After a month of doppelgängers and deception, including discussions of cam girl thriller, Cam (listen), 1978 alien invasion Invasion of the Body Snatchers (listen), and the original The Stepford Wives (listen), Trace and I are ready to decompress with a simple, elegant David Fincher title.

In 2002’s Panic Room, Jodie Foster plays Meg, a recently divorcee who moves into a posh townstone (town home meets brownstone) with her pre-teen daughter, Sarah (Kristen Stewart). Unbeknownst to them, the eccentric recluse who owned the property before them left a large fortune in the titular room’s safe…and there are three opportunistic thieves who will do nearly anything to get the cash.

What follows is a cat and mouse thriller as idiot Junior (Jared Leto), sympathetic Burnham (Forest Whitaker), and wild card Raoul (Dwight Yoakam) try to break in while Meg and Sarah attempt to keep them out. Will the thieves get what they want or will the women persist? You’ll find out by the end of the night!

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Episode 328: Panic Room (2002) feat. Cameron Scheetz

Monitor your blood sugar and watch the motion sensor lasers because we’re diving into David Fincher’s Panic Room (2002), along with Queerty‘s Cameron Scheetz.

We think this David Fincher “popcorn” flick doesn’t get enough respect, particularly for queer leads Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart.

Plus: a scary Dwight Yoakam, Leto’s <gulp> cornrows, slow motion set pieces, and the film’s troubled production history which includes…Nicole Kidman?!

Cross out Panic Room!

Coming up on Wednesday: We’re checking out the ’90s teen thriller Disturbing Behavior, which got the studio hack job treatment right before its 1998 release.

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 375 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal Season 2, Episodes 3-4, The White Lotus Season 3, Drop, Sinners and a brand new audio commentary on The Amityville Horror remake for its 20th anniversary.

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David Koepp’s script for Panic Room sounds like an update of Lady in a Cage, that 1964 film where Olivia de Havilland’s rich character becomes trapped within her home’s built-in elevator, and is then menaced by aggressive intruders as her neighbors look the other way. It’s a gruesome commentary on the unprotected legal status of women at the time. Koepp, however, was inspired by the uptick in panic rooms — or safe rooms — among the wealthy. Of course, Jodie Foster’s character Meg Altman didn’t go searching for such a safeguard. No, this foreboding add-on in hers and her daughter’s new home was as fortuitous a find as it was integral to their wellbeing.

Panic Room’s cultural timing was punctual. Even though Koepp began penning his screenplay back in 2000, Fincher’s adaptation didn’t hit screens until spring of 2002. By then, there was an undeniable and rampant sense of paranoia hanging in the air that only added to the film’s own tense atmosphere. This is not a story that’s necessarily looking to breed mistrust in a changing and unpredictable world, but most definitely, it benefitted from that post-9/11 climate. Coincidentally, Jodie Foster’s subsequent thriller, Flightplan, also covered the theme of invasion, albeit aggressively.

Home invasion, as a subgenre, is overflowing with tales of forced entry, but Panic Room stands out in how it processes that universal fear. For all that initial boasting heard early on in this film, courtesy of two pushy real estate agents, the titular room doesn’t provide long-lasting relief for Foster’s character once she and her child take refuge. On the contrary, they are now more distressed. In addition to their prowlers refusing to vacate, there are oversights that the two women didn’t think to consider; they are not only trapped in the meantime, they still have no say in how the scenario will play out. So while the technological measures in place may not have literally failed, they never deliver as promised. It’s a rather nasty instance of “results may vary.”

As much as Panic Room wants its characters, along with the audience, to believe money can’t buy them security in the long run, that philosophy means nothing to the story’s antagonists. With the exception of Jared Leto’s Junior, the money-grubbing grandson of the house’s former owner and the panic room’s implementer, the other two burglars would only benefit from their windfall. Forest Whitaker’s Burnham, who helped install the panic room he’s now trying to break into, and Dwight Yoakam’s wildcard character Raoul are each hurting for money. Yet, in their effort to cut to the chase, Fincher and Koepp didn’t delve into personal motives or histories. The Panic Room novelization, on the other hand, has the luxury of time. In its unhurriedness, James Ellison’s literary tie-in fleshes out characters on either side of that impenetrable door.

What could have been mistaken for a throwaway line is actually a bit of crafty foreshadowing. By mentioning the previous owner’s missing fortune and the conflict among his potential inheritors, the thieves’ arrival in the story is less abrupt. Pre-announcing their entrance removes the element of randomness that makes home invasions so dreaded, but Panic Room eventually finds its thrills elsewhere. And in the cinematic version, that morsel of info is just enough to excuse the implausible encounter in store. The novelization behaves likewise, although there is more plot padding around the heist. In particular, author Ellison goes into how Junior teamed up with Burnham and Raoul.

In the book, Junior didn’t simply find the man who built the reclusive Sidney Pearlstine’s panic room; he already knew him, seeing as how he and Burnham first crossed paths during the construction, then became reacquainted following the old man’s funeral. As for Raoul, he wasn’t discovered “through some people,” as Junior loosely explained in the film. Raoul is Junior’s drug dealer, fresh out of prison, and endures living with his good-for-nothing mother. Regarding their exact motivations, Burnham wants to clear substantial gambling debts and reconcile with his wife, whereas Raoul craves a clean slate, preferably somewhere tropical. Junior is still an entitled screwup in Ellison’s take, but now he resents his grandfather for being kinder to Burnham — that “staunch left-winger” preferred the company of “a working-class Black man” — than his own family.

Race and class come up in Panic Room even when the film doesn’t explicitly address these topics. The novelization is less inclined to skip the dialogue, even if it’s still done indirectly, and as expected, the author uses Frank Burnham and Raoul Avila to make his points. The matters of systemic poverty and racial discrimination are raised now, thanks to that extra attention paid to both men’s backgrounds.

Jodie Foster took over after Nicole Kidman dropped out, on account of an injury. The change ultimately pushed Fincher to approach the film and its protagonist differently, however, that divorcée-turned-hero is still shown to be quite vulnerable. The novelization runs away with that pathos, emphasizing Meg Altman’s inner battle with herself. Ellison expounded on Koepp’s design and offered a character whose whole life, up until now, has been something of a panic room in itself. The Meg found in the novelization goes through the same situational hurdles as her on-screen counterpart, yet the printed version of her catharsis is granted a bit more emotional oomph. This Meg realizes the weight of her ordeal, and in a way, is thankful for it. Ellison summed it up best by writing: “It had taken her thirty-six years of living, but Meg finally lost her innocence.”

Streamlining Panic Room comes at the cost of some exposition, but the blanks aren’t too hard to fill in, even without reading the novelization. It’s the sort of film where actions speak louder than words. And while the technical components and the high-concept setting evidently received top priority, David Fincher’s eye for detail only enhanced the story of this pulse-pounding and singular thriller.

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• Aired from 2002 – 2003
• Aired on UPN Network

Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone” has had a long and storied history on television with an iconic 1959 original run, and an acclaimed and highly regarded iteration from 1985. After the death of the anthology series in the early aughts, producers still hoped to mine some gold from the property with the 2002 iteration that aired primarily on the UPN Network. To say that last iteration is not well regarded is something of an understatement. In the breath of the first two “The Twilight Zone” runs, the 2002 version is often ignored, or jokingly dismissed as the failed launch for the new generation.

The show originally ran for forty four episodes on a prime time slot, so its chances of taking off were pretty slim, but the series itself garnered a line up of episodes that ranged from painfully mediocre to downright abysmal. Even the best episodes of the series will leave you shrugging with indifference and struggling to cherry pick the finer qualities. It’s a shame since Forest Whitaker does a pretty solid job as the narrator; he’s just a good actor stuck in a bad adaptation. 2002’s “The Twilight Zone” featured a slew of thirty minute episodes, all of which were either original works, or modernized remakes of a few of the classic episodes.

Among some of the notable episodes, there’s the ridiculous “Cradle of Darkness.” Answering the age old question “What if you could go back in time and kill Hitler as a baby?” we meet covert agents with the ability to travel through time. The female agent, as played by Katherine Heigl, is tasked with murdering baby Hitler, but soon finds it impossible to mix in, especially as she grows fond of the baby, and begins getting seduced by his father. The episode is goofy, and the plot twist is more of a groaner than anything else.

“Azoth the Avenger is a Friend of Mine” is one of the more comedic episodes, saved only by Patrick Warburton, who plays a Conan-like warrior whose been torn from the comics of young Craig who is being bullied and abused by his father. Rory Culkin stars in this considerably campy turn, looking as if he’s half asleep the entire time.

“Night Route” is one of the standout best episodes of the iteration but is bogged down by its muddy message about life or fate or… accepting fate? I don’t know. Ione Skye is a young girl with a great life who is nearly hit by a car while walking her dog. Soon she begins to notice a large black bus driving down her street every night that stops wherever she is. As she begins to figure out what’s going on, she realizes there’s another bit of horseplay afoot. The character figures out what’s going on halfway through the episode, but it’s a fine enough installment if you can forgive the confused moral of the story.

There’s also “The Monsters Are on Maple Street.” The original episode is one of my all time favorites, a wonderful play on McCarthyism and the lunacy of humanity. This new version is pretty much about post 9/11 hysteria and is about as subtle as a brick in the face. The better writer would have taken more ideas about xenophobia and the terrorist fright and ran with it to make it more about a society consuming itself, but here we’re presented with a slew of wholly unlikable characters and a new twist ending that’s both clunky and damn stupid.

There are also modern takes on “Eye of the Beholder,” “Nick of Time,” and “It’s a Good Life,” all of which are woefully misguided contemporary updates. You’d assume for a series that premiered on September 2002, this new series would be ripe for social commentary, but alas, it’s one big letdown. While the new iteration aimed for episodes about racial inequality, police corruption, and the like, it just seems to play with kid gloves the whole time, pulling its punches and failing to be remotely evocative or bold. Even when the series is at its best, it’s absolutely anemic in tone and the narration by Forest Whitaker is a reflection of it.

Whitaker is a brilliant actor when put in the right role, but as narrator he lacks the dread and wry sense of humor that Rod Serling (and even Charles Aldman or Robin Ward) held. After one season and stale critical reactions, UPN pulled the series down and with nary a backlash from audiences. Suffice it to say whatever they were trying to achieve with this version flat out failed from the starting gates, and I’d only recommend it for morbidly curious fans of the franchise. Even when *not* compared to the 1959 original, “The Twilight Zone” is a failure on all fronts.

Here’s hoping CBS All Access’s brand new Jordan Peele-hosted reboot fares much better.

Is It On DVD/Blu-Ray? The episodes are all available in complete form on various video sites and “TZ” 2002 was released on DVD, fetching a hefty price tag in online shops.

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In the film…

“As a mysterious apocalypse causes the spread of misinformation and violence, a man and his estranged father-in-law race across a chaotic and fractured country to save his pregnant wife.”

The cast includes Theo James, Forest Whitaker, Kat Graham, Kerry Bishé, Mark O’Brien, Nicole Ari Parker and Grace Dove.

Brooks McLaren wrote the film, produced by Paul Schiff, Tai Duncan, Kelly McCormick and Patrick Newall.

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“The plot centers on a mysterious apocalyptic event that turns the roads into mayhem and a young father who will stop at nothing to get home to his pregnant wife on the other side of the country.”

Theo James recently landed the lead role with David M. Rosenthal (The Perfect Guy) directing the film, which is eyeing a production start in second-quarter 2017. Now, the great Forest Whitaker has joined the cast, although his role isn’t being disclosed, reports Variety.

Whitaker most recently starred in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as Saw Gerrera, in Arrival opposite Amy Adams as Colonel Weber, and in Southpaw as the trainer of Jake Gyllenhaal’s character. He recently wrapped Marvel’s Black Panther, in which he plays Zuri alongside Michael B. Jordan.

Paul Schiff Productions’ Paul Schiff and Tai Duncan are producing with Kelly McCormick. Nick Meyer and Marc Schaberg are exec producers for Sierra/Affinity, which is financing the pic and handling international sales.

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The biggest reveal, however, is that of Darth Vader, who is now 100% confirmed to appear in the film that ties directly to George Lucas’ seminal 1977 Star Wars.

Oh yeah, and check out this stunner of a poster!

“Jyn Erso, a Rebellion soldier and criminal, is about to experience her biggest challenge yet when Mon Mothma sets her out on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. With the aid of the Rebels, a master swordsman, and non-allied forces, Jyn will be in for something bigger than she thinks.”

Directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and starring Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Forest Whitaker, and with James Earl Jones returning as the voice of Darth Vader, Rogue One soars into theaters on December 16th.

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After a prologue that rivals Pixar’s Up in terms of its ability to have you reaching for tissues, 12 alien ships arrive in various locations on Earth, hovering about 1,000 feet above the ground. Linguistics professor Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is brought in by a Colonel for the U.S. military (Forest Whitaker) to try to decipher the aliens’s language. Working with mathematician Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), Louise attempts to find out why the aliens (nicknamed “heptapods” due to their seven long tentacles) have arrived on our planet.

Viewers walking into Arrival expecting an alien invasion film will no doubt leave disappointed. The film has more in common with Close Encounters of the Third Kind than it does with Independence Day. It has bigger ideas in mind than either of those two films though. The aliens are there, and Villeneuve is not shy about showing them early on, but Arrival isn’t about them. Arrival is about the humans, and how the aliens’ arrival effects one particular character. Tackling the arrival on a smaller scale and limiting it to one side’s perspective (that of the Americans) adds to the tension that pervades the film.

A large theme in the film is trust and how fear plays a part in it. The U.S. military is working closely with the 11 other countries where the ships have arrived and tensions gradually rise as the film progresses. China wants to attack it. Australia sides with the U.S. Other countries have their own opinions on the matter. Many fear that one of the other countries learned something that they have not and will use that knowledge against them. It is a simple way to create suspense but it pays off in spades. Arrival is a slow burn but it is never boring.

[Related] FULL Fantastic Fest Coverage on Bloody Disgusting

Performances are strong across the board, but Adams is the star here. She is in nearly every scene and delivers an emotionally resonant performance that will stick with you long after you have walked out of the theater. Whitaker is serviceable in his supporting role, but Renner is still stuck playing the same type of character he always plays: an everyman. Again though, this is Adams’s film and she delivers a rich performance.

Credit must be given to screenwriter Eric Heisserer, whose script is an adaptation of Ted Chiang’s short story “Story of Your Life”. Heisserer’s skills as a writer improve with each subsequent script he turns out. It’s hard to believe that just six years ago he earned his first screenwriting credit for the underwhelming remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. After that he wrote 2011’s Final Destination 5 and The Thing to mixed reception, followed by the Paul Walker-starrer Hours. His screenplay for this year’s Lights Out (review) was a mostly successful study of depression and grief, but he knocks it out of the park with Arrival. It is his most mature work to date and where Lights Out may have not fully succeeded in its study of mental illness, Arrival most definitely succeeds in what it sets out to accomplish.

To top things off, Arrival looks spectacular. Every shot impresses and while this is not an effects-driven movie, what little effects there are simply stun. The heptapods are CGI creations, but they look quite convincing. Bradford Young’s cinematography is gorgeous and Joe Walker edits the film with a controlled hand, supporting the film’s deliberate pace.

Arrival is a truly affecting piece of filmmaking. It deals with global themes that are more relevant today than ever before and is bookended by some tear-jerking emotional wallops. The fact of the matter is that no review can explain just how this film will affect you. This is more than a film. It is an experience. So go experience it.

Arrival will be released in theaters nationwide on November 11, 2016.

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Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario) is behind this majestic looking sci-fi thriller that stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker. The trailer has Adams making contact and decoding the alien language, as the beings seemingly invade her sleep. It appears the aliens are there to save mankind, as implied by a voice over, but then something goes wrong…

In theatres November 11, 2016, “When mysterious spacecrafts touch down across the globe, an elite team – lead by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) – is brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers – and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.”

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Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario) is behind this majestic looking sci-fi thriller that stars Amy Adams, and Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker.

In it, “When mysterious spacecrafts touch down across the globe, an elite team – lead by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) – is brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers – and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.”

In theatres November 11, 2016, here’s a teaser for the film’s trailer, which mysteriously lands on Aug. 16.

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In theaters December 16th, 2016, Rebels are set out on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. The set up is pretty great and adds an entirely new dimension to the first Star Wars. I also love the homage to Ridley Scott’s Alien in the trailer’s score!

Pictured at the bottom are Riz Ahmed, Diego Luna, Felicity Jones, Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen in Rogue One, which is directed by Godzilla‘s Gareth Edwards.

Ben Mendelsohn, Jiang Wen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, and Forest Whitaker also star.

The filmmakers have assembled a stellar cast, including Felicity Jones, nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role in “The Theory of Everything”; Diego Luna, who was featured in 2008’s Oscar-winning “Milk” and the critically acclaimed “Killing Them Softly”; Ben Mendelsohn, recently nominated for an Emmy for his leading role in “Bloodline” and co-starring in the upcoming “Mississippi Grind”; Donnie Yen, Hong Kong action star and martial artist who starred in “Ip Man” and “Blade II”; Jiang Wen, who co-wrote, produced , directed and starred in the award-winning “Let the Bullets Fly” and “Devils on the Doorstep”; Forest Whitaker, recently featured in the critically-acclaimed Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” and winner of an Academy Award® for his leading role in 2006’s “The Last King of Scotland; Mads Mikkelsen, who starred in “The Hunt” and was the memorable villain from 2006’s “Casino Royale”; Alan Tudyk, who plays a performance-capture character in “Rogue One,” stars in the soon-to-be-released “Con Man” series and “Trumbo,” which releases this November; and Riz Ahmed, who was recently featured in “Nightcrawler” and starred in the BAFTA-winning film “Four Lions.”

Veteran ILM visual effects supervisor John Knoll, who shares a long history with the Star Wars movies, dating back to the mid-1990s, originated the idea for the movie. Allison Shearmur (“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Cinderella”), John Knoll, Simon Emanuel (“The Dark Knight Rises,” “Fast & Furious 6”) and Jason McGatlin (“Tintin,” “War of the Worlds”) are executive producers. Kiri Hart and John Swartz (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) are co-producers.

To create the lived-in, realistic feel of “Rogue One,” Edwards chose Greig Fraser (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “Foxcatcher”) to be his director of photography and Neil Corbould (“Black Hawk Down,” “Gladiator,” “Saving Private Ryan”) to be his special effects supervisor. Star Wars and Lucasfilm veteran Doug Chiang (“Star Wars: Episodes I-II,” “Forrest Gump”) and Neil Lamont (supervising art director for the “Harry Potter” series, “Edge of Tomorrow”) will be the production designers. Additional crew members will include stunt coordinator Rob Inch (“World War Z,” Marvel’s “Captain America: The First Avenger”), creature effects supervisor Neal Scanlan (“Prometheus”) and co-costume designers Dave Crossman (costume supervisor for the “Harry Potter” series, “Saving Private Ryan”) and Glyn Dillon (costume concept artist for “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” “Jupiter Ascending”).

“Rogue One takes place before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope and will be a departure from the saga films but have elements that are familiar to the Star Wars universe,” Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy previously stated. “It goes into new territory, exploring the galactic struggle from a ground-war perspective while maintaining that essential Star Wars feel that fans have come to know. Gareth is such an innovative director and I’m so excited to be working with him and the extraordinary ensemble cast he’s selected for Rogue One.”

Photo Credit: Jonathan Olley

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SPECIES

Directed by Roger Donaldson
Screenplay by Dennis Feldman
Produced by Frank Mancuso Jr. & Dennis Feldman
Starring Natasha Henstridge, Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Marg Helgenberger, Forest Whitaker, Alfred Molina, and Michelle Williams.
Released on July 7, 1995

In 1974, S.E.T.I. (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) sent the Arecibo Message out into the cosmos. Among many other tidbits of information, it contained details on human DNA and the Earth’s population at the time. In 1993, they received a response. The first bit of information returned to us gave humanity the formula for creating a new renewable energy source. The second part of the response dished out plans to splice alien DNA with our own. S.E.T.I. jumped with delight, of course, and set about growing some embryos based on the latter. After all, these unknown pen pals gave us a rad new fuel source, so why not trust in them enough to create an alien/human hybrid?

We all know this was a big mistake, but it’d be no fun if the film’s scientists hadn’t rolled with it. Personally, we also kind of had it coming. After all, we were dumb enough to send our biological and population information into the stars. That’s like a termite walking out of the wall in your house and announcing how many of them there are and where this nest is. It’s basically like placing an intergalactic “kick me” sign on our own backs.

The film opens in media res, with all of the above already having occurred. We don’t find out the specifics until later on. Instead, the opening sequence relies more on emotion than information. We see a young girl residing in a quarantined environment, with some scientists looking on. Chief among them is Xavier Fitch (Ben Kingsley), who has a grim look upon his face. It soon becomes evident that they are terminating the girl, who is played by a young Michelle Williams for the first third of the film.

She looks confused and terrified at first, then downright sad once she realizes what is happening. Fitch himself begins to cry as well, as a team of technicians pumps cyanide gas into the girl’s chamber. Naturally this gaseous killshot has no effect on her and she escapes, necessitating the assemblage of a team of experts to track her down.

Our team is comprised of molecular biologist Dr. Laura Baker (Marg Helgenberger), anthropologist Dr. Stephen Arden (Alfred Molina), empath Dan Smithson (Forest Whitaker), and government assassin Preston Lennox (Michael Madsen). Fitch briefs them on the situation (where the above exposition comes in) and then joins them on their mission to take the girl, Sil, down.

They track her across the country as she leaves a few bodies in her wake, with most initial kills occurring out of fear or the need for survival. After gorging on food and cocooning herself, she emerges as a fully-formed adult woman, played by Natasha Henstridge in her debut role. From there on out, with her biological clock ticking, Sil is determined to find a suitable mate so that she can reproduce.

I’m a sucker for monster movies, particularly science fiction-tinged ones. There’s just something about the melding of both the horror and sci-fi genres that speaks to me. Species has elements of both genres in spades; playing like an early-‘80s Corman riff on Alien, but with an A-picture budget. It even has the requisite nudity that old school Corman exploitation films always contained, although the results are less sleazy here.

The plot here is pretty standard fare, albeit with a higher budget than usual. When threatened, she morphs into her alien form, which comes courtesy of some absolutely fantastic physical effects created by the great Steve Johnson. We’re also treated to the occasional CGI version. Those particular FX shots are obviously dated now, but on the whole, they still work. Sil’s design was created by none other than H.R. Giger and much like his unforgettable work in Alien, she’s a pretty iconic creation.

Species is well-directed and the script is pretty tight, but what really elevates this film above your standard DTV monster movie fare is the cast. Everyone here is on point, with none of the main cast members phoning it in. Michael Madsen is an actor I like, but he’s often not used well in films, particularly recently. Quentin Tarantino has always managed to pull some nice performances out of him, but that’s not always true of other directors. Lucky for us, New Zealand-filmmaker Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Thirteen Days) hews closer to the former than the latter.

Preston Lennox easily could have been your standard government stooge tough guy role, but Madsen plays him far more subdued than most might have. If the need calls for it, Lennox will immediately spring to action, but on the whole he is rather laid back. Instead of launching to the forefront in every situation, he often tends to hang back and just observe his surroundings. There’s an air of loneliness about him that makes for an interesting juxtaposition when you factor in his matter-of-factness. Ever the professional, Lennox knows his role and his mind is almost always on the job, which is something to be admired in a character that would now probably be blandly portrayed by Charlie Hunnam.

Alongside Madsen, Forest Whitaker is the other standout here, which should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with him. As psychically-gifted “empathy” Dan, Whitaker gets loads of scenery to chew on, though never goes over-the-top in his mastication. His abilities weird out his cohorts, but in the face of them all being on a manhunt for an alien/human hybrid, no screentime is wasted on the other characters scoffing at his gifts. Thankfully, they all just roll with it, which is positively refreshing.

The remaining three team members are all scientists and approach things from an entirely different perspective. Fitch seems utterly conflicted throughout; wanting to stamp out the obvious threat to humanity, but also utterly remorseful for having to kill what pretty much amounts to his adopted child. Baker and Arden seem bummed about the prospect of killing such an interesting specimen and are at first fascinated by all around them, but that too gives way to the mission at hand. All too often we are given a team full of in-fighting in a film like Species, making the lack of such a narrative crush yet another breath of fresh air.

Lastly, of course, is Sil herself. Both Michelle Williams and Natasha Henstridge sell her constant fear, sadness, and confusion extremely well. Combined, the performances manage to gel into this weird, innocent, and occasionally creepy character. It’s telling that Sil could have busted out of her cell at any time before the start of the film, but chose not to until she was endangered. The same goes for her first three kills.

The homeless man and the train worker are both killed out of fear, not malice. Hell, even her first mating kill is done in self-defense. After being taken home for sex by a man she meets in a club, Sil decides that he isn’t a suitable mate for her after all. Her initial instinct is to simply leave his home and seek another mate, leaving him unharmed. It isn’t until after he attempts to force himself on her that she lashes out and takes his life.

This in turn informs her next sexual encounter, where Sil becomes more aggressive when it comes to making her desires known. Was Sil being rougher with her second suitor because she assumed the way her first suitor acted was how all human men were? It seems likely. Sil might be a sexually violent woman (something the film was criticized for upon release), but she was absolutely driven to it by male sexual aggression.

In a world where misogynists proclaim loudly that women are only here to look pretty and have babies, Sil has a counter-argument: men are only good for sperm and not all men are worthy of her sexual attention. This, along with her iconic look, makes her a rarity in the pantheon of memorable horror characters.

Species is not a perfect film, nor an underseen one (it did spawn 3 sequels, after all), but I do feel that it is an underrated one. It is well-directed, is tightly-paced, has stellar special FX, and contains good characters. It also has a great concept and monster design. That alone makes it worthy enough to be considered a good ‘90s horror film. Add in the fact that it is the inspiration for the “chupacabra” myth and there’s no denying Species‘ place in both film and cultural history.

Up Next: Mute Witness (1995)

Previously On…
Species | Mute Witness | Popcorn | Wishmaster | Alien 3 | Cast A Deadly Spell
Disturbing Behavior | The Sect | The Addams Family

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Birth.Movies.Death is claiming that Ben Mendelsohn’s new Moff character isn’t the only baddie menacing Felicity Jones & Co. in Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One next year: Darth Vader will be too!  While they go on to state that they aren’t sure how much Vader will be in the film and in what capacity, our own sources have painted a larger picture.

We all know that the central idea is that the film is set between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, with a group of rebels stealing the plans for the Death Star and making off across the galaxy to deliver them to their superiors.  The “Rogue One” of the title is the name of their mission.  In pursuit is Mendelsohn’s Moff and his imperial cronies. That’s the vague set-up we’ve been given to date.

According to our own sources, Vader enters the fray when he learns that the plans have been stolen and is none too pleased about this.  While we should not expect everyone’s favorite, Force-choke happy Darth to be a main role in the film, it does sound like this will be more than a cameo.  Given that he recently participated on the animated series set during this same gap, “Star Wars: Rebels”, I think it is safe to assume that James Earl Jones will be back to voice Lord Vader.  Rumors still persist that WWE superstar Seamus has been cast as Vader in the suit, but no confirmation has been made at this time.

With filming underway, San Diego Comic-Con later in the week, and D23 creeping up next month, we should expect to hear a lot more about Rogue One in the coming weeks, both in terms of cast and story.

Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One is set to hits theaters on December 16, 2016.  Directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and written by John Knoll, Gary Whitta, and Chris Weitz, the film stars Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Sam Claflin, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, and Forest Whitaker.

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Director Corin Hardy told Variety:

“Jack Huston is unfortunately unavailable to continue with us on ‘The Crow.’

‘The Crow’ is an amazing project, and I am grateful that we have the time and patience to get it right. We look forward to unveiling our new lead and starting to film over the next several weeks.”

The site adds that Relativity Studios is eyeing Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies, Mad Max, X-Men) and Unbroken‘s Jack O’Connell, among others, as possible replacements.

The studio also commented on the situation, saying:

“Jack is a remarkably gifted actor, and we look forward to working with him in the future. Corin Hardy has a tremendous vision for ‘The Crow,’ and we are working closely with him to continue prepping the movie and supporting him as he brings his vision to the big screen.”

It’s yet another blow to the film, which has been in the works for several years.

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If everything works out, Whitaker will join production for the revenge thriller after finishing his current project, the sci-fi drama The Story Of Your Life, which also stars Amy Adams. After The Crow, Whitaker should then be taking part in Star Wars: Rogue One, which will be directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla).

In the 1994 film that starred Brandon Lee, a couple are viciously attacked the night before their wedding. The man, Eric Draven, rises from the dead a year later to take his revenge on the gang that destroyed his life.

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Whitaker stars with Anthony Mackie and Mike Epps as a man who kidnaps and tortures a psychiatrist he believes may be responsible for the death of his mother.

“An earnest life-coach/author, Thomas Carter, is mysteriously abducted by a deranged client, Angel Sanchez, who delves into Thomas’ teachings and uses his spiritual messages of Karma – action and reaction (Vipaka), against him to terrorize him and his family for their past sins.”

Film Bridge International will introduce to buyers at the EFM when the film will receive its market premiere screening.

Philippe Caland directed from the screenplay he co-wrote with Shintaro Shimosawa.

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Forest Whitaker is hoping to pin some needles into your wallets with the voodoo-themed Vipaka, producing and starring in the psychological thriller alongside Anthony Mackie (Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter), reports Variety.

Sanaa Lathan (Contagion) also co-stars in the elevated genre pic, which follows two adversaries who go head-to-head in a game that will test each man’s belief in what they’re certain is the truth.

Whitaker and Nina Yang are producing through his Significant Prods. banner, while French/Lebanese helmer Philippe Caland (Boxing Helena) is directing.

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