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SCIENCE FICTION IN SEPTEMBER

UPDATES: Temperature is finally starting to cool. The future of Cinema Obscura is still up in the air. My movie reviews and Star Trek articles are being listed (much to my surprise) at the iMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. My work at VHS Rewind was removed by the administrator, but much of it is still available here.

I’ve been getting “privacy complaints” from YouTube with regard to a video I posted about my history with Geno Cuddy and Mark Jeacoma. I don’t understand the “privacy” aspect of the complaint since this is my experience.

Science Fiction SEPTEMBER, 2026:

Silly, goofy, but great science fiction. In color and 3D! The stunning expressionist production design by director William Cameron Menzies recalls the work of Dali as well as The Wizard of Oz. This is among the first of the new wave of paranoiac sci-fi films.
INVADERS FROM MARS, 1953

Another great (if goofy) sci-fi classic, this time with a story by Ray Bradbury (who makes his hero a writer as well). While the characters do not undergo subtle character changes as aliens duplicate them so that they can repair their damaged spacecraft, note the lovely Barbara Rush’s transformation from tasteful, light-colored clothing to a dark, sexy spider-like look when she is compromised. Directed by low-budget sci-fi veteran Jack Arnold.
IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, 1953

In Danse Macabre, Stephen King seemed to express disappointment when he pushed for a cold war analogy from Jack Finney in his book, The Body Snatchers. Finney, being an old-fashioned writer (and somewhat cantankerous) was only interested in telling a story. Nevertheless, many themes have been ascribed to this classic tale.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, 1956

It’s interesting that nearly half of the movie is told in flash-forward from the perspective of Vincent Price’s character, François, the brother of scientist André Delambre (Al David Hedison). The Fly was a rare genre movie (science fiction/horror) shot in CinemaScope and Deluxe Color. Most Fox horror (and western) titles were shot in the black & white equivalent RegalScope. The disembodied meow of Dandelo still disturbs me. Interesting poster art.
THE FLY, 1958

After The Fly, the ’60s are ubiquitous with drive-ins, giant insects, and kaiju. It wasn’t until 1968 that filmmakers embraced ideas from science fiction writers again. This time, on a grander scale. This is a movie that still leaves me with questions. Watching it again with my daughter, I saw something I had never seen before. That of the monolith and the idea of God. This is a story with five chapters.

Creation. Evolution. Innovation. Destruction. Re-birth.

The monolith is there every time. This might actually be Kubrick’s most personal statement. It was a movie captured by the young when older people turned their backs.
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, 1968

Dark Star (1974), A Boy and His Dog (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977-1980), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981), Altered States (1981), John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982).

David Lawler, Sept. 21, 2026