Imitation has been the sincerest form of flattery in Hollywood for decades. Like the gold prospectors of the Wild West not wanting to miss out on the rush to the modern day coffee shop global boom where every town and city seems to have a Starbucks, a Costa or some local equivalent, for every original cinematic success story, there comes a slew of people wanting a piece of the action.

Jaws got filmmakers rushing to find other killer fish to put onto the big screen. Dawn of the Dead saw a never-ending supply of low budget Italian wannabes hit the video stores. Only recently, you’ve got to look at the commercial success of the first wave of Americanised J-Horrors such as The Ring and The Grudge. Before long, pretty much every supernatural horror film had to feature a freaky ghost kid. It’s not rocket science in all honesty. When a film hits it big, there are bound to be clones, copies and tacky knock-offs. That’s a part of the business. Producers will see that there is a market for such titles and, only happy to line their pockets with your money, they’ll green light films to cash-in on this demand.

Take Alien for instance. Ridley Scott’s seminal 1979 sci-fi horror classic has gone down in history as one of the scariest films of all time. It wasn’t just a little green man from Mars threatening mankind, it was a whole new breed of terror. An alien which was humanoid in appearance: taller, stronger and more deadly than us. Suddenly the stakes for the human race had been upped. We were no longer top of the intergalactic food chain, relying on the US army to save the planet as so many of the 50s science fiction alien invasion films would have you believe. This was the future of alien representation on film. And it was a scary sight to behold.

It was inevitable that, thanks to its success, there would be people out there who believe they could do a better job of telling the same story. Or not even a better job, just make some money on selling a similar story to a public who wanted to see more stupid humans being stalked, sliced and ripped apart from the inside by extraterrestrial beings. Alien‘s straightforward formula, the ‘slasher in space’ narrative, would become the prototype for a whole new sub-genre of sci-fi horror films, happy to indulge it’s audience with violence and glorifying the sight of mankind being taught a lesson in respect by more powerful and more dangerous lifeforms than ourselves.

Coming right at the start of the home video boom, this new wave of sci-fi horror films aped the traditional Alien formula: a group of intergalactic explorers are suddenly thrust into a life-or-death situation against a horrific creature of which they know little, except that it can kill with ease. But whilst Ridley Scott opted to avoid making his film gory, focusing on the psychological horror elements and really delivering atmosphere and tension that has rarely been reached since, this wave of copy-cats did what most low budget cash-ins do: tone down the harder-to-perfect, more auteurish elements in favour of the cheaper shock tactics of blood and boobs. Perfect home video material!

Sometimes you don’t want to have to watch something that will make your brain hurt. Sometimes you need to sit down and watch junk. Films which aren’t great by the usual definitions of what makes a good film – but films which are, to put it rather simply, entertaining. You’ll feel a little ashamed to watch them. But you know that deep down, you’re loving every minute for the wrong reasons. And believe me when I tell you that this Alien-clone sub-genre has produced some truly entertaining knock-offs. But it has also produced some stinkers.

So April’s Pick ‘n’ Mix features four of the best and worst of the 1980s Alien clones. Infamous Hollywood producer Roger Corman is the man behind two of them – Galaxy of Terror and Forbidden World, whilst ET’s melted cousin becomes the go-to alien in Star Crystal, and Creature features a maniacal Klaus Kinski who looks more inhuman than the alien! Enjoy!

 (click on posters to read individual reviews)

     

 

It’s A Wonderful Life? A Christmas Carol? Miracle on 34th Street? Maybe Jingle All the Way at a push…. Just a few of the Christmas films that people could roll off the top of their head if they were stopped asked in the street to name their favourite festive flicks. We all like a bit of seasonal schmaltz at this time of the year – film quality means little as long as it makes us feel Christmassy.

But for me, when someone brings up the topic of Christmas films, I don’t think of the usual suspects. Forget the goodwill and sentiment of the holiday period, I’m more interested in the perverse nature of Santa. I think of some stranger who dresses in a weird red get-up, keeps a chilling list of those who have been nice and naughty throughout the year and then comes down your chimney and invades your personal space when you’re asleep. I see dozens of imitation Santas sitting pretty in shopping centres, department stores and Christmas parades the world over pretending to be someone they’re not – and let’s face it, you don’t know who is behind the beard! I think of the more sinister aspects to the myths and legends which brought about the existence of the character of Santa Claus in the first place. The unfortunate sight of so many children breaking down in tears as their parents force them to undergo some sort of ‘growing up’ ritual by visiting Santa in his grotto and being given some rubbish toy. I could go on and on. It’s perfect horror material, playing upon fears and insecurities that we have and portraying the dark side of what many people to be the most wonderful time of the year.

So forget all of the overly mushy nonsense, sit back and enjoy some of the more ‘alternative’ Christmas films out there. Films that take the goodwill of Christmas and slice it to pieces with a carving knife. Films which turn Santa from doddery elderly gentlemen in brutal killing machines and who take pleasure in inflicting punishment on the naughty…and in many cases the nice. I’m not suggesting that you stick one of these on just after Christmas dinner when the kids are watching. But everything in this world has an opposite and the following films represent the best (and worst) of the festive period. From Santa-hunting psychos in Don’t Open Till Christmas, to demonic interpretations of Father Christmas in Santa’s Slay, co-ed hating slashers in underrated remake Black Christmas and finally, to the ultimate anti-Christmas horror film in Silent Night, Deadly Night…..it’s time to take a bloody axe and smash the spirit of Christmas right in it’s  goody-goody heart!

 (click on posters to read individual reviews)

     

Plus there are plenty more Christmas-themed horror films on the site including new reviews for Jack Frost and Christmas Evil.

But in all honesty, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year  (though the updates won’t stop over the holiday period!).