Science Fiction Archives | Page 3 Of 122

Site Movie Review – Time-Twisting Horror That Warps History and Reality

Although this film is a bit rough, Site twists time and reality into a psychological horror that forces a man to confront the sins of the past to save his future.

Site 2025 Movie Poster Blindness to the past matters in Jason Eric Perlman’s sophomore film, Site. Or should that be Sight? Here, Neil Bardo (Jake McLaughlin) wants nothing more than to be a family man, but his life unravels when work pulls him away and tragedy strikes. His son Wiley (Carson Minniear) is blinded in an accident. Overcome with guilt, Neil finds himself in a series of strange events that lean more toward fractured realities than pure cosmic dread.

Things change after he visits a property with Garrison (Theo Rossi). They hope to flip it for a profit, but inside they find a strange “Time Tunnel.” Its retro design recalls the 1960s sci-fi series on ABC. Like in that show, Neil can only observe events unfold—he can’t change them. Radiation from the machine sparks visions which won’t fade. McLaughlin captures the confusion well, showing a man who no longer feels in control of his own life. When Neil struggles to find work to pay for his son’s surgery, his world fractures even more.

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Fantastic Four First Steps – A Visually Daring Reboot That Undercuts Its Own Cosmic Legacy

Marvel’s Fantastic Four First Steps embraces a retro-futuristic vision and moral complexity but stumbles by downplaying 1960s history and reimagining Galactus as a lesser threat. A thoughtful but flawed cosmic reboot.

Fantastic Four First Steps is a visually striking and thematically ambitious take on Marvel’s “First Family.” Having read the early comics, I appreciated how the film evokes the optimistic worldview of a time when humankind stood on the brink of space exploration. Yet while it aims to capture that spirit, it also sanitises the era it tries to portray.

The 1960s weren’t all sleek rockets and moon landings. Assassination, war, and civil unrest—JFK, Vietnam, and the violent targeting of civil rights leaders—shaped the decade. The film glosses over these realities. And while its alternate-universe setting may justify the omissions, the lack of historical weight ultimately weakens the choice to set the story in this time period at all. That’s because the narrative Stan Lee originally crafted contained all those themes, and it’s beautifully explored in the essay “How Did the Original ‘Fantastic Four’ Change Comics?” published on History.com.

Despite a committee-written script and Matt Shakman’s steady direction, the film’s strengths lie more in its aesthetic than its narrative. It’s full of promise—but frequently stumbles.

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Straatcoaches vs Aliens: When Gentrification Gets Outrageously Slimed

From tar pits to turf wars, Straatcoaches vs Aliens (Straight Outta Space) proves even extraterrestrials aren’t immune to the politics of who belongs.

Spoiler Alert

Straatcoaches vs Aliens (American title: Straight Outta Space) is a Dutch entry in the rarely explored subgenre of urban sci-fi survival—and it surprisingly fits the mold. In 1982, something extraterrestrial crash-landed into a tar pit and attacked a construction worker before the Schijndrecht apartment complex and neighbourhood were fully built. Although no investigation followed, this vague, Thing‑like prologue sets the stage for a film that, while chaotic, plays as a sincere homage to broader genre traditions.

According to IMDb, the script has an unusually large roster of writers—Daan Bakker, Nico van den Brink, Paul de Vrijer, Ashar Medina, Fadua El Akchaoui, and Michael Middelkoop, who also directs. Middelkoop aims for an absurdist tone reminiscent of Ghostbusters and Evil Dead, but it doesn’t always land. Uneven pacing and tonal shifts get in the way—especially since the film never fully explains how the alien’s vomit zombifies people.

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[Fantasia Film Festival] Buffet Infinity: The Sinkhole Where Satire Meets 80s Style Cosmic Horror

Although it’s a wrap at Fantasia Film Festival, we still have a few more bits to offer. Here, chefs, or rather, filmmakers have to be a little twisted to make Buffet Infinity tasteful and deliciously bizarre—and I’m glad Simon Glassman was up to the task.

buffet infinity 01 — Fantasia Film Festival presented Shrimp Fried Rice (see prior post for review) alongside this movie, which played on July 28, 2025.

Spoiler Alert

Buffet Infinity is a film that may feel overwhelming at first. That’s partly because it’s built almost entirely from the kind of late-night local commercials that once dominated community television. Watching it in a theatre replicates the hazy experience of channel surfing after midnight—when you can’t sleep and wind up watching whatever strange programming is still on. If I had to compare it to a favourite broadcast from the late 80s to 90s, it’s as zany and unpredictable as Friday Night Videos.

Where I live, that often meant endless ads from Gordie Dodd’s quirky furniture store or oddball operations out of Belleville, WA. Elsewhere, it might be family-owned diners, pawn shops, or obscure grocery stores. In Simon Glassman‘s surreal feature, even Babbacock Insurance gets screen time.

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[Fantasia Film Festival] Transcending Dimensions (次元を超える) To Boldly Go Where No Soul Has Gone Before

Presented here is not a very traditional story about a hitman hired to take out a cult leader and rescue a brother. There’s added layers in Transcending Dimensions which suggest it’s best not to challenge some of these mystics, and here’s why:

Transcending Dimensions poster — **This movie played at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival on July 24th, and has an encore performance July 28th. Get your ticket here.**

Transcending Dimensions is less a conventional narrative and more of an immersive sensory experience. While this review delves into its themes and stylistic choices, readers who prefer to encounter the film with absolutely no prior knowledge of its unconventional journey may wish to proceed with caution regarding potential thematic insights.

As an instalment in the series of films by writer/director Toshiaki Toyoda, this latest in his Wolf Mountain series delves further into thematic tones about the perils of human ignorance. Each film concerns the repetition of historical mistakes. This movie is not always straightforward, and some viewers might find it challenging to follow. Shinno (Ryûhei Matsuda), a professional hitman, is the focus here, and everything he will soon experience may well reshape his world view!. Here, his sister, Nonoka (played with quiet charm by Haruka Imô), recruits him to find her brother, Rosuke (Yôsuke Kubozuka). He is apparently brainwashed, and she hopes to rescue him from the cult he is now part of.

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The Animated Selections of Fantasia 2025 Guide

When this year’s slate of animated films is terrific, perhaps it’s time to travel to Quebec for Fantasia 2025!

Fantasia 2025 Movie Poster Fantasia 2025 will soon be here, and this year looks very promising because of its animation slate. I always gravitate to this section since the films are often quick to continue playing at other events and head to distribution faster than the live-action works. Plus, when instant fans of the first entry in this list can see it even without attending, the presence is more than feline.

That’s because I’m a cat enthusiast. And when Takashi Miike is involved, just what’s offered may well top what last year’s Night of the Zoopocalypse did! This particular film (movie review link) did not screen at Fantasia, but I’m sure it would have been a contender had it finished post-production. Without further ramblings, I offer a list of feature length animated works to look forward to at this event at Montreal, Quebec.

Once when the event releases its full guide, I’ll also offer a top ten picks on what to see too.

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