2002

Issue 169
Vol 34 #1 2002

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Rollerball: How bad could it be? Chuck Wagner gets John McTiernan's and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos's insights into the long-delayed remake. 

Legend of the Rangers: Not even a Crusade could finish off Babylon 5. J. Michael Stracznynski returns to forge a new chapter in the saga. Frank Garcia talks to Stracznynski and star Alex Zahara about the birth of legends. 

Pixar: They've got a new home and an ambitious production schedule. Lawrence French explores how architecture reflects aesthetic sensibilities, and gives us a look into what's coming up from the people who made Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. 

The man with no eyes: Already a superlative outlet for short-form genre filmmakers, Sci Fi Channel's Exposure now goes the full-fledged production route with its first, in-house short film. Denise Dumars talks to the film's creators, and explores Exposure's new direction. 

Voyager: The Ship is back home, the cast has dispersed, and the production team has moved on to new challenges. What have we learned from this less-than-revered retake on Trek lore? Anna L. Kaplan explores the series' troubled history, and sums up its close in a seventh season episode guide. 

Classic Trek: Face it, the original series has left some potent legacies. Sue Uram talks with William Shatner about the pleasures and curses of TV command, and with Eugene Roddenberry, Jr about life in the shadow of a legend. 

Seed of Chucky: Don Mancini wanted to turn the next Child's Play sequel into a self-reflexive parody, but Universal didn't see the joke. Fred Topel examines the unproduced script. 

Revelation: Conspiracy theories meet Indiana Jones as legendary British producer Romulus Films returns to the production fold. Alan Jones reveals the mysteries. 

Return to Neverland: The convoluted creation of Disney's Peter Pan sequel ends this winter in movie theaters. Andrew Osmond sees if there's enough pixie dust to make the project fly. 

Animation's Lord of the Rings: Ross Plesset explores the Rankin/Bass and Bakshi productions. 

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: Patrick Legare reveals the Scooby-Doo gag you didn't see. 

Bones: Bryan Cairns looks into Ernest Dickenson's new urban horror.

Issue 170
Vol 34 #2 2002

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E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial: Spielberg tinkers with the classic for its twentieth anniversary, tuming ET from convincing animatronic into even-more-convincing CG, and disarming the cops while he's at it. Chuck Wagner talks with the effects specialists about what's old and what's new. 

Six Feet Under: The dead get to reflect on their own demises in HBO's surreal comedy/drama. Meanwhile, somebody has to populate all those slabs with corpses that for once reflect the true repercussions of mortality. Mike Watt meets up with the people at MASTERFX and discovers what it takes to stock a funeral home. 

Resident Evil: Just what we need: another vid-game adaptation. Next up in the grand parade: a tale of zombie-making contagion, and the crack team sent in to make sure those hungry, hungry cadavers don't get out of hand. Alan Jones checks in with Paul Anderson, finding out why he thinks his film will rise above the pack. 

The Scorpion King: Universal's Mummy franchise branches off into this spin-off prequel, and The Rock gets his shot at big-screen stardom in this tale of a fierce warrior and his battle against supernatural evil. Mitch Persons gets a taste of on-set life, and talks to the stars. 

The Mothman Prophecies: Strange things goin' on in town, and it falls to Richard Gere to figure out the puzzles. Chuck Wagner talks to director Mark Pellington about turning local legend into contemporary horror. 

Blade 2: When does a vampire hunter join forces with his prey? When there's something even worse out there. Ed Gross meets up with Guillermo del Toro and the other creators of this eagerly awaited sequel, and looks into the challenges met by the special effects team and by Marvel Comics itself. 

The Devil's Backbone: It's the other Guillermo del Toro movie, a moody ghost tale set in a Spanish orphange, all the better to contrast with Blade 2's flash 'n' action. Dan Scapperotti talks to the director about film horror, politics, human frailties, and how all of them can be combined into a compelling story. 

The X-Files: Mulder we hardly knew ye. Paula Vitaris and Dan Coyle recount the frustrations of being an X-phile in their series-spanning overview, while Paula brings it all together in her eighth season episode guide, and reflects on good times with star David Duchovny. Roxie Ray examines the labors of The X-Files's makeup effects team, and Katie Anderson clues you in to the series' scariest moments. 

Escaflowne: American TV game gave the popular anime series a short shrift, but the producers are trying again with a newly conceived, feature-film version. Andrew Osmond talks to the director of the engaging tale of a girl dropped into a world of dragons and robots.

Issue 171
Vol 34 #3/4 2002

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Die Another Day: Alan Jones Brings us a preview of the legendary spy's twentieth adventure. 

Puphedz: Edgar Allen Poe gets the Muppets treatment. Todd French has the story. 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Aaron Tallent talks with actor Jim Siedow. 

Stan Winston: The makeup master talks about his cable series and toy line with Dan Scapperotti. 

Dinotopia: The fantasy miniseries returns to broadcast TV with this epic tale of a society where humans and dinosaurs live together. Dan Scapperotti talked to the production team. 

Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron: DreamWorks' animated drama is a visually elegant period adventure told from a horse's point of view. Chuck Wagner discusses reality and fantasy with the film's creators. 

Minority Report: Spielberg and Cruise team together to bring Phil Dick's tale of futuristic crime and punishment to the screen. Ed Gross spent time discussing the project with producer Bonnie Curtis. 

Men In Black 2: K and J are back, once again facing down the scum of the universe. Steve Ryfle talks with director Barry Sonnenfeld and makeup Rick Baker, while Andrew Osmond ponders the sometimes complex alchemy that makes up genre humor. 

Star Wars Episode 2: Attack Of The Clones: Denise Dumars considers the upcoming film, while Dennis Kleinman asks some uncomfortable questions. 

Spider-Man: After years of re-writes and legal wrangling, the tale of a humble student turned masked webslinger comes to the big screen. Ross Plesset gets the story from the cast and crew and explores the versions we never saw, while Russell Lissau looks at why Marvel heroes have become hot commodities. 

Farscape: Anna L. Kaplan talked with cast and crew, exploring what made the third season so dark and delirious. Also: Season Three episode guide. 

Lilo & Stitch: Disney Animation's Florida studio has come up with an idiosyncratic story of an impetuous Hawaiian girl and the cute little criminally malign alien genetic mutation she adopts as a pet. Lawrence French discusses breaking molds with the film's artists. 

Wendigo: A low-budget horror film is turning heads at festivals across the country. Bryan Cairns talks to the director. 

Night Of The Living Dead 1990: Director Tom Savini tells Mike Watt about the trouble-plagued remake. 

Frailty: A father is on a mission from God, and recruits his sons into the deadly calling. Debuting director Bill Paxton discusses the dark drama with Mitch Persons. 

Jason X: The big guy's in orbit as the long-delayed 10th installment debuts.

Issue 172
Vol 34 #5 2002

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Tom McCamus: He's the man you don't want to cross in Mutant X. Miwa Hirai talks to the actor about his plastic-coated, Warhol-bewigged bad guy. 

Tom Savini: He has become legendary for his creatively gory makeup effects, yet Tom Savini's skills are not only latex-deep. Mike Watt discovers what the multi-faceted film artist has been up to. 

Eight Legged Freaks: Giant spiders are on the march, and, no, you're not supposed to take this latest entry out of Roland Emmerich's and Dean Devlin's Centropolis Entertainment seriously. Chuck Wagner finds out what it takes to get all those CG arachnids moving. 

The Dangerous Lives Of Alter Boys: It ain't pederast priests, but their own, comic-infused imaginations that pose the greatest threat, and the most likely salvation. Dan Scapperotti talks with Todd McFarlane about bringing the fantasy sequences of this Jodie Foster-produced period piece to life. 

Reign Of Fire: They're big, they're hungry, they're fire-breathing. They are, in a word, dragons, and according to former X-Files director Rob Bowman, they're no longer a medieval myth but a tangible threat to humanity. Andrew Osmond talks with the creators about bringing an ancient evil to a tenuous future. 

Goldmember: Austin Powers is back, this time teaming up with fellow '70s refugee Foxxy Cleopatra to foil the palns of the titular bad guy, a man who really does have a golden gun. Ed Gross fleshes out the story. 

Halloween: Resurrection: If you can't kill him, mass-market him. The franchise hits the Web as an internet entrepreneur tries to leverage the Michael Myers legend for a few quick bucks, to disastrous effect. Bryan Cairns talks to director Rick Rosenthal. 

Ultraviolet: Creator Joe Hearne embues his vampires with a cool, 21st century sheen and an agenda that's disturbingly ambivalent. Paula Vitaris looks into the mini-series that rewrote the rules on bloodsucker drama. 

Spider-Man's New York: It took CG effects, stage sets, and, oh yes, some Manhattan-based location shoots to bring the masked web-slinger's home base to the screen. Ross Plesset surveys the effort. 

Spy Kids 2: They've got security clearance, snazzy gadgets, and a new mission. Fred Topel meets up with director Robert Rodriguez to discuss the continuing adventure. 

George Pal remembered: Bob Burns shares memories of the legendary filmmaker with Tom Weaver. 

Dragons in film. 

Reviews: The Mothman Prophecies, Queen Of The Damned, Rollerball.

Issue 173
Vol 34 #6 2002

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Birds Of Prey: The nights only get darker in Gotham after Batman succumbs to the Joker and the daughters of the city's most stalwart crime fighters join forces to stem the rising tide of evil. Colin Kingston previews this new take on the comic-book classic. 

Dagon: Stuart Gordon returns to Lovecraftian lore with a tale of a village and the travelers who run afoul of its dark secrets. Dan Scapperotti gets deep with the director. 

Feardotcom: 'The e-mail is coming from inside your house!' Horror goes online as a depraved killer discovers the internet can be used for more than just swapping MP3's. Dred Topel talks with director William Malone. 

Signs: Mel Gibson plays a minister whose crisis of faith isn't helped by a series of crop circles and the machinations of director M. Night Shyamalan. Producer Gary Marshall discusses the fine art of creeping an audience out with Denise Dumars. 

Saint Sinner: Is basic cable ready for pure, uncut Clive Barker? The Sci Fi Channel finds out when it unleashes this tale of a time-traveling monk sent to undo the depredations of a pair of ravenous succubi. Mike Watt meets the director and his special fx. 

Top 25 Scream Kings: We'll do Scream Queens another day. Time for a bit of balance as Bryan Cairns rounds up the twenty-five actors who most readily populate our nightmares and make movie theaters safe for ghouls and other fright-thinking abominations. Plus, exclusive interviews with Bruce Campbell, Kane Hodder and Boris Karloff's daughter. 

Alias: You could say Sydney Bristow has her hands full: She has to fulfill her missions as an operative for the super-secret SD-6 agency, while reporting to the CIA about sinister doings at the rogue unit, while trying to reconcile conflicting emotions about her father - also a double agent - while cramming for her finals. About the only thing which is easy is ABC's decision to renew the addictive series for a second season. Edward Gross comes in from the cold with a report on behind-the-scenes doings on set, plus a first season program guide which should bring you up to speed for the sophomore outing. 

The Strangler's Wife: Roger Corman's doing it again: throwing his support behind a group of struggling filmmakers and their tale of a woman who discovers her significant other is keeping a not-so-insignificant secret. Dan Scapperotti talks with the director. 

The Dead Zone: Stephen King comes to cable with a series based on his tale of a man who in a touch can know your future better than Dr. Phil and Deepak Chopra combined. Frank Garcia meets up with the cast and crew. 

Spiderman vs. Star Wars: While the post-modern generation has found a new sci fi-fantasy icon, it seems they may have tired of an established one. Dennis Kleinman reviews. 

Reviews: Das Experiment, Scooby Doo, The Scorpion King.