SFXの March 2019 の目次

Is the Marvel Cinematic Universe 21st century cinema’s most impressive achievement? While you can argue other films have more artistic merit, in blockbuster terms the MCU has assembled a run of success unparalleled in the history of Hollywood. When Iron Man was released back in 2008 and ideas of bringing the Hulk, Thor and Cap together in an Avengers movie were first mooted, the scepticism was palpable. How can a Norse god team up with a frozen World War 2 soldier in a plausible movie? Kevin Feige and his team proved us spectacularly wrong via a heady mix of epic action, snappy dialogue, Stan Lee cameos and mid-credits teasers for future movies. So with Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame imminent, we’re looking back at all 20 Marvel movies so far,…

Groundhog Day-inspired slasher comedy Happy Death Day was one of the surprise hits of 2017, a twisty, clever-as-hell horror about a girl who is forced to relive the same day again and again, until she solves the mystery of her murder. Well, as it turns out, the nightmare isn’t over for Theresa “Tree” Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) as it’s about to happen all over again… “I had the idea for the sequel while doing the editing on the first film,” writer/director Christopher Landon tells Red Alert. “I told [producer] Jason Blum the idea more in jest, like, ‘Wouldn’t it be crazy if we did this…?!’ and his eyes went really big and he said, ‘You gotta go write that!’” Of course, had Happy Death Day not gone on to earn $122m…

Two decades after they last published his comic book adventures, Marvel Comics are bringing Conan back into the fold after 15 years at Dark Horse. While Jason Aaron and Mahmud Asrar will chronicle “The Life And Death Of Conan” in flagship Conan The Barbarian, Gerry Duggan and Ron Garney’s Savage Sword Of Conan sees the Cimmerian travelling beyond his homeland. “In Savage Sword, Conan has left Cimmeria and is on his great journey,” says Duggan. “Our tale begins at the catastrophic finale of an untold sea tale and we then move into a story of slavers, an enchanted treasure map, and an evil wizard’s death cult that is pulling apart a Stygian city in search of treasure from a lost civilisation, so it’s everything I love about Conan.” While Marvel’s…

DATE 30-31 March LOCATION ExCeL, London With a new home at the ExCeL London, Walker Stalker just became even bigger and brainier than ever. “We’re really excited about this year’s line-up,” co-founder James Frazier tells Red Alert, “and we’re continuing to expand beyond the world of zombies into other popular horror, sci-fi and fantasy entertainment. Game Of Thrones and American Horror Story are two of the biggest shows on television, and bringing guests from those shows is something fans have been asking us to do for years.” Ask and ye shall receive – and then some. This year’s special guests include Walking Dead stars Steven Yeun, Christian Serratos, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Chandler Riggs, while Hodor himself, Kristian Nairn, will be in attendance (no doubt relieved we can’t grill him…

Possibly poised to appear in Ava DuVernay’s upcoming New Gods film, the Female Furies were arguably ahead of their time when they debuted in Jack Kirby’s epic Fourth World saga in 1972. Indeed when Cecil Castellucci first embarked upon next month’s new six-parter centring around Granny Goodness’s hit squad of warrior women, she was surprised by how the sexual discrimination that the team experience remains prevalent nearly 50 years later. “Sadly, we’re still dealing with a lot of the stuff that the Female Furies dealt with in the original Fourth World books in regard to gender discrimination,” says Castellucci, who is partnered with artist Adriana Melo. “If anything, I’ve just turned up the light on stuff that Kirby had already seeded into his work and highlighted it for a modern…

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war… Those words have long been the motto for Games Workshop’s iconic tabletop battle game, Warhammer 40,000. So it’s perhaps a little surprising that this richly developed setting is now the backdrop for Warhammer Adventures – a new series of novels aimed at younger readers. Author Cavan Scott, who has penned the first two books in the 40K-based Warped Galaxies series, Attack Of The Necron and Claws Of The Genestealer, doesn’t see that as an issue. “Kids like being scared,” he says. “You need to be careful not to go too far, but the key is not to talk down to the readers. People have said to me, ‘How can you write children’s books in a world plagued by…

YO HO NO! PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 6 Crushing news for the world’s rum suppliers. Disney are preparing to retool the tired-looking Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise – and that means consigning Johnny Depp’s turn as lurching, smokey-eyed brigand Captain Jack Sparrow to the sunless depths. The move will reportedly save them over $90 million, which is a hell of a lot of shipwrecked doubloons, you must agree. Why, you could surely afford five Russell Brands for that kind of money, and still have a little left over for a Sacha Baron Cohen or two. Deadpool gag-smiths Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are now crafting a considerably cheaper screenplay for the sixth entry in the swashbuckling saga. “We want to bring in a new energy and vitality,” president of production…

So, what inspired the biggest reaction this month? A new DC blockbuster? Nah. A groundbreaking interactive drama? Close, but no cigar. No, it was of course Doctor Who’s New Year special “Resolution”, which had some of you practically foaming at the mouth. Has anything in this issue amused or infuriated? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Don’t forget: every issue, one correspondent wins goodies from our friends at Black Library; this time it’s the first two books in new kids’ range Warhammer Adventures.…

SFX’S high priestess of horror ONE GIT OF THE DEAD A super low-budget gem, Japanese horror One Cut Of The Dead got a brief UK theatrical release in January, and is now available to download. A joyful movie that’s a love letter to indie cinema, and my top recommendation of the month, it’s about a team of filmmakers charged with making a live real-time single-take zombie show. I just really hope you didn’t watch it on Amazon in early Jan. Though it’s not clear who, some git published a bootleg version of the film on Amazon’s self-distribution platform, which made the movie available to watch on Prime before it was released. Sales agency Third Window Films was understandably annoyed, having spent time building buzz for the film – it’s not…

IT’S A STRETCH TO REMEMBER A TIME WHEN Robert Downey Jr’s name conjured up tabloid-tickling images of shaven-haired court appearances, smug mug shots and being photographed in handcuffs. But, 15 years ago, that was how the world saw the man born Robert John Downey. And crazy now to contemplate what a jumbo-sized risk the newly birthed Marvel Studios were making, giving their first lead role to a washed-up ex-con with a rap sheet as long as Mr Fantastic’s arm. In fact, they didn’t even want him at first – it was director Jon Favreau who fought for Downey, who, lest we forget, was paid less on that first Iron Man than his then more illustrious co-star Terrence Howard as James Rhodes. “The best and worst moments of Robert’s life have…

“WE DON’T QUITE GENDER AN ALIEN WOMAN THE WAY WE DO A HUMAN” Pass Mary Chieffo in the street, and you might not recognise her – but you’d certainly notice her. Stripped of the layers of latex she wears as Klingon L’Rell, she still possesses an alien quality, thanks to her striking bone structure. Of all the Discovery crew, the statuesque actress seems the most ebullient, blessed with a laugh that practically makes the windows shake. You suspect she’d be the live wire on a cast night out; you can easily picture her dragging people onto the dancefloor. This will come as no surprise to any Twitter followers who saw a video of her strutting her stuff – in full Klingon finery – to the strains of Demi Lovato’s “Confident”.…

How did you get your head around the script for “Bandersnatch”? I read the physical copy with much difficulty before I learned that there was a Twine document, so you could play the story, rather like you would read a Choose Your Own Adventure book. That gave me a better understanding of what the viewer might experience. You wouldn’t know in any scene what had happened to the character beforehand. Did that make it extra challenging? That really kept me up at night, I’ve got to say. I struggle enough as it is with managing the emotional continuity of a character, but I was barely sleeping in the shooting of “Bandersnatch”, because you’re thinking about how you manage the emotional arc of your character across so many different timelines and…

HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES, DREAD-INDUCING gothic castles, god-fearing, beer-slugging locals, heaving, corset-busting bosoms… That’s how most of us picture Hammer horror. But by the early 1970s the studio’s brand of gussied-up scares was looking increasingly anachronistic. Horror cinema was getting bloodier, grungier and, frankly, more youthful, and Hammer’s once mighty box office fortunes were taking a beating. They’d chased the nudie market with Twins Of Evil and gone full-tilt psychedelic with the trippy Vampire Circus. What they’d never tried was giving an electric shock to one of their long-established series. And in the year of our lord 1972, that’s just what they gave to the most iconic character in their horror arsenal. While contemporary critics were predictably unkind to Hammer’s attempt to freshen up their most lucrative franchise, history has little record…

How insane was the secrecy level? Receiving the script was one of the funniest things ever. I was in a hotel, the doorbell rang, and it’s this giant man in a suit with sunglasses. I’m like, “Oh my God, he’s going to kill me.” He handed me a manila envelope, then walked away. I left it in my trailer, and Night gave me a really intense talk that was a bit aggressive – I was so taken aback. You do not leave M Night Shyamalan scripts lying around! How do you cope with the intensity of a film like this? We laugh a lot between takes. One of my favourite things with acting is if something’s quite heavy, people are so gentle to you. James [McAvoy] is the same. We…

UK BBC One, aired US BBC America, aired (Available on Blu-ray/DVD from 18 February) ▶ Showrunner Chris Chibnall ▶ Cast Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill A lone Dalek regenerating itself and going on the rampage, threatening all of humanity? Hmm, sounds familiar… Who’s New Year special starts well. The idea of a Dalek scout with special abilities has promise, even if some of those abilities stretch credulity to snapping point (er, teleporting chopped-up parts together?!) The sequences showing Charlotte Ritchie’s Lin being puppeteered by a Dalek mutant are effectively creepy (and maybe… a bit… sexy? Just us, then). And the fact that this is Who’s least seasonal seasonal special is a bit of a relief. Sadly the issues soon start to stack up. The Scrapheap Challenge take…

▶ RELEASED OUT NOW! 2018 | 15 | DVD The title suggests another paranoid fantasy along the lines of The Double, but it’s not actually duplicates we’re dealing with here. Instead, Ansel Elgort plays Jonathan and Jay, two siblings stuck inside the same body, in a “single-body multi-consciousness”. Squandering a promising premise, it’s so slow and lacking in thrust as to be virtually inert. It doesn’t help that we spend most of the movie with wannabe architect Jonathan, not his more hedonistic and charismatic night owl brother, Jay. Ho-hum. Extras None.…

▶ RELEASED OUT NOW! 2018 | 15 | Blu-ray/DVD ▶ Director Johnny Kevorkian ▶ Cast Sam Gittins, Neerja Naik, Grant Masters, Abigail Cruttenden For low-budget filmmakers, finding a premise that not only warrants but rewards narrowing the horizons to a budget-friendly degree is half the battle. This indie’s solution is a doozy, limiting the action to that most grimly inescapable of environments: the British family Christmas. The action’s confined to a suburban home, in which the Milgram clan have gathered. Soon Nick and new girlfriend Annji are being rubbed up the wrong way by the likes of his pompous father and racist grandad. But friction turns to outright conflict after they find that the doors and windows have been sealed, and start receiving instructions via the TV. What’s going on?…

▶ RELEASED 7 FEBRUARY 560 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook ▶ Author Jenn Lyons ▶ Publisher Tor If you like footnotes, you’re in for a treat. This new fantasy series unfolds as a conversation between a jailer and prisoner, transcribed and annotated by a third party. They’re recounting the misadventures of Kihrin, raised as a minstrel’s apprentice in a brothel, but soon to discover a noble past. He’s claimed as the lost heir to one of Quur’s grand houses… and now everybody wants the 15-year-old, from crooks and elfish “vané” to dragons and gods. It’s dense, cramming tons into 90 chapters. Each short chunk ends with a cliffhanger, which makes for an exhilarating pace. Part one features set-piece action scenes – the materialisation of a demon in the city, a sea battle…

▶ RELEASED OUT NOW! 560 pages | Paperback/ebook ▶ Author Jordanna Max Brodsky ▶ Publisher Orbit Taking a snippet of a Norse saga and deep research into Inuit history and culture, Jordanna Max Brodsky spins a story about what happens when small groups of people pushing from the east (Vikings) and west (Inuit) meet in the chilly reaches of Newfoundland. Brodsky’s respect for Inuit culture is clear, and lead character/narrator Omat is someone you’ll empathise with. Omat was born with the soul of a boy and the body of a girl; while some might scoff at a nonbinary protagonist, their existence is grounded in Inuit beliefs in reincarnation. Moreover, Omat’s well-written enough to feel like a real person. The clash of faiths, of the Great Spirits of the Inuit coming…

▶ RELEASED 7 FEBRUARY 176 pages | Paperback ▶ Author Adam Scovell ▶ Publisher Influx Press Have you ever had a memory that’s turned out not to be yours? The mind is a funny thing, prone to all sorts of outside influences. Adam Scovell’s debut novel explores that notion – with added spooky moths. Phyllis Ewans is a prominent lepidopterist. Estranged from her family, she becomes friends with Thomas, a student who shares her deep obsession with moths. After reconnecting later in life, he becomes her de facto carer, and when Phyllis dies, Thomas inherits everything – and finds himself increasingly haunted by memories that are not his own, and followed by the sound of a thousand tiny wings. Scovell’s previous book was a study of folk horror, and there’s…

▶ RELEASED OUT NOW! 486 pages | Hardback/ebook ▶ Author Stephen Cox ▶ Publisher Jo Fletcher Books Classic science fiction motifs abound in Stephen Cox’s novel set during the ’60s, with the Vietnam War dividing the nation even as the Soviet Union and the US tussle for supremacy in the space race. The premise is a familiar one: a human couple adopts an alien child stranded on Earth after their ship crashes here. There’s the government scientist eager to exploit the alien’s military potential at any cost, despite the child’s peaceful nature, and a sentient spacecraft of formidable power. The challenge for Cox is to take these well-worn elements and make something fresh. The book is at its strongest when the alien, dubbed Cory, and his adoptive parents, Molly and…

▶ RELEASED 21 FEBRUARY 384 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook ▶ Author Wray Delaney ▶ Publisher HarperCollins Inverting classic fairytales feels like a way of gaining power, allowing authors brief ownership over the stories that defined their childhoods. “Wray Delaney” (the pseudonym of children’s author Sally Gardner), has picked Beauty And The Beast for her new novel, switching up the genders by casting a beautiful boy called Beau in the role of Belle, the son of a mortal man and a faerie woman, who sees beauty in a monstrous creature called Randa. The Beauty Of The Wolf is beautifully written, and a breeze to read. Gardner is clearly besotted with the evocative, lush language of fairytales and fills her novel with gorgeous descriptions of castles, dark forests and woodland witches. But it’s…

▶ RELEASED 21 FEBRUARY ▶ Publisher Rebellion Publishing ▶ Writer Gordon Rennie ▶ Artist Dom Reardon COLLECTION Caballistics, Inc was a standout strip from 2000 AD’s early 21st century renaissance. It ended abruptly in 2007, with a weird final cliffhanger after most of the main storylines had been resolved. This volume collects the entire run – including the new final chapter, published just last month in the pages of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic. A team of paranormal investigators are forcibly recruited by the mysterious rock star Ethan Kostabi and his shadowy lieutenant, Solomon Ravne. Together they take on hauntings, Lovecraftian entities and sinister cults. Complicating matters is the fact that one of their number has been possessed by an especially nasty demon… The early stories are unambiguous riffs on the…

It’s now official: another Star Trek TV show is in development! Joining Discovery, the Picard show and the animated Lower Decks, the previously rumoured Michelle Yeoh-fronted series will focus on the Mirror Georgiou and her work for Starfleet black ops outfit Section 31. Game Of Thrones is coming! Final season premiere date confirmed as 14 April in the US, 15 April in the UK. Stranger Things’ third season will land on 4 July in our dimension. Upside Down broadcast date TBC. Netflix’s Dark Crystal prequel series Age Of Resistance bags all-star voice cast including Taron Egerton, Anya Taylor-Joy, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alicia Vikander, Simon Pegg and Mark Hamill. Good news for Van Helsing, Star Wars Resistance and Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, which are all renewed for new seasons. Bad news for Z Nation and Midnight,…

Recalling that “ever since I saw Dragonheart when I was little, I’ve been hooked on dragons,” Samantha Shannon has always wanted to pen an epic fantasy. It’s an ambition The Bone Season author has achieved with The Priory of the Orange Tree, her new novel out from Bloomsbury this February. “The scope of epic fantasy sings to me,” she tells Red Alert. “Everything feels seismic, and yields endless opportunities and challenges for a creator.” Centring around the still unwed Queen Sabran’s urgent need to conceive a daughter, the novel draws on many real life myths and legends, including the classic tale of George and the dragon. “It’s one of the best known examples of the damsel in distress trope, which I think we can all agree is seriously outdated,” says Shannon.…

147 JOE FLANIGAN Lt Col John Sheppard in Stargate: Atlantis Joe Flanigan worked hard in the Stargate universe. As a regular on Atlantis playing Lt Col John Sheppard he managed a full century of episodes between 2004 and 2009, and briefly appeared in spin-off Stargate: Universe. He also wrote for the show. “For me there are no transitional difficulties. I can go from writing to acting to producing and it’s all relatively simple,” he tells Red Alert. “It’s all in the same wheelhouse. My hardest transition is going from being asleep to waking up.” Would you like to play Sheppard again? Sure! It was a great role to play, a lot of fun. We did an episode called “Vegas” in the last season, and it was really interesting because it…

DATE 8-10 February LOCATION Grand Harbour Hotel, Southampton Now in its 25th year, the Sci-Fi Ball is one of the longest-running and best-loved genre events in the UK. Featuring talks, autograph and photo sessions, interactive game shows and charity auctions, this year it’s welcoming guests that include Gigi Edgley (Farscape), Robert Duncan McNeill (Star Trek: Voyager) and Humans stars Dino Fetscher and Lucy Carless. “Gigi is really excited about attending, and has promised to be part of a special game of Crimes Against Humanity late one night,” reveals director Brett Jones. “The highlight of the weekend is the ball itself,” he adds, “a sumptuous three-course banquet followed by the best in after-dinner entertainment – and all to raise money for our chosen charity, the Teenage Cancer Trust.” A word of…

Tell us about your protagonist… Annev has a complicated life. He spends half his days training at the Academy to become an Avatar of Judgement (a warrior-thief that steals magic artefacts), but a dodgy old priest is also trying to teach him to use magic. To make matters worse, he’s in love with the headmaster’s daughter and he’s just been tasked to kill a stranger in the woods. Adolescence can be brutal… How does magic work in this world? In Luquatra, people with the blood-talent can manipulate three elemental magics: skywater, lightfire and earthblood. These are accessed using different art forms that relate to the mind, spirit and body (respectively), and have a cost that’s either subtractive, additive or transmutative. Did anything particular spark the book? I’ve always been fascinated…

We’ll have to wait until July to see the next instalment of Stranger Things, but you can visit Hawkins, Indiana much sooner with new novel Suspicious Minds. Set in the ’60s, it tells the story of Eleven’s mother and the questionable experiments that made her daughter telekinetic. Author Gwenda Bond tells Red Alert all about it… Why did you focus Suspicious Minds on Eleven’s mother, Terry Ives, and Dr Brenner’s experiments? I think Terry’s story felt like a natural starting point. We know she was part of Brenner’s MKUltra experiments and that he stole her daughter; we also know that she fought to get Jane – Eleven – back as hard as she possibly could. So I was very interested in figuring out Terry’s full story. We see her with…

Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer joining Ryan Reynolds in videogame comedy Free Guy… Danny DeVito and Awkwafina joining Jumanji 3… Star Trek 4 reportedly shelved at Paramount… Matt Reeves’ The Batman said to be eyeing a November filming start… James Wan no longer producing the Resident Evil reboot… Adria Arjona in talks to play Martine in Morbius The Living Vampire for Sony… Makoto Shinkai directing Weather Girl: Weathering With You… DJ Caruso in the frame to direct Are You Afraid Of The Dark? for Paramount… Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tom Holland voicing elf-based Pixar movie Onward… Legendary rebooting The Toxic Avenger… Rami Malek frontrunner to play the villain in Bond 25… Lionsgate eyeing New Orleans vampire tale The French Quarter Will Not Be Spared by The Shallows writer Anthony Jaswinski……

RICHARD EDWARDS EDITOR RAVES Love the latest Captain Marvel trailer – who knew Elastica, Skrulls and photon blasts were such a potent combination? RANTS I hope the stories about the Star Trek movies being shelved aren’t true. The last two were disappointing, but I still want to see more from that crew. NICK SETCHFIELD FEATURES EDITOR RAVES So, after untold centuries, this is my final issue as SFX’s features editor. Thanks for being the best readers anyone could wish for. I shall return as a flickering blue Force ghost. Watch the skies and stay hooked to the silver screen. Follow me @nicksetchfield. More books to come! IAN BERRIMAN REVIEWS EDITOR RAVES I chose my dream TV schedule for the latest edition of the excellent podcast Perfect Night In. Have a…

Something is wrong in Moscow. The beer stand is only serving apricot soda, and a mysterious professor of black magic is claiming to have witnessed the condemnation of Christ with his own eyes. So begins a novel that stands out from the rest of the Russian canon like a clown at a funeral, a playful, eclectic, funny and terrifying jaunt through Stalin’s Great Terror of the 1930s. Bulgakov wrote it in secret over ten years, a book he knew would never be published in his lifetime, yet which he felt compelled to perfect, even on his deathbed. It is a novel of pure subversion, from start to finish, with a cast of characters that includes Christ and Pontius Pilate. At the time, as part of an anti-religious campaign by Russian…

WHILE SHE IS ABOUT TO star in the first female-led Marvel movie, Carol Danvers has not always enjoyed such a prominent position in the comics. Created by Roy Thomas and Gene Colan, she made her debut in March 1968’s Marvel Super-Heroes #13 as an air force officer who crosses paths with Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel. And while her origin was retconned in the recent Life Of Captain Marvel mini-series, which brought her Kree heritage to the fore, Danvers initially seemed to receive her powers after being caught in an explosion, in May 1968’s Captain Marvel #1. Written first by Gerry Conway and then Chris Claremont and drawn by John Buscema, it would be almost a decade before she resurfaced in January 1977’s Ms Marvel #1. Released to coincide with…

IN THE AGE OF SCREEN SUPERHEROES, there are some new kids on the block. The Hargreeves family: Spaceboy, The Kraken, The Rumour, The Séance, The Boy, The Horror and The White Violin. Consider these the stars of your next Netflix obsession, The Umbrella Academy. Adapted from the 2008-09 Dark Horse comic by Gerard Way, better known as the lead vocalist in My Chemical Romance, and Brazilian illustrator Gabriel Bá, it’s far, far removed from the Marvel-DC universes. Way’s original comic book story is set in an alternate history where John F Kennedy was never shot, and 43 infants were born with huge powers to unsuspecting mothers who weren’t even pregnant. Wealthy entrepreneur Sir Reginald Hargreeves – aka The Monocle – adopted seven of these super-charged infants, creating the so-called Umbrella…

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE BOOKS ALWAYS seemed a cooler idea in theory than they were in practice. The idea that you could decide what characters did next was so radical that it felt like it was subverting the idea of what a novel could be. But when one bad choice could lead to an early demise, sometimes you couldn’t help feeling short-changed. Experimenting with a similar principle on TV comes with similar baggage – even Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker was sceptical when Netflix first suggested the idea of an interactive episode. “We didn’t say no to them,” he recalls, “but we walked out of the room and went, ‘No fucking way!’” “It felt so gimmicky,” adds Annabel Jones, executive producer and fellow controller of the Black Mirror brand. “It…

HERO’S JOURNEY DEAN DEBLOIS – DIRECTOR “Conceptually, Hiccup’s slowly becoming a dragon. His bond with Toothless runs so deep his traditional Viking garb has been replaced with something much more Toothless-like. We wanted to maintain that sense of him being a different kind of Viking. We wanted him to remain spindly, spry and a wild bed-head and this tenacious quality would be reflected physically as he grew and in his costume. He’s become an intrepid adventurer with Toothless and he’s a bit of a pioneer. Part of that is fused with the relationship with his dragon so he’s beginning to take on Toothless’s traits as well.” RE-IMAGINING DRAGONS DEAN DEBLOIS – DIRECTOR “We wanted to treat Toothless as a character who’s continually evolving on screen to display more intelligence and…

How would you describe Kaye? She’s the dramatic anchor of the show. She’s all heart and soul, but there’s not a lot of levity. She’s quite an emotionally dark character. She’s sort of an unwilling participant in the race; she sort of falls into it. Her impetus is quite different. It’s never been just about winning the race; it’s about freeing herself from the shackles of her life. Did anything help in preparing for the role? The first director took me aside, because it’s quite easy with this character to get dark and serious, and said, “It’s a genre piece.” I was like, “Okay. Can you tell me who my character is? What can I look at?” He said, “You are Bruce Willis in Die Hard.” And I watched that.…

“In a really clever way,” Mitchell tells SFX, “our Batman sums up every version of Batman that’s ever been done. He’s able to reference that, which no other Batman is able to do. In our movie, you see him in a scene with the original Batman from the ’60s TV show, Adam West. That’s what this Batman has, that he can reference the other ones – he grades them all, he tells you which ones he likes best. In this one, he raps about it. There’s a whole song, because that’s how people communicate in the Systar system, and we really dig in deep to the other Batmans. That’s what makes Will Arnett’s Batman super special. “And at the same time he’s just cool; he’s a really cool character. You…

Hot on the heels of Dracula AD 1972 was The Satanic Rites Of Dracula, another contemporary Dracula tale and intended as semi-sequel. Despite his threats to resign, Lee returned one more time, along with Cushing as Lorrimer Van Helsing and Michael Coles as police inspector Murray (although Joanna Lumley inherited the role of Jessica Van Helsing from Stephanie Beacham). A less youth-chasing franchise entry, it has Van Helsing being called in to help investigate a group of government ministers who are suspected to being involved in witchcraft. “[Dracula AD 1972] was just about bearable,” Lee wrote in his autobiography, “but with the other one, originally called Dracula Is Dead, But Alive And Living in London, I reached my irrevocable full stop.” Though it was the final time Lee would play…

▶ RELEASED 18 FEBRUARY 2018 | PG | Blu-ray/DVD/download The meta twist of this RL Stine series is that the author is actually in the films, in the form of Jack Black – albeit briefly this time. After stumbling across a Stine book, Haunted Halloween, three kids are terrorised by evil ventriloquist’s dummy Slappy. Impressive CGI monsters abound, and at no point does the film condescend to its audience. Simple, spooky fun – but with no real surprises. Extras Deleted scenes; Making Of; creatures featurette; gag reel; science experiments; Slappy audition tape; sing-alongs.…

▶ RELEASED 11 FEBRUARY 2017 | 15 | Blu-ray/download/VOD ▶ Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa ▶ Cast Masami Nagasawa, Ryûhei Matsuda, Hiroki Hasegawa, Kazuya Kojima There are certain elements you expect from an alien invasion flick: usually action, explosions, aliens that look, well, alien. Pulse director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s film takes a rather different approach… An expeditionary force of extraterrestrials arrive on Earth ahead of a full-on invasion. Taking on human form, these three interlopers try to figure out the nature of their enemy, roping in the passing Mr Sakurai (Hiroki Hasegawa) as their human guide. It’s a grand tradition of science fiction to use aliens to comment on society, but Before We Vanish takes that literally, with the leads wandering around looking faintly bemused for most of the film. It’s witty –…

Good news, undiscerning Netflix refuseniks: THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX (Blu-ray/DVD, 4 February) is coming to physical media! It follows a space station crew who, after using a particle accelerator, are transported to an alternate dimension… We said: “Does finally make the Cloverfield movies feel like a proper franchise… But ultimately the movie’s clashing tones make for an ungainly hybrid that’s neither fish nor fowl.” Fans of Peter Jackson’s early films will appreciate Ozploitation flick BODY MELT (Blu-ray, out now). Part satire of ’80s consumerism, part gross-out body horror, it sees the residents of a suburban enclave become unwitting test subjects for a vitamin pill whose side-effects include elongated tongue, killer placenta and exploding penis! Originally conceived as an anthology, it’s rather too episodic, but its Grand Guignol brand of black comedy…

▶ RELEASED 7 FEBRUARY 320 pages | Hardback/ebook ▶ Author Karen Thompson Walker ▶ Publisher Scribner If there’s one thing we imagine most readers of this review can agree on, it’s this: you can never have too much sleep. Most days – not to mention nights – on average, don’t have nearly enough sleeping in them. For her second novel, Karen Thompson Walker assembles a cast of character types who are proverbially short of shuteye – college students, the parents of a newborn, a doctor – and plonks them in a scenario in which snoozing is scary. A small Californian town is gripped by a mysterious sickness that strands sufferers in an inescapably deep sleep. There’s no way to tell who might be about to go under: come the morning,…

Our latest pick of the paperbacks snuck under the radar last issue: Carmen Maria Machado’s HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES ( , out now, Serpent’s Tail) – currently being developed as an anthology show for FX – brings together eight short stories, three original to this collection. All written from a female perspective, they showcase her skill at balancing what’s said and unsaid. We said: “Above all, Machado’s work is visceral: tender, harrowing, and sensual, it crawls right under the skin of your imagination.” We also loved SA Chakraborty’s THE CITY OF BRASS ( , 7 February, HarperVoyager). Set in Cairo at the turn of the 19th century, it follows orphaned thief Nahri, who ends up legging it to a magical brass-walled city, with demons on her tail, after dabbling…

Remember that “Cat Person” piece that went viral? Author Kristen Roupenian has penned a short story collection, YOU KNOW YOU WANT THIS (7 February, Jonathan Cape); some of its dozen tales are fantastical, like the one about a girl whose birthday wish creates a monster… YA author Leigh Bardugo has returned to the world of her Grisha trilogy with KING OF SCARS (out now, Orion), the first half of a duology. Beauty And The Beast gets a contemporary retelling in Brigid Kemmerer’s A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY (out now, Bloomsbury), a YA romance between a cursed Prince and a girl who has cerebral palsy. And Mark Stay’s fantasy THE END OF MAGIC (7 February, Unbound) follows a royal mage, a truth seer and a mute “moonchild” as their world…

▶ RELEASED OUT NOW! ▶ Publisher Dark Horse Comics ▶ Writers Johnnie Christmas, William Gibson (story) ▶ Artist Tamra Bonvillain ISSUES 1-3 Alien³ has a fascinating backstory, with many ideas floating around before Fox settled on the unlikely choice of “gritty Yorkshire prison drama in space”. Notably, cyberpunk guru William Gibson took a stab at a script – here adapted into a five-issue comic. The Sulaco has almost arrived home when an interceptor from the UPP, a power bloc engaged in a cold war with Weyland-Yutani, boards the ship and retrieves samples of alien DNA. While Ripley, Hicks and Newt recover from their ordeal, the two factions begin a race to develop the Xenomorph as a weapon. The destination – aliens running amok in deep space – may be the…

HOW HAS YOUR CHARACTER, MEG, EVOLVED FROM THE “AVATARDS” BLAPS? I think in the series she’s a bit more inside her head. I think in the Blap Meg was very out there, with zero filter, which there is definitely still an element of, but I think she’s definitely more insecure in this series, because there’s more room for growth that way. ARE YOU A GAMER IN REAL LIFE? Yes, I had a near mental breakdown the other day when my Nintendo Switch just would not turn on. Uncharted is probably my favourite series of games ever, and my last obsession was The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. It’s two years ago now that I started playing it, and I have nearly 100 percented it, hence my mental breakdown…

Writing a novel while still a teen might seem a big deal. But for 19-year-old Helena Coggan, whose first book was published when she was just 15, and whose third, The Orphanage Of Gods, is out this February, it must all seem a bit old hat? “I hope that never happens,” she laughs. “It is very exciting, because I’ve worked on this for so long. Hopefully I will never get that jaded!” The Orphanage Of Gods is set in a world in which god-like beings existed, but have been virtually wiped out by humans. Orphans are imprisoned and monitored for signs of godhood. “And in a place where everyone wants to rat you out, where there is no love whatsoever, inexplicably three kids manage to build lasting family relationships with…

While most event books are bombastic, cataclysmic affairs, the invasion of Earth in Incursion is of a much subtler nature. Stemming from the Valiant Universe’s netherworld the Deadside, it finds Gilad the Eternal Warrior and Geomancer’s latest incarnation, teenager Tama, teaming up against the forces of Imperatrix Virago. “It’s not a frontal attack by any means, as it involves magic and a horde of undead soldiers called xenoghosts,” explains writer Alex Paknadel, who has plotted the four-parter with Andy Diggle for artist Doug Braithwaite. Created by Diggle, Imperatrix Virago is a powerful necromancer who travels from planet to planet absorbing all life energy. But she isn’t the only threat that Gilad and Tama will encounter. “As fearsome as Virago is, it’s the power behind the throne that readers really need…

SON OF A PREACHER MAN “Coming from the background that I have – I grew up with a Baptist minister for a father – the Christian fundamentalist aspect was easy. I’ve seen the extremes of all of that. I mean, I’ve got the Bible tattooed on my arm! So there was plenty of real-life experience to pull from when it came to getting into the backstory.” STILL LIFE “His stillness is the shell over this violent thing that’s inside him – it’s a cover for his past. For me, it was kinda like: an alcoholic who’s recovering can’t go have a sip or two… This new thing he’s taken on is a complete restoration of his body. This stillness is essentially a mask for what lies beneath, what was down…

MCM COMIC-CON Various Taking place around the UK, MCM Comic-Con is coming to Birmingham (23-24 March), London (24-26 May), Manchester (27-28 July), and Glasgow (28-29 September) in 2019. Woo! www.mcmcomiccon.com EASTERCON 19-22 April Touching down at the Park Inn Heathrow, with guests including Frances Hardinge, Sydney Padua and John Scalzi. www.ytterbium.org.uk SCI-FI-LONDON 15-22 May Celebrating its 19th year, the premier genre convention is returning to the Prince Charles Cinema and Stratford Picturehouse. We’re so ready. www.sci-fi-london.com CYMERA 7-9 June Edinburgh’s The Pleasance opens its doors to the best festival for sci-fi, fantasy and horror writing, with Gareth L Powell, Cassandra Khaw and Adrian Tchaikovsky confirmed. www.cymerafestival.co.uk WORLDCON 15-19 Aug You’ll have to wait until 2020 for Worldcon to arrive in Hobbiton’s New Zealand, but this year it’s a little closer…

JONAH’S ARC “We get to learn a lot about Jonah this season. We get to learn the whole reason he set up the Pride, the relationships with all of the parents. It’s about understanding where he came from, what he’s doing and why.” PARENTAL PRIDE “I don’t think those parents think that they’re villainous. They’re all just being parents and doing what they do. It’s not until Jonah comes back into their lives that everything kind of hits the wall and they go, ‘Wait a second, can all of those choices I’ve made have consequences?’” TIE BANQUET “Jonah’s ties were a bit of me to be honest. I love ties, I have a bit of a tie obsession. I like to inject my own point of view into the costumes…

Big director Penny Marshall dies aged 75. George “Sulu” Takei joins The Terror’s second season, set in a Japanese-American community in WWII, as both star and creative consultant. Aquaman passes $1 billion at the global box office, becoming the highest grossing DC Comics movie of all time. Naomi Watts, Jamie Campbell Bower and Naomi Ackie among cast for Game Of Thrones prequel series pilot. ET star Henry Thomas to play Dr Mid-Nite in DC Universe’s Stargirl show, while Luke Wilson will play Pat Dugan. Vikings star Travis Fimmel signs up to lead Ridley Scott’s space-set drama Raised By Wolves. Choose Your Own Adventure publisher Chooseco suing Netflix over interactive Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch. Captain Marvel co-writer Jac Shaeffer to head writing team on Marvel’s Vision And Scarlet Witch TV show.…

Ian Salsbury, Facebook “Resolution” was a solid episode and probably better than most of the festive specials. Its biggest problem was the pacing: the scene in the cafe with Ryan and his Dad killed it stone dead. The possession part was overlong, and I ended up disappointed that we never got to see a proper Dalek. Overall, enjoyable enough but forgettable. Steen Schapiro, Facebook This was basically an average episode of Torchwood – a small step up from most of series 11, which mostly felt like The Sarah Jane Adventures. The music and urban thriller aspects were great. But the plot, tone and logic were all over the place. Turning the internet off became a way to a crass joke. And Dalek armour with rocket launchers was created in five…

“IT WASN’T SO LONG AGO DRAGONS WERE A DEFINITIVE SYMBOL OF EVIL” I first came to love dragons from spite, which I believe we can all agree is on point. As a child, I was the oddball outcast, picked on, bullied. And those bullying girls loved nothing so much as frills, princesses and unicorns. So I gravitated towards the monster who kidnapped princesses and (by child logic, anyway) ate unicorns. (Don’t bother arguing with six-year-old me. She was firm in her convictions.) Dragons and I have been best friends ever since. These days, that’s true for most of us. Dragons have never been more popular, which is interesting when you consider it wasn’t so long ago dragons were a definitive symbol of evil. Through much of European history, Western dragons…

What intrigued you about The Umbrella Academy? It felt like nothing I’d seen before. Funny. Moving. And when it ended, I wanted to click on the next episode! It’s a little different to the X-Men franchise, right? I think in some level what’s interesting about these kids is they actually haven’t been treated like outcasts during their life. The relationship with their father was abusive… that is part of what these characters are dealing with as adults. And now Vanya’s childhood has affected her. She was the one that was treated like the outcast, the one that did not have the powers. Did you train much with a violin? It is so hard! I’ve obviously been taking lessons and doing my best. Goodness gracious do I have respect for people…

This isn’t like other TV stories. How was it pitched to you? They didn’t really need to pitch to me. I was such a fan of Black Mirror that I was there from the get-go. I really wanted to be involved so I auditioned blind, with no script. I had been offered the part when they told me it was interactive, because it was so secretive. Did you try to simulate what Stefan was going through – by going without sleep, for example? No, I think going “method” – quote unquote – on this would actually have driven any actor insane. I think it would be actually impossible, or at least very detrimental to your health. You weren’t born in the ’80s. Did you take a crash course in the…

Were you a fan of the show before being cast? No, I hadn’t seen it! I had about five weeks to get familiar, so I binge-watched all of it. I was super-excited when I got the part – it didn’t feel real until I got there and met everyone and was surrounded by all these characters I’d just been watching. Who is Magna to you? I’m still finding out… I’m very intrigued by her and scared of her – I would definitely not want to mess with her in real life. I think she’s a loner and has trouble functioning in relationships, especially in this world where you need them to survive but at the same time, anything that makes you vulnerable is scary to her. She’s not too keen…

What’s your character like? He’s like Han Solo. He’s smooth, he’s charming, he’s got a little bit of an edge to him. He’s selfish, when we meet him, but he has a good heart. He’s a getaway driver, and he likes life in the fast lane. But I wouldn’t say he’s the worst guy in terms of being a criminal. What’s his relationship with Kaye like? It’s really complicated! Basically, he falls in love with one of the sisters, and some stuff happens in between – for a long period of time. He ends up getting close to another sister, then getting back with the other sister. So when we start the show there’s a lot of tension between him and the two sisters, because there’s all these unspoken things…

“IT’S A FAIRLY SIMPLE CONCEIT, BUT IT LETS ME DO ALMOST ANYTHING I WANT” The simplest ideas can have huge potency. Ann Leckie’s The Raven Tower is set in “a secondary fantasy world that’s very much like ours” but one where there are multiple gods. “The way that they exercise their power is by speaking,” explains Leckie, “so a god when it speaks has to speak the truth. If what it says isn’t already true, its power will have to make it true.” But there’s a catch. “Different statements take different amounts of power to make true,” Leckie says, “so some statements are relatively simple, some statements are impossible, and a god can injure or kill itself by unwisely saying something that isn’t true at the moment. It’s a fairly…

1 FEBRUARY CRUCIBLE OF THE VAMPIRE We’ve reviewed the Blu-ray of this old-school gothic horror on page 97; it’s also getting a very limited theatrical release. 6 FEBRUARY ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL Robert Rodriguez directs this live-action take on the ’90s manga about an amnesiac cyborg rediscovering her past. 8 FEBRUARY THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART Bricksburg is invaded by Duplo in this sequel. At least it’s not the Sticklebricks – they’re vicious. 15 FEBRUARY HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U 2017’s Groundhog Day/slasher mash-up Happy Death Day saw a young woman reliving the birthday on which she’s murdered. Now she’s back in the loop! HARVIE AND THE MAGIC MUSEUM In this Czech-made CG animation, a young boy is sucked into some mysterious caverns after the Puppet Museum his dad works…

UK/US Netflix, streaming now ▶ Showrunner Steve Lightfoot ▶ Cast Jon Bernthal, Giorgia Whigham, Ben Barnes, Josh Stewart EPISODES 2.01-2.13 The Punisher’s first season was a miracle. It wasn’t flawless, but a perfectly cast Jon Bernthal carried the show through Netflix’s usual bloat (every Marvel season is at least three episodes too long – except Iron Fist, which is every episode too long) and the inherent problems of the source material. Sadly, in season two, the cracks are starting to show – and we’re not talking about Jigsaw’s face. Season one ended with Frank in a veteran support group, admitting that he’s scared to live as an ordinary citizen. He shouldn’t have worried; season two is barely minutes old before he’s dragged into a preposterous situation that’ll see him lose…

THE BLOB Made of liquid silicone dyed red with food colouring, the “star” of the 1958 movie was sent flowing down photos of the sets, attached to a bit of plywood. It was nearly titled The Glob, until they realised that was already a children’s book. THE THING In Stephen King’s 1982 story “The Raft” (later adapted in Creepshow 2), four students who swim out to a raft in a lake are attacked by a viscous black “thing” – with swirling colours on its surface that make victims trance out – which dissolves flesh on contact. Ew! THE STUFF A white goop found bubbling from the earth becomes a dessert sensation in Larry Cohen’s 1985 horror-comedy. Unfortunately it turns out to be a parasitic organism that takes over your brain,…

▶ RELEASED 4 FEBRUARY 2019 | 15 | Blu-ray & DVD (dual format)/download Complete with alluring vampiresses and a creepy country pile, there’s a pleasing touch of Hammer in this throwback horror, the tale of a museum curator discovering undead deeds in Shropshire. At times there’s a confusion of genres – rather than leaning into vampire lore, the movie feels altogether witchier, then ends as a slasher, but there are flashes of genuine style and it just about resists the lure of high camp. Extras None.…

▶ RELEASED 18 FEBRUARY 2018 | U | Blu-ray/DVD/download A bunch of Yeti atop a cloud-hidden mountain discover that the mythical “smallfoot” really does exist – aka humans. It’s a fun premise, the songs are charming (a rap from Common is the highlight) and the animation’s gorgeous. The problem is that the titular human is voiced by James Corden, who seemed to have left his voice-acting skills in the Uber outside. Still, all the bits without him in are great. Extras On DVD: Making Of. Blu-ray exclusives: sing-along “party mode”; two shorts; music videos; promos.…

▶ RELEASED OUT NOW! 2019 | 15 | Blu-ray/DVD ▶ Director Shinichiro Ueda ▶ Cast Takayuki Hamatsu, Mao, Harumi Shuhama, Kazuaki Nagaya The premise doesn’t sound promising: an ultra-low-budget zombie movie shot in one take. The results are, initially, predictably slapdash, as a small cast dash around a derelict water treatment works, pursued by the undead. The sheer breathlessness makes it fairly enjoyable, but it’s nowt special. But there’s much more to this cleverly constructed Japanese film. To spell it out would be to spoil some delightful surprises. Let’s just say that as it continues, it adds extra layers of characterisation and additional perspectives, providing chuckle-inducing explanations for longueurs, dialogue disasters and other baffling errors. What began as trad zombie carnage transforms into an ingenious and heartwarming paean to the…

▶ RELEASED 7 FEBRUARY 384 pages | Paperback/ebook/audiobook ▶ Author Arwen Elys Dayton ▶ Publisher HarperVoyager Through six linked short stories that leap progressively further into the future, debut author Arwen Elys Dayton crafts a body-modding spin on HG Wells’s The Shape Of Things To Come. Or perhaps Shapes would be more accurate, as humanity recreates itself – genetically and mechanically – in ever more bizarre forms. The tales centre on teenagers whose lives are affected by enforced alterations to their bodily forms. Some have medical issues; others are redesigned for certain environments. The book also touches on issues such as organ harvesting and religious objections to the modifications. But if you’re looking for a thought-provoking examination of the ethics of body modding, or even an eye-opening analysis of the…

▶ RELEASED 7 FEBRUARY 320 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook ▶ Author Gwenda Bond ▶ Publisher Century In another world, the first Stranger Things spin-off novel might have featured Eleven, Mike and the rest on some sub-Scooby-Doo adventure. Luckily, Suspicious Minds is much more than that – a pacey, creepy book that does what any good prequel should: enhance the story it precedes. Kicking off around the 1969 Moon landings, Gwenda Bond’s novel focuses on college student Terry Ives (Eleven’s mum) and her involvement in the MKUltra experiments led by Dr Martin Brenner, the dodgy scientist played by Matthew Modine on TV. Even with era-relevant references like Vietnam, Woodstock and The Lord Of The Rings in place of ’80s nostalgia, this is unmistakably Stranger Things – there’s a real sense of camaraderie among…

▶ RELEASED 7 FEBRUARY 224 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook ▶ Author Dale Bailey ▶ Publisher HarperVoyager History has an uncanny way of repeating itself. Charles and Erin move into the ominously named Hollow House – a dilapidated old pile in Yorkshire – to try and start a new life in the aftermath of the death of their daughter, Lissa. The ghosts of their past aren’t so easily exorcised, however. Something strange is living in the nearby woods, children from the local village are going missing and Charles becomes increasingly fixated on the disturbing novel penned by the house’s previous owner. In The Night Wood is a none-more-goth fairytale. While it initially feels like a standard-issue haunted house story, it takes on a richer, stranger folk horror tone as it weaves in…

▶ RELEASED OUT NOW! ▶ Publisher Vault Comics ▶ Writer Ram V ▶ Artist Sumit Kumar ISSUES 1-3 Set primarily in an 18th century India that’s been not only colonised by Britain but is also populated by various otherworldly creatures, These Savage Shores uses vampirism as a metaphor for exploring who is civilised and who is not. Opening with aristocratic bloodsucker Alain Pierrefont journeying to the Indian coastal town of Calicut, where he bites off more than he can chew after encountering enigmatic dancer Kori and her mysterious partner Bishan, the first issue concludes with a twist that masterfully wrong-foots the reader. Employing a sizeable cast that includes vampire hunter Zachariah Sturn and child monarch Prince Vikram, Ram V invests an impressive amount of detail into his alternate world-building, fusing…