Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*

Trigger warning: This discussion includes talk about sexual assault and sexual violence. This is a theme apparent in the film and the source material. It is mentioned a few times. The topic is not spoken about in detail, but I wanted to share a general trigger warning for those that would prefer to avoid the topic altogether. Subtitles for the intro: "It's not that I specialise in treating fingers. I'm a psychiatrist in fact. Inferiority complexes dig holes in the psyche, and I fill them in." As always, there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you have fancy pants and would like to be a patron of the podcast please do! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm If you are interested in the plot of the film you can read an overview on the wikipedia page here. In 1964 Director Hiroshi Teshigahara's film Woman in the Dunes won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes. The film was the second of four in which Teshigahara would collaborate with writer Kōbō Abe.* The Face of Another rode the coattails of Woman in the Dunes but was nowhere near as successful. Although both films have a very bleak undertone, The Face of Another feels more jarring and less abstract in its confrontations. The story is of a man horribly disfigured from an accident in the lab where he works. He manages to find a possible solution to the isolation and desperation he experiences when he is given the opportunity to have a new face with which to navigate life. The story has many philosophical themes set in a Japan that is still wrangling with its post war cultural identity. Thankfully I have managed to procure two big brained and generous guests! Roger Luckhurst is a Professor at Birkbeck, University of London. He has written/edited numerous articles and books on cultural history and film. Jennifer Coates is a Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Sheffield. She has written extensively about Japanese cultural history and cinema and is the President of the British Association of Japanese Studies. During the intro to the show I mention a video essay that I watched during research for the film which I found very interesting. You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yarOXWeZlzY Although this is not directly relevant to the film, one of the earliest shots is an x-ray of a skull in conversation. This is reminiscent of the very early 1996 film usually known as Macintyre's X-Ray Film. Just a small historical film curiosity which you might be interested in. You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqMYHawAKmA Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:35 Source Material: Kobe Abe's book 06:33 Abe and Teshigahara's collaboration: Woman in the Dunes 07:38 Face Masks 10:55 The manufactured Japanese New Wave 14:31 Japan in the 1960s 19:39 Alienation and Philosophy 24:47 Boundaries and skin 26:17 Moral boundaries 30:52 The skin, Japan and saving face 34:14 Scarring and the bomb 41:05 Identity and Japan 47:40 Visual delights 52:46 Legacy 55:03 Face transplants 56:51 Recommendations Recommendations: When the Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960) Eyes without a Face (1960) Suture (1993) NEXT EPISODE! Next episode we will be having a giant sprawling chat about the scientist Bernard Quatermass. You can watch the three earlier Quatermass films, The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Quatermass 2 (1957) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967) in all sorts of places including major streaming platforms. The series (if you want to get really nerdy about it) are available as a boxed set on Apple TV and from other retailers. At least some of those episodes are available on YouTube. The first season of the TV series (1953) only has a few episodes as the rest were lost forever!

As always there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you would like to be a patron of the podcast and help an indie podcaster out, you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm An extra huge thank you to my wonderful guests as this episode had to be re-recorded due to a major problem with the audio file the first time. You can find the synopsis of the film on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Voyage#Plot In 1966 20th Century Fox chose a steady pair of hands in Richard Fleischer (the son of animation superstar Max Fleischer) to helm what at the time was both the tiniest and the biggest science fiction adventure. Tiny because of the nano science storyline and biggest because of it being the most expensive science fiction film ever made (at that time) costing over five million dollars. I talk to two top tier guests about the film. Jay Telotte is Professor Emeritus of film and media studies at Georgia Tech. He has written/edited numerous books and articles about science fiction film including his upcoming books Before Trek: Building American Science Fiction Television. Lisa Yaszek is Regents' Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech and has written/edited multiple books on science fiction including her upcoming book Mothership Rising: Afrofuturism in the Radium Age. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:40 Big budget scifi 05:45 Richard Fleischer 09:10 The history of Nanotech sci-fi 16:41 Sci-fi and scale in cinema 19:42 Richard Feynman and small science 22:55 1950s influences 25:53 James Bond and Spy-fi 27:05 Psychedelic scifi 31:22 Harper Goff, Disney and design 33:36 1960s crew dynamics 42:48 Asimov's novelisation 44:24 Secularism vs religion 46:52 Legacy 52:57 Recommendations Recommendations: The Diamond Lens by Fitz-James O'Brien (which can be found here) Surface Tension by James Blish Microcosmic God by Theodore Sturgeon Dr Cyclops (1940) The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989) NEXT EPISODE! Next episode I will be speaking with Oscar winning Special Effects Supervisor Paul Franklin to discuss his favourite sci-fi film Blade Runner (1982). Paul has worked on an array of blockbusters including The Batman Begins trilogy, Venom (2018), Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014).

As always there are spoilers ahead! We've discussed Czech scifi before with Karel Zeman's gorgeous steam punk offering from 1958 Invention for Destruction (dubbed into the English language The Fabulous World of Jules Verne) and we've also covered Communists in Space with 1960s The Silent Star (AKA First Spaceship on Venus). The Czech Ikarie XB-1 (1963) has connections to both of those films but also offers an aesthetic that seems to directly inspire Kubrick for 2001: A Space Odyssey. The year is 2163, communism has won, and a crew of 40 are sent to find life on the white planet in Alpha Centauri with a journey fraught with sociological, psychological and physical challenges. I have two amazing academics to help give insight into the film. Evan Torner is an Associate Professor of German Studies and Niehoff Professor of Film & Media Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Simon Spiegel is a lecturer of Film Studies at the University of Zurich. He has written extensively about Science Fiction and Utopia and has just released the book The Fear of Knowing about spoilers in film and media. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:11 Stanislaw Lem's The Magellanic Cloud 04:28 Czechoslovakian New Wave and film industry 09:49 The striking introductory scenes and Kubrick's 2001 13:05 Cabin fever in spaaace! 15:13 Music by Zdeněk Liška 16:57 Communist utopia in spaaace! 20:57 The draw of sociological stories 26:19 A utopian party and a red alert 28:15 The capitalist ship and the 20th century 32:47 Putting science into sci-fi 39:30 Evan's Dark Matter Shenanigans 42:21 Post Stalin faith 43:41 The ending 45:39 The US edit 47:27 Legacy 52:18 Recommendations NEXT EPISODE! I will be taking a detour next episode to talk about Afrofuturism which I've been wanting to discuss since the very early days of research before I launched the podcast. Almost two years late but I hope you enjoy it. After that we will be discussing Dr Strangelove and I would recommend you also watch Fail Safe (also 1964) if you have time.

As always there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm In 1959 at the cusp of a new and exciting decade Richard Condon wrote a book that is largely described as a political thriller. And it is a political thriller. But it also fits neatly into my concept of science fiction. To learn more about what is and isn't science fiction you can head to the heady days of the first episode where the topic is discussed with science fiction scholars Lisa Yaszek and Glyn Morgan. (Please do excuse the fear in my eyes.) Just a few years later a film was made by John Frankenheimer, starring Frank Sinatra, Janet Leigh and a brilliant and manipulative Angela Lansbury. The 1960s USA is in peak cold war fears, and the CIA is undertaking covert operations of their own, with the MKUltra programme, testing on humans to discover whether they can be manipulated and brainwashed. Although this film continues many themes from the 1950s it is definitely a product of the new age as culture shifts and a new batch of Hollywood directors take cinema in a different direction. I am lucky to have two brilliant guests to talk us through the themes and context of this film. Ian Scott is a Professor of American Film and History at The University of Manchester. He has written extensively about politics and film in Hollywood including the book American Politics in Hollywood Film. Sherryl Vint is Professor of Science Fiction Media Studies at the University of California, Riverside. She has written/edited many books about science fiction. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:23 New Hollywood Directors 04:57 Richard Condon's novel 07:00 Mind control in science fiction 09:40 Cold War in the Far East 16:57 The brilliant brainwashing scene 25:28 Raymond Shaw the unlikely hero 29:17 Frank Sinatra as Marco 33:17 Angela Lansbury as Eleanor 37:54 Janet Leigh 44:04Eisenhower and the legacy of conspiracy films 48:31 The remake 52:29 Recommendations The recommendations this week are the films Suddenly (1954) and Seconds (1966). I will be covering Seconds in the near future so you can get ahead by watching it if you like! NEXT EPISODE! Next episode we will be discussing the Roger Corman film X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes from 1963 starring Ray Milland. DVDs of the film are available but it is also available to rent and watch online on Apple TV and many other platforms. You can check the Just Watch website to see where it is available in your region.

As always there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm There is a trigger warning for discussion of rape in this episode. I have marked the beginning of that part of the discussion with a beep and the discussion lasts for four minutes and four seconds after the beep if you wanted to skip past it. Last week we told you "Don't Panic!" but this week we focus in on the panic. Panic in Year Zero was directed by and stars Ray Milland and is about a father taking his family on the road to do some camping. One the way there a nuclear bomb is dropped on Los Angeles and the world starts to fall into disarray. Not because of the bomb causing devastation or radiation but because of how human s are absolute nutters given the slightest chance. This film has a very 1950s sensibility but with a Jazz laden soundtrack that hints at the unruly decade ahead. The Federal Civil Defense Administration in the US in the early 50s was set up by President Truman to educate and prepare the public in case of an attack on US soil. The short film mentioned in the discussion The House in the Middle can be viewed on YouTube here. This episode we talk not just about the film but the human fascination with apocalypse. I have the perfect guests for the task. Steven Schlozman is a psychiatrist and a writer of books including the novel The Zombie Autopsies which was being adapted to film by George Romero before his death in 2017. John Wills is a Professor of American Media and Culture at the University of Kent. He has written lots about popular culture including 1950s American and Nuclear film. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:52 The non-nuclear nuclear film 07:10 Nuclear drills in schools 10:07 USA nuclear prep: Civilian education and CONELRAD 16:33 Jazz music and sociopaths 20:05 Daddy's gaze 26:39 The fun of Armageddon 32:02 The developmental stage of apocalypse fantasy 37:35 Ann is always wrong 39:21 Sexual violence 43:27 A pre-cursor to zombie apocalypse 48:25 Legacy 52:45 Recommendations for the listener Recommendations Steven: The Day After (1983) is a made for TV film. John: The book Every Home a Fortress: Cold War Fatherhood and the Family Fallout Shelter by Thomas Bishop NEXT EPISODE! Next episode we will be discussing The Day of the Triffids! Although we will be using the 1963 film as a starting point there will be a lot of discussion about the original novel and the differences between the theme heavy book and the fun 50s style scifi of the film. The film can be found on Fubo, Roku, Pluto and Plex and a few other online streaming platforms in the US and UK. The Just Watch website is a good resource to find where the film may be available in your region.

As always there are spoilers ahead! A quick note that I shall be at the London Film Festival on October the 16th giving a whistlestop tour of sci-fi cinema. It is a free event but you have to reserve tickets so if you happen to be in London and wanted to attend here is the information. Translation for the beginning of the podcast: "Later, he knew he had seen a man die. And sometime after came the destruction of Paris." You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm La Jetée is very different from the science fiction films I have covered so far. A 28-minute art film mostly made of still images that went on to inspire many films as well as the 1995 12 Monkeys. The filmmaker, Chris Marker was an elusive French multimedia journalist, artist, writer, filmmaker, photographer who very rarely did interviews. He was part of the Left Bank group in Paris which was part of the larger French New Wave movement. My amazing science fiction authorities today are Lisa Yaszek who is Regents' Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech and has written/edited multiple books on science fiction and Mark Bould who is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has also written/edited numerous books on science fiction. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:15 The French New Wave 08:50 The New Wave of science fiction literature 13:00 The New Wave science fiction films 17:53 Vertigo's influence 21:10 Eros and Thanatos: Love and death (and time loops) 23:55 A very different science fiction film: Un photo-roman, sound and reliable narrators 32:00 The darker future: gritty retrofuturism and echoes of WWII 36:59 What is real? (And why is it so beautiful?) 40:52 Distressing distortions and more death 46:03 The one moving image 48:33 12 Monkeys 51:47 Legacy of the film 55:30 Recommendations for the listener NEXT EPISODE! Next episode is episode 42 and it seems patrons on Patreon would like a detour to cover the meaning of life the universe and everything. So we shall be talking about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You do not need to watch the film but if you felt like reading the book , listening to the original radio play, watching the TV series or indeed watching the film either as a new experience or to refresh your memory you absolutely can!

As always there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you want to support the podcast you can get ad free versions at Patreon. In 1956 the film The Bad Seed was a big hit for Warner Bros featuring a blond-haired evil child. One blond scary child sometimes isn't enough! Writer John Wyndham published The Midwich Cuckoos in 1957 which had already sold to MGM before he'd completed it. The film tells the story of a different kind of alien invasion. Midwich village is infested with pregnancies affecting the female population who all give birth to blonde haired and light eyed, rapidly growing, telepathic children (did I mention they were creepy?). Outsiders who will go to any length to keep their kind alive. I have two absolutely amazing guests who can tease apart some of the history and themes of this wonderful sci-fi horror. Mark Bould is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has written/edited extensively about science fiction cinema. Roger Luckhurst is a Professor at Birkbeck, University of London. He has written/edited numerous articles and books on cultural history and film. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:38 John Wyndham, The Midwich Cuckoos and MGM's British studios 04:22 Post War anxieties 07:10 Wyndham and pacifism 08:29 Feminism, forced birth and Wyndham's women 11:16 The life of George Sanders: a fabulous cad 18:50 The Cosy Catastrophe 21:38 The premise: terrifying telepathic toddlers 27:20 The evil child and the concept of innocence 31:42 The legacy of the evil child in cinema 35:59 Telepathy 41:47 Class and post war social mobility 47:25 Legacy and the John Carpenter remake 51:29 Recommendations for the listener The telepathic couple Mark mentions are most likely the Piddingtons. When Mark says "Astounding" he is referring to the magazine Astounding Science Fiction where the editor was John W Campbell Jr. NEXT EPISODE! Next episode we will be talking about The Day the Earth Caught Fire from 1961. You can rent the film on Apple or Amazon in the US or on Amazon or BFI Player in the UK. The Just Watch website is a good option to find where films are available in your region.

As always there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. HG Wells shadow is a long one and his seminal work on time travel was published in 1895. But well over a half a century later Hollywood was still hooked on Herbert (George Wells). The Time Machine was directed by George Pal and released 1960. From the turn of the century to the beginning of a new decade my amazing guests break down the themes and influences on this mid-century steampunk precursor. Keith Williams is a Reader in English Literature at the University of Dundee where he runs the science fiction programme. He has a special interest in the pre 1945 period and is the author of the book H.G. Wells, Modernity and the Movies. Ian Scott is a Professor of American Film and History at The University of Manchester. He has written extensively about politics and film in Hollywood. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:39 HG Wells in 1985: the book and the birth of cinema 05:37 1960s USA: the cusp of a new age 10:02 The influences on Wells: Thomas Henry Huxley and William Morris 17:21 James Bond: Rod Taylor's missed opportunity 19:08 Time travel: the time machine, mannequins and the BBC 27:57 The far-flung future: evolution, class and nuclear war 35:32 Fritz Lang, Metropolis, and the death of flower power 39:24 The Legacy 47:09 Recommendations for the listener NEXT EPISODE! Next week I will be discussing the Eastern Block with brainy experts and discussing one of the first sci-fi films from the region Der schweigende Stern, AKA The Silent Star from 1960. It was also re-edited and released as The First Spaceship on Venus. You may like to watch the MST3K version on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVmgb3jEimQ If you are in the USA and have a public library card you should be able to find the film on Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/116646 The film is available to rent online depending on your region. Just Watch should be able to help. If you felt very committed you could also buy this DVD collection of DEFA sci-fi which includes writing and interviews with the amazing Sonja Fritzsche, Evan Torner and Mark Bould: https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/strange-new-worlds-science-fiction-at-defa/