Sci-Fi

A scientist trying to better mankind nearly destroys the world as we know it in this sci-fi thriller. Dr. Stephen Sorensen (Dana Andrews) is doing research in geo-thermal energy; he’s convinced that if men can find a way to drill through the earth’s outer crust into the molten magma near the center, the heat can be harnessed and used to warm dwellings around the world. His assistant, Ted Rampion (Kieron Moore), is skeptical about this idea and believes that there could be dire consequences, but Sorensen boldly moves ahead with his plan, prodded by his secret knowledge that he suffers from a terminal illness and might not live long enough to undergo a longer testing period. However, Rampion’s fears soon prove well founded when Sorensen’s drilling causes a large crack in the earth which begins to rapidly expand, threatening to split the world in two with disastrous consequences. Crack in the World was praised on initial release for its intelligent approach and solid special effects work.
— Mark Deming (AllMovie)Read More »

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‘Enemy’ is elegaic science-fiction: a fable about the young men trained as Guardians of the Stars and their failure to ward off an unknon ‘enemy’ who manifests himself as white light.Read More »

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A starship crew goes to investigate the silence of a planet’s colony only to find two survivors and a deadly secret that one of them has.Read More »

Little Joe follows Alice (Emily Beecham), a single mother and dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. She has engineered a special crimson flower, remarkable not only for its beauty but also for its therapeutic value: if kept at the ideal temperature, fed properly and spoken to regularly, this plant makes its owner happy. Against company policy, Alice takes one home as a gift for her teenage son, Joe. They christen it ‘Little Joe.’ But as their plant grows, so too does Alice’s suspicion that her new creation may not be as harmless as its nickname suggests.Read More »

review.com wrote:

Cold Lazarus is the companion piece to Karaoke (see our review), and the last work Dennis Potter wrote as he struggled against his fatal illness. While Karaoke can stand on its own, Cold Lazarus is best understood as a companion piece or sequel to it. Donald Feeld, the writer from Karaoke (and, in many respects, Dennis Potter’s alter ego), hints at his own final project in Karaoke, one in which he wishes to combine virtual reality and cryogenics. That, then, is what Potter did here.
Cold Lazarus is set in the year 2368. A group of scientists at a cryogenic laboratory have come close to being able to revive the memories of a preserved brain, projecting it in fits and spurts on a huge screen at the lab. The brain — the mind that they are mining — is, of course, none other than that of Donald Feeld, and therefore many of the memories are actually scenes from Karaoke.Read More »

Synopsis: Based on a novel by Doris Lessing, MEMOIRS OF A SURVIVOR stars the luminous Julie Christie as D, a woman struggling to survive in a violent post-apocalyptic world. Traumatized by both the war she’s lived through and the regular atrocities that each day bring, D retreats from reality into a bizarre Victorian dream world within herself. However, when she takes in a teenage girl, D is drawn back into the harsh reality of her crumbling city and its feral street gangs. Desperate for some kind of salvation, D becomes convinced that her fantasy world of the past holds may hold the key to a better future.Read More »

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FM (FM Einheit of Einstürzende Neubauten) has discovered something incredible in the monotonous ‘muzak’ played through the fast food restaurant H Burger’s speaker system: the tracks are laced with subliminal messages designed to ensure complacency and consumerism. Experimenting with his discovery, FM soon realizes that by changing the type of music played, he can manifest a whole range of emotional responses and stir up the populace from their consumerist subordination. But as the diners are emotionally awakened, they become more and more prone to rioting and general social unrest, which puts FM in an increasingly dangerous position, especially when the sinister and mysterious organization behind the the plot to keep the public complacent takes an interest in finding and stopping him…Read More »

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The film’s full title of Jules Verne’s Rocket to the Moon is a tad misleading as it is only inspired by Verne’s writing in general, rather than by anything specific that he wrote. Once that point is cleared up, one can sit back and enjoy an amusing romp of a movie. The typically contrived plot concerns a suddenly bankrupt Phineas T. Barnum (Burl Ives) making an escape from his creditors to England, where he becomes the prime mover in a plan to launch a rocket to the moon. On the side of the angels are a German explosives expert (Gert Fröbe), an idealistic young American (Troy Donahue) with a revolutionary rocket design and the well intentioned Duke of Barset (Dennis Price).Read More »

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John Nada (Roddy Piper) is a quiet loner, a drifter who gets work where ever he can find it. While working on a construction site in L.A. and sleeping in a vagrant community at night, John stumbles upon a secret society of alien beings who pose as wealthy and powerful people in human society. John joins a rebel group commited to exposing this conspiracy, and becomes their reluctant leader and the only hope of the human race. Former wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper is outstanding as the unassuming hero, playing the role with understated shock at what he uncovers and stubborn courage when he confronts it.Read More »