, and unashamedly evil depictions. The late Lee Richardson seems to be relishing the role, tackling it was a theatrical glee that makes Bartok a truly despicable character. While I found Martin’s transformation lacklustre compared to the last film (the cocoon, especially, feels very cheap and rushed), I do have a soft spot for Martinfly. A powerful and nigh-unstoppable man/fly monster, Martinfly is the stuff of nightmares and yet seems more ungainly than Brundlefly as the creature is perhaps a bit overdesigned and veers too far into the monstrous. Still, The Fly II is a decent enough epilogue to the first film (if you can forgive the plot hole concerning Ronnie’s abortion) and has a lot of gruesome moments for gore fans even if it is a much weaker film overall that Cronenberg’s masterpiece.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Do you also consider The Fly II to be under-rated and unfairly forgotten? Did you enjoy Eric Stoltz’s performance or do you agree that he struggled compared to Jeff Goldblum? Were the villains a bit too obvious and one-dimensional for you or did you like seeing them be unapologetically awful? Are you a fan of the monstrous Martinfly or do you think it was over designed? Would you like to see another film set in this continuity? How are you celebrating sci-fi this January? Leave a like and comment below with your feedback, check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other sci-fi movies for me to the site.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

16/01/202609/01/2026Dr. K1 Comment

Released: 30 June 1995
Director: Bryan Spicer
Distributor: 20^th Century Fox

Budget: $15 million (reportedly)
Box Office: $66.4 million
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 30% / 57%

Quick Facts:
Despite attracting controversy, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993 to 1995) was a cultural phenomenon that spawned videogames, toys, and this largely maligned feature-film. Rather than repurposing footage from Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (1992 to 1993) like the television series, the movie included brand-new costumes for the heroes and a theatrical new villain.

The Review:
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie not only has a mouthful of a title but is technically separate from the ridiculously popular show. While it clearly takes place between the show’s second and third seasons, with the line-up placing Rocky DeSantos as the Red Ranger (Steve Cardenas), Adam Park as the Black Ranger (Johnny Yong Bosch), Aisha Campbell as the Yellow Ranger (Karan Ashley), and fan favourite Tommy Oliver/The White Ranger (Jason David Frank) as the fearless leader, the movie was almost instantly rendered non-canon when the third season retold some of it. Still, I always viewed it as a big-budget expansion of the show, with the awesome new, far more armoured suits and the redesigned command centre simply a big-screen glow-up for what we saw on TV. Angel Grove has been protected by the Power Rangers for some time but the six heroic teenagers are just as giving to the community in their civilian guises as they partake in a charity skydive to raise money for the local observatory, ostensibly to aid researching Ryan’s Comet, which is passing by soon. Billy Cranston/The Blue Ranger (David Yost) and Kimberly Hart/The Pink Ranger (Amy Jo Johnson) join their friends, alongside bungling bullies Farkas “Bulk” Bulkmeier (Paul Schrier) and Eugene “Skull” Skullovitch (Jason Narvy), in completing the dive, amazing youngster Fred Kelman (Jamie Croft) and his strangely unnamed firefighter father (Peter Mochrie), who particularly praise Tommy for his efforts. While roller skating around the city, the titular teens pass by a construction site right as Bulk and Skull land off course, though they miss when the workers unearth a mysterious, ancient egg.

*When Ivan Ooze endangers Zordon, the Power rangers must journey to restore their powers.*

This doesn’t escape the attention of the Power Rangers’ mentor and father-figure, Zordon (Nicholas Bell/ Robert L. Manahan), who immediately orders his robotic assistant, Alpha 5 (Peta-Marie Rixon/Richard Wood), to bring in the Power Rangers to warn them. The egg also attracts the malevolent Rita Repulsa (Julia Cortez/ Barbara Goodson) and her equally malicious lover, Lord Zedd (Mark Ginther/Robert Axelrod), who teleport in to unleash Ivan Ooze (Paul Freeman), a sorcerer so powerful that even Zordon fears his wrath. Sealed away eons ago for his wicked ways, Ivan immediately sets to work avenging himself on his captor, promising Rita and Zedd that he will destroy Zordon’s entire legacy as recompense. Since Ivan is an accomplished shapeshifter, Zordon’s champions are caught off-guard when they arrive at the construction site and end up battling Ivan’s Oozemen (voiced by Neil Kaplan). Initially, the teenagers battle the Oozemen in their base forms, giving us a taste of how far these youngster’s martial arts and choreography has improved over the show. Indeed, I had trouble spotting when or even if the actors were subbed out for stunt workers, which helped the fights to be more tactile and believable even with all the physics defying, cartoonish nonsense. Eventually, the teenagers morph into their amazing big screen suits, which sport some new gadgets to inspire a wave of new toys. Although the Power Rangers triumph over the Oozemen, Ivan infiltrates the command centre, disables Alpha 5, and leaves Zordon close to death, robbing the Power Rangers of their suits, their powers, and their Thunderzords. After somehow trekking to the command centre, the depowered Power Rangers are horrified by the state of their mentor and jump at the chance to save Zordon and regain their powers, regardless of the risk, by braving a seemingly one-way trip to Phaedos, where a legendary “Great Power” sleeps (though none have ever survived the quest to obtain it).

*Despite the looming, personal threat, there’s little chance for character progression or emotional arcs.*

Although the Power Rangers are largely interchangeable, given few chances to showcase even their admittedly one-dimensional personalities (there’s no chance for Billy to be smart and scientific, for example), Tommy stands out thanks to his undeniable charisma. I was impressed by the performances here, however, as the actors are much more comfortable and confident by this point, though there’s still plenty of over-the-top deliveries and exaggerated gestures to mimic the Japanese actors. The movie gives the actors more of the spotlight since they (and/or their stunt doubles) are fully carrying the plot and action rather than recycling Japanese footage, which again helps everything flow much better. While all six are shaken by Zordon’s condition and eager to help, Kimberly is particularly rattled and the group are very aware that time is against them. When wandering around Phaedos, the teens are aided by Dulcea (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), a formidable warrior and ally of Zordon’s who saves them from Ivan’s Tengu Warriors and partially empowers them with an animal spirit, granting them new (and sadly quite disappointing) colour-coded ninja outfits. While the others are emboldened by this, Adam is disheartened that he’s been lumbered with the frog, though embraces his animal spirt after a pep talk and kiss from Dulcea. While the six quest to fully unlock their “Ninjetti” powers, Angel Grove is splintered by Ivan’s mind-controlling ooze, which infects Fred’s dad and the other adults and turns them into mindless slaves to produce more ooze and dig up Ivan’s Ecto-Morphicons. While the other kids enjoy having the run of the city, Fred urges them (and Bulk and Skull) to help their parents after spying on Ivan’s operation and learning that he’s ordered the adults to march to the construction site and “leap to their doom”.

*The theatrical Ivan Ooze steals every scene with his over the time, pantomime-worthy performance.*

Rather than offering a non-stop, action-packed, big screen Power Rangers adventure, the movie strips them of their powers and forces them to undergo a journey to replenish their power source. They face a ticking clock to accomplish this thanks to Zordon’s health rapidly deteriorating and Ivan’s plot to unearth his machines and destroy the world but have little in the way of individual character arcs. There is no dissension amongst the Power Rangers and they never argue about anything; they remain steadfast in their determination to stay optimistic and save their mentor. This means characters like Rocky and Aisha largely fade into the background as neither have the same emotional reaction to Zordon’s fate as Kimberly, question their abilities like Adam, or have Tommy’s charisma. In fact, there’s more in-fighting between the villains as Ivan, after leaving Zordon near death, barges into Rita’s Moon base and traps her and Lord Zedd in a snow globe, forcing their minions, Mordant (Jean Paul Bell/Martin G. Metcalf) and Goldar (Kerry Casey/Kerrigan Mahan), to join him. There’s little for these two to do except spout one-liners and bow to Ivan’s whims, and it’s a shame to see Rita and Zedd usurped so easily as they look great here. While Ivan looks ridiculous and is often joined by some horrendous visual effects, Paul Freeman is absolutely hamming it up, cackling maniacally, chewing the scenery, and delivering a performance so over-the-top that would make any seasoned pantomime veteran blush! Rather than exuding power, authority, or terror, Ivan is a theatrical and flamboyant villain who delights in playing dress up and bending others to his will, relishing the chance to avenge himself and fully confident in his ability to do so, to the point of arrogance.

*As great as the new suits are, they’re sadly side-lined for awful ninja outfits and atrocious CGI Zords.*

While I love the big-screen paint job given to the Power Rangers’ suits, they’re sadly absent for a big chunk of the film as the team is depowered by Ivan’s attack. The suits are far more detailed and layered, sporting armour, headlights, special visors, and other nifty gadgets for the big screen. When morphed, the team bust out all the crazy, colourful attacks from the show, defying gravity and physics and relying on teamwork to triumph. However, there’s a distinct lack of explosive sparks thanks to Ivan’s goons being made of sludgy ooze and it takes all movie for us to get a kaiju-sized battle (though this benefits the pacing, to be fair). When on Phaedos, the team are attacked by the Tengu Warriors, bird-like monsters that flap about in unconvincing suits but are at least being whisked along by wires and such. Unfortunately, the Ninjetti are a massive downgrade and little more than coloured gi that turn them into rainbow ninjas. While they’re encouraged to receive new spirit animals, the team are still lacking their full power and must battle past rock warriors that are just as visually disappointing as the Tengu Warriors since they flop and flail about the obvious sets and are crushed by polystyrene boulders, chopped in half with dodgy CGI, and dissolved in a nearby stream. Once the guardians are vanquished, the team reach the Great Power and are fully restored, ditching the awful ninja outfits for their armoured suits and fully unlocking their Ninjetti powers. Beyond providing them with new Zords, though, this largely amounts to them spouting the word “Ninjetti” every time they launch an attack or do anything and is clearly an excuse to sell new toys to kids. Still, it’s a great moment to see them back in their suits, even if the sultry Dulcea is unable to aid them since she would face the same rapid decline as Zordon if she left Phaedos.

*A knee to the crotch ends the butt-ugly CGI finale and allows our heroes to revive their mentor.*

Although he looks ridiculous, Ivan is a significant threat as he easily disables Zordon, destroys the command centre, and usurps Rita and Zedd, allowing him to force Angel Grove’s adults into unearthing his Ecto-Morphicons. While Fred, Bulk, Skull, and the other kids desperately race to intercept the adults, barely surviving when the Ecto-Morphicons endanger their monorail and Fred commandeering a fire hose to push the zombie-like crowd back, the newly empowered Power Rangers swoop in to battle the Ecto-Morphicons in their all-new Ninjazords. Unfortunately, while the film had been doing a great job of upgrading the show’s practical suits and “Suitmation” aesthetic, it completely drops the ball for the finale by rendering the Ecto-Morphicons and Ninjazords as fully CGI creations (save for some sparse model shots and scenes of the Power Rangers in their cockpits). This was an absolutely atrocious decision as the CGI looks terrible, with the giant machines resembling bad videogame graphics and lose all sense of weight, reality, and appeal since they’re too shiny and too cartoony. It’s a real shame as the finale could’ve been a fun, kaiju-style battle between the mechs but it instead looks embarrassing and laughable. Although the Ninjazords destroy Scorpitron, Ivan bonds with Hornitor and reforms it into a gigantic, unconvincing CGI version of himself. Overwhelmed, the Power Rangers desperately form the Ninja Mega Falconzord but find themselves outmatched by Mecha-Ivan’s pure power. Luckily, the Blue Ranger remembers Ryan’s Comet and suggests luring Mecha-Ivan into the comet’s path. This forces the Ninja Mega Falconzord to get uncomfortably close to the maniacal sorcerer and the Yellow Ranger to amusingly smash a big, red emergency button to deliver a knee to Ivan’s balls and send him hurtling towards the comet, with both being destroyed on impact. Ivan’s death releases his hold on the adults, but the Power Rangers are distraught to find the Zordon has perished. Luckily, Dulcea taught them to overcome any obstacle with their sheer willpower, so they join hands and summon the Great Power to restore Zordon, and the command centre. In the aftermath, Angel Grove rejoices, and Rita and Zedd quickly reclaim their throne from the ambitious Goldar, determined to continue their own plans for conquest.

Final Thoughts:
I swear I remember seeing Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie in the cinema back in the day, but I have no record of that so I must be thinking of when we rented or recorded it on VHS. The Power Rangers were the hottest thing when I was a kid and I was well into it, especially for the show’s first two seasons. After that, and this film, I dropped off and rarely paid much attention beyond videogames and specials and such, but this movie stuck with me despite that. Many of Ivan’s more bombastic lines are very memorable thanks to Paul Freeman’s absolutely glorious performance. The guy is hamming up being under all that make-up and it’s a delight every time he’s onscreen, even when Ivan’s doing wacky shit like whipping up ooze for the adults. Considering how cringey the show could be, I was very impressed by the lead performers, who delivered their lines much more convincingly and had more opportunity to showcase their physicality in the fight scenes since the movie doesn’t recycle any Japanese footage. As great as the new suits look, though, it’s a shame the characters aren’t given more chances to shine individually or as a team. They have a quest and they complete it there’s little character progression or emotional depth beyond them mourning Zordon. Like, why not have Kimberly descend into despair about Zordon to bring her and Tommy closer or have Rocky lash out in anger due to the emotions. I guess that would be too heavy for kids to handle so the film opts for a surface level depiction of this and focuses more on sending a message about believing in yourself. Sadly, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie lacks the same punch as the show since it opts for ugly-ass CGI mechs for the finale, completely losing the Suitmation spirit of the show to try and be bigger and better. This alone is enough to cost the film a star, in my opinion, as the ending completely falls flat because of this god-awful, cartoonish CGI. Otherwise, this is a fairly harmless kids’ adventure that does a great job of bringing the TV show to the big screen, even if it’s not doing much more with the formula and is clearly trying to sell new toys to impressionable kids.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

Did you enjoy Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie as a kid? How do you think it holds up today and what did you think of the CGI Zords? Were you also a fan of the new, armoured costumes and disappointed by the ninja look? Do you agree that Paul Freeman stole the shole or did you find him a little too over the top? Which of the Power Rangers movies and incarnations is your favourite? Let me know your thoughts on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie down and donate to my Ko-Fi to fund more Power Rangers content.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: The Fly (1986)

15/01/202617/01/2026Dr. K5 Comments

Released: 15 August 1986
Director: David Cronenberg
Distributor: 20^th Century Fox

Budget: $9 to 15 million
Box Office: $60.6 million
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 93% / 83%

Quick Facts:
A reinterpretation of George Langelaan’s 1957 short story and a remake of Kurt Neumann’s 1958 sci-fi classic, The Fly was surreptitiously produced by comedy legend Mel Brooks, featured creature effects by Chris Walas, Inc., and almost starred Pierce Brosnan or John Malkovich. Though a sequel and stage play followed, Cronenberg’s proposals for another follow-up never materialised, despite Jeff Goldblum’s enthusiasm.

The Review:
I think it’s fair to say that, for shy, insecure recluse Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), meeting Veronica “Ronnie” Quaife (Geena Davis) at a Bartok party was love at first sight. Cradling a glass of Scotch and claiming to be working on something that’ll “change the world and human life as we know it”, Brundle is excited to discuss his work with the beautiful Ronnie, misreading her interest as anything other than a story for Particle Magazine since, by his own admission, he “doesn’t get out much”. Equally, I think it’s fair to say that Ronnie’s intrigued by Brundle’s doe-eyed naivety; she later admits that he’s “very cute”, indicating that she was attracted to him despite his somewhat bumbling nature and acute travel sickness. This, and the perception that Brundle is a harmless cook, drives her to visit his isolated laboratory/apartment, housed within a rundown building in what looks like a pretty rough area of town (red flags if I ever saw them). Once there, Ronnie immediately regrets her decision upon seeing Brundle’s sparse apartment, which is the furthest thing from a clinical, scientific setup you can imagine. Brundle, however, is a closet showman as he tries to impress with his piano skills and introduces her to his revolutionary Telepods. While Ronnie’s unimpressed by the “designer phonebooths”, Brundle’s extremely protective of them, even the “clunky” prototype, since he literally cobbled them together from bits and pieces of other Bartok technology. Yet, Brundle isn’t some hack or fraud; Stathis Borans (John Getz) later reveals that Brundle has a distinguished scientific career and almost won the Noble prize for Physics at just twenty-two! It seems, then, that Brundle is being unnecessarily humble regarding the Telepods, which he controls via a simple computer interface and voice recognition software and which are apparently so efficiently designed that they cause no power drain to his apartment or the immediate area.

*While Brundle and Ronnie grow closer and solve the Telepod enigma, Stathis threatens their relationship.*

Ronnie, however, is incredibly sceptical of Brundle’s claims to be able to teleport inorganic matter between Telepods. However, when she witnesses it after seductively handing over her stocking, Ronnie immediately recognises that they’re an exciting scientific breakthrough and begins grilling Brundle, causing him to panic when he realises that he’s misread the signs and prematurely revealed his project. Thus, Brundle’s relieved when the creepy, condescending Stathis dismisses Ronnie’s account, initially believing Brundle’s a “con man” before spitefully running with the article after the two become lovers. Brundle offers Ronnie the chance to follow his work more closely, eager to publish a complete record of his world-changing invention and, intrigued, she agrees. However, ever the curious journalist, Ronnie questions the teleportation process, so Brundle naturally demonstrates the system’s fatal flaw by teleporting a baboon (because I guess lab rats or rabbits are too hard to come by!) While Ronnie is horrified when the process turns the baboon inside out, Brundle is both grief-stricken and enraged by the continued failure, blaming himself for the flaw since the computer is only following his commands. Luckily, he gets an intense and passionate sermon on the “flesh” when Ronnie, smitten by his intellect and drive, seduces him. This sexual escapade inspires Brundle to realise that the computer is being too analytical about organic matter, so he excitedly rewrites his program and is elated when the second baboon is successfully teleported. While Brundle and Ronnie celebrate and begin a whirlwind romance, the jealous Stathis descends into a malicious tantrum, angrily confronting Ronnie and threatening to expose Brundle’s work just to get back at them. Ronnie’s forced to pay her editor and former lover a late-night visit to try and reason with him, leaving poor Brundle to drink himself into a stupor. Drunk, believing Ronnie is cheating on him, Brundle spontaneously decides to teleport himself, completely unaware that a seemingly harmless housefly has snuck into the machine with him.

*Brundle undergoes a slow but horrific transformation after a teleportation mishap.*

Though Ronnie allays his fears regarding Stathis, she’s alarmed to learn about this and relieved to find he’s unharmed. Her relief turns to amazement when Brundle immediately undergoes physical changes, suddenly becoming far stronger, having more stamina, and being more excitable than ever, After being physically exhausted by his sexual appetite and discovering coarse hairs on his back, Ronnie reacts with horror when Brundle suddenly urges her to undergo the process, believing the Telepods purified his genes and made him superhuman, only to lash out with anger and take to the streets to find someone more willing, leaving her devastated. Brundle impresses barfly Tawny (Joy Boushel) with his gruesome physical strength and Telepods, though he’s further frustrated when she also refuses to use the machines and when Ronnie reveals that he’s sprouting insect hairs. Drunk on his newfound physical strength and ignoring Ronnie’s concerns about his health and erratic behaviour, Brundle throws her out in a rage, only to beg her to visit him some time later, his condition having noticeably deteriorated. After realising Ronnie was right when his fingernails fall off, Brundle is horrified to discover that his Telepods spliced him and the fly on a molecular level and surmises that the foreign DNA is manifesting as a “bizarre form of cancer” that’s causing gruesome tumours and decay. Terrified, Ronnie begs Stathis for help, those he’s disgusted upon viewing footage of the rapidly worsening Brundle, whose despair is replaced by a manic glee as he finds he can scale walls and vomit a corrosive enzyme to eat, now excited to be transforming into a unique lifeform he dubs “Brundlefly”. Though Brundle’s mental health degenerates alongside his body and he laments his declining humanity, he works tirelessly on a solution using his Telepods, only to be wracked by agonising spasms and to realise his only viable option is to sacrifice a healthy life. Ronnie’s nightmare only worsens when she finds she’s pregnant and, fearful that the baby could be contaminated by Brundle’s mutated genes, struggles with telling the increasingly monstrous and animalistic Brundle of her plans for an abortion.

*Brundle’s initial delight at his superhuman abilities soon turns to despair and madness.*

The Fly is very different from the original film, and the source material, replacing concerns about nuclear annihilation with a very blatant AIDS analogy and marrying the fear of scientific curiosity with the tragedy of watching a loved one succumb to a cancerous disease. For me, The Fly is one of the quintessential examples of how to do a remake as it takes the basic premise of the book and adds a new spin to it, modernising it and recontextualising its themes into an unforgettable, tragic sci-fi body horror piece. The Fly takes itself very seriously, showcasing Brundle’s mental and physical decline in gruesome and uncomfortable detail, so much so that Cronenberg famously cut a scene where Brundle beat a cat/baboon hybrid to death as audiences lost sympathy for him. While it’s admittedly odd that Brundle cobbled together his Telepods largely by himself, operates in a less than sterile environment, and uses baboons as test subjects, his eccentric and secretive nature speaks to these decisions. These are also early warning signs that Brundle isn’t quite prepared for how dangerous his Telepods can be. Not only were they not calibrated to handle living tissue, they also can’t comprehend the presence of two lifeforms, essentially killing Brundle during his first jaunt since what emerges is an “insect… who dreamt he was a man… and loved it!” Brundle’s pained soliloquy about “insect politics” is easily one of the film’s most emotional and horrifying moments, largely because The Fly does such a great job building the romance between Brundle and Ronnie. It helps that Goldblum and Davis were dating at the time, but their characters have great chemistry together, with Brundle finally having someone to talk to and be open with and Ronnie excited to be at the forefront of a scientific breakthrough and involved with such a passionate and selfless man.

*The squeamish need not apply for* The Fly, which is a masterpiece of body horror!

It’s thus even more tragic and horrifying to see Brundle go from an eccentric, loveable goof to a conceited, temperamental jerk and a broken, literal shell of his former self. At first, Brundle’s excitement at reaching his physical potential is infectious but, when he subscribes his condition to the purifying nature of the Telepods, be becomes uncharacteristically violent. Brundle’s mood swings only increase as he deteriorates; he constantly goes from despair, to anger, to sarcastic acceptance even when collecting his decaying body parts. Brundle initially tries to put a positive spin on his condition by urging Ronnie to document his fly-like abilities, before becoming resentful of Ronnie’s frequent absences and trashing his apartment during one of his many outbursts. Brundle noticeably struggles to maintain his logic, reason, and humanity as his body hideously warps, barely holding onto himself long enough to warn Ronnie to stay away for her own safety. However, when he learns that she’s pregnant, Brundle sees the unborn child as potentially the last link to his humanity. Rather than stumbling around with a big fly head, Goldblum endures a horrific physical transformation that is brought to life through top-notch make-up and prosthetics and showcases his deterioration in multiple stages. At first, things aren’t so bad with a few extra hairs, skin blotches, and bad hygiene but, within about a week, Brundle struggles to stand and his skin is covered in disgusting boils. The foreign DNA essentially turns him into a living, slowly decaying cocoon, at first bestowing him with the proportional strength of a fly and then crippling him with pain as the mutation grows more severe. Brundle loses his fingernails, his teeth, his ear, and his penis (judging from his ghastly medicine cabinet); his fingers and toes fuse together; and his speech is so badly distorted that his computer doesn’t recognise him. All throughout Brundle’s transformation, he’s pained by a growth on his side, which another deleted scene reveals birthed a gruesome, fly-like appendage! Brundle loses the ability to properly digest food, using “vomit drop” to liquify sugary treats, and is eventually reduced to a rotten, limping, tumour who’s barely recognisable as a man in a startling gruesome analogy for the AIDs epidemic, the aging process, and cancer.

*Brundle’s final, monstrous transformation leaves him a mangled mess of meat and tragedy.*

After a horrifying nightmare about her baby, Ronnie pleads with Stathis to help her and he takes her for an abortion since she refuses to risk giving birth. Desperate for a part of himself to live on, Brundle pleads with her to keep the baby but, when she refuses, he’s forced to bring the distraught and terrified Ronnie to his lab. Barely able to speak, Brundle explains his insane plan to teleport himself, Ronnie, and their unborn child and fuse them together into one body, his warped mind seeing this as the only way for them to be together as the “ultimate family”. Though Stathis bravely tries to stop Brundle, he ends up getting his hand and foot melted by vomit drop, though his harrowing moment is merely the appetiser for The Fly’s most impressive and unsettling scene. While fighting off Brundle, Ronnie dislodges his jaw, kickstarting Brundle’s final, gruesome metamorphosis as his sickly shell splits, his flesh tears to ribbons, and his eyes explode as the sickly, gangly Brundefly emerges! Driven only by his insane plan to undo his condition, the “Spacebug” launches Ronnie into a Teleport, activates the sequence, and settles his into another Telepod. However, the horribly injured Stathis fires a shot that shorts out Ronnie’s Telepod. Enraged, Brundefly smashes his way out, only for the countdown to complete and the Telepod to activate! As Howard Shore’s haunting score rises to a crescendo, the Telepod deposits Brundlefly, now little more than a howling, mangled mess of meat, piping, and machinery. Barely breathing, clearly wracked with agony, the twisted Brundlefly/Telepod-thing crawls along on pure instinct. Traumatised and wary, Ronnie grabs Stathis’s gun to defend herself but is crippled by heartache at the sight of what’s left of her lover. With the last vestiges of his strength and humanity, Brundlefly weakly presses the gun to his bulbous forehead. Though Ronnie hesitates, struggling to kill the man she loves, Brundlefly emits a heart wrenching groan and silently pleads to have his torment ended and, more on instinct than anything, Ronnie fires, atomising Brundlefly’s head and causing what’s left of him, and his tormented lover, to collapse to the floor.

Final Thoughts:
I was way too young to watch The Fly when I first saw it, and yet it didn’t traumatise me like other horror films back then. There are many reasons why The Fly is so well regarded, even when it first released, and I largely credit The Fly for being one of a handful of movies that made me appreciate the beauty of practical effects, prosthetics, and animatronics. Brundle’s physical and mental decline is disturbing to witness, with him becoming this monstrous, pain-wracked hunchback who grows increasing volatile as his humanity is stripped away. This final transformation into Brundlefly remains as captivatingly horrific as ever, with the sickly, almost alien creature being unpleasant to look at and yet deeply sympathetic, especially when he’s mewling on the ground after being spliced with the Telepod. Add to that the horrifying maggot birth sequence and you have a movie that largely cemented David Cronenberg as the king of body horror. Cronenberg’s visuals are even more potent when you watch The Fly as an allegory for sexually transmitted diseases, a plot point just as prominent in this first-class remake as the dangers of meddling with science and which works so well because of the chemistry between the leads. Brundle and Ronnie make an adorable pair, a couple you really root for due to their undeniable chemistry, and Stathis makes for a despicably loathsome third wheel. The fact Stathis becomes someone to root for by the finale is almost as unsettling as seeing him get dissolved by fly vomit since he’s such a vile creep, but it speaks to how well-written The Fly is that every character is so well rounded. The Fly may very well be the quintessential Jeff Goldblum performance as he throws his all into the role, enduring unimaginable discomfort to showcase Brundle’s declining state and being the perfect mixture of lovable goof, erratic jerk, and enraged monster. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that The Fly has aged beautifully and is just as impactful and emotional now as it ever was, especially for me, and it remains one of my all-time favourite movies of any genre…and the standard bearer for how good remakes can be!

My Rating:

Fantastic

Are you a fan of this gruesome remake of The Fly? Did you enjoy the ways it reinterpreted the book, or do you think it strayed too far from the original text? Were you invested in the romance between Brundle and Ronnie? What did you think to the horrific make-up effects and Brundle’s mental and physical deterioration? Is The Fly your favourite remake? Would you like to see a new adaptation of Langelaan’s book? How are you celebrating all things sci-fi this January? Leave a like and a comment with your thoughts, go check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other sci-fi movies for me to cover.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: Return of the Fly

13/01/202611/01/2026Dr. K1 Comment

Released: 22 July 1959
Director: Edward Bernds
Distributor: 20^th Century Fox

Budget: $225,000 (estimated)
Box Office: Unknown
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 36% / 26%

Quick Facts:
Following the surprising success of Kurt Neumann’s ambitious 1958 adaptation of George Langelaan’s 1957 short story, the studio rushed a sequel into production with a lower budget and shooting in outdated black-and-white. $25,000 of the budget went to returning actor Vincent Price, potentially affecting the revised practical effects, though the barely related follow-up was deemed to be far worse overall.

The Review:
Return of the Fly immediately loses points by being filmed in black-and-white. While I have nothing against a good, grainy, black-and-white horror flick, this was the age of Technicolor, where black-and-white was not only a step backwards but almost an insult, especially as the first film was in colour, so Return of the Fly looks cheap and dated as a result. The film opens with Hélène Delambre (formally Patricia Owens) dead, apparently so haunted by the ghastly accident that cost her ambitious husband, scientist André Delambre (formally David “Al” Hedison) his life, that she was consumed by anguish. André’s devoted brother, François Delambre (Vincent Price), is especially heartbroken as he’d harboured a deep love for Hélène and stepped in to help raise her son, Philippe Delambre (Brett Halsey), as a surrogate father (and potentially married Hélène following André’s death). Alongside the sadly absent Inspector Charas (formally Herbert Marshall), who’s replaced by Inspector Beecham (John Sutton), François covered up the gruesome truth of André’s final days, which have long concerned the now-adult Philippe. Desperate for answers, Philippe begs François to tell him what happened and he reluctantly relates how André, consumed by scientific passion and curiosity, accidentally transformed himself into a bizarre human fly using his “Disintegrator-Integrator”, a potentially world-changing invention left in shambles after André destroyed it to avoid others suffering his fate. Intrigued by his father’s work and seeking to vindicate him, having become a keen scientist himself, Philippe vows to rebuild the machine and perfect his father’s dream, though François strongly advises against it and even refuses to bankroll him with what’s left of the Delambre wealth, believing André meddled in things man should leave alone.

*Philippe looks to complete his father’s work, unaware he’s working with an industrial spy!*

Undeterred, Philippe returns to his childhood home alongside his friend, Alan Hinds (David Frankham), who agrees to assist him and even waves off a salary to be part of the project and co-own it once they’ve changed the world. Both are quite taken by Philippe’s beautiful childhood friend, Cecile Bonnard (Danielle De Metz), who’s largely just here to be a pretty face, scream when she sees something awful, and babble in French about their childhood. Philippe and Alan quickly rebuild the Disintegrator-Integrator and successfully test it on inanimate objects. They also program it to “store” disintegrated objects to be reintegrated later (apparently a workaround for them only having one chamber), though they encounter a bizarre defect where the machine enlarges living organisms. It doesn’t take long for François to discover their progress and be coerced into aiding them, financially and with his knowledge, to keep Philippe from selling his half of the family company for additional funds (though François continues to oppose the project). Although disheartened that he effectively has to threaten his beloved uncle and encouraged by their progress, Philippe has no idea that Alan is secretly Ronald Holmes, an industrial spy looking to sell the secrets of the Disintegrator-Integrator to the unscrupulous Max Barthold (Dan Seymour) for an even greater profit. Having fled England for crimes so terrible he would be hanged if caught, Alan frantically overpowers Inspector Evans (Pat O’Hara) and sends him through the machine, only to produce a dead body with the hands and feet of a guinea pig and a guinea pig with human hands! After killing the animal and disposing of the body with Max’s help, Alan’s confronted by Philippe, who becomes concerned by his friend’s suspicious nature, only to be easily forced into the machine at gun point alongside a fly, which Alan spitefully tosses in with Philippe since he knows he’s deathly afraid of the insects.

*Philippe goes on a rampage as a comical fly-thing, but is ultimatley restored to normal.*

François arrives too late to help, taking a surprisingly non-fatal bullet to the gut and collapsing upon seeing Philippe emerge as a grotesque human/fly hybrid (Ed Wolff) with an enlarged and disappointingly comical head, stumpy fly leg, and claw-like arm. Like before, Philippe’s head is transposed onto the tiny fly, which buzzes around the laboratory begging for help before being captured (rather roughly) by Inspector Beecham so they can restore Philippe. Unfortunately, the fly-headed Philippe flees into the night and the police struggle to find him; they even threaten to kill him if he won’t come peacefully. Somehow, the fly-Philippe knows to head to Max’s funeral parlour and throttles him with his augmented strength. Conveniently, Alan shows up shortly after and gets his neck brutally crushed by the fly creature. When François hears of this, he worries that his nephew has already been consumed by the “murderous brain of the fly!” but Philippe apparently has enough of his humanity left to stumble home and collapse in Cecile’s bedroom. Despite still being injured, François helps Inspector Beecham get the fly-Philippe and his insect counterpart into the Disintegrator-Integrator and successfully restores his nephew, sparing him the same fate as his father. While I cut The Fly a lot of slack, it’s difficult to do the same for its sequel, primarily because the enlarged fly head looks so goofy. It’s technically impressive, I guess, but it’s too big and cartoony and makes it too obvious that it’s just a man in an uncomfortable headpiece. Return of the Fly has a higher body count than the first film, which is nice, but Philippe isn’t as interesting as his father. He lacks André’s boundless charisma and enthusiasm and his desire to recreate his father’s work seems paper thin, at best. It might’ve been better if it was Alan pushing Philippe to do this and if Philippe was somewhat reluctant. I also don’t get why the filmmakers didn’t just recast Inspector Charas or bring back Herbert Marshall as Inspector Beecham fulfilled essentially the same role and it was weird seeing a third party be aware of the awful fly experiment.

Final Thoughts:
While it has some flaws and has largely been surpassed by the 1986 remake, The Fly was still a fun, classic sci-fi film and a stirring cautionary tale about the mysteries of science. Return of the Fly hits many of the same story beats as its predecessor, focusing on a budding scientist seeking to make a historic breakthrough and being undone by that same technology, but Philippe wants to vindicate his father by completing his work; the benefits to humanity are merely a bonus. While Cecile is a pretty face, she and Philippe lack the same loving (if corny) relationship as his parents; indeed, they are never explicitly stated to be a couple by the end. Return of the Fly focuses more on the devious Alan, who plots to steal the Disintegrator-Integrator and is willing to kill for a profit. Having befriended Philippe, Alan knows how best to spite him and is perfectly positioned to manipulate him, a faulty plot point considering he stood to greatly profit from Philippe’s work. Vincent Price tries his best to elevate the material, but he doesn’t get much to work with and the effects are laughable compared to the last film (which didn’t exactly set a high bar!) Return of the Fly devolves into a simple monster movie when the fly-Philippe goes on a rampage, one that makes little sense as I have no idea how it knew to target Max and it’s still odd that the transformed people retain their intellect. You’re not missing much if you skip Return of the Fly, but I guess it’s an interesting coda for those who wanted to see more after watching the first film, but I’d be lying if I said it was a worthy follow-up.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

Were you also disappointed by Return of the Fly or do you think it’s surprisingly good? Did you also think the enlarged fly head looked too goofy to be horrifying? Do you think the film wasted Vincent Price’s talents and agree that Philippe wasn’t as interesting as his father? Were you disappointed that so much of the film focused on Alan’s nefarious scheme? Would you like to see a new adaptation of The Fly and how are you celebrating the sci-fi genre today? Leave a like and comment below with your thoughts, check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other sci-fi movies for the site.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: The Fly (1958)

11/01/202615/01/2026Dr. K3 Comments

Released: 16 July 1958
Director: Kurt Neumann
Distributor: 20^th Century Fox

Budget: $350,000
Box Office: $1.7 million (or $3 million)
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 95% / 71%

Quick Facts:
A relatively faithful adaptation of George Langelaan’s 1957 short story, The Fly saw star David Hedison struggle with the ambitious and surprisingly terrifying practical effects as much as co-star Vincent Price struggled with the film’s iconic final moments. Regarded as a sci-fi classic, The Fly spawned a couple of sequels and a widely praised remake in 1986.

The Review:
Set in Montreal, Quebec, The Fly opens with all the major action having already taken place and aspiring scientist André Delambre (Al Hedison) crushed by a hydraulic press at his family factory. His equally wealthy brother, François Delambre (Vincent Price), is shocked by this but knocked for a loop when André’s beautiful wife, Hélène Delambre (Patricia Owens), confesses to killing her husband. Stoic and apparently remorseless, Hélène openly admits to the act, refusing to paint herself as a “murderess” as André willingly placed himself under the hydraulic press but confessing to activating the machine twice to crush his head and arm. Having adored his brother, his curious young nephew, Philippe Delambre (Charles Herbert), and having secretly been in love with Hélène for years, François is desperate to know why she’s saying such awful things and to get to the truth of the matter. François aids Inspector Charas (Herbert Marshall) in this endeavour, eager to understand why Hélène is so desperate to find and kill a white-headed fly. As Hélène faces either hanging for murder or being committed to an asylum on the grounds of insanity, François pretends to have captured the fly and threatens to give it to Inspector Charas unless Hélène tells the truth. This breaks Hélène’s crazed demeanour and she reveals she’s been pretending to be mad to protect Philippe. Assuming that François has seen the truth of the fly he’s supposedly caught, Hélène agrees to tell him and Inspector Charas the whole story, meaning most of The Fly is framed as flashback to a couple of months ago, when the Delambres’ were a healthy and happy family very much in love and enjoying the opulence of their home.

*Hélène shares a fantastical story of her ambitious husband’s incredible new invention…*

Back then, the charming André was a loving, if reclusive, scientist who spent days in his basement laboratory working away but always greeted his wife and son with a smile. One day, André bounded from his lab and eagerly brought Hélène to witness his latest, greatest creation: the “Disintegrator-Integrator”. Hélène watches in amazement as André’s machine teleports a plate from one glass chamber to another and shares his elation in the potential applications of the machine, which promises to solve world hunger and change concepts of transport. Unfortunately, André’s delight quickly turns sour when Hélène discovers the reintegrated objects are not perfect duplicates, so André immediately returns to work, shunning his family for several days before he solves the problem. Once satisfied that the flaw’s been corrected, André moves to live animal testing by transporting the family cat, Dandelo (Unknown). However, Dandelo mysteriously fails to reintegrate (possibly because she was transported alongside a saucer of milk) and is apparently reduced to atoms, with only her disembodied cries echoing throughout the lab. Grieved by this mishap, the cause of which he never discovers, André returns to work on his machine and finally re-emerges to demonstrate the revised Disintegrator-Integrator to Hélène, now able to teleport living objects and allowing her to care for a reintegrated guinea pig to atone for Dandelo. Though eager to celebrate his breakthrough, André hesitates to inform the wider scientific community as even he doesn’t fully understand his machine, though he excitedly requests that Hélène bring François to witness the fruits of his labour and bask in what promises to be a world-changing creation. However, when François arrives, he and Hélène are disappointed to find a badly written note taped to the door of André’s lab asking them to stay away. Assuming André has lost himself in his project once more, the two leave him to it, only for André to remain in the lab for several days.

*Hélène’s desperate search for the fly leaves the horrifically altered André contemplating suicide.*

Concerned, Hélène goes to check on him and finds him hiding his face behind a black cloth and keeping his left hand obscured. Though unable to speak, André converses through written and typed notes and by banging once for “yes” and twice for “no”, forcing Hélène to turn her back as he slurps his food and revealing that he experienced a horrible accident when he transported himself through the Disintegrator-Integrator. A common housefly got into the chamber with him and mixed up their DNA, leaving André with a deformed, fly-like hand and head and the fly with a human head and arm. Strangely, André retains his logic and reason but, knowing it’s only a matter of time before he loses his humanity, he orders Hélène to find the white-headed fly. Hélène spends a couple of days frantically searching all over for the fly, aided by her eager son and confusing their housemaid, Emma (Kathleen Freeman), who somehow misinterprets Hélène’s clear instructions to capture the fly and goes around swatting them. Determined to help her husband, Hélène repeatedly tries to corral the fly and is constantly met with failure: it slips out of Philippe’s net and eventually escapes into the garden, presumably acting as a fly would and slowly having its instincts overridden by André’s consciousness just as André becomes increasingly animalistic. Indeed, the frustration at his wife’s failure only exacerbates André’s condition. He struggles to type and write and keep his thoughts straight and warns that he will have to “destroy himself” if the fly isn’t found. Refusing to accept this, Hélène desperately begs André to try transporting himself again, confident that this will undo the damage, only to be left a shrieking, horrified wreck when she whips off André’s cloth and witnesses his gruesome fly head!

*Despite the bizarre story, Inspector Charas* *is convinced to spare Hélène from the law.*

While quaint by today’s standards, this practical effect is surprisingly shocking. It twitches and moves like a fly’s proboscis and effectively transforms the beautifully handsome Hedison into a tragically monstrous figure. This is further emphasised by how hard André fights the animalistic urges of his fly genes; he struggles to keep his fly arm from harming Hélène, and this same limb actively fights against him when he destroys his lab in despair. Realising that he’s meddled in forces beyond human understanding and wishing to destroy all evidence of his experiment, André uses what little humanity he has left to ransack his lab and scrawls a final declaration of love and plea for help on his chalkboard. Thus, Hélène helps her husband to the hydraulic press and, following his instructions, activates the machine to crush his fly parts into indistinguishable mush (though not before his fly arm tries to bring her under with him!) Though amazed by Hélène’s story, Inspector Charas begrudgingly returns with a warrant and the men in white coats to take her to the nut house. While he’s also sceptical, François is desperate to save Hélène and frantically alerts Inspector Charas to a white-headed fly Philippe found caught in a spider-web in the garden. Dubious, Inspector Charas entertains François’s plea one last time, taking no pleasure in causing him pain, and is appalled when he sees the fly has André’s head! Inspector Charas and François watch in horror as a spider advances on the half-human fly as André screams for help. Unable to stand the screaming, Inspector Charas crushes both and François immediately condemns him as being as guilty of murder as Hélène. Shocked by the whole ordeal, Inspector Charas reluctantly agrees to François’s suggestion that André committed suicide, sparing Hélène from death and the asylum. Some time later, Hélène and Philippe return to normal, with François now much closer to them, and François sadly tells Philippe that his father died in a reckless search for the “truth”.

Final Thoughts:
Although I grew up with the 1986 remake, I’ve always had a fondness for the 1958 adaptation of the The Fly, which I read and wrote about at university. Aside from a few changes, this is surprisingly faithful to the original short story and certainly one of the more ambitious sci-fi efforts of the late-1950s. Although some of the dialogue is a bit clunky and André and Hélène’s relationship is sickeningly sweet, André has an enthusiastic and affable charm about him thanks to the charismatic David Hedison, who adeptly captures André’s despair and torment after his horrific accident. Vincent Price brings his peerless authenticity to the film, perfectly portraying François as a lovestruck, tormented man trying to do his best by Hélène while struggling to comprehend her fantastical tale. Philippe was kind of annoying but did his best to be helpful, while Patricia Owens did a fine job carrying the bulk of the drama, portraying Hélène as a devoted wife desperate to help her husband. The Fly does a great job of building tension to the big reveal, giving glimpses of André’s malformed hand and depicting his obvious desperation and struggle to maintain his humanity. Sure, the fly head might be quite laughable by today’s standards but that reveal scene is an iconic moment in sci-fi cinema and has immortalised the film as much as the infamous ending. Again, the fly-André’s anguished cries of “Help me! He-ll-p me-e!” might be absurd, but it’s played so straight and so horrific that I can’t help but get shivers as that painfully fake spider devours him. While The Fly was completely outshined by its remake, it’s still a classic sci-fi morality tale of the dangers of science and a surprisingly effective exploration of madness and devotion, to say nothing of having some memorable moments that make it a truly timeless experience.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy this sci-fi classic? Did you like how accurate it was to the book? Were you won over by the seemingly perfect life shared by André and Hélène? Did you like the build up towards the big reveal or did the endless chasing for the fly get on your nerves? Were you impressed with the practical effects or do you think they’ve aged badly? Would you like to see another adaptation that was as closely tied to Langelaan’s book? How are you celebrating sci-fi this January? Like this review and leave a comment below, check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other sci-fi movies for me to cover.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: The Thing

10/01/202606/01/2026Dr. K2 Comments

Released: 14 October 2011
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Distributor: Universal Pictures

Budget: $38 million
Box Office: $31.5 million
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 34% / 43%

Quick Facts:
Despite being a critical and commercial failure at the time, John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) became a sci-fi/horror classic but spawned only comic books and videogames rather than a sequel. Universal Pictures eventually revisited the iconic Who Goes There? (Campbell, 1928) with a prequel to both expand upon and pay homage to John Carpenter’s classic. Despite the filmmakers utilising traditional practical effects by Amalgamated Dynamics, the studio demanded they be replaced with digital effects, dramatically changing the ending and leading to much unfair critical backlash and the cancellation of a follow-up.

The Review:
Nonsensical title aside (The Thing: Zero or The Thing: Origin might’ve worked better), The Thing is a rare example of a clever way to do a remake, even if the execution isn’t as memorable as John Carpenter’s film. The Thing is set in 1982, just like Carpenter’s movie, and follows the crew of Norwegian research station “Thule” in Antarctica, making it a direct prelude to John Carpenter’s movie. We saw glimpses of the Norwegian’s discovery and their gruesome fate in 1982 film, but The Thing expands upon what happened at Thule and even incorporates some elements from The Thing from Another World (Nyby, 1951). The film opens with the Norwegians randomly discovering a vast and ancient alien spacecraft buried deep under the ice, estimated to have been there for over 100,000 years. Though Thule houses a few scientific minds, Doctor Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) and his assistant, Adam Finch (Eric Christian Olsen), assemble a team to investigate the crash and its ejected pilot. Adam suggests recruiting beautiful palaeontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and, despite the lack of details, she eagerly agrees and is as amazed as the others are by the discovery. Although they question why the pilot would’ve ejected, geologist Edvard Wolner (Trond Espen Seim) enthusiastically organises his men to help Kate excavate the creature, which they bring to Thule in a massive block of ice. Against Kate’s warnings, Dr. Halvorson orders a tissue sample to be taken from the entombed creature, chastising her for contradicting him and arrogantly wishing to be at the forefront of the find of the century. To be fair, Dr. Halvorson does promise to credit everyone with the discovery, which he verifies is the first recorded example of an extraterrestrial visitor to Earth. Despite her unease, Kate celebrates the reveal alongside the others, including pilots Sam Carter (Joel Edgerton) and Derek Jameson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje).

*Norwegians and Americans alike are stunned to excavate an aggressive alien predator.*

While inspecting the thawing ice block, Jameson is horrified when the titular “Thing” bursts free and, after a moment’s disbelief, convinces the others to search for it. When Henrik (Jo Adrian Haavind) and Olav (Jan Gunnar Røise) find the vaguely insectile creature under a building, Henrik is ensnared and seemingly devoured, splattering Olav with blood and leading the others to burn the Thing alive. The shell shocked team barely hold it together as Dr. Halvorson conducts an autopsy and finds a disturbing copy of Henrick within the mangled corpse. Against Dr. Halvorson’s wishes, Kate reviews the Thing’s tissue and is horrified to discover that the alien cells are attacking, absorbing, and replicating living tissue. Her warnings fall on deaf ears, however, as even Adam is in denial despite witnessing it for himself, meaning Kate’s powerless to stop Derek, Griggs (Paul Braunstein), and Sam from taking Olav to a medical facility (and, as Sam promises, getting military aid). However, after discovering bloody dental fillings in the bathroom, Kate rushes to flag down the helicopter, sure that someone onboard is the Thing. Turns out it was Griggs, who violently splits apart and crashes the chopper, though the others are still sceptical about Kate’s warnings, especially as the evidence has been cleaned up. Juliette (Kim Bubbs) offers to help Kate get the keys to Thule’s vehicles to keep Edvard and the others from leaving and potentially spreading the Thing’s reach, only for her to also be revealed as a Thing and kill Karl (Carsten Bjørnlund) before being immolated by the surly Lars (Jørgen Langhelle) and his flamethrower. Echoing a similar scene from the 1982 film, the survivors dig a ditch in the snow and burn all the bodies, agreeing to quarantine themselves until they can figure out who’s who using a blood test devised by Dr. Halvorson and Adam, just like in Carpenter’s film. Similarly, this test is sabotaged when the laboratory goes up in flames, which also raises tensions in the group.

*While the execution is somewhat flawed, the film works as a decent prelude to the 1982 movie.*

I like that The Thing largely commits to having the Norwegian characters speak in Norwegian and that it closely emulates the aesthetic of John Carpenter’s film, with Marco Beltrami’s foreboding score reminiscent of Ennio Morricone’s work in 1982. The film quality is noticeably better but the set design seems to perfectly match with what we saw in 1982, and The Thing goes to great lengths to explain how Thule ended up in the state it’s found in the previous film. Although the survivors briefly turn on and suspect each other, with Adam, Sam, and Jameson prime suspects since the former was the last person in the lab before it burned up and the latter two inexplicably survived the helicopter crash. Although the test is ruined, Kate checks everyone for fillings, leaving Adam, Colin (Jonathan Lloyd Walker), Edvard, and Dr. Halvorson suspects as they claim to have porcelain fillings. This scene isn’t as tense as the 1982 blood test but it’s a great way to show that the Thing cannot replicate inorganic material, meaning fillings and other metal implants are rejected during the absorption process. While fetching the isolated Sam and Jameson to check them, the Thing attacks and, in a bout of paranoia, Peder (Stig Henrik Hoff) is shot dead and Edvard is injured by an explosion. He’s dramatically revealed to be the Thing and goes on a rampage, infecting Jonas (Kristofer Hivju) and Dr. Halvorson killing Jameson, and gruesomely crawling over Adam to partially merge with him and create the abhorrent two-headed Thing discovered in John Carpenter’s film. After finally destroying this creature, Kate and Sam spot Dr. Halvorson fleeing in a snowcat. While Sam’s happy to let him drive off and freeze to death, Kate realises the Thing would benefit from that and that it’s heading back to the space craft, so she encourages them to pursue, relieved to find that Sam still has his ear piercing and is thus human.

*While CGI isn’t as impressive as practical effects, it’s not as bad as many would have you believe.*

While there are moments of tension and suspense in The Thing, this is far more akin to a monster movie than John Carptener’s film, focusing more on large, ungainly alien abominations and giving us a bigger body count. The Thing is still an unknowable, shapeless creature that’s cunning, patient, and extremely volatile, happy to imitate a victim and bide its time. While hidden as Griggs, the Thing almost escapes and, much like in the 1982 film, many characters are infected offscreen to keep the audience guessing. The Thing is noticeably more insectile at times and far more bloodthirsty, skewering and impaling prey with its razor-sharp tentacles and devouring them afterwards rather than immediately trying to absorb them. It still detaches parts of itself, notably its hands, to attack and is particularly vulnerable to fire, especially when in the middle of imitating someone. It cannot replicate inorganic material, though, raising some questions about how it has time to get dressed after imitating someone. It still imitates people flawlessly despite this, even attacking other parts of itself to maintain the ruse and being smart enough to lure others to a quiet area to attack, though Thule is well stocked with flamethrowers and grenades. Unfortunately, as many have said, The Thing ditches traditional practical effects for CGI visuals, and the results are noticeably mixed. When I first saw it, I didn’t think it was all that bad and thought it did a decent job of capturing the same vibe as Carpenter’s film but being just different enough in fun and clever ways to be enjoyable. I still think this, and this extends to the visuals, which are still disturbingly gruesome even if the CGI can be quite dodgy and cartoony. It does mean The Thing is a little less gory at times, especially when the alien is revealing itself or attacking someone, which is a bizarre choice considering how ghastly the effects are when it splits apart and erupts into a mess of tentacles, teeth, and moaning humanoid faces.

*Despite the bizarre ending, the film segues nicely into the beginning of Carpenter’s cult classic.*

Kate and Sam follow the Halvorson-Thing back to the spaceship, which it activates in a bid to either return to the stars or infect larger civilised areas. The commotion separates Kate and Sam, leaving Kate to wander the highly advanced alien craft and stumble upon a glowing, geometric hologram that leaves her mesmerised for some time. This was initially a biomechanical alien pilot, not unlike the “Space Jockey”, that was originally planned to have been collecting alien samples before being attacked by the Thing. Other versions of the film had an animatronic version of this pilot (or a horrendous amalgamation of Dr. Halvorson, the pilot, and the Thing) attacking Kate for the finale. Instead, Kate stares at this weird lightshow before the disappointingly cartoonish, CGI Halvorson-Thing attacks, forcing her to find space to toss a grenade into its gaping, teeth-riddled maw. Luckily, Sam appears just in time to unload with a flamethrower, destroying the grotesque creature and shutting down the ship’s engines. Though exhausted and battered, Kate still has the wherewithal to notice that Sam is now missing his earring and burns him alive without hesitation, reducing him to a squealing mess of alien meat as the Thing is finally destroyed. While Kate heads towards a nearby Soviet base in the snowcat, pilot Matias (Ole Martin Aune Nilsen) returns to Thule from a refuelling mission and finds it in ruins, Colin having slit his wrists out of fear of being assimilated, and is confronted by a paranoid, trigger-happy Lars. After verifying that Matias is human, Largs desperately urges Matias into the chopper to pursue his fleeing snow dog, which was discovered brutally killed soon after the Thing first awoke, perfectly tying the end of this film into the beginning of John Carpenter’s The Thing…

Final Thoughts:
I’ve always been a big fan of John Carpenter’s The Thing, even if it can drag a bit in the middle. It’s a fantastic example of horror, paranoia, and gruesome practical effects that would be difficult for any film to emulate. Rather than try to remake John Carpenter’s cult classic, The Thing opts to act as a companion piece, a prequel to show what happened at Thule before the 1982 film. In that respect, I maintain that The Thing does a decent job. The attention to detail in the set design and the fates of Thule’s residents is admirable, revealing that these twisted, mangled corpses were once people driven to desperation and paranoia or overtaken by a violent alien organism. I really liked the abundance of subtitles and Norwegian being spoken and it made sense to bring in some Americans as Thule wasn’t equipped to properly excavate or study the Thing. I adore Mary Elizabeth Winstead and won’t hear anything against here. Kate was a forthright and level-headed character who kept her cool, even when being attacked by the Thing, and came up with practical solutions. Joel Edgerton is no Kurt Russell, though, and most of the other characters are interchangeable and forgettable compared to those in Carpenter’s film, but I liked the smarmy, arrogant Dr. Halvorson, who seemed to be channelling the equally egotistical Doctor Arthur Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) from The Thing from Another World. While I don’t think the CGI is that bad, it’s true that it’s not as impactful as practical effects and appears very slap-dash, lacking the visceral horror of animatronics and puppets. The weird hologram-thing in the spaceship was a strange decision (it might’ve been better to just cut that scene) and the Halvorson-Thing wasn’t as grotesquely disturbing as the monstrous Blair-Thing, despite being more mobile thanks to CGI. I truly think The Thing is better than a lot of people think and is worthy of re-evaluation. It works really well as a double feature with John Carpenter’s The Thing and has some good moments, but even I must admit that it’s lacking compared to its predecessor and sadly missed the mark with its overall execution.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Do you agree that The Thing is better than most people think? Did you like that it aligned well as a prequel? Were you disappointed that much of the suspense was downplayed in favour of monster horror? Did you find the CGI disappointing and what did you think to that hologram thing? Would you like to see a new version of Who Goes There? on the big screen? How are you celebrating sci-fi this month? Whatever you thought to The Thing, comment down below and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other sci-fi films for me to review.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

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Great Stuff

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Pretty Good

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Could Be Better

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Fantastic

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Could Be Better

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Pretty Good

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Pretty Good

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