Cypher (2002)

Vincenzo Natali's second feature (after 1997's CUBE) gets a digital release from Signature Entertainment.

Morgan Sullivan (Jeremy Northam) gets a job working as a corporate spy for DigiCorp. He is assigned a new name and identity & is instructed to record all the talks at the conferences he is sent to attend so they can be sent back to the company. During one such set of meetings he meets Rita (Lucy Liu) in a hotel bar. Later she waylays him and gives him medication that allows him to see 'the truth', that the conference talks themselves are a cover for yet more brainwashing.

Morgan ends up at a rival company who recruit him as a double agent to spy on DigiCorp but the real prize apparently lies in 'The Vault' - a vast underground repository of information into which he is sent with a special coded disc. But who can he actually trust, and is he even actually Morgan Sullivan?

Set in the same kind of late 1990s / early 2000s SF - type world as films like Andrew Niccol's GATTACA (albeit with a somewhat lower budget), Vincenzo Natali's CYPHER offers a Philip K Dick-inspired plot where no-one, least of all the central character, knows exactly what's going on and how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together until the climax.

It's all entertaining stuff, with a tactility to its technology (discs frequently being slipped into sleek CD readers, physical documents being passed in secret) that would be lacking from anything made today. Northam, best known at the time for period dramas, makes for an engaging hero and David Hewlett from CUBE pops up in a supporting role. Here's the trailer:

Vincenzo Natali's CYPHER is on digital release from Signature Entertainment now

Screamboat (2025)

If you have a penchant for violent kills and severed penis gags, plus a working knowledge of Disney films, then SCREAMBOAT, which is getting a UK cinema release from Signature, might just be the film for you.

We're on a Staten Island ferry, one called Mortimer (ah!) which used to be a steamboat (aha!). Deep in the bowels of the engine room one of the workers prises a metal plate off a small compartment and in doing so releases a three foot tall homicidal mouse. 

Meanwhile a bunch of disparate individuals are gathering to make the night crossing. These include a hen party wearing presumably non-actionable approximations of Disney princess outfits with approximate non-actionable names to match (Cindy, Jazzy, Bella, etc), an EMT (co-producer and casting director Amy Schumacher - perhaps someone failed to turn up, although she's fine in the role) and a couple of police officers.

Off they go! With minimal crew and fog rolling in that's going to make the 25 minute crossing last a lot longer, giving our Mickey-inspired friend plenty of opportunities for mayhem and the script plenty of opportunities to make (again presumably) shoehorned in questionable taste non-actionable references to Disney songs. A typical example would be a topless girl asking her boyfriend 'Can you feel the love tonight' before she gets on her knees and before the inevitable severed penis gag that follows.

SCREAMBOAT stars David Howard Thornton as the killer mouse whose backstory is explained through some amusing animation that will tickle you most if you're familiar with early 1930s black and while animated shorts. Thornton is most famous for playing Art the Clown in the TERRIFIER series of films and this seems to have been made to cater to the same kind of audience. At over 100 minutes it's too long and  the pacing lacks the dynamism to make this work as well as it might. It also gives you time to wonder what the behind the scenes story of this one is, and how they managed to get away with so much Disney stuff in a decidedly non-Disney film. Did most of the budget go on lawyers? Was the script written by a disgruntled ex-employee of the Staten Ferry line? If you do go to see it, watch out for a number of sight gags (the posters on the ferry, for example) that suggest SCREAMBOAT is trying its very best to be an entertaining cult film, but the execution could have been a bit better. Let's have a trailer:

SCREAMBOAT is out in Vue Cinemas from Signature Releasing in the UK on 2nd April 2025

Virus Detected (2025)

"Rough Around the Edges but Refreshingly Funny in Parts"

There's been quite a surge in ultra low-budget horror film-making in the UK in the last couple of years. The best and most appealing of these make up for their lack of money, resources and (sometimes) talent with buckets of enthusiasm and energy meaning that, while it would be easy to point out their shortcomings, a much better time will be had if the viewer goes with the flow and enters into the spirit of these frequently ambitious endeavours.

One of the newest of these home-grown horrors is VIRUS DETECTED, an anthology picture with a theme of technology either in revolt, gone mad, or behaving just plain bizarrely. The brief 75 minute running time is host to six short stories plus a framework set during a radio station's all night broadcast. It should therefore come as no surprise that none of the stories wastes any time in getting to the point.

We start with Virtual Insanity, with its entertaining Russian Doll-like structure of VR games being played within VR games and the three people involved. It's light and breezy and plays as a good comedy sketch with a decent payoff. Things gets more serious with The Little Ones, in which a girl's mobile phone starts playing a video of its own accord that shows what actually happened to her recently lost lover.

The Toy gives us a talking AI vibrator and a couple eager to get to grips with it as the device itself struggles to understand what it is and its place in the world. It's daft, its inventive and at times it's really quite funny. Diehard fans of BritHorror may well be reminded of the work of the late, great Norman J Warren in the scene in which the vibrator flies across the room in much the same way a sword did at the climax of 1978's TERROR, plus the film's general cheery attitude to the limitations of its own resources gives it a similar feel to Norman's 1986 GUNPOWDER.

LoveToast has a toaster fall in love with its owner and then encourage him to exact a terrible revenge on the toaster's previous owner. Was this intended as a crispy crunchy bread-based homage to James Glickenhaus' 1980 THE EXTERMINATOR? That certainly seems to be the vibe, anyway. Next is Bad Penny and back to straight horror, where a woman's Alexa-style device starts talking of its own accord after lights out. Like the rest of the film the execution here is rough and ready but the idea is sound and the payoff satisfying.

Finally, and after the conclusion of the framework, we get Mic Drop. This is an idea that could have been stretched into a 45 minute episode of an anthology SF TV show but instead it's neat, concise, and the storytelling is just ahead of the viewer all the way, providing a highly satisfying punchline for the entire movie to go out on.

 VIRUS DETECTED is currently playing the UK Festival Circuit

 

Wonderland: Science Fiction in the Atomic Age (2025)

Odyssey television's new documentary on the history of science fiction will be screening on the Sky Arts channel beginning at 8pm on Thursday 3rd April 2025. A quick look at the credits suggests that behind the scenes is a bit of a one man band affair, that man being Adrian Munsey who writes, produces, directs, composes much of the music and provides a lot of the narration. That's no bad thing, though, as a singular view is often more interesting than something put together by committee. The documentary is presented in four 48 minutes episodes, the content of which is as follows:

Episode One: Mary Shelley to Isaac Asimov

Jules Verne

Readings from the work of Mary Shelley, Arthur C Clarke, Jules Verne,. E M Forster, H G Wells, Nevil Shute, E M Forster and Isaac Asimov amongst others pepper this distinctly apocalypse-orientated first episode, the idea being that SF has always been first in predicting apocalyptic events as well as having helped suggest ways around it. Film clips include PLANET OF THE APES (1967), DR STRANGELOVE (1964), FAIL SAFE (1964), THE WAR GAME (1965) and THREADS (1984). As you might expect, this is quite the downbeat affair and you may want something a bit cheerier lined up for after. Those interviewed include John Clute, Brian Sibley, Adam Roberts and Dinah Birch who all provide erudite academic opinions on the subject. Munsey's narration is clear and listenable and perhaps the best compliment the show can be given is its broad appeal to both old warhorses of SF and those who know very little about it. Recommended.

Episode Two: Arthur C Clarke to Ray Bradbury

The loose theme for episode two is how SF viewed pioneering developments in technology, looking at work by Arthur C Clarke, Issac Asimov, J G Ballard, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Stanislaw Lem and Ray Bradbury. Film and TV is represented by Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and Star Trek, and we also get Farah Mendlesohn talking about Robert Heinlein, as well as the interviewees from episode one offering their thoughts.

Episode Three: Margaret Atwood to Ted Chiang

Ursula K LeGuin

The main theme of episode three is the rise and development of diversity in SF writing. Authors who get their works quoted include Ursula K LeGuin, Margaret Atwood, Joanna Russ, Octavia Butler, Samuel R Delaney, Liu Cixin, Nnedi Okorafor, Tade Thompson and Ted Chiang. A brief summary of cinematic SF up to the mid 1950s is squeezed in at the end. 

Episode Four: Quatermass to Christopher Nolan

J G Ballard

The final episode dots around, beginning with Quatermass and the work of John Wyndham before moving onto Dr Who, 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY, STAR WARS, Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and AI: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, William Gibson's Neuromancer, Philip K Dick and BLADE RUNNER, William S Burroughs, THE MATRIX, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Christopher Nolan (less than a minute despite his name being in the title), THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW and Kim Stanley Robinson.

Octavia Butler

The series as a whole is a decent enough watch, with the attempt to have clear themes and commentary best achieved in the first three episodes, whereas the final one is a bit of a free for all. It's well put together, however, and never dull, and as mentioned above both seasoned fans and those new to the genre will find it accessible and with plenty to keep them engrossed.

WONDERLAND: SCIENCE FICTION IN THE ATOMIC AGE is a weekly four part documentary series on Sky Arts beginning at 8pm on Thursday 3rd April 2025 

Mabuse Lives! Dr Mabuse at CCC (1960 - 1964)

"An Essential Set"

Following on from their previous excellent Blu-ray releases of Fritz Lang's Dr Mabuse trilogy - DR MABUSE THE GAMBLER (1922), THE TESTAMENT OF DR MABUSE (1933) and THE THOUSAND EYES OF DR MABUSE (1960), Eureka are now bringing out a welcome set of all six films made by producer Artur Brauner's Central Cinema Company (better known as CCC) featuring Fritz Lang's master criminal. All the films are 1080p presentations from 2K restorations of the original film elements, and come with plenty of extras. So let's take a closer look at everything we get:

The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse (1960)

I previously reviewed Eureka's release of this here. The disc included in the box set is essentially the same with the same extras. However you do get a newly recorded 12 minute introduction from Tim Lucas that sets the scene nicely for the series of films you're about to watch and concisely explains the relationship between Artur Brauner and Fritz Lang. If you already own Eureka's previous disc think of this as a nice bonus addition.

The Return of Dr Mabuse (1961)

This hugely entertaining follow up to THE THOUSAND EYES OF DR MABUSE sees us with a different director in Harald Reinl (Lang and Brauner having fallen out on the previous film) and the return of Gert Fröbe, this time as Inspector Lohmann, the character previously played by Otto Wernicke in both The Testament of Dr Mabuse (1933) and M (1931).

The plot involves the creation of a private army using prisoners injected with a will-destroying drug, and there's an impressive climax that involves an attack on a power station. In the Edgar Wallace krimis (and in the Italian giallos that followed) the question usually being asked was 'Who is the murderer?' In Mabuse pictures the question tends to be 'Who is Mabuse?', and there are plenty of suspects to keep you guessing. It's all fast-paced deliriously entertaining stuff that's at least as much fun as its precursor.

Extras include another excellent nine minute introduction from Tim Lucas who sets the scene very helpfully production-wise, and a very enthusiastic commentary from David Kalat that's very listenable, although I can't say I agree with his high praise of the first two JURASSIC PARK sequels. There's also an English language dub if you don't fancy subtitles. 

The Invisible Dr Mabuse (1962)

Returning director Harald Reinl engineers a splendid climax in this tale of the hunt for an invisibility device, involving an invisible army attacking an airport, a man guillotining himself, and Mabuse's face melting off. Reinl's wife Karin Dor stars as a Grand Guignol actress mixed up in events (and performing regularly at the Metropol theatre which also appears in Lamberto Bava's 1985 DEMONS) and Lex Barker is back as FBI agent Joe Como. 

        Tim Lucas provides another excellent introduction (just over six minutes this time), David Kalat's on hand with another very good commentary, there's an English dub track for those who need it, and the final extra here is a 16 minute interview with Artur Brauner's daughter Alice who discusses her father's career in relation to the Mabuse films (she even mentions Jess Franco, who made the final Brauner-produced one) and her plans for the future of the Mabuse character.

The Testament of Dr Mabuse (1962)

As much a sequel to the 1933 film as a remake of it, the fourth CCC Mabuse film takes the idea of Mabuse (Wolfgang Preiss again in the role he was revealed to be playing in THE THOUSAND EYES OF DR MABUSE and featuring - albeit briefly - in every subsequent film so far) being in an asylum where he is collating all his ideas for super crimes into a large handwritten manuscript that will form his testament. Professor Pohland (Walter Rilla) is the head of the institution and, unknown to his 'non-criminal side' is becoming heavily influenced by Mabuse, who, as in the 1933 version, dies during the film, his spirit possessing Pohland. This is very much a background to a series of action-packed and entertaining 'caper' robberies that culminate in a bank vault job. In keeping with many fourth films in a franchise, everyone knows what they're doing here and the result is slick and slightly crazy entertainment.

Extras include an eight minute Tim Lucas introduction, a David Kalat commentary and an English language dub. There's also a very good 30 minute visual essay in which David Cairns discusses the three Lang Mabuse pictures in relation to the themes of surveillance and destiny that also run through some of Lang's other movies. It's also a good primer for the entire series but you might prefer to watch it after all the films to avoid spoilers.

Scotland Yard Hunts Dr Mabuse (1963)

Dr Mabuse is dead. Professor Pohland looked as if he was dead at the end of the previous film but actually he is (inexplicably) alive and is now Mabuse. Got that? This one's a bit of a downturn for the series (after all it was the fifth one) with a mind control device being at the centre of things. Mabuse wants it to master the world but also to 'restore the British Empire to its former glory', possibly because much of the action of this one takes place in the UK (hence the title). No Gert Fröbe this time. Instead we have dashing Peter van Eyck who lives with his crime novel-reading mother. There's a lot more talk and less incident that previous series entries, but a highlight is a bizarre hanging scene in which the executioner is forced to hang himself. 

Extras include nine minutes of Tim Lucas introduction, another David Kalat commentary (that he can keep up that level of enthusiasm with his engaging style for this number of films is impressive in itself), a trailer and an English language dub.

The Death Ray of Dr Mabuse (1964)

The series reaches its end with what is something of a generic spy thriller (hardly surprising in the wake of the success of the James Bond films). Professor Pohland undergoes hypnotherapy that works a bit too well and Mabuse 'lives' again! This time he's after the death ray that Professor Larsen is building on an island off the coast of Malta. Peter van Eyck as essentially the same character as last time but with a name change because of rights issues is assigned to protect him. There's a great shootout with Mabuse's frogman army at the end but everything really is a bit strained here, especially the ending's 'Mabuse reveal', but if you go in with reasonably low expectations you'll still have a good time.

Extras include a 14 minute Tim Lucas introduction, in which he recommends watching the Italian version (also included on the disc) which runs at 109 minutes compared with the German 91 minute version and he's absolutely right, so go for that option on your first watch. The German version has an optional English dubs and comes with another David Kalat commentary.

The set also comes with a 60 page booklet featuring new writing on the films, including a career overview of Artur Brauner, a lengthy piece on the CCC Mabuse films with a short essay on each individual entry, and a Fritz Lang scrapbook. Finally, the discs and the booklet come in a hardbound case to complete what is a truly excellent presentation of some little-seen films. Here's a trailer for the set:

MABUSE LIVES! DR MABUSE AT CCC is out in a four disc Blu-ray set from Eureka on Monday 31st March 2025