Cinefantastique Podcast Discussion: BBC’s “Jekyll”
I have been invited back as a guest for the Cinefantastique Podcast that will be recorded this Sunday and uploaded for listening at some point next week. The focus for our discussion is the interesting BBC television program Jekyll from 2007. As will inferred from the title of the program, it takes its inspiration from […]
Matthew R. Bradley: Richard Matheson on Screen
Richard Matheson is one of the most influential writers of horror, science fiction, and fantasy in our time. Many of his works have been translated to the silver and small screens, and Matthew R. Bradley describes this process in his great book Richard Matheson on Screen: A History of the Filmed Works (McFarland, 2010). Bradley […]
PBS Pioneers of Television: Science Fiction, Airs January 18
PBS is beginning the second season of Pioneers of Television with four episodes. The first will look at science fiction, including Lost in Space, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, and those who helped create them and make them pioneering. It’s no wonder that Gene Rodenberry, creator of “Star Trek,” turned to science fiction when he […]
Joseph Laycock: The Omega Man and Sociophobics of Cults
Joseph Laycock, an up and coming scholar of religion and popular culture, has an article in the International Journal for the Study of New Religions Volume 1, No. 2 (2010), titled “Conversion by Infection: The Sociophobic of Cults in the Omega Man.” The abstract: The Omega Man (1971), starring Charlton Heston, is a film adaptation […]
Black Death: Promising Medieval Horror
Recently I interviewed Peg Aloi who shared her thoughts on how the film Season of the Witch might depict the witch and how this characterization might relate to witches and Wiccans in the real world. Since our discussion this film has debuted in theaters, and many reviews have not been positive. By contrast, there has […]
Paul Meehan: Close Encounters and Remote Viewing
I am pleased to present another guest essay by Paul Meehan, author of Saucer Movies: A UFOlogical History of the Cinema (The Scarecrow Press, 1998), Tech-Noir: The Fusion of Science Fiction and Film Noir (2008), Cinema of the Psychic Realm: A Critical Survey (McFarland, 2009), and most recently, Horror Noir: Where Cinema’s Dark Sisters Meet […]
Zombies as Angelic Dark Side
Lately I have been doing a lot of reflection and research on the zombie in popular culture, and how it connects to both postmodern concepts of the body and the sacred. Among the materials I recently came across in this regard that has helped develop my thinking is the work of Gary Laderman, a scholar […]
News of the Fantastic – January 8, 2011
Below are several news items related to the fantastic from the last couple of weeks. Those interested in reading these items as they come available can also find them posted daily on my Twitter account and Facebook page. 2011 will be a busy year for geeks on TV MSN includes a piece that looks at […]
Starfleet: Enterprise Captain Loses Command Over “Raunchy” Videos
STARBASE 12 (Starfleet News) – The Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, James T. Kirk, has been relieved of duty as commander of the ship as a result of his part in the production of “raunchy” videos presented to the crew as entertainment and alleged educational tools. The videos were originally produced and shown to the […]
BBC Four Documentary: A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss
Through a post at Zombos Closet of Horror I became aware of a great documentary on horror films produced and aired in the UK. It is titled A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss. Gatiss is an actor, screenwriter, and novelist who has been involved a number of comedy and genre projects. Some of his […]
