Deep Cult #4

From the director of Battle Royale

Message From Space (1978) - dir. Kinji Fukasuka

Growing up in the early-80s, pop culture was awash with rip-offs and cash-ins on Star Wars. In the absence of the real thing, kids were exposed to an endless parade of imperiled princesses, plucky heros, comedic robots and so on. The cumulative effect, at such a young age, is that they all kind of bled into one giant space opera. A while ago I resolved to pick apart the different threads that make up this sci-fi epic of my mind.

Some of the threads were fairly easy to uncover such as Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century because I was able to distinguish them at the time. Others I was less sure of. Did I ever see Battle Beyond the Stars? After (re)watching it, apparently I did. After watching Message from Space, I'm still not sure if I ever watched it at the time. Seeing I was a huge fan of Monkey and The Water Margin, I think I would have flipped out over it.

The most expensive movie made in Japan at the time, the film is an incoherent mess in the story department mixing story tropes familiar from samurai movies with those found in manga and with many diversions along the way. The set and costume design is fantastic, especially the look of the evil Gavanas. The special effects are less impressive but the space craft design is rather awesome. There is no denying the lo-fi aesthetic looks incredibly cheap compared to the work achieved by ILM but, as with the Godzilla movies, there is a certain charm to them nonetheless.

The metal faced Big Bad

Message from Space is fascinating because it delivers a Star Wars space opera filtered through a Japanese perspective, which really makes it a mirror image of the Lucas film who, lets not forget, was 'inspired' by the films of Akira Kurosawa. It is also possible that Lucas may have been 'inspired' by this film when planning the finale to Return of the Jedi...

Message from Space is currently unavailable on R2 DVD

Deep Cult #3

Charly (1968) - dir. Ralph Nelson


Flowers for Algernon is a classic of science-fiction literature. Written originally as a short story by Daniel Keyes, he subsequently expanded it into a novel. The story concerns Charlie Gordon, a man with an IQ of 68, who volunteers for a medical experiment designed to increase intelligence. The experiment has already proved successful on the laboratory mouse, Algernon. The experiment works for Charlie too, who continues the work already done by the scientists, but then he discovers a flaw in the experiment and notices that Algernon is starting to behave erratically...
The novel is a heartbreaking work that I read in one sitting, literally unable to put it down. Presented as a series of personal reports from Charlie, the style of the writing changing as his intelligence changes, a brilliantly effective conceit.
Flowers for Algernon has been adapted in various media, the most famous being the film Charly for which Cliff Robertson won the Best Actor Academy Award. This is a real cult curio, very much of its time, but effective in getting across the themes of the book. The only real issue that I had with the film was the hilarious montage when Charlie rebels in quite possibly the most sixties, flower-power way imaginable. A sequence that sticks out like a sore thumb in an otherwise engrossing film.

Charly is currently unavailable on Region 2 DVD but can be found on YouTube.

Deep Cult #2

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953) dir. Roy Rowland


We are now very used to seeing adaptations of the works of Dr Seuss, but the only feature film that he wrote while he was alive was the beguiling 5,000 Fingers of Dr T. It is currently unavailable on Region 2 DVD and, every time we get an adaptation of one of his works, I pray it will get a long overdue release so a new generation can discover this wonderful film. With the forthcoming release of The Lorax, my hopes have once again been dashed, although if you subscribe to the Sky Movies packages it does occasionally screen on one of those channels. Seek it out if you get a chance.

I would like to take this opportunity to direct your attention to a few other bits and bobs of Dr Seuss related media. Firstly, there is this fantastic book of war cartoons that Dr Seuss produced before and during WW2.

He was also a writer for a series of instructional cartoon shorts produced for the American military featuring the character Private Snafu.

And finally, this amazing adaptation of HP Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu done in the style of Dr Seuss.

Deep Cult #1

Miracle Mile (1988) dir. Steve De Jarnatt

Why haven't more people heard of Miracle Mile? A clue may be that I first heard about it in a list of 10 recommended depressing movies. Yet while the film is certainly dark (nuclear apocalypse anybody?), I don't think that is necessarily the reason. It seems more likely that this is simply a case of limited distribution combined with a lack of critical exposure. Which sucks.
An indie Cloverfield minus the found footage conceit with giant monster substituted for impending nuclear destruction plus awesome Tangerine Dream score equals relatively unknown cult masterpiece. Check it out (if you can).

http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0097889/