Thursday, October 20, 2016

Thursday Movie Picks: Science Fiction Horror


We made it to another Thursday, and with it, another Thursday Movie Picks. This week our host, Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves, has chosen the topic of science fiction horror. Let's keep it real. Isn't all science fiction at least a little bit horrifying? Think about Star Trek for a moment. Perhaps the most famous piece of equipment on the show, and in the movies, is the transporter. It comes into play every time someone says "Beam me up, Scotty." Think about what we're told it does. It "dematerializes" you, or transforms your entire being into an "energy pattern" then beams it to a target destination where you are reconfigured. When something goes wrong with the transporter, well, it's far more likely than not no one will ever see you again. I barely trust my cell phone to transmit my voice from one place to another. You think I'd be willing to get in that thing? No thanks, I'll pass. What if you couldn't help it, but found yourself dealing with some terrifying new technology, or something created by technology, or something from another planet. That's what happens in science fiction horror. For instance...


Silent Rage
(1982)
In the fine tradition of many a horror flick, we open with a guy who has gone full-blown psycho and murders his family. After he's been handcuffed and thrown into the back of a squad car, he literally breaks the cuffs and manages to get a gun off one of the cops. Other cops then fill him full of lead. Our nutjob shows up to the hospital near death. A not too ethical doctor decides that not only should he save this dude's life, but he uses the formula he's been working on to do so. Basically, it's the equivalent of Captain America's Super Soldier Serum. Needless to say, the dude gets up feeling all spry and homicidal, and sets out to do some more murderizing. In a movie like this, we normally get one hard-working cop trying desperately to crack the case and stop the killer. We get that here, as well. The difference between this and other movies is that our cop is Chuck Norris. Yay! Roundhouse kicks for everybody!


C. H. U. D.
(1984)
Growing up in New York in the 70s and 80s, I saw lots and lots of homeless people. Apparently, some of them took up residence in the city's sewer system. What if being down there started to, you know, affect them. In C. H. U. D., short for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller...okay, pause. I was going to make that a complete sentence, but every time I think about or type the full meaning of that acronym and I have to smile at the ridiculousness of it all, so that's what I'm doing now. Okay, we can continue. Anyhoo, these, um, CHUDs, are people who have been mutated by chemical and toxic waste. And they're hungry. Yes, this one is sheer 80s delight, an unabashed allegory, and so bad it's awesome! If you decide to take the plunge, be on the lookout for an early appearance by John Goodman.


The Stuff
(1985)
One day, some dudes find some alien...um...stuff...bubbling up out of the ground. When they find its sweet and has zero calories. Of course, it hits the market under the name of...The Stuff...and does serious damage to the ice cream industry. I mean, threatening the existence of ice cream is terrifying enough, but this slice of B-movie madness takes things a step, or twelve further. The Stuff turns out to be living, parasitic, and taking over the brains of the people who eat it...and eating those people from the inside out. Nice. By the end of the movie, the...stuff...is everywhere and we get lots of similarities to The Blob. It's another one of those movies that so bad it's awesome! The added bonus is that it has a downright spectacular cast in a movie they'd probably like to forget being in. It includes Michael Moriarty, Paul Sorvino, Danny Aiello, and Garrett Morris. It also has both Patrick Dempsey and Mira Sorvino in uncredited early roles.



14 comments:

  1. I haven't seen any of these films but I heard C.H.U.D. is an underrated film.

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  2. I can't tell if I've seen C.H.U.D and don't remember much from it, or if I've just seen that photo you used before. It's escaping me at the moment. lol

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  3. Well that's an odd lot, Dell!

    I haven't and never will see Silent Rage, I just can't with Chuck Norris-what a detestable man-but those miracle elixir movies can be fun. I vaguely remember when The Stuff came out-during the heyday of these sort of cheestastic low budget horror films and the poster of people being pulled at by glop told me all I needed to know about it despite that cast.

    I have seen C.H.U.D. heaven help me! I was pulled in by John Heard in the cast, he was a pretty big name at the time so I thought well this should be better than the artwork makes it look. Unfortunately that was, at least for me, the wrong impression. Yuck.

    These last couple of weeks have been challenging for me. Not being a horror fan I really had to poke around for three and this week especially so. I watched both my first (not great but not bad) and my last (SO bad!) picks precisely for this theme so limited is my viewing of this particular genre.

    Hollow Man (2000)-Scientist Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon) and his team (including Elisabeth Shue and Josh Brolin) invent a serum that produces invisibility. They test it on Caine and he vanishes but something goes wrong and they can’t rematerialize him. As the team struggles to reverse the process Caine’s grip on reality begins to slip away.

    The Fly (1986)-Scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) invents a teleportation device, then decides to test it on himself. What he doesn’t realize is a housefly is in the device during the process, causing a comingling of man and insect. As the fly's cells begin to take over his body and he becomes increasingly fly-like his girlfriend (Geena Davis) must stand by helpless in horrified disbelief as he deteriorates into a monster. What separates this from the norm is the perfect casting of Jeff Goldblum in the lead, his gawky angularity suggesting a fly-like physique even before he begins to transform. He and Geena Davis share a great chemistry, no surprise they were briefly married after this film. Directed by David Cronenberg.

    Monster A Go-Go (1965)-Astronaut Frank Douglas (Henry Hite) and his rocket disappear on their way back to earth and the next thing you know there’s a series of murders happening where the victim’s blood is turned to powder. Could they be related and who is the enormous rotting man roaming the countryside while people toil and look at papers in what appears to be a high school science lab? Nonsensical story atrociously acted with production values not even worthy of a grade school project, see if you can keep count of how many times the camera wobbles, it happens in almost every scene. One of the worst movies ever made this is inept in EVERY way, the best thing about it is its title.

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    1. Just be careful how you speak of Chuck Norris. After all, when the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

      I've seen two of your three picks this week, so I'm feeling kinda proud of myself. I wasn't that big a fan of Hollow Man, but I don't remember a ton of details other than the visuals from the first time he goes invisible. The Fly is excellent, better than the original, in my opinion. Glad to see you show it some love.

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  4. OMG "The Stuff" in that picture looks like an awesomely bad combo of the face-hugger from Alien and The Blob and now I kinda want to see it.

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    1. Never even thought about Alien, but you're right! Hope you do get to watch it.

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  5. Haha. Some of these films sound like a right laugh. Hopefully, I find somewhere to check them out.

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  6. I remember CHUD and will never see it...... these picks are so unique and perfect. The white slimed stuff reminds me of The Blob. Maybe one day I will see this Chuck Norris flick.

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    1. Thanks. Chuck Norris says you should definitely see the Chuck Norris flick.

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  7. I haven't seen any of these, but I'll definitely watch the one with Chuck Norris.

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