Welcome to August, We Made It! I hope that people out there IRL are keeping cool, hydrated and burn free - plus of course are enjoying this summer of Pop Culture here @ SaLT. We're in the final month so hold on to your hats! 

Just Finished Reading: Aliens – Earth Hive by Steve Perry (FP: 1992) [277pp] 

Corporal Wilks had faced them before and lived. He was the closest thing they had to an expert on the Xenomorph. They knew how dangerous they were and, after the loss of another colony something had to be done about their menace – permanently. With their apparent home-world now discovered it was time for payback. Together with hand-picked teams of marines, they were doing to find out as much as they could about the species then nuke them from orbit – it was the only way to make sure. If only things were that simple. Unknown to the marines their commanding officer had other, additional, instructions. He was being paid – handsomely – to bring a xenomorph back, alive, by any means possible. Meanwhile a rival corporation had sent a kill-team to ensure that no one or nothing came back alive. Meanwhile, on Earth itself, a xenomorph queen was under investigation in a Top Security installation, isolated, secure, and in total secrecy... Until it wasn’t.... 

I’ve been meaning to read this set of books for some years now. I managed to pick up a few omnibus editions, and they’ve been sitting in a pile of books slowly turning into coal. As a HUGE fan of the sometimes-questionable franchise I knew that this would, or at least should, push most/all of my buttons. Unfortunately, it didn’t. Potentially it was going to be a good story – a slam dunk even. Colonial marines in full badass mode, LOTS of aliens on their (apparent) home world, BIG fight scenes etc... But some pretty poor writing and a questionable plot got in the way almost immediately. First there was ‘Wilks’ who was obviously a cut/paste Hicks from the Aliens movie – complete with young girl he had rescued from the destroyed colony they had been sent to... Then there was the ridiculous ‘love story’ element between Billie (the now grown-up girl survivor Wilks had rescued) and one of the marines... The fight scenes on the planet had their moments but never really got above average and there were FAR too many ‘callbacks’ to Aliens again. 

I think what made it worse for me (apart from the xenomorphs ‘psychic’ abilities) was the fact that there was a decent – indeed more than decent – story embedded in the barely average one! Whilst Wilks & Co where fighting on an alien world Earth was (slowly and then speedily) being overrun by Xenos. Even the brief bits we get of Terran forces trying to come to terms with that was MUCH better than the main ‘story’. Why the author couldn’t have focused on THAT aspect – especially considering the books bloody TITLE is beyond me. Not really recommended for Aliens or SF fans unless you are a completist. But as I already own the next few books (as well as being an eternal optimist) I will be reading more in the series. Oh, and I’m going to try to read more 21st century SF... Eventually... 

NAILED it...............

Happy Easter......!

Just Finished Reading: Predator – Big Game by Sandy Schofield (FP: 1999) [226pp] 

He had been hearing the stories his entire life – the Monster and the Monster Hunter. His grandfather, the Navajo tribes wiseman, had told him the tale a hundred times. But this was the real world, this was the modern age and tales of monsters should have been left in the past where they belong. It was certainly nothing that Corporal Enoch Nakai of the US Army need concern himself with. Until that is they saw the streak in the sky and a party of soldiers from the base were sent out to investigate. Hours later a second team was sent to find out what had happened to the first and they discovered the craft – seemingly abandoned. The brass didn’t know what to make of it. Was it Russian? Was it some kind of spy plane? The scientists examining it had no idea either, but the base was put under lockdown until someone somewhere figured it all out. Corporal Nakai, it seemed, was way ahead of them. He’d seen, or rather sensed, something out there in the desert and it frightened him. Something was watching them, waiting until the right moment, testing their alertness. It was a hunter who crossed the desert as if born to it. Could this be the legend returned? If so, the Monster must be met and destroyed by the Monster Hunter and Enoch was beginning to think he alone knew who the Monster killer was. If he failed a LOT more people were going to die. 

This is an unusual read for me. Despite the fact that its science-fiction and tied into one of my favourite movie franchises, I don’t usually read books associated with it. A clear instance is Star Trek. Despite the fact that I’m a HUGE fan of the ST universe I haven’t read a single book from it. I have read a few from the Aliens universe (non-Predator related) but that, in itself, is unusual too. Anyway... I’d had this book for some time, although LONG after its publication date, and thought it was about time to actually read the thing. Overall, it was an OK read. The ‘monster’ was quite clearly a Predator from the movies and operated pretty much as you might expect. The Hero was OK, and it was an interesting ‘twist’ having him being a Native American and growing up with the legend of the monster which actually turned out to be more of a prediction. The combat was pretty well handled even if it was a little over the top at times. I did roll my eyes a few times at stereotypical writing, but I honestly wasn’t expected great literature here! The novel was entertaining enough to be a fast and generally fun read. I’ve been ‘planning’ to read some of the older Aliens novels (I have several omnibus editions in ‘the pile’) and I think I have a few newer Predator books too. I’ll see if I can fit in a few more this year. Reasonable.  

Alien(s)!

I made a (semi) special trip to the Mall on Saturday for a few things. I hadn’t been there for a good few weeks so was interested to see what new books had come out – especially as February is a no on-line book buying month (yes, I know it’s technically cheating!). I managed to pick up three books (two of which were on my Amazon Wish List) and impulse bought some vitamins from the Health Food shop as they had a sale on. Then for the other reason to hit the Mall…. A visit to the Multiplex.

For a while now my local multiplex has been showing classic movies normally on their particular anniversaries. I’ve seen 2001, Bladerunner and, most recently, Die Hard. This time – in about 2 weeks – it’s the original Alien which is an incredible 40 years old! (which makes me feel VERY old I can tell you!). I’m going along with a few of my younger geeky friends who amazed me recently by BOTH admitting that neither of them have seen the whole film beginning to end in a single sitting. They both said that they’d seen the beginning, middle and end but not necessarily in that order. So it’s going to be fun to be part of their education as a ‘guide’ to one of THE classic SF-Horror movies from the 20th century. It’s going to be even more fun as one of my friends is rather squeamish so I’m fully expecting him to be bouncing out of his seat at least once or twice.

Of course I got talking to the guy on the till as I bought the tickets. He was probably one of the older staff members – late 20’s/early 30’s I’d guess – and the foyer was reasonably quiet so we had the opportunity to discuss the relative merits of Alien Vs Aliens. After some disagreements we decided that, as they were essentially in different genres (Sf/Horror Vs Combat SF) that they were both exemplars of their respective fields. I still think Aliens (probably the Special Edition/Directors Cut) is the better movie but then I’ve always been a sucker for SF style combat movies.

Naturally with the 40th birthday of Alien we’re about to enter into the anniversary space of my favourite style of movie – Eighties films. From 2020 onwards I expect to be seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Risky Business (1983), Gremlins (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), Weird Science (1985), Ferris Bueller (1986), Top Gun (1986), Aliens (1986), The Lost Boys (1987), Heathers (1988), Say Anything (1989)……. It’s going to be SO much fun seeing them at the movies again (or for the first time as I saw a number of 80’s movies on VHS the first time around).   

Surprise......!!

Someone definitely has *cool* parents!

Just Finished Reading: Aliens Vs Predator - War by S D Perry (FP: 1999)

After joining a band of alien Hunters a year ago Machiko Noguchi has come to the conclusion that no matter how many Aliens she kills on the hunt, no matter how well she performs in the sparring room and no matter how well she follows the Hunters Code she will never be accepted, never be a Hunter in her own right. This becomes blindingly obvious when she is aggressively removed from a new Hunt and confined to the orbiting spaceship. Meanwhile a handful of refugees from an Alien infested space station land on the Company planet Bunda hoping that their nightmare has finally come to an end. Unfortunately for them the Company wants a file it thinks they possess, a file that shows that the Alien infection was deliberate, a file that shows just how effective an Alien infestation is when used against an unprotected target. Sending one of its heaviest ‘hitters’, a man on the make, the Company expects results fast no matter the cost to human lives. Caught between the Hunt, a loose Alien Queen and the Company goons the only question is who exactly is going to get them killed before they can get off an infected Bunda.

Written in a fairly effective way this rather sparse novel (at a mere 209 pages on of the shortest I’ve read in a while) moves along at a fair clip and turned out to be moderately entertaining. There are few surprises and I found myself thinking more than once that the author was rather lazily describing variations of scenes from the various Aliens and Predator movies rather than actually inventing anything herself. It has all the expected elements and all the usual suspects/characters. There’s precious little new here except hints of the Hunter culture and some whizzy human technology developed for bug control teams but that’s really it. There’s not a lot of depth here but plenty of action, blood and death to attempt to make up for that. Don’t expect to have your mind expanded but you should be moderately entertained for a few days if you’ve liked the movies at all. Disposable but generally OK fun.  

My Favourite Movies: Predator 2

Inevitably Predator cried out for a sequel. So what did they do with the storyline? Move it into the ‘future’ – 1997 to be precise – and move it into an urban setting, LA in this case suffering under a sustained heat wave possibly caused by Global Warming (though I’m not sure if such a thing was even thought about back in 1990 when this was made). Possibly Arnie wasn’t available – making Total Recall and Kindergarten Cop that year – so Danny Glover was dropped into the middle of the action playing cop Mike Harrigan which turned out to be not unlike cop Roger Murtaugh of Lethal Weapon fame. Though in this instance his back-up crew consisted of Ruben Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso and, for his comedy potential, Bill Paxton.
We’re straight into the action as the cops are involved in a shoot-out with a major drug gang and they’re only just holding their ground. Enter Glover/Harrigan who improvises a semi-armoured vehicle to rescue some downed cops only to be told to ‘back off’ and let the Feds deal with it. Not being a big follower of authority his team enter the building against orders and find lots of dead bodies waiting for them – including one hanging from the rafters. As they say – there’s a new player in town and guess who and what he is? Yup – another predator on safari. Enter the mysterious Federal boys led by B-movie actor Gary Busey as Peter Keyes who seems to know a lot more about what’s going on than he’s telling anyone else.

Inevitably there are lots of parallels between both movies – and not just the score/soundtrack. The plots are broadly similar and P2 references the original movie at several points – including a recap (oddly and rather pointlessly I thought near the end) of what happened to Arnie and his team in the first film. Glover is no Arnie (I mean who is) but manages well enough to carry the action forward ably helped by his support team. Busey is simply Busey as always as he is in every movie I’ve seen in him. Thankfully he wasn’t cast in the Glover role! The star of the movie, for me at least, is the Predator itself played by Kevin Peter Hall who played the creature in both movies. Despite the fact that it barely spoke – and only to repeat things it had recorded earlier – Hall managed in both films to portray a depth and an intriguing possible background for his species that glued me to the screen looking for clues and attempting to confirm the flimsiest of hypotheses. Although I certainly wouldn’t want to meet one of them up close and personal – and definitely not with any kind of weapon in my hand – I definitely want to know more about their culture. That either says lots about me or about how a rather raw action flick can still make people (OK, maybe just people like me) think deep thoughts about alien social ‘anthropology’. Two other things, as the movie moved into its final scenes intrigued me greatly at the time – the fact that an Alien head appeared in their trophy cabinet (future AvP I wondered with glee) and the flint lock gun given to Glover at the end. Did this mean that the Predators had been around since the early 18th Century or could they time travel? Wouldn’t it be interesting to see one of them captured and forced to fight in the Roman gladiatorial contests? Now that would be a hell of a cross-over movie! But that’s just the way my mind works…..

Inevitably there are a few things I didn’t like about the movie, in particular the comedy scene in the apartment with the injured Predator in the bathroom and the old lady waiting outside with the broom. OK, the resulting joke was funny but there was no need to lighten the moment. The other thing that really bothered me was the attempted use of the nuke (as in the first film) which would have destroyed a significant part of LA. If the creature was a true hunter he wouldn’t have wanted to destroy a significant part of his hunting territory. But apart from a few minor niggles it pushed most of my buttons at the time and still manages to entertain decades later. It’s not exactly a work of high art (or just art) but it’s entertaining enough if taken for what it is.

My Favourite Movies: Predator

In my 20’s I was a HUGE fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger. If he was in a movie it was pretty much a certainty that I’d go and see it – no matter the genre and no matter the story. OK, I did draw the line at Twins and only saw Kindergarten Cop on video but the point stands.

In Predator Arnie played ‘Dutch’ a US Special Forces veteran and leader of a crack rescue team called into bring back a cabinet minister and his aide from inside rebel held territory in Central America. Along for the ride is CIA operative Dillon played by Carl Weathers. Quickly it transpires that not everything is at is seems. For one thing Dutch’s team are not the first who have been sent into the meat grinder. A previous team who had disappeared in mysterious circumstances are stumbled upon – dead and skinned. Determined to extract vengeance on the rebels Arnie and crew do what they do best and kill everyone except for a girl who they take along with them as a possible informant. Before they get too far from the recent action one of the team is killed when ‘the jungle came alive and took him’. It’s clear that something – rather than someone – is hunting the team and picking them off one by one. Despite all of their skills they seem helpless against an enemy they can’t see and can barely conceive. Until that is it is wounded in a firefight. As Arnie/Dutch rightly saws: ‘If it bleeds, we can kill it’…… Hopefully before it manages to kill every last one of them!

OK, this is a film without much in the way of plot, without a great deal of subtlety or character development. Its premise, whilst not exactly ridiculous is hardly original – a bunch of people being hunted by a deadly dangerous creature (usually either a crazy human or a supernatural beastie but, in this case, an alien). The acting, such as it is, is often wooden and most definitely minimal. It is most assuredly not a thinking person’s movie. But put all of this aside and what you have left is a fun film. The alien, as in all the best movies, isn’t seen much if at all for the first ¼ to ½ of the film. You know that something weird is going on but not exactly what. When you do finally see it/him he’s pretty damned cool with sophisticated weapons and what appears to be a warrior culture deeply embedded in everything he does. It’s certainly the kind of creature you want to know more about – which is great! As in the interminable slasher movies of the time the good guys are dispatched in a variety of particularly bloody ways that can’t help to make you cringe. Arnie’s fight with the alien is fairly clever and nicely staged although the end is frankly silly though laughable (in a good way) at the same time. As I said, a fun, fun film – if you like that kind of thing anyway!  

My Favourite Movies: Predators

My regular readers will know that I am a fan of both the Alien and Predator movies despite the rather patchy nature of both. So it should come as little surprise that I both saw and liked this movie too. Billed as ‘the sequel the original deserves’ this tells the story of a half-dozen or so mostly military types who wake up to find themselves falling through cloud. As their chutes open they discover they are about to hit the jungle with quite a thump. It’s not long before they realise that they’re not on Earth anymore and that something is hunting them. They need to band together to figure out exactly what is going on and how to survive against unknown and unseen Predators.

That’s basically the story – basic. In many ways this is a homage to the original film complete with an almost exact copy of the original soundtrack. In the Arnie role is Adrien Brody as a hard-case mercenary who only cares for his own life. Brody actually isn’t bad. I hadn’t seen him in much of anything before so I was fairly impressed. More impressive, for a number of reasons, was Alice Braga who provided one more back-link to the original film by recalling the Arnold mission and what happened to his team – both adding suspense and bringing anyone who hadn’t seen the original up to speed. I recognised her immediately but had to check on IMdb to remember where I’d seen her before: City of God, I am Legend and Repo Men. The other expendable cast member who caught my eye was Louis Ozawa Changchien who played a Yakuza equally at home with a gun or a sword. Rather inevitably he does indeed come across an original Samurai sword and uses it with great effect against one of the Predators. Of course I have to mention the rather strange appearance, again in more ways than one, of one of my favourite actors Lawrence Fishburn who plays a survivor of a previous abduction/hunt. Quite insane he preys on anyone unlucky enough to come into contact with him but serves as a useful plot device as he fills everyone in on what’s really going on.

Whilst not exactly a work of art this is a highly entertaining addition to the Predator movie franchise. Robert Rodriguez, the director, is obviously a fan of the original movie and has tried to stay true to the spirit of the original idea – except for the rather glaring inclusion of the idea of the existence of two distinct types of Predator explained as the equivalent of dogs and wolves, basically big Predators and even bigger Predators. It’s all rather odd and, in my mind, rather unnecessary. But that aside if you enjoyed the original you’ll certainly enjoy this. I did.  

My Favourite Movies: Aliens Vs Predator 2: Requiem

Few of the Alien or Predator movies received any kind of critical praise – with the possible exception of the movie that started them all – the SF horror classic Alien. The AvP films have come in for particular criticism and I can, to some extent at least, see their point. Although I enjoyed both AvP films I am far from gushing in my praise for either. But neither am I dismissive of what I regard as two decent SF films and one’s that add rather than detract from the Alien and Predator ‘franchise’.

AvP2 starts, appropriately enough, where AvP finished – with the body of the dead Predator lying in the departing starship when out of its chest pops an alien/predator hybrid. This, in well known fashion by now, grows and attacks the Predators on the ship which subsequently crashes somewhere in small town America. This was the part of the film that jarred the most. After it was pointed out to me that the crashed ship was very much smaller than the departing ship in AvP I watched carefully to see how, or if, this was explained. It was – sort of. Just before the alien causes the crash a smaller craft (lifeboat?) detached from the much larger ship. It was this smaller craft which crash landed in the forest surrounding the small town we all knew at this point wasn’t going to have a good day (telegraphed by the trailer which showed the town’s population counter in freefall soon after the crash). The confusing storyline continued when a Predator leaves what we can presume is their Homeworld to travel to Earth to investigate the crash. I couldn’t help but wonder why no one was dispatched from the larger craft already departing Earth unless the new alien hybrid had killed them all which I felt was unlikely given that their were clearly a large number of hunters on board: Such as idea felt disrespectful to the Predators.

The rest of the film was largely formulaic in that we are introduced to a number of young people, some of which look like survivors and others clearly alien fodder (the town bad kids). The only adults of consequence are the town Sherriff and a returning female soldier (presumably from Iraq). The scene shifts to a series of attacks where local people are impregnated by face huggers and the new method of direct implantation which, according to an expert source, goes against the known cannon of alien/predator lore. The scene in the forest with the father/son hunters is dramatic and scary. The scene in the maternity ward is rather gross. When all hell breaks lose the wheat and the chaff are sorted rather bloodily. Two brothers turn out to be the heroes who rescue a hand full of people along with the Iraq vet and her daughter. After the National Guard are quickly dispatched by a few passing aliens they ‘borrow’ an armoured transport and get out of the killing zone.

This is, in all honesty, a popcorn movie. The plot is minimal at best, the actors largely disposable and largely disposed of, the SFX are more than adequate though it is noticeable that most of the action takes place at night and you don’t actually see that much. There are a few reasonable moments and quite a few bits that might make you jump. But this is not a thinking film. It’s leave your brain in neutral and just go with it entertainment. There’s one good joke – about trusting the government – and an interesting bit at the end which nicely dovetails into the overarching story (plus leaving the inevitable door open for a sequel). I liked this movie because of its basic entertainment value. I’ve seen it several times now and could probably watch it several times more without getting bored by it. If you’ve been put off by the bad press and just want something to chill out to – and you’re into SF monster movies – you could do a lot worse than this. Just don’t expect to have any of your mental faculties engaged.  

Just Finished Reading: Aliens Vs Predator – Hunter’s Planet by David Bischoff



The Company don’t know quite how to deal with Machiko Noguchi. After her experiences on Ryushi, where she was the lone survivor of an alien attack, and the mysterious absence that followed her position on a farming station can only a temporary one whilst they figure out what to do with her. So when billionaire Livermore Evanston offers to buy out her contract she jumps at the idea – despite her understandable misgivings. The proposition she is offered seems on the face of it too good to be true. Hired to track down and destroy another alien infestation, it quickly becomes clear that there is far more going on in the rich mans hunting preserve being set up off the normal trade routes – and Machiko, for better or worse, is about to be thrown right in the middle of it.


After enjoying the first book in this series (AvP: Prey) I was honestly looking forward to the sequel. Unfortunately, almost from the get-go, I was disappointed. The author quickly deviated from the understood parameters of the AvP universe by presenting – much to my shock – an alien carrying weapons (as if they needed any). Further, although dropping in many interesting ideas about Predator culture, he ruined it for me by having several hunter groups meekly following Machiko’s orders in combat. But the thing that ruined the whole book for me was the character of the android Attila who seemed to develop exactly what was required at just the right moment to get the main character out of trouble or to move the plot along with the right piece of information. Not only did it ‘discover’ that it could talk perfect Predator (and Machiko, who had lived amongst them, could barely communicate with them) but produced combat winning weapons at the right moment whilst previously being unaware of their existence. It all became very tiring very quickly and I almost, more than once, gave up in disgust at the sloppy plotting. This was a very disappointing sequel and should be avoided by all but the most die-hard AvP fans (who will still probably hate it – maybe more so).