HORROR AND SCIENCE FICTION IN THE CINEMA BEFORE 1980 udkommer fredag den 15. februar, hvor de første skulle modtage deres eksemplarer, og resten – om Post Danmark det vil – i løbet af den følgende uge …

When it comes to our most cherished beliefs, reason is often powerless. Thus, Occam’s razor, compelling us to select the hypothesis making the fewest assumptions, seems to have been far from the minds of those, who formulated the so-called many-worlds interpretation.

When E. T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL came out in 1982, everybody agreed that it was a cute movie about a lonely boy and his imaginary friend. No one seemed to notice the supreme blasphemy of the poster paraphrasing the Sistine Chapel with the boy as Adam and E. T. as God.

Like most other dystopian movies, ROLLERBALL examines the relationship between the individual and the state. But while movies like 1984 correctly conclude that the ordinary citizen will inevitably be the loser in this contest, ROLLERBALL instead pits the extraordinary man against society.

HORROR AND SCIENCE FICTION IN THE CINEMA er nu foreløbig sat til at udkomme i midten af februar. DANNY LUND har som sædvanlig leveret en fremragende forside, som man indtil videre kan beundre her.

After the satirical DR STRANGELOVE Kubrick had developed a taste for science fiction. He consequently contacted Arthur C. Clarke, who had a reputation as a scientific fiction writer, i.e. space age freak and cargo cultist, sci-fi being the religion of a technological society.

In the nineties, Japanese horror found a market in the West, presenting a fresh approach to the tired old clichés – some of the more popular titles were even remade with American actors (which sort of defeated the purpose). Something similar happened in the sixties, with films like ONIBABA and KWAIDAN, if on a somewhat…

Socialist science fiction is of course different from the capitalist version in several aspects. One does not go into space to colonize it, but to gain knowledge, space travel considered the ultimate achievement of a purely materialistic science.

This is the movie, which its director FRANK WYSBAR later remade as STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP, earning him the directorship on such prestige projects as DEVIL BAT’S DAUGHTER. As opposed to many of his compatriots, he never claimed persecution in the old country. Goebbels simply didn’t like his style. Nor, it would seem, did the American…

For once the epithet “fantastic” is no exaggeration, whereas “incredible” would be a misnomer. The ingenious premise, clever plot and huge sets make believers of us from the very start, ignoring all the absurdities and inconsistencies.