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This has been a terrible year for me.  I really feel like this was a throw away disaster of a year personally and from a media standpoint as well.  I can’t think of a single sci-fi flick, horror movie, or TV show that was a whiz-bang world mover for me.  In lieu of this I thought I would close out the year here on the site with a post about some sci-fi series that tug at my heart any time I even just so much as hear mention of them. Here goes. This is my list of favorite Science Fiction TV series of all time.

The Twilight Zone

Not only one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever, it’s one of the best shows of all time. Rod Serling hosted the show from 1959 to 1964. Each week, he featured a usually creepy, sometime witty, show that ranged from alien invaders to time travel. This show is in many ways the show that launched a thousand ships, or rather careers, actors, writers and special effects artists.

Dr. Who

No sci-fi show list is complete without Dr. Who. The series started in 1963 and featured several men as the doctor – a time traveling, eccentric alien – and his comrades. Sure, many of the monsters were terribly cheesy, but it is a classic nonetheless. The show was canceled in 1989, made a brief return in a TV movie in 1996 and then was fully resurrected and came back into production in 2003. It continues today

Lost in space

“Danger Will Robinson, danger!” For three years and countless reruns after, we watched the Robinson family survive against scary and hilarious beings that threatened their existence. The family, as the title implies, was hopelessly lost in space because of a sabotage effort gone awry thanks to Dr. Zachary Smith. The program aired from 1965 to 1968.

Star Trek

The original Star Trek, which aired just three seasons from 1966-69, fell from the number 1 spot on the list to number 2. Yes, perhaps it didn’t feature the best acting, or most compelling story plots, but it was a show that set the standard for future space epics since. The show is also more popular today than it was when it first ran. The show went on to inspire several movies, several spinoffs, and hordes of fans.

BattleStar Galactica

The 1978 series ‘”Battlestar Galactica” is a fantastic story of 12 colonies destroyed by a race of mechanized beings called Cylons, who are bent on destroying civilization. Commander Adama, played by the late Lorne Green, leads a rag-tag fugitive fleet across the galaxy in search of the lost 13th tribe, who settled on a planet called Earth. The great cast included Dirk Benedict as Starbuck and Richard Hatch as Apollo.

Buck Rogers

A 20th century astronaut, Buck Rogers (played by Gil Gerard), is on a space mission when his shuttle runs into a cosmic anomaly. Buck’s frozen in suspended animation until he’s revived 500 years later. From 1979 to 1981, we watched as Buck helped solve future Earth’s dilemmas. And, of course, we couldn’t leave out the lovely Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering. The show also taught us that spandex is in ample supply in the 25th century.

The Six Million Dollar Man

Those famous words, “We can rebuild him, we have the technology,” explain how astronaut Steve Austin (Lee Majors) becomes the “The Six Million Dollar Man.” Austin is mutilated after a crash and a secret government agency replaces his now departed parts with super powerful mechanical limbs. Austin uses his new superhuman like powers to solve crimes and catch bad guys. Look for the classic episode when he battled Sasquatch, or Big Foot. The series began in 1973 and resulted in a spinoff series called the “Bionic Woman.”

(The original) V

This miniseries was nearly 20 years ahead of “Independence Day.” In 1983, sci-fi loving Americans were glued to their sets to watch the Visitors in the miniseries “V.” It followed the classic aliens plot — aliens come to Earth to help humanity, but actually want to steal the planet’s natural resources. A regular show followed this miniseries, but never quite lived up to the original.

Alien Nation

Alien slaves, bred to be super intelligent and strong, crash on Earth. These “Newcomers” are assimilated into society. The show focused on one of them, George Francisco, who becomes a police detective partnered with a human cop, Matthew Sikes. They fight crime, learn to respect each other’s cultures, and fight the new bigotry between humans and aliens.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

This series is on many people’s list as the best sci-fi show of all time. It nearly made our number one spot, too. The show featured a great cast that evolved throughout its seven seasons, from 1987 through 1994.

So there you have it.  My picks for the greatest Sci-Fi TV shows ever.  Am I close?  Let me know.

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In honor of Halloween I have for you my list of the best FX artists in Horror.

Lon Chaney

Due to his ability to portray an endless variety of characters, Lon became known as “The Man of a Thousand Faces.” Chaney was famous for both his commitment to his roles and his artistry applying makeup. He professed that his stock in trade as “was in makeup and the art of pantomime.”

Most famous for:

The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera, Mr. Wu, London After Midnight

Jack Pierce

The Universal Studios Master who’s diminutive stature may be the reason he turned to effects work in the first place.  Jack gave us many of the movie beasts we have come to love.

Most famous for:

Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolfman, White Zombie

Robert Kurtzman/Gregory Nicotero/Howard Berger (KNB Studios)

These fine fellows founded KNB Studios in the 1980′s and have been involved in so many films off and on since that its tough to separate out the individuals achievements of each.  Rest assured they have had their collective hands in hundreds of your favorite horror flicks.

Most famous for: 

Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, Nightmare on Elm Street 5, Scream, In the Mouth of Madness

Giannetto De Rossi

Lucio Fulci’s gore master from the late seventies and early eighties made the walking dead amusing and disturbing in ways never seen on-screen.  Fans of zombie flicks should be familiar with his grotesquely-realized gags such as pierced eyeballs and flesh-eating spiders.

Most famous for:

Zombi, Dune, High Tension, Conan the Destroyer

Carlo Rambaldi

Rambaldi has the distinction of being the first special effects artist to be required to prove that his work on a film was not ‘real’. Dog-mutilation scenes in the 1971 film A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin were so convincingly visceral that its director, Lucio Fulci, was prosecuted for offences relating to animal cruelty. Fulci would have served a two-year prison sentence had Rambaldi not exhibited the film’s array of props to a courtroom, proving that the scene was not filmed using real animals.

Most famous for:

E.T., Alien, Dune, King Kong, Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Tom Savini

You know Savini’s work if you have watched movies in the last 30 years.  He is a true master in every sense of the word.  His effects brought us some of the most realistic zombies around. Savini’s artistry was actually born from real-life experiences following a stint as a combat photographer in Vietnam in the late ’60s. As a result he came to understand the non-Hollywood-ized details of real death.

Most famous for:

Dawn of the Dead, The Burning,  Friday the 13th, Creepshow

Dick Smith

Smith Smith pioneered the method of applying prosthetics made from foam latex in small pieces as opposed to the standard of applying a latex mask as one solid piece.Smith’s technique allowed the actor to have a wide range of facial expressions, making the makeup appear more natural. Despite initial criticism from many professional makeup artists at the time, Smith’s makeup techniques proved to be superior. Today, the standard of applying prosthetics are those that Smith invented.

Most Famous for:

Scanners, Taxi Driver, Altered States, The Godfather, Amadeus, The Exorcist

Rob Bottin

A protege of another famous FX artist in this list at the tender age of 14, founder of his own studio at 18 and Oscar winner. Bottin is without question one of the best. Few can boast the résumé Bottin has crafted.  If his only credit had been John Carpenter’s 1982 sci-fi/horror classic – on which he worked for 57 grueling weeks straight – Rob Bottin would still be hailed as one of the greatest special effects artists in the history of cinema.

Most Famous for:

The Howling, The Thing, The Fog, Cantina Scene in Star Wars, Legend, Mimic, Fight Club

Rick Baker

As a teen, Baker began creating artificial body parts in his own kitchen.  His first job was assisting another great FX artist on the set of the Exorcist. He has gone on to teach multitudes of other artists the trade and win more academy awards than any other in his field to date.  He is responsible, in my opinion, for the greatest werewolf transformation ever captured on film.  he is particular noted for his ability to recreate realistic animals, especially great apes.

Most Famous for:

Its alive, American Werewolf in London, King Kong, Star Wars, Videodrome, Thriller music video, Harry and the Hendersons, Hellboy, the list goes on and on.

Stan Winston

When picking from the two grand old masters of FX, Winston wins over Baker in my book, but its a super close call.  Winston passed away in 2008 but in his nearly 60 years in the field he gave us pure unadulterated magic.  From killer robots to giant dinosaurs, cursed monsters to evil Aliens.  Winston was the first to truly break FX ground when computers began to take over the world.

Most Famous for:

The Wiz, Terminator parts 1 and 2, Aliens, Monster Squad, Pumpkinhead, Edward Scissor hands, Jurassic Park, Wrong turn, Constantine, the list goes on and on and REALLY on.

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One of my favorite Halloween traditions is to watch scary movies.  Some of the most fantastic, awe inspiring and terrifying of these are the classic monster movies.  Werewolves have captivated man’s imagination since the earliest of times.  They incorporate many of the phobias and fears of a frail human race, unwanted, often horrific physical transformation, the loss of control over ourselves, the desire to hurt  or even kill others.  The list goes on and on.  I love werewolf mythos, especially where it intersects with film.

I decided that a great way explore one of my favorite literary beasts in movies would be to compose a list showing where I think the milestones exist in film history as it applies to depicting such a fiendish creature.

In 1935 the first film to feature bipedal anthropomorphic werewolf was made with simple yet effective makeup on actor Henry Hull.  This is,for me, the first true werewolf in a movie.

In 1941 the silver screen was graced by Lon Chaney Jr’s masterful makeup work in black and white.  The complexity of the makeup and appliances in this film were a marked leap forward from earlier movies.

Werewolves pretty much copied Lon Chaney Jr’s makeup with ever so slight variations for years until the gory Hammer Horror film Curse of the were wolf came along.  The creature here evokes a more feral look and color adds depth and conveys feelings not seen before.

Movies stagnated again for a pretty long stretch of time until 1981 when a pair of films BURST onto the scene.  American Werewolf in London allowed a young makeup artist named Rick Baker to show us how the werewolf transforms in a way NEVER before seen on screen.  The creature in this film shows us the agony of  the transformation as well as facets of it none of us ever even considered before.  It is also the most animalistic of the film monsters to date.

Rob Bottin a student of baker showed his mentor and contemporary that two werewolves are better than one.  Bottin’s transformation scene concentrated on mostly the head and upper body but it proved to watchers how truly terrifying such a change could be when the cursed character truly embraces being such a beast.  This iteration of the werewolf while still quite manlike is the scariest wolf captured on film to date for me.

in 1987 a team of effects artists headed by the late Stan Winston gave us this gem called Monster Squad.  The werewolf here was a re-imagining of the classic wolfman using practical / mechanical effects.  While the creature was very manlike its mechanical facial expressions made it very realistic and eerie.

Ginger Snap, from 2000,  makes the list because it chose NOT to copy the Baker /Bottin style of creature.  No surreal transformation scenes here.  Instead you get a female werewolf with a strange mostly stretched skin look.  It is unusual and in many ways very alluring.  The advent of computer generated effects added greatly to the realistic movements of this creature.

Dogsoldiers burned up the silver screen in 2002 giving us a very scary werewolf which manlike in stance was quite feral and animalistic. This combination of a very wolf-like head and a very bipedal stance was frightening and intimidating enough for it to make my list.

Underworld in 2003 gave us our first FULLY computer generated screen werewolves.  The transformations were fast and fairly realistic.  The movements of these creatures and the fact that they used CG and practical effects VERY effectively makes this a clear advancement in werewolf effects.

Van Helsing was made in 2004.  This movie has ALL CG werewolves.  No practical effects to be had in the this flick.  While some are pretty realistic others are not so much.  This is not a great film but it shows up here for no other reason than its use of CG for all aspects of the wolves.  If you want my two cents they really have to get realistically moving hair right before they will ever be able to ditch practical effects entirely.

Honorable Mention : I left 2010′s remake of The Wolfman off the list intentionally.  Even though it won Rick Baker an Oscar award I think it really didn’t break new ground so it wasn’t really a step forward.  If anything its clever use of practical and CG effects had already been done although not with this sense of flair and style.

Thats its.  Hope you enjoyed my time line.  Happy Halloween!

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Dracula (1931)

Renfield has arrived in Transylvania to do a job for a particular Count that resides there.  However once he enters Dracula’s home, he falls under the spell and soon turns to serve the Count.  Dracula then travels to England where he seeks a bride and finds a few women to grab a taste of.  But Van Helsing will attempt to stop him but could it be too late?

Frankenstein (1931)

Dr. Henry Frankenstein has become obsessed with the subject of what it is that creates life. Intent on proving that he can create life itself, he and his assistant Fritz have been digging up corpses from graves and trying to assemble a man from parts, with the intent of bring it to life.  But once he does it, he realizes he can’t control the creature and soon must seek to destroy his very creation.

Wolfman (1941)

Larry Talbott has returned home to his family’s estate after an 18 year absence however not everything is as he left it.  Seems some werewolf stories are running about and when Larry and 2 ladies go out for fun, they run into a wolf.  Larry saves the life of Gina but her friend Jenny isn’t so lucky.  Larry gets bit the battle by the creature but the next morning the wound is gone and so is the wolf, with only the body of an old gypsy man in its place.  The police begin to investigate but Larry soon convinces himself that he’s now a werewolf.  Trouble is, there are more dead bodies popping up that could prove it.

Them (1954)

After several people in the New Mexico desert wind up dead, the police and FBI investigate and are shocked to find gigantic ants, whose mutations were caused by the first atomic bomb explosion nine years earlier. They manage to destroy the nest of ants, but not before two winged queen ants have hatched and escaped the nest. Now they the US Government has to find the creatures before the breed and destroy the entire continent.

The Fly (1958)

Andre Delambre is playing around with his new invention, a teleportation device.  Soon he decides to change from inanimate matter to actual human matter and does using himself.  But something goes terribly wrong and Andre ends up merging with a fly that accidentally got into the chamber.  He will try and do everything he can to change himself back but it may not work and he might instead start taking on the characteristics of a giant fly.

The Flesh and the Fiends (1959)

It is 1828 and local surgeon/professor Dr. Knox relies on grave-robbers to supply him with fresh bodies for his anatomy lectures. Irish immigrants Burke and Hare initially can’t believe that hadn’t previously struck upon this idea to earn money before.  But once they start finding bodies…they realize it’s a “cash cow” and they soon start finding alternative ways to find bodies…including murder.

Psycho (1960)

Phoenix office worker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday, Marion is trusted to deposit $40,000 by her employer into the bank. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam’s California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into “The Bates Motel.”  Once she checks in, the owner will make sure she won’t check out.  But Marion’s actions have ensured that Norman is gonna have a few more visitors.

Mr. Sardonicus (1961)

A man digs his dead father up to retrieve a lottery ticket and in the process is scared into a skull like frozen grin for years.  His cruelty is only exceeded by his cunning as he forces his wife from an arranged marriage to trick a former love and brilliant doctor to try and heal him.  I dark an surreal story with castles, torture and atmospheric evil.

Night of the living dead (1968)

John and Barbara are out to say some prayers for their father when out of nowhere comes “the living dead.”  John is disposed of and Barb ends up at an abandoned house.  Soon enough she is joined by Ben and a few stragglers in the basement.  7 people against the world.  The “Living Dead” surround the house and eventually make their move.  The 7 must work together to defeat these beasts, but that will be just as hard as killing their attackers.

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    While some geeks might be uncomfortable saying they are a fan of certain genres of film, I have no troubles saying that I love musicals.  I have been a fan of musicals as long as I can remember.  I love music and film so naturally musicals are dear to me.  I want to share some of my favorite “twisted” musicals with you today.  These are by no means the ONLY musicals I like but these have really meant something to me through the years.  Hope you enjoy.

The Phantom of the Paradise

 What happens when you cross Faust, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Picture of Dorian Gray, and pepper in a smattering of Frankenstein and a discotheque?  You get an early Brian DE Palma film that will blow your mind.

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The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The first time I watched this film I had no clue what I was watching.  A friend of mine and his sister introduced me to this movie and I have seen it once a year every year since my pre-teens.  The Evil Dr. Frank N. Furter an alien from the planet Transylvania in the Galaxy of Transsexual has found the secret of life itself.  Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon steal this twisted show.

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The Wiz

I love The Wizard of Oz.  I always have.  When I saw this movie I felt like I was seeing it all over again.  It’s terribly dated now and chock full of what to me seems like some nasty ethnic stereotyping, but if you can suspend belief in the real world you will be in for a treat.  The talent assembled here is almost unmatched.  The late Michael Jackson is just icing on the cake.  There’s no place like home.

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The First Nudie Musical

I first saw this movie on Showtime back in the late Seventies or early Eighties, and tried to find it on tape for years afterwards. Very funny, and I LOVED seeing Ron Howard (uncredited) and Cindy Williams in the same film pre-Happy Days/Laverne & Shirley. I have frequently tried to describe this film to my friends, and been frustrated. Even singing “Lesbian Butch Dyke, you can call it what you like” didn’t convey the hilarity.

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Cry Baby

John Waters is a genius.  Johnny Depp does some early work here mixing songs with some seriously good 50’s retro props, costumes and scenery.  Not the greatest acting, so be prepared to laugh a lot at this camp fest extraordinaire.

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Earth Girls Are Easy

Those of us that grew up in the REAL MTV eighties will remember this film.  Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carry, and Damon Wayans make this musical a MUST see.  It’s really only somewhat a musical since the songs are sparse.  When aliens fly off course and accidentally land in an valley girl’s pool all hell breaks loose getting them back home.  While I have always thought of Gina Davis as some what a horse faced actress, in this film she is SMOKING HOT.

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Little Shop of Horrors

I’ve loved this movie for years and never get tired of it. It’s entertaining and funny without needing to go for cheap or raunchy jokes (which I have nothing against). The songs are fun, and everyone in this movie can really sing. The jokes are clean and smart even if they are a little dark and twisted.  This was done by the great Frank Oz. I’m a big Muppets fan, so it makes sense that I love this too.

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Popeye

If you can find enjoyment in critically panned movies such as The Wiz, you can find corny enjoyment in this relatively same plateau of a production with catchy songs, and memorable characters.  Distance yourself from cartoon which it’s based, and think of it as a real life community of oddball people with their own rules for living. There was a lot of work drawn on this production and it’s not second rate including sets, music, costumes, and performance. It actually has tender moments from the transition of Popeye being the lone outcast to Olive Oyl discovering her love for this man soon after they find sweet pea lost in a basket. It is that chemistry which pulls the movies weight.

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Scrooge

I have reviewed this movie before on the site but it makes my list here just because the thought of a musical based on the ghosts of Xmas story is amazing.

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The Nightmare Before Christmas

Nightmare Before Christmas is wildly original, full of great songs, great lines (“nothing’s more suspicious than frog’s breath!), and great animation.  Between Tim Burton’s freaky/funny vision & Danny Elfman’s songwriting (& splendidly haunted, poignant singing) what imaginative forces we have at work here.

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