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TW Watches The Outer Limits: The Zanti Misfits

By Owen Quinn Photos copyright United Artists Television

Sometimes you realise that you know an episode of something but when asked what the plot was, you have no idea.

This was the case for me with The Outer Limits episode The Zanti Misfits. Everyone knows the creatures themselves, ant-like wasps with a humanoid face. They were bigger than a wasp, more like a small rat, but their image was burned into my young head years ago in repeats.

So I recently watched it just to remember what it was about and why it has stayed in my head for all these yearts. All these years…..Now there’s a phrase that makes me old even with repeats. Well, I couldn’t have watched it when it was first aired as it was 1963, December 30th to be precise. In 1997, it was ranked as number 97 in the 100 greatest television episodes of all time. But all I could recall was that face on the wasp body crawling up someone’s arm.

So sixty two years after it was first broadcast, I settled down to watch it. Outer Limits was a counterpart to The Twilight Zone. Both were anthology shows where different stories set against a sci-fi background commenting on the human condition. Many still hold relevance today. Each episode of both shows had an opening and closing monologue.

As the episode opens, we learn that the human race has been contacted by an alien race. It is summed up in the opening monologue.

Throughout history, compassionate minds have pondered this dark and disturbing question: what is society to do with those members who are a threat to society, those malcontents and misfits whose behavior undermines and destroys the foundations of civilization? Different ages have found different answers. Misfits have been burned, branded and banished. Today, on this planet Earth, the criminal is incarcerated in humane institutions…..or he is executed. Other planets use other methods. This is the story of how the perfectionist rulers of the planet Zanti attempted to solve the problem of the Zanti misfits.

We learn that the military have sealed off a ghost town called Morgue (of all things). The alien planet called Zanti have issued specific and potentially devastating orders to the humsna to expect a ship of their miscreants. Their orders are to seal off the area and maintain Zanti privacy. Otherwise, the Earth will face terrible consequences and with the Zanti seemingly more technologically advanced, it is a threat they take seriously. Earth will not be able to survive a war with the aliens if their demands are not met. Cooperate and the Earth will benenfit from great advances in technology.

Knowing human nature, it does not like to be held over a barrel or be dictated to but it all depends on who’s doing the threatening. The Zanti have determined that this is the perfect place to exile their criminals to as long as humans maintain the required conditions.

However, a bank robber, Ben Garth played by Bruce Dern, father of Jurassic Park actress, Laura Dern and his damaged girlfriend, Lisa, who witness the Zanti ship’s arrival. Garth goes to check it oput while the military deploy Steve Grave to be their emissary to repaoir any damage done.

The Zanti ship is smaller than we as an audience expects. The shape of the Zanti is teased through one of the open vents with the sight of an antennae and a strange noise.

We get the full effect when seeing their privacy has been compromised, the Regent chases Garth who falls into a crevice. The sight of the Zanti creature racing up his body with that buzzing sound. It plays on the primal fear of insects crawling up your skin and boiting you. Something like a wasp’s sting hurts and can kill, similarly, a spider. It’s the human mind’s incapability to comprehend what they are seeing that contributes to the death. This thing has almost cartoon eyes, a nose and a mouth. Their shape is so familiar yet incomprehensible that it adds to the terror and paralysis. Garth’s screams are those of a man knowing he is going to die. And when Lisa goes to find him, the creature gives chase. Lisa’s wreck of a life plays into her half hearted flight and non resposnse top Grave. As she says , she has always ripped away at the seams of everything and it fell apart. Her self destructive behaviour makes a change from the usual damsel in distress.

Grave kills the Regent but the prisoners take advantage of this to flee in the ship. We get an all out fight between the Zanti swarms, who march off the ship to attack the humans. The final battle is impressive as the Zanti swarm down the windows, soldiers fall screaming, their bodies covered in Zanti. The use of stop motion for the Zanti is great and well realised. It’d a trick used for years of repeating shots. Doctor Who did it to make you think there were armies of Daleks and Cybermen flooding from their ships. I often talk about how imagination forces production teams to come up with clever ways to realise what the writer sees on screen for the audience. With clever direction and lower points of view shots, we get a real battle with guns and flame throwers.

Every last Zanti is dead but this is no victory. With all the Zanti rules broken, the Earth will now face their full retaliation and be destroyed.

But this is the good thing about the Outer Limits and Twilight Zone; everything is not always what you think or see. The Zanti announce there will be no retaliation; the Earth is safe. The Zanti plan was for the humans to kill the Zanti prisoners. Zanti do not and are incapable of killing their own but humans will kill anything including their own people. It is something when an alien race makes us look at each other and see what we really are. We pride ourselves that we kill mostly for honour, to protect what we beleive in and all in the name of good. But the simple truth is, kiling comes easy to us. Even those of us that think we would never do it, will in the right circumstance. We will kill anything that looks different from us to preseve our way of life. Shoot first, ask questions later as they say.

But when that part of us is highlighted through an alien lens, then this is why The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone endure over sixty years later. Times change but we as a species, still have a long way to go.

TW Flashback Stargate Atlantis: The Rising

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriros and Zombie Blues

With Stargate SG1 a runaway success, it was only a matter of time before a spin off series was released. This came in the form of Stargate Atlantis which grew organically from the show’s own mythos.

The pilot starts off at the Ancient outpost in the Antarctica where the final battle against Anubis took place. Doctor Elizabeth Weir has been recruiting for this mission for months and Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) are there to help see them off. Jack is flown in by pilot John Sheppard who just discovers the secrets of the existence of the Stargate project. Wandering around the base he meets the rest of his fellow travellers. The comedic duo of the series, Stargate’s guest star super complainer, genius and ever grumpy, Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) and Doctor Carson Beckett (Paul McGillion) are arguing because Carson has an Ancient gene that can control the great weapon hidden at the Antarctic and any Ancient tech. But he struggles to do it while Sheppard discovers it works naturally for him bringing him to Weir’s attention.

Thanks to Jack’s persuasion, Sheppard goes along. You can see the chemistry between this new team is right there from the start. It flows perfectly giving the audience the desire to go along with these people to what may be a one way ticket. Daniel is desperate to go but Jack refuses to let him go because he discovered that the gate can open up to eight symbols. This means that he believes that flying city of Atlantis lies at the other end but so far away that the expedition need to find ZMPs (a kind of crystalline super battery) at the other end. Unless the Atlantis crew find them then they cannot contact Earth or go home.

Torri Higginson is the perfect leader who got the job against military advice. She is joined by Robert Patrick as Colonel Sumner as they make the trip to a dark city. But once there danger is never far. Add in Aiden Ford as Sheppard’s new buddy played by Rainbow Sun Francks and our team are good to go.

With a brand new unexplored galaxy comes a brand new enemy and this one is more terrifying then the Goa’uld.

They find the city under the ocean and the shield keeping them safe is starting to fail because the city is reacting to their presence. Sheppard leads a small team to find a safe haven in case Rodney fails. But all he finds is a settlement of humans haunted by the shadow of the Wraith. Children are taught to not live in fear, they play games dressed as Wraith and new ally and final member of the new team, Teyla (Rachel Lutrell) shows Sheppard hieroglyphs that detail the story.

There is always a number of Wraith in existence Teyla tells Sheppard. She tells him that the Wraith defeated the Ancients centuries ago and again in Before I Sleep, we see this first-hand as the Ancients submerge Atlantis as they are powerless against the sheer millions of Wraith that want Atlantis for themselves. But they hibernate, allowing humans to breed over generations. Once a few centuries have passed the Wraith rise from hibernation and begin culling the human herds. They can make you see things that are not there making you fire your weapons betraying their victim’s location. They are hunters and when the village is attacked by two dart ships coming through the Stargate, Sheppard learns the ships can teleport their victims aboard keeping them in energy form until being reconstituted in the feeding cells. They also make you think you are seeing things and those effects of things running through the dark forest are effective.

Several people are taken including Sumner and Teyla. But any rescue is thwarted when when the city’s shields collapse but instead of drowning there is a power surge and Atlantis rises to the surface.

The real significance of this will not become clear to any of them until the episode Before I Sleep when they find a second Weir who watched them all die when the shields fell.

Weir and Sheppard argue over the rescue but Sheppard gets his way and takes a team to rescue the others. The village second in command is played by Christopher Heyerdahl who would later play recurring Wraith ally when it suits him Todd.

The spooky set up for the Wraiths pays off in spades when we discover three different kinds. There are the burly masked guards that are the foot soldiers. They follow the orders of a Wraith supervisor and the final one is the Queen, a serpentine like vampire creature. Sumner learns that these Wraith are the guardians for all the others who are in hibernation protecting them until there are sufficient humans for the awakening. Even their furniture seems gothic, and to his horror, she uses her mind manipulation to make Sumner give her the name of Earth. The wraith are beautifully designed and a stark difference from the Goa’uld. The body movements of the Queen are snake like but so like those of a classic vampire.

But the true nature of the Wraith is revealed to Sumner. As the Queen gloats, they don’t need their food to agree with them. She slams her hand, palm open onto his chest and begins to drain the life force right of Sumner aging him to death. But Sheppard puts a bullet in him to give him some form of dignity in death. The team set off explosives which cause the hibernation to start long before it was due to. Like a vampire, Sheppard stakes the Queen before they rescue the others.

If you ever wanted a formidable enemy then it’s the Wraith. As if they weren’t scary enough, our heroes have no backup from Earth. And will this cause them adversity from the humans that live here because they are now on the menu. Carson does an autopsy on what is left of one of them and his results show Wraith tissue is in a state of constant regeneration making them very old and very hard to kill.

There we have it. A powerful first episode that sets up our stay for the next five years in the Pegasus Galaxy. We have a new team that gel from the get go. We have the thread that they have no way home. We have an alien threat that may well be the source of vampires from our legends. All they have is what they brought from Earth, the secrets of Atlantis and their own bravery and their new friends in the form of Teyla and her villagers who are offered refuge aboard Atlantis.

The design of Atlantis is beautiful and realised to house great set pieces which would come to the fore later in the series. The sequence of it rising from the bottom of the ocean is thrilling and that matte shot of it sitting in the ocean with the wake echoing out across the ocean is done with great care. And that’s what I love about this two-part opener; the writers, designers, producers and all care about this product and making it top notch viewing as it all comes together.

This is a show that has been well thought out and put together in a thrilling rmultilayered ride that we don’t fully realise until later episodes.

Enjoy these episodes because by season three we start the down ward spiral because of poor writing decisions and behind the scenes contract issues. But as it stands The Rising is one of the best episodes of the Stargate franchise which still holds up today.

Magic Moments: Joyce Beheads Vecna

By Owen Quinn author Photos copyright Netflix.

In the series finale of Stranger Things, it was the final battle with the evil Vecna. He had killed, tortured, scared and manipulated everyone from day one. He sent demogorgons and demodogs after innocent people leaving many dead in their wake. Although he wasn’t revealed until season four, we soon found out that Vecna had no conscience. He saw children as weak minded vessels to do with as he wished. The one thing he never counted on was kidnapping the son of one Joyce Byers, a wallflower that quickly became a tigeress.

Fan theory says that Vecna, aka Henry Keel, chose Will Byers as his first victim because at school, Joyce gave a young Henry Keel a part in a play where no-one else liked him. Whether this played a part in Vecna’s reasoning is uncertain. But the opening scene of season five, we see Will captured and Vecna tell him “At long last, they can begin. You and I are going to do such beautiful things together, William. Such beautiful things.” Jump to the climax of the fifth season mid-season finale, The Sorcerer, Vecna levitates Will off the ground and brings him face to face with him. Joyce and Mike are there too amid the carnage of the military base as Vecna takes Will. Joyce has jumped up to defend her son but has been swiped aside by Vecan, again, maybe because of the play. Now Joyce has seen the face of the monster that took her son and put them all through hell.

Vecna taunts Will that he chose the children because they are weak in body and mind, easily reshaped and easily controlled and he was the first and that he broke so easily. It was Will that showed him what he could achieve by taking kids as vessels. But as we know, Will unleashes the power of the hive mind, kills the demogorgons and gives them a way into Vecna’s head.

Now, when Will first vanished, Joyce became Hopper’s worst nightmare. She fought every step of the way to convince the Sheriff Jim Hopper something was seriously wrong and to make more effort into finding her son. At times, she appeared mentally unstable and irrational because only she knew that Will was still alive somewhere and talking to her through the lights. She put every friendship and relationship on the line to fight for her son and bring him home. Not even Hopper believed her, seeing her as a crank, a hysterical mother. But Joyce was relentless and never gave up hope. When the world was against her, she kept fighting for Will, intent on bringing him home. Even when Will’s body is found, she refises to accept it. She turns on her ex-husband, Will’s father, and even Jonathan doubts her. But when Hopper finds his home has been bugged, he finally starts to listen to Joyce. Will’s corpse is a fake and they are captured when trying to break into Hawkin’s Lab. Dr Brenner sends them into the Upside Down where she finds Will and brings hin home.

Did you know that Joyce was fashioned after Bill Neary, Richard Dretyfuss’ character in Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

Joyce may be a small lady but she’s a rottweiller where the people she loves are concerned. As we saw in season four when she and Murray headed to Russia to find the supposedly dead Hopper. So after all of this, Max, Max’s brother, Barb Holland, steaking the kids, nearly killing Mr and Mrs Wheeler and all the others Vecna has been hurting, Joyce can take no more. She is the one that is the motherly character in the show even giving Derek the name of Delightful Derek rather than Dipshit Derek. Vecna has hurt her child, used the fact he is gay against him and kept her away from Hopper for over a year so when they finally have him defeated, Joyce intends to make sure that his pathetic gurgling will be his last breaths. Vecna is a helpless being now and you’d expect Joyce’s mothering instincts to kick in but memories of how Will was after his rescue are too painful. There is a moment where he is reaching out to Joyce because of her act of kindness. Or maybe because she is the mother of them all? Joyce has had a fury build inside her for these last few years and it needs unleashed.

“You fucked with the wrong family!”

When Joyce snarls this, you know Vecna is screwed. His mewling turns to a deep growl of fury as Joyce lashes out.

She lashes out, chopping and chopping at his neck to kill him. Against her fury, we get flashbacks to Will being hurt, his post traumatic stress, Eddie’s death, Mrs Wheeler’s being attacked by the demogorgon from episode two, Max’s trauma and lying to Elle that she was responsible for creating Vecna. Joyce chops and chops until Vecna’s head falls to the floor., She is venting for all of them because she knows what Will’s friends means to him and he to them. They are all family and Vecna will never again hurt them.

The audience are fully with her as the flashbacks remind us just how much they have lost. It reminds us of their pain and terror and never giving up hope. When Joyce was the only one in the world to believe her son was alive, it was all because of Vecna. It is only just that Joyce is the one to deliver the killing blow. It is her job to protect the kids, not the other way round, so thematically only she or Hopper could take this final step. To have one of the kids do it would reduce them to Vecna’s level in the world’s eyes. And Joyce refuses to let that happen.

This is a powerfully emotional scene as any good parent would do the same. Vecna thrives on primal fear such as the loss of a child and cares nothing about the parents. In his last moments, Vecan died seeing the true power in the world; the raw power of just how far a mother will go for her child. There is not a force more powerful than this in the world. If only Vecna had taken Will’s offer to come back to the good side.

Forgotten Heroes: The Fog’s Stevie Wayne

By Owen Quinn author

Copyright AVCO embassy Pictures

I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.

I adore the Fog and while watching it recently I realised the real heroine of the movie was not Jamie Lee Curtis. Jamie only got on the movie poster because of her recent success from Halloween. The true heroine is DJ Stevie Wayne who spends a lot of her time in the lighthouse. If it wasn’t for Stevie then some of the characters including her own son would not have survived the attack by Captain Blake and his ghostly crew.

Played by Adrienne Barbeau, Stevie is a single mother raising her son Andy who is minded by Mrs Kobritz when Stevie is broadcasting. Judging from the photos her husband has died so she bought the lighthouse radio station in Antonia Bay. From the lighthouse, Stevie has a clear view of the surrounding area which is pivotal to her role in the movie. As Antonio Bay celebrates its 100th birthday, weird things begin to happen. Andy finds a piece of wood on the beah that he claims was a gold coin then turned into the wood. Inscribed on it are the words the Elizabeth Dane. She doesn’t realise it at the time but this is the name of Blake’s ship which the town’s founders led to crash on the rocks after betraying him.

Bringing it with her to the radio station, it suddenly leaks water and her equipment explodes on fire as a terrifying voice comes from the microphone swearing angry vengeance demonically. She is the one they call when she mentions the fog report and she is helpless to save weatherman Dan who has a crush on her but she keeps refusing to date. This is most likely because she is still grieving her husband.

What the Fog cleverly does is have different story strands going on before they come together in the movie’s climax. Andy and Mrs Kobritz are trapped at Stevie’s home, the town is celebrating its anniversary with a statue and candlelight procession, the crew of the Sea Grass have bene murdered but only one body recovered from a ship that is rusted with sea water erosion overnight, a dead body revives and Nick Castle (Tom Atkins) and hitchhiker Elizabeth Solley are central to unravelling the Sea Grass mystery. On top of that alcoholic priest Father Mallone (Hal Holbrook) finds a journal hidden in the walls of the church. In it his grandfather, one of the founding members of the town admits what they did to Captain Blake and his crew in order to prevent them spreading leprosy. He tells it to event organiser Kathy Williams and her assistant. All these pieces are brought together when the Fog attacks.

Trapped in the lighthouse Stevie is able to see it coming. She begs someone to get to her house and rescue Andy from the Fog. Nick and Elizabeth get there but the Fog is everywhere and Mrs Kobritz is dead. With seconds to spare they get Andy out but Stevie’s frantic calls over the radio echo as the ghosts close in. With her son safe, Stevie is able to give a second by second account of which parts of the town the Fog is and what streets are safe. It is through her direction that Nick, Andy, Kathy, Elizabeth and her assistant make it to the church where they learn the entire story of the strange happenings.

Stevie then faces the ghosts alone as they attack to the lighthouse. She fights heroically to the end and it is the very people she saved by sending them to the church that save her by giving Blake his gold and saving the town. The movie then ends with a monlogue from Stevie warning people the Fog could come again and for any ships at sea to look across the water and look for the Fog.

Adrienne Barbeau carries off the role perfectly and is the true heroine of the story. In a way the events have made her the watcher at the end of the world, looking out over the ocean, ever wary of seeing that glowing fog approaching Antonio Bay again.

Not all heroines need a gun or laser rifle; sometimes all they need is a brave heart and a microphone.

New Podcast: Want Payback? Call Pumpkinhead.

By Owen Quinn and Stephen Carey

On this podcast, we look back at the 80s classic monster fest Pumpkinhead. Someone piss you off? Want a little payback? Call Pumpkinhead but beware, there is always a price to pay; a price that could cost you your soul!

Join the craic; you won’t look back!

Classic Villains: Omega Man’s Brother Matthias

Despite Will Smith’s best attempt, I Am Legend didn’t do it for me. The original movie, the Last Man on Earth, starred Vincent Price based on the book by Richard Matheson while The Omega Man is the best version of the three.

The Vincent Price version, also called the Last Man on Earth, is effective as the world has been hit by a virus turning the populace into vampires while those that do not survive the disease are thrown en masse into massive pits in dump trucks. The Omega Man is as effective but this time, humanity is turned into white haired, white skinned creatures that cannot tolerate sunlight and come out at night. They are not vampires, more a cult where the disease seems to make them follow Matthias without question as seen later in the character of Lisa. Matthias calls them the Family.

His aim is to cleanse the world with fire to eradicate all of the past’s monstrosities that brought the world to an end. It isn’t clear if all survivors of the plague turned as Matthias did but they want Charlton Heston’s character of Robert Neville is his main nemesis. Neville has the cure to the disease. He represents the last vestige of the old world that once dead, will secure Matthias and his group’s future.

But Matthias is not your typical villain. You can see his point. Before the world ended, Jonathan Matthias was a news anchor. In flashback, we see the lead up to the war that released the germs that destroyed the world. People are dropping dead where they stand. Matthias is on the postion of being able to see the entire picture as it unfolds. He could see the tensions boil over into the disaster that unfolded.

He looks exhausted as he delivers the doom laden message to the world.

“Now, the question is survival. Is this the end for technological man? Is this the conclusion of all our yesterdays? The boasts of our fabled science, the superhuman conquests of space and time, the age of the wheel? We were warned of judgement. Well, here it is. Here. Now. In the form of millions of microscopic fusilli. This is the end.”

Matthias the news anchor is the man that tells the people what is going on, the one that tells us exactly how this happened. Millions tune in to him every night, listening to his every word so it only seems fitting that he becomes the one to led them all into this new world. He has seen what technology mixed with human stupidity can do and in his mind now, only fire can begin a new world. To be fair, it isn’t the greatest of new societies he promises because humanity now cowers from sunlight and comes out at night. No more days at the beach or happy families enjoying days like that.

His followers are devoted and follow his every word. His view of the the dark side of humanity is justified but whether his brain is distorted by the biological weapon. Maybe his view is that humanity should rermain in darkness as a sort of penance because he allowed the entire race to die because of petty squabbles about territory and power.

However, Neville discovers he is not alone after all when he meets Lisa and her brother Richie. Richie has the disease. They are part of a group of survivors led by Dutch. Dutch was a medical student when the war happened. Using Richie as a test subject, Neville is able to cure him of the disease.

His stark determiantion is shown when young Richie, cured by Neville’s serum, goes to Matthias to show him that he is normal again. He says that the cure will bring back the world they have lost. Such is his fury, that Neville finds young Richie dead, killed at Matthias’ hand to stop the return of the old world. A child should be a hope for the future but Matthias’ act shows no one is safe. We see no children in his group. Indeed, the design is simple and effective.

They wear dark hooded robes and sunglasses even at night. Neville’s apartment is their target and he beats them off with msssive bright lights and traps every night. It isn’t until Neville’s new found girlfriend Lisa turns, does Matthias finally gain entrance to the apartment.

The Family then smash it to pieces. Neville escapes but grabs his cure to give to Dutch. He and Lisa are guardians to a group of kids, one of which was Richie, all normal and unaffected by the germ warfare. There is a rumour of a sanctuary in the mountians where people are normal. Dutch takes the cure from Neville’s dying hands and leaves with the kids and an infected Lisa to hopefully a better future. As they drive off to Los Angeles, Neville lies dead but it has not been in vain. It is fitting that Matthias threw the harpoon that killed Neville, who died in a fountain, the water red with his blood.

The irony is that they have avoided Matthias’ minions but such was the focus on Neville, it may well be the reason they have survived. Matthias as a news anchor would have been fully aware of who Neville was and his part in the war so it makes sense that he would take him out as a priority target. But it is more than likely that Matthias and his cult will die in the ruins of the city. They do not have any children it seems and cannot, we assume, procreate. So, hope isn’t lost because it lies with Dutch and the others. The darkness and the light lie equally in the balance but given that the members of the Family never seem to leave the ruibns of the city. I think the ending gives us hope that we can come back from this and learn to build a better world.

Maybe Matthias and his group will become mythological figures of ghosts and boogeymen in the days to come. Only time will tell.

The ‘Welcome to Derry’ Scene That Made the World Cheer

By Owen Quinn author

Warning – here be spoliers.

Television and movies are full of cute kids but only a mere handful burn themselves intyo the audience’s mind. The reasons are varied and often it is one that makes us cheer and cry at the same time.

Welcome to Derry stormed television in 2025. Each week, it was horror upon horror as we saw the origin story of Pennywise the Clown from IT. This opportunity allowed the producers to take the character further than the movies did and it was all out horror all the way. Pennywise didn’t turn up until episode five but the standard remains the best in ages. In a year where the world was waiting for the end of Stranger Things, Welcome to Derry gave us kids that stood up against Pennywise as others would do. However, in the case of Welcome to Derry, they were being killed left, right and centre. All of us like to see the kids win in the face of evil; The Goonies, ET and Stranger Things, to name but a few.

But in Derry, they tend to fall. Enter Rich Santos played by Arian S. Cartaya. He was a short, cheeky chappie who fell in love with Marge Truman. He was a drummer and brave and always lit up the screen. Rich had one of those auras that made you like him immediately. He’s also the one chartacter you would expect to make it to the end of this fight but, alas, our hearts were broken when he died.

But unlike other kids, he did not die at the hands of Pennywise the Clown. If ever God needed an angel, it would be Rich. The little guy along with Marge Truman, other kids and black military people were enjoying a dance night in their club. However, masked white folks including police came looking for the wrongly accused Grogan whom they are hiding there. Clear they aren’t going to get him, they seal everyone in, including the kids and set fire to the building.

Trapped with no way out, little Rich puts Marge into a fridge. There is no room for two and he saves her by lying on top of the fridge so she can’t get out. He calms her by reminding her knights protect fair maidens. He tells her of the first day he ever saw her. He wondered if she would ever look at him. She was rude to him telling him to take a picture, it’ll last longer. He tells her for a long time he never knew what to say back at that moment. He tells her he should have replied he wished he could. Marge and Rich tell each other they love each other and Rich waits to die. My heart was broken because Rich is such a good soul and as they say, only the good die young. Anyone that says they weren’t moved to tears by this scene has a heart of stone. It truly is one of the most beautifully written scenes ever and because it’s kids, you don’t want them to die. They are supposed to have their whole future ahead of them.

Not in Derry.

Rich dies from smoke inhilation protecting someone he loves without a second thought. Ironically, Pennywise is walking through and does not kill Rich as he feeds on another child.The sight of his body slumped against it as Marge is rescued is heartbreaking. Before the fire, he was playing the drums and having a good time with the others. His loss is deeply felt by the remaining kids.

This loss is also felt by the audience because this cheeky chappie with the heart of gold had endeared himself to the audiences instantly. Arian, the actor, is one of those kids that has that certain charm and magnetism like Kevin from Home Alone. You instantly like him because you know someone exactly like him.

But as we closed out the season, we would get a scene that made Max escaping Vecna pale in comparison. In the season finale, Marge, Will, Lilly and Ronnie are trying to bury the dagger that will ensure Pennywise is caged again in Derry. The chase is on and Pennywise is racing towards them to escape before they can plant the Dagger this completing the cage.The adults are helpless as the killer clown closes the gap. The dagger is playing with Will’s mind, refusing to be buried but the girls struggle with him to force it into the ground.

They are losing.

Pennywise is closing.

And this is the thing. Even though, we already know from the movies that Pennywise doesn’t escape, it takes nothing away from the terror and tension of this scene. When asked what he is seeing, Dick Halloran says “A mother fucking miracle!”

And that’s what Rich is both in life and death.

Pennywise is injured but determined to escape.

Suddenly from the fog comes a little figure, running as fast as he can towards his friends. It is Rich. And in the most beautiful moment that had viewers cheering, he gives Pennywise the middle finger. They all feel him as they get the strength to bury the dagger.

Pennywise is so evil that the very least we want to do is flip the bird at him. What makes this so brillaint is that Rich did not die at his hands so isn’t floating down there with all the other kids. He has passed to heaven because of his selfless act. He promised Marge he’s always be there and he does it in style. No matter what Pennywise does, no matter how many kids he kills, he will always be defeated by the power of children. Dead or alive, they will work against him to keep Derry safe.

Max needed Kate bush’s song Running Up That Hill, which is also a spectacular piece of television that made her a fan favourite, but Rich hasn’t got that. All he has is the love for his friends and his defint middle finger to save the day.

Absolute magic!

Mandalorian Big Bad set for Dublin Comic Con Spring 2026

We’re honoured to welcome Giancarlo Esposito to Dublin Comic Con – Spring Edition this March!

Best known for his unforgettable roles as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, Giancarlo is one of the most iconic and commanding presences on screen today.

📍 March 7–8, 2026

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Forgotten Victims: Christine’s Arnie Cunningham

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Phoyos copyright Columbia Pictures

I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.

Arnie Cunningham, the protagonist from the 1983 movie from the Stephen King book of the same name Christine, is a prime example of love is blind.

He is also the stereotypical victim in life whether it be at the hands of the jocks at school, not being able to get a girlfriend or living under his super controlling parents, Arnie Cunningham has always been oppressed. As he says living at home every decision they made, he was always outnumbered two to one. He had no freedom, no liberty and because his parents were so tyrannical to the point they made every decision for Arnie and controlled every aspect of his life including cash, he may as well have a target painted on his back. His parents’ control extends to hating the fact he is learning how to fix cars and they control everything including if he can win a game of scrabble. It doesn’t matter if the word is in the dictionary or not; if Arnie’s mother says it is not allowed then it is not allowed.

But when he hits puberty and becomes an adult, rebellion is part and parcel of that process. His parents fail to see their son is now a young man on the verge of college and a whole new plethora of experiences before he hits the workforce.

So when Arnie buys himself a rundown old car, a red and white Plymouth Fury, his parents freak. They blame his best friend, Dennis Gilder (John Stockwell) for not stopping Arnie but Dennis is the one person in Arnie’s life that lets his friend be himself. All this oppression has built in Arnie for years and is at boiling point. He buys the car for two reasons; one that he wants to do something just for his enjoyment and two as a possible rebellion against his parents. If they can see he can make his own decisions then they may back off a little. But as we know, Christine as he christens her, is haunted and when Christine always gets what she wants.

On a thematic level, Christine is the perfect match for Arnie. From the minute he sees her, Arnie sees the potential in restoring her. Calling her tough and chastising Dennis for dismissing her as a piece of shit. At this point Christine is just like Arnie; unloved, unwanted and left adrift in the field of life to fend for himself. They see the potential in each other when no one else will give them a second look.

She takes care of Arnie, doesn’t answer back or throw a tantrum and songs from the radio reflect her mood and feelings for Arnie. And as we discover later, Christine lets no one hurt her man or get in the way of their love even if it means killing anyone that stands in their way. When Dennis asks him what it is about Christine, Arnie tells him that for the first time in his life he has found something uglier than he is. But he can fix that because he can’t fix his own ugliness. This is very telling as to how Arnie sees himself in the eyes of the world. He is a loser, an outsider and despite being friends with popular jock Dennis, he still feels inferior in his company. With Christine that doesn’t exist. She is the thing that allows him to be the person he wants to be but as we find he will pay a terrible price for love.

His parents refuse to let him keep Christine in their driveway so he stores her in Darnell’s workshop where Darnell lets him use his junk pile to restore her in return for doing odd jobs around the place. But soon Arnie begins to change. He dresses more stylishly and is much more confident than he ever was. His life is Christine’s restoration which he applies himself to diligently to. Interestingly, his clothes now tend to favour red as if wearing matching outfits for Christine.

It is in his scenes with his parents that give the greatest insight into how Arnie has come into his own. When the local bullies trash Christine, Arnie blames his parents for not letting him keep her in their driveway. They try to reason with him which is the first time they have seen their son is growing up into his own man. He swears at them openly before grabbing his father by the throat at the bottom of their stairs. By this very action, Arnie’s parent’s control of their son is gone forever.

Dennis isn’t the only one that noticed the change in his friend. Arnie drinks and drives without holding the steering wheel which terrifies Dennis and exhilarates Arnie because Christine will not let him come to any harm. But when Arnie suddenly begins dating the hottest and most elusive girl in the school, Leigh Cabot, Christine tries to kill her while everyone else including Dennis cannot believe she is dating the former nerd. He no longer wears glasses and backflips his mother. Dennis discovers that the previous owner died in Christine. His wife killed herself and his daughter choked to death in Christine but that didn’t stop him from obsessing over the car. His brother tells Dennis that he saw the same look in Arnie’s eyes the day he sold him the car.

Dennis is floored by a football accident leaving Arnie to develop his relationship with girlfriend Leigh (Alexandra Paul). She is there when Arnie discovers Christine has been trashed by the bullies. But it is at this point Christine reveals herself to him and restores herself to mint condition. This mirrors a human relationship when your partner opens up to you and you engage in the most intimate act of all, sex. This is the point where Arnie and Christine are bonded completely. That night one of the bullies is cut in half by Christine. She later murders the rest of them but it transpires that Arnie was not even driving when that happened. The police think he is responsible especially when Christine is in perfect condition despite reports to the contrary. Arnie becomes angry and possessive of Leigh which frightens her off to the point she confides in Dennis about the effect the car is having on Arnie.

They set a trap to destroy Christine but when she smashes into a booth trying to kill Leigh, Arnie is thrown through the window by the impact. He is skewered by glass and dies there and then beside his beloved car.

It is a sad end for the boy who was never allowed to fit in or feel comfortable in his own home. Maybe if his parents had shown their son just a little compassion instead of all out control, then Arnie Cunningham would never have felt total love and connection with a machine they call Christine.

TW Meets Kingpin himself, Vincent D’Onofrio

By and photos copyright Owen Quinn

Forget Robert Downey Jr as Doomsday. Probably the hottest and best quality show Marvel are bringing out amid all the other crap ones, is Daredevil Born Again.

I was not a fan to be honest but I was alwasy impressed by the Kingpin. Played by actor Vincent D’onofrio, he is one bad ass villain. The take the new Reborn series took was good and Kingpin walked the line perfectly between a Trump like figure and his old evil self coming back to the surface using the law to further his ambitions. He would also play a big part of Echo but the brooding D’onofrio makes him stand out among the rest.

So, when Dublin Comic Con Summer 2025 announced he would be appearing for the weekend, I was in.

I first became aware of Vincent in Full Metal Jacket in his suicide scene. We discussed that as it was such a powerful scene, that the look on his face bfore he pulled the trigger is a very realistic portrayl of a mental breakdown and is almost demonic to watch. Since then he has gone on to appear in many movies and shows. Jurassic World, Law and Order, Men in Black and The Cell to name a few.

The first thing I thought when I saw him was that he had lost a lot of weight and went up to get a comic signed. I had booked a photoshoot with him later that day. At first, he came across as very shy but the more we chatted, the more he became animated. Maybe he wasn’t sure if this was going to be a busy event for him but busy is an understatement. His queues never stopped all weekend as fans flocked to meet him. Maybe it’s us Irish and the fact we love to chat but Vincent was far from shy by the end of the weekend.

I saw him chat to everyone personally and was high-fiving the kids who came to meet him.

We chatted about Belfast, how he lived there for six months while filming, Daredevil and the scene where he squeezed a guy’s skull like a watermelon in a hippo’s jaws. That scene was shocking and unexpected but vital in showing that Kingpin was back and no one was going to stand in his way.

I had a ball. Sometimes, you don’t know what to expect from Hollywood actors but Vincent is just so down to Earth, you literally could chat all day to him. He really surprised me and I am delighted that I got to meet him.

He is such a legend and I got to meet him. Let’s hope he comes again.

Awesome.

TW watches From Episode S01E01

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photo copyright MGM

In my life very few shows have caught and kept my attention from the first episode.

One of those shows was From. It felt like a cross between Stephen King and Lost (handy as the producers also worked on Lost and no, I still feel cheated after all this time by the ending).

The premise is simple, playing on the audience’s primal fears. All across America people encounter a fallen tree in the road laced with crows. Forced to take a detour they end up in a small town, the Township, which they find they cannot leave. All roads lead straight back to it. But at night doors and windows must be locked. If not then find a deep, dark hole and climb into it because creatures with human faces walk the night ready to eat you and these creatures like to play with their food before they consume them. But the Township has secrets and what lies out in the woods?

The opening scene is brutal and horrifying, perfectly setting the scenario while leaving you hanging for answers in repellent terror. Town sheriff Boyd Stevens (Lost and Z Nation star Harold Perrineau) walks through the town ringing a bell as night begins to fall. People hurry inside locking doors and windows as night falls ensuring that the Celtic looking talismans are securely over their front doors. What is the big rush for everyone to get home before dark? Is this a cult town? Is it just a small town with funny traditions? Why does a juke box tun itself on and play ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’?

One woman looks into the dusk for her husband as he is drunk and fails to get home as he should do. His wife and daughter, Megan, secure their home closing curtains and blinds. Something knocking at a window at night is never a good thing in a horror situation especially when she claims to be Megan’s grandmother and needs Megan to let her in. Immediately evil spirits and witches come to mind. Too late, the child opens the window just as the mother runs into the room. The thing at the window launches itself at them.

This hook is followed by a version of Que Sera Sera and works well as it plays over a series of children’s drawings which will become important in future storylines. The tune seems almost out of phase to the ear fitting in perfectly with the episode.

We see the shredded body of the little girl in full gory glory which tells us right from the start this is not going to be a half-arsed show. With its bad language and horror scenes we are not going to be in for an easy ride. Very few horror events have been brave enough to open with the murder of a child and especially like this.

Sheriff Boyd (Harold Perinneau) is furious at the drunken husband for letting his family die. In a way the image of Boyd walking through the cold streets ringing a bell evokes images of plague houses and the toll of doom. What evil follows on the wake of a warning bell. Boyd is so angry he pulls a gun on the grieving father and orders him locked up. You are fourteen minutes in at this point and asking what the hell is going on?

The Matthews family end up in the Township. Jim, a rollercoaster designer, his wife Tabitha and their two kids, Julie and Ethan. They are dealing with a breaking marriage and the death of one of their children. Julie teases her brother Ethan about monsters and death based on his games and action figures. Phrases said here will come back to bite we are sure

“There are no such things as monsters. Once dead you never come come back” are creepily based on what we have seen so far so the Matthews beliefs are about to be shattered. But they arrive in the middle of the funerals of the mother and daughter killed in the opening hook. They are nervous as something doesn’t feel right. But no matter what they do they keep coming back to the town.

The oppressive atmosphere pervades the entire episode and the series as you can feel the fear and stress. God knows how may people have come through here. It is the same every time and the people already there must convince them of this crazy story before night falls. They know what happens to anyone caught outside at night. But we can see the town is divided and tempers are frayed to say the least. Why do some people live in the town and the others in the colony house? Why is Boyd estranged from his son in a place they are trapped in?

This includes Boyd and deputy Kenny’s decision to use a tyre track to stop the Matthews RV. It is getting too close to nightfall so they have to be brutal. But the Matthews get into a crash with another car. When Kenny and the others hear the crash they run towards it. They take the two men out of the car, new comer drugged up Jade and Toby. Ethan’s leg has been speared and he is trapped. Boyd and medic Kristi send the others back to town while they stay with Jim and Ethan.

The tension mounts when Kenny and the others accidentally hit the tyre track and are forced to run for the safety of town before it is too late. We soon learn why; from out of the woods emerge figures that converge on the RV containing Ethan, Body Jim and Kristi.

This is a masterpiece in setting up a premise in a drip drip fashion mixed with visual clues right in front of you that won’t have any meaning for the viewer until the story begins to unfold. Boyd is a man living on the edge seemingly responsible for everyone. His anger at the death of Megan mirrors his own pain as his son does not want to speak or live with him. So many questions that form this strange place which when you watch further becomes even stranger. At the time of writing this, we have just finished season three, stunned by the revelations and cliffhanger they delivered.

In the Time Warriors books, the mantra everything happens for a reason is instrumental to events but here we can see the arrival of the Matthews and the arrogant Jade is not a coincidence but I can’t tell you why. Sorry. But you will have a ball finding out what I mean and just why this prison, if it is a prison, exists.

You feel cold watching it and the sense of looking over your shoulder never leaves. But that simple cliffhanger of the four trapped in the crashed RV works so well because we know that in From, not even the children are safe.