One glance at the front cover of Cinefex #28 should give you good reason to be afraid - very afraid. Staring right back at you is the grotesque visage of doomed scientist Seth Brundle following his metamorphosis into a half-human, half-insect hybrid at the climax of David Cronenberg's horror classic The Fly (1986). Known to … Continue reading Revisiting Cinefex (28): The Fly, Big Trouble in Little China, Short Circuit
Tag: Cinefex
Revisiting Cinefex (27): Aliens
The human star of Aliens might be Sigourney Weaver, but it's her extraterrestrial adversary - the ferocious alien queen - that features on the front cover of Cinefex #27, No surprise, then, that this issue is devoted entirely to the Oscar-winning visual effects of James Cameron's 1986 blockbuster. The cover shot shows Stan Winston's remarkable full-size queen … Continue reading Revisiting Cinefex (27): Aliens
Revisiting Cinefex (26): Poltergeist II, Young Sherlock Holmes
Carol Anne's in trouble on the front cover of Cinefex #26, assailed by a whole new host of ghostly apparitions in Brian Gibson's 1986 sequel Poltergeist II: The Other Side. The apparitions come courtesy of Richard Edlund's Boss Film Studios and are thus of superior quality (though most folk wouldn't say the same about the … Continue reading Revisiting Cinefex (26): Poltergeist II, Young Sherlock Holmes
Revisiting Cinefex (25): Enemy Mine, Der Trickfilm, Fright Night
There's a rule of thumb in the graphic design business: if you want the magazine to sell, put a pretty face on the cover. This is my 25th trip into my personal Cinefex archive, and well over half the covers I've looked at more or less follow that rule (remember, in the world of visual effects, … Continue reading Revisiting Cinefex (25): Enemy Mine, Der Trickfilm, Fright Night
Revisiting Cinefex (24): Cocoon, The Goonies, Back to the Future
Both the front and back covers of Cinefex issue #24 feature one of the big hit movies of 1985: Ron Howard's Cocoon. On the front we see - in extreme close-up - actor Brian Dennehy pulling down his lower eyelid to reveal the glowing skin of his alien Anterean self. The super-stretchy eyelid was a … Continue reading Revisiting Cinefex (24): Cocoon, The Goonies, Back to the Future
Revisiting Cinefex (23): Explorers, Lifeforce, My Science Project
Cinefex issue #23 examines no less than three movies but, as far as the cover pictures go, the star of this particular show is Explorers, Joe Dante's 1985 slice of family-friendly science fiction. Up front is a hero shot of the rather funky-looking spaceship operated by whimsical aliens Wak and Neek. Look closely and you'll … Continue reading Revisiting Cinefex (23): Explorers, Lifeforce, My Science Project
Revisiting Cinefex (22): Return to Oz, Baby
In a scene from Walter Murch's 1985 film Return to Oz, the monstrous Nome King prepares to devour Dorothy Gale's new friend Jack Pumpkinhead. This perilous snapshot makes for a striking cover to Cinefex #22, but how many of you were actually able to name the movie? Not everyone, I'm guessing, which is a shame … Continue reading Revisiting Cinefex (22): Return to Oz, Baby
The Many Lives of a Writer – 5
Most people are like cats – they live not just one life, but many. Writers are no exception. Here's the introspective sprawl of my fifth writing life. Life 5 - Diversity So this is me, now, live and uncut, smack in the middle of my fifth writing life. In my past lives, I've written stories both short … Continue reading The Many Lives of a Writer – 5
“Prometheus”
Most people who like cinema have a movie that shines like a beacon in their memory, brighter than all the rest. Mine is Alien. I was there for its first release in 1979, sneaking past the warning signs in the theatre foyer even though I was too young for the movie's X-certificate. One sign screamed: … Continue reading “Prometheus”
Revisiting Cinefex (21): The Terminator, Dune
Emerging from a wall of fire on the front cover of Cinefex #21 is the extraordinarily detailed stop-motion cyborg endoskeleton built by Doug Beswick for James Cameron's seminal 1984 science fiction film The Terminator. There's more fictional futurism on the back cover, in the form of the spice harvester from David Lynch's 1984 adaptation of … Continue reading Revisiting Cinefex (21): The Terminator, Dune
Graham Edwards 