Small group of survivors, all likeable— or at least believable— enough to root for.

Thrown into a desperate situation where you are genuinely worried about their survival.

Memorable kills and heartbreaking deaths.

And mix in some near-real-world horror about how a government would try and deal with a containment situation.

It’s all in this gem, held together by the endlessly talented and charismatic Timothy Olyphant.

Nothing to do with acid bleeding Alien lifeforms, but everything to do with corporate greed, expendable workforces and the agonising courage to take a stand.

Throw in the claustrophobic retro tech futurism of the mining colony setting and I cant help feeling we are seeing a story from a rival to Weyland/Yutani - one as equally nefarious.

The star power of Sean Connery really elevates, what feels like a low key indie movie, and his scene about his characters regret and wanting to see if there was more to him, shows what a compelling actor he truly was.

And if IMDB is to be believed, this film was director Peter Hyams’s ticket to his next sci-fi movie - the brilliant sequel to 2001: A space odyssey, 2010: The year we make contact.

So if Prometheus, Alien: Covenant and Alien: Romulus left you feeling that no-one truly understood what made the story and characters from the orginal Alien Trilogy so compelling, do yourself a favour and revisit this 1981 sci-fi classic!

There has to be another.

But, whenever I think about my favourite sci-fi film, the films I grew up with, the ones that turned me on to sci-fi in the first place, all fall away when I think of Denis Villeneuve’s masterpiece.

It’s like stepping into this alternate dimension that feels as real as the world around you now.

It plucks subtle notes about love, predjudice and purpose, while windmilling the stronger chords of humanity, greed and acceptance.

Ryan Gosling’s ‘K’ is as stoic and relatable as Rick Deckard, while emoting as much charisma as Roy Batty, as we cant help but root for his lost soul replicant character to find love and purpose.

Spectacular doesnt quite do the visuals and soundtrack justice and the way Villeneuve lets each scene and moment linger when it needs to, giving it time to unfold and breathe, should be a lesson to every storyteller. And the benchmark for every filmmaker.

Above all, it does what all great sequels do - adds to the original, follows it seamlessly, but stands on its own. A self-contained story, paying tribute to its predecessor.

In short, a movie that respects its audience.

My favourite sci-fi movie? Without a doubt.

Gritty, violent, unashamedly loyal to its source material and yet its a highly original story. Dredd is a fantastic example of storytelling that doesnt pander to fans, but excites them.

Its not for everyone. This is not a watered down, mass market, franchise grab (like the first big screen adaptation - 1995’s Judge Dredd) - its a brutal snapshot of a realistic, dystopian future, where fascism seems to be the only solution to violent crime.

I’m always split when someone makes an uncompromising film. On one hand, all I want to see are pure directorial visions. On the other, they rarely make enough money for a studio to make a sequel.

And amazingly its been 13 years since this came out and all we have are rumours.

It didnt rely on shocks or gore (although there is some of that), instead the premise is given time to creep up and sink in.

Essentially there’s three characters - played brilliantly by Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East and Hugh Grant - who are all strong enough to show us their different and distinct perspectives in this unsettling story.

And as great as they all are, Hugh Grant needs a mention at somehow playing a lovable version of himself who really, really…really turns into one of the most sinister antagonists of any film in recent years.

Physcological, theological and thoughtful horror at its best.

It’s dated in places, has a slightly uneven flow, and the concept is insane, BUT the imagery (particularly the discovery of the Giger-esque alien ship) and sheer ambition and gaul behind the storyline is worth 1 hour and 41 minutes of any sci-fi/horror fan’s time.

Floating alien spacecraft - check

Spaceship full of unsuspecting crew - check

Vampires - check

Imaginative practical effects - check

Silly gore - check

Patrick Stewart - check

What more do you want?

Michael Mann films always find a way of showing me parts of myself I've forgotten, often in one of his sprawling, nighttime vistas overlaid with a sonic soundscape - his films are never just 'what they are'. They transcend a genre.

Manhunter is the original movie adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel, Red Dragon and the first on screen incarnation of Dr Hannibal Lector (played brilliantly and differently to Anthony Hopkins, by Brian Cox). Its my favourite of all the onscreen adaptions (big and small screen), with its unique, surreal atmosphere, solid cast, and haunting imagery.

If you havent seen it, its a must watch.

Its what you cant see. Sounds that play tricks, and strangers you cant trust.

The Haunting is uncomfortable viewing. Unsettling in its presentation of the supernatural and the cursed Hill House that has seeemingly ruined the lives of anyone thats lived there.

Theres no ‘big’ set piece. No bombastic sfx. No scenes purely there for shocks or controversy. One of the most influential horror films films of all time, inspiring the likes of Steven Speilberg and Martin Scorcese, is very much the melodrama wrapped inside a very well crafted, slow burn horror.

And it stays with you even after multiple viewings.

But Alien Romulus...I cant think of a time I’ve had a more visceral reaction to a film. And I have to get it off my chest.

Fede Alvarez said he wanted people to either love or hate his movie, and regretfully (and I do mean regretfully), I absolutely hate it. But I dont think in the way he ‘hoped’.

This is not a reaction to a divisive film - this isnt Alien 3 - where storylines and decisions that were made were so brutal and powerful, they divided fans - even to this day.

What I dislike so much about Romulus is its mundanity. That to me - admittedly someone who would sit in the 0.01% of fandom for pickiness - this is the most beautiful looking bland film I’ve seen since Prometheus, with none of the ambition or originality.

I'll cut to the chase by listing my main issues now and also state in bold uppercase characters, SPOILERS AHEAD:

- The characters are well acted, but bland and unmemorable.

- The dialogue is largely borrowed from previous scripts with callbacks that are borderline unforgivable.

- The Facehuggers lose their terror and are reduced to little space crabs.

- The Aliens are woefully undercooked and lack the danger, menace and surreality we love them for - and are far, far, far too easily killed. And arguably, theyre not the biggest threat in it.

MY FIRST EYE ROLL

There’s a big piece of spaceship with the name ‘Nostromo’ written on it, conveniently in tact, floating about in the opening scene, in case we werent sure which wreckage we’re dealing with - inexplicably this is also repeated in a later exposition dump, again just to keep audiences up to speed.

My first issue with this is the fact there is even space debris to begin with - I thought it was pretty obvious the Nostromo was atomized in Alien - but I'm happy to concede this point as I have so many gripes and as previously mentioned I'm probably in the 0.01% of people this would annoy.

My first eye roll was at dialogue near the start of the movie, when Rain sees her planet's sun for the first time and tells us its how she imagined it, before looking wistfully in the distance and confirming, “in my dreams…”. Compare that to the establishing scene in Alien, where our crew mumble and garble inane conversation whilst they chow down on their breakfast. Grounding the far fetched concept by allowing us to relive similar conversations we've all probably had with co-workers...we know everything we need to about the Nostromo crew without them 'performing' for us.

Its a pity as this scene followed my favorite part of Romulus where Rain is told the target she had hit had been extended by the company and she has to stay on the colony for years longer than shed hoped - something anyone who has had ever had a job will recognise - frankly, I wish there was more of this subtle word building.

MY FIRST LOOK TO THE CEILING

My next gripe is a ‘biggy’. Andy, exceptionally played by David Johnston (widely considered the films stand out star with no disagreements here (although I think Isabelle Merced sells every scene shes in expertly too)), is given the uneviable task of delivering the movies two worst call back lines - this being the first.

As the syth of the outfit it seems the writers/director just couldnt resist to give him the “I prefer the term artificial human myself” line. Yes, word for word copied from Lance Henrikson’s Bishop in Aliens. I want to make a note and say that I wouldnt have minded even if it was a derivative version of this line, if it absolutely had to be in the film - “Can you say aritifical human please?”, “do you mind calling me an artifical human”, anything, but a word for word copy and paste from the iconic 1986 classic, does personal pride not dictate a better effort?

There are many other more subtle ‘call backs’ - Game over man, Busy little creatures etc etc, but I will put them in the super fan category and let them go, theres much worse to discuss.

TOO MUCH EXPLANATION, NOT ENOUGH MYSTERY

Looking back at the orginal Alien Trilogy, every time. EVERY TIME, we are presented with a facehugger, there is mortal danger. Theyre like a bullet thats already been fired. If they are homing in on you, it'll take two or three hardened space marines struggling to stop the inevitable. Like all the aliens, we dont know how they work, he dont know how theyre so efficient, we just know the chances are it'll be over, soon.

In this film, a group of scavangers, admittedly with help of a revamped synth, are able to simply walk slowly, quietly and keep their body temperature down in a room crawling with them (however, if you look carefully some of the facehuggers look like someone stuck a rubber model on top of a remote controlled car) - and it works. Simple as that. And that’s it, danger averted. Our iconic creature of horror are tamed.

STARTING TO SQUIRM

David Johnson quite rightly got a lot of plaudits due to his performance, switching from loveable, damaged and faulty to a slick, emotionless and calculating synth (and back again), he was excellent. But one of the problems I have near the films climax, is that Rain leaves the pregnant Kay, who is in pretty bad shape, to go back into the hive to save David who has turned back into his lovable self.

She leaves a pregnant woman, to go back and save a robot who, depending on which tiny dvd he has in his neck, will either be the ‘brother’ she grew up with or a company tool who endangers all of the group to get an alien.

And I know what you’re thinking. This was the emotional anchor-point. It was about their relationship. But wouldn’t the emotional pull, wouldn’t the human story of love and sacrifice shown throughout the original trilogy, have Rain sacrificing her ‘brother’ who has been a little ‘naughty’ throughout the film, to save Kay and her unborn baby. What would Ripley, Hicks, Parker, Dallas, Vasquez have done?

And while I remember, the alien hive, the place we were introduced to for the first time (canonically) in Aliens. The claustrophobic, fear for your life, watch your every move, so dangerous and terrifying a squad of highly trained marines barely survived, descent into hell, is treated in such a pedestrian manner, I’ve seen scarier train stations.

Theres just no sense of threat as the protaganists enter the alien hive. With so much talk of getting the series back to its horror roots, I cant help feeling this film proved that horror isnt the actual root of this franchise, its surrealism. Dallas, Kane and Lambert walking on LV-426 toward the derelict, is a journey to the centre of HR Giger's mind. Aliens continues this. The hive is disorientating, weird, oppressive. But in Romulus, this is forsaken for a shadowy tunnel with monsters hiding and ready to jump at you with a growl - its reduced to a trope.

EXPOSITION, EXPOSITION, EXPOSITION

Its something we cant seem to get away from in modern cinema at the moment, but this obsession to explain everything just so our smart phone, short form content, social media addled little minds can understand whats going on is just getting insulting.

In case we didnt pick up that the alien specimen came was the same Alien from the 1979 film, and just in case it wasnt made clear by the floating debris bearing the name, Nostromo, at the beginning of the film, the film's most controversial character, Rook, tells us all about it.

Im going to gloss over the distractingly poor SFX, the potential ethical considerations and plain shoe-horning of Rook, as this could be a whole new post, but uneccessary as it mightve been, this is not Romulus' gravest sin. It is however, another example of the reluctance to try something new in a now trope ridden IP.

...back to the exposition...

The best way to describe the original trilogy, or one of the ways to describe it, is 'an elevated sci-fi/horror experience for adults'. It never panders. It never patronises. You have to keep up (but the story telling is so good and skillful you never really have to), and it does all this whilst brimming with shadowy mystery.

And for a movie that wanted to get back to roots of the franchise, Romulus doesn’t follow this tradition. And it uses a CGI of Ian Holme’s likeness to give us an MCU worthy exposition dump to catch us all up, with what we already should’ve probably worked out. The alien from the ‘79 classic was found in the wreckage of the Nostromo (remember we knew that because we saw the big nameplate floating about) and it ran amok while they were trying to use it for various nefarious purposes etc etc.

It’s not even that there was exposition, it’s that...who cares? The alien and all that comes with it, as fascinating as it is, is possibly the least interesting thing about the franchise. It’s always been the blue collar workers getting shit on by a huge corporation for something that could wield them profit or power. It’s about a group of well rounded, believable, relatable characters in an impossible, horrifying situation and how they cope with it, how they try and survive. At its best, we watch it and imagine we were part of that small band or survivors, and how we would react. Hearing about Weyland Yutani’s grand plan, we already got it when Ash spoke about the creature with cold admiration.

And speaking of the sinister, calculating performance Ian Holme gave us, what a way to ruin it by giving us the second worst callback of the film - “I can’t lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathies.” Conveniently explained away by the very charming and likeable director, Fede Alvarez as just something that model says. This is when I looked around the cinema, thinking, “is it just me?”.

HEAD IN MY HANDS

Ok, so I’ll just cut to the chase here. After the most infamous callback from the film, everything really falls apart for me. Really falls apart. And the call back is painful. Unnecessary. And all the worse for knowing that originally there was no dialogue and the temptation to add it in was just too...tempting.

“Get away from her you bitch.”

I was already getting increasingly annoyed when Rain, who had never picked up a gun, was shown how to use a pulse rifle by Tyler who knew how to use one by reading magazines and gaming, and proceeded to mow down the hive of aliens - again, something a platoon of marines couldn’t quite manage. Where Aliens was full of danger and horror and people scrambling to survive, in Romulus it’s as easy as that.

Terrible.

But just when I thought the downward trajectory couldn’t get any steeper, we got ‘get away from...’ errr I can’t even bring myself to repeat it again.

Why couldn’t they just leave it? Alvarez seems quite proud of it. Citing getting a huge cheer in the showing he was sitting in as validation. Since when is a film a sport where the crowd needs to cheer? Again, what is the original trilogy without its long, eerie moments of silence?

From this point I was gone, and what I was starting to think, whilst watching this film, was sad.

IS IT OVER YET?

I was excited for this film. I’d heard the hype. How it was getting back to the roots. The practical effects. The alien. The retro tech. And by the way, this is a beautiful film and the retro tech vibe, is perfect. But I can’t help thinking that had they spent less time on that and more time creating memorable characters, writing original dialogue and not rehashing the same tropes, it would’ve been a much more meaningful film.

And I wouldnt have been thinking, hoping - whilst watching the film in what should’ve been the exciting climax - that this would be the last one they ever made. That this is another beautiful looking, boring, mess, where the good moments were far overshadowed by the usual trope filled drivel the prequels were guilty of. And even more of a concern, during Ripley v4’s (aka Rain) final showdown with yet another alien-not-the-actual-alien, in an airlock, with a countdown, I found myself wishing she would just press a button and crash the whole thing and leave us with no survivors. And thats something I didn’t even think watching Covenant, at least I was semi bothered about the character's fates in that one. Think about that.

THE FUTURE

But I wont get my wish, for the studio to just leave us to enjoy three great films. No, somehow Romulus appealed to the masses in such a way we’re getting a sequel and even worse, there’s even talk of another AvP.

It’s too bad the franchise that showed us how corporate greed eats the soul out of everything for money, has fallen victim to that very horror.

Like I said when I started, I dont like to be negative but ahhhh...that feels better.

There’s plenty wrong with the follow up to the 1987 Schwarzenegger classic.

The acting can be a little over the top at times.

The Predator ‘talks’ a little much for my liking.

A few plot holes here and there (how did no one in LA notice the ship land in a sewer?)

And I personally don’t like the Alien Easter egg.

But this sequel is still criminally underrated.

Danny Glover does a superb job filling the huge gap of Schwarzenegger. Gary Busey steals every scene he’s in, completely selling the charming/shady role of the ‘CIA guy’. Some of the set pieces are incredibly original and fresh, when it would’ve been easier to try and hash out a remake of the first one. And there are just enough musical call backs to really link the two films, so they really feel part of the same universe.

It also passes my personal sequel test - something faithful to the original but good enough to be its own self contained story without the need to have watched any other entry in the franchise.

Too bad we had to wait nearly thirty years until the excellent ‘Prey’ to get another worthy entry in the franchise.

When this publication started it was mainly a place for my sci-fi and horror flash fiction stories, but like many people I fell into the trap of seeing my writing as ‘content’. Something to produce consistently. And writing stories just isn’t that.

Over time I introduced longer form articles that covered characters, scenes and films of sci-fi and horror and mini reviews of the films, tv shows, books etc I would recommend to all of you, as fans of the genres. This will not change. In fact, this is exactly what this publication will focus on, two categories - DISCUSSION and RECOMMENDED.

And instead of all the flash fiction sitting on the website (Tearsinrain.uk), waiting to be scanned, read and used by the many AI bots that are destroying the internet, I’ve taken it off the site and put it into a book - Beyond Shadows.

As ever, the best way to support anyone or anything is to tell just one person about it - and that’s my ask for this book. Think of that one person who might enjoy a collection of sci-fi and horror flash fiction, written by a fellow fan of the genre and send the link on.

I’ll be working on a way to give all subscribers (you) a free ebook version, which will be available to all new subscribers soon.

I’ll leave it there and a new post will be coming soon.

To be clear, Terminator 2: Judgement Day is fantastic and quite frankly the movie franchise should've ended there, but I still don't think it captures the intense, frightening and emotional heart of the first installment.

It's a great follow-up and definitely more of an action film, compared to the sci-fi, techno-slasher first film, but it lacks the impact of the first for two reasons:

1. In the first film, we get to understand the devasting impact of the war from the perspective of a resistance soldier, Kyle Resse (a character no-one but Michael Biehn could've played). We understand the struggle and fear humanity faces in the future through him, and I love how the future to come is told in the film, essentially in three parts - while they're being chased, while they're hiding and whilst he's being interviewed by Soberman. It's a great way to handle exposition.

2. The Terminator is essentially a really unusual, but powerful love story of a soldier who is willing to experience the horror of what is to come to protect someone he loves (Sarah) for someone he loves (John), and that aspect of the story really grounds a high concept film, making it (somehow) relatable.

I also think the intensity is unmatched in the first film as Arnie can kind of go toe to toe with the T-1000, whereas Reese and Connor have no choice but to run, and run fast.

Ultimately, there are two great films to enjoy, but I think the first often goes overlooked compared to the more successful and arguably better-known sequel.

Now, it's nowhere near as good as any of those films individually, but for what looks to be a low budget horror with a relatively unknown cast, there's loads to appreciate about this film.

Like all great horror, this isn't really about the concept of a day/events repeating themself, this is about abuse, guilt and a descent into madness and it's cleverly done - if not a little dragged out and long.

There is still enough to keep you watching and unlike a lot of films based on an inventive concept, it is worth sticking with this to the end.

I've seen some reviews that find the two leads unlikable, and while I don't particularly agree...it's kind of the point with one of them.

Overall, if you're looking for something a little different, free of the predictable jump scares, SFX, and over the top gore - this is a good one to at least try and judge for yourself.

I liked this way more than I was expecting to.

There's no way dial-up with this fast and reliable BUT considering it was probably the first time internet chat was used as a horror setting (happy to be contradicted!)- it really works.

A really obscure film, the acting isn't too bad at all from a small unknown cast and the building sense of dread is really effective.

If you can find it (I think it's still on Prime) and you're a fan of found footage horror, it's worth a watch.

Admittedly I'm late to this, but it might be the best sci-fi novel I've read for a few years.

Hard sc-fi about first contact, transhumans, religion, identity, AI...it even has a vampire!

Peter Watts doesn't dumb down, it's an elevated experience that sometimes takes a little effort to keep up.

Which I found to be the perfect antidote to some of the latest Hollywood offerings in recent years, that seem to value exposition and expensive CGI over creative and believable storytelling.

A brilliant novel!

From cocky and borderline unlikable at the start of the movie to brave, heroic and dependable at the end, Vasquez's mind shift does a complete 180 in James Cameron's Aliens.

Like the rest of the marines, we are introduced to a complacent grandstander, full of bluster, who assumes they can handle whatever they're walking into simply because they have the weapons and tech to do so.

But once the marines are attacked in the hive, Vasquez quickly ditches the cockiness and realises she needs to be at her best, even falling in behind her commanding officer Hicks (remember, she wanted to kill Gorman even when he was unconscious) and showing us that underneath it all, she'd die to save others, fight to the last and help those when they desperately needed her (think Ripley and Newt being attacked by the facehuggers).

I love how the character develops throughout the film. Jeanette Goldstein gives Vasquez a three-dimensional persona, warts and all, making her feel more than just a supporting cast member but a real person, in a very convincing ensemble.

You could be forgiven for dismissing Lambert as the 'scared one', after all, Ridley Scott told Veronica Cartright that her character 'was the audience'.

The next overriding memory is usually - how exactly did she die??

But Lambert is the ultimate Cassandric - the person you should listen to but never do!

Here are Lambert's warnings:

1. Her reservations started with being picked as one of the search party - she knew nothing good was going to happen.

2. Telling both Kane and Dallas (several times) it was time to 'get the hell out of here' while they were searching for the source of the signal and whilst in the derelict - that was an important one!

3. Asking whether Brett was alive when everyone presumed he was dead - a bit of a reach I know as he's only kind of alive/turning into an egg in the directors cut, but still no one else considered it!

4. First suggesting they abandon ship and take their chances on the shuttle - completely dismissed at first, until it wasn't!

5. Although not a warning, she's the one who knows how to kill Ash once and for all!

I cant help thinking that if anyone else had offered the same viewpoints and perspectives, the crew of The Nostromo may have escaped the nightmare of the Alien (or avoided it altogether). And that perhaps she was dismissed or ignored due to the fact she spent a lot of the film in a blind panic or completely frozen with fear.

Maybe the bottom line is this, its not what you say, but how you say it.

Really enjoyed this. Very original and realistic take on the vampire story.

The dialogue can be a little 'heavy' at times, but well worth watching! And some of the casting brings together actors who would later star in The Sopranos!

The Black and White style really brings something to the atmosphere of this film and of course, Christopher Walker doing his crazy dance turn is always fun!

Famously made on a $7000 budget, this is a film that relies completely on dialogue and story...and it's an important lesson that great sci-fi does not necessarily need eye-watering budgets!

(In fact, I'd argue some of the best are limited by their budgetary constraints!)

Primer takes one of the most fantastical elements of sci-fi - time travel - and grounds it in an everyday, almost documentary-like realism.

The story - and its subsequent implications - are complicated (and will probably take a few watches to fully appreciate, at least for me!) and the dialogue is realistic, intelligent and in no way 'dumbed down' for the audience.

This is a world that takes a little effort to enter, rather than something more accessible and watered down - which makes it all the more worthwhile!

A must-watch!

A good test of a great ensemble for me is this:

1. despite the situation they're in, would I like to be part of it?

2. sitting imagining what I would do and say to help

It's one of the reasons I love Aliens and Dog Soldiers is another example of a rag-tag bunch of survivors that you can't help but love and root for - despite the odds against them.

The dialogue between the cast is believable and at no point does it feel as if they're trying to sell the fact they're comrades (like so many films since). It's a natural chemistry that shows you these guys are a team that would fight and die for each other.

And that's part of the charm of this film - the concept is...silly...a British team of soldiers fighting Werewolves in the Scottish Highlands, but you're able to suspend your disbelief, due to the gritty interactions between the characters.

It's gory, funny, dark and entertaining and how I wish we got the sequel that was promised at the time.