By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
So we’re halfway through this 10 part season and I’m not a happy bunny.
After such a strong start we are still in the ever drawn out Randa family crisis, Cate’s survivor guilt and May hate the world. While May’s character gets a twist in th end of the episode, I’m asking myself were the writers given ten episodes and told to fill them out or is there an actual plan to this season?
As I said, it was a great start but last week we wandered about snow and ice bitching and surviving impossible odds and this week we wander about devastated San Francisco with the siblings finding common ground and Cate’s survivor guilt once again. While it is fascinating to see the aftermath of the Godzilla attack I want to explore that,, not see Cate gurning again. The whole concept of the Red Zone is great where Cate’s mother and her want to be boyfriend James recover people’s possessions and where looters are shot on sight. But why not rebuild rather seal it off? What does Monarch know we don’t? It is however a nice reminder that these Titans leave physical and emotional damage their wake that is not easy to come back from.
According to an imprisoned Shaw, Monarch know nothing and have gotten it all wrong. He is their captive and is unafraid of the Director’s threats. Shaw knows more than they do including w he isn’t much older than he is. Monarch think they know what the Titans are all about but Shaw holds the superior ground. While May and the Randa siblings are sent on their way, they fly back to San Francisco to the Red Zone and where Cate troubled relationship with her mother goes to some way explain her behaviour. Between survivor’s guilt and her mother revealing she pushed Cate to go to Tokyo becasue she suspected but hadn’t got the balls to go see for herself if her suspicions were correct and her husband was leading a double life.
This is a perfect example of what the writers should have done from the start. Cate and her mother find common ground and resolve their issues by the end of the episode. The Red Zone contains their father’s office where they find a major clue to the Titans and where he might be or at least, where he went. Now it’s global so can we now leave all the emotional drama behind and get busy with story.
If you create a series based on giant monsters then they need to be as equal in focus to the story as the human characters. If these upcoming episodes do not match the scale of the movies or bring the audience what they expect bar fleeting moments of monster then the wrong people are writing and producing this show and need to go back to the drawing board.
Thus far the ship is sinking so if they pull it round for the final episodes and make it to a second season, we need a complete rethink of story structure and plot resolution. Character angst should be part of a character not their be all for several episodes. The horror series From did this brilliantly in their first season but dragged a major plot point and development for far too long reducing the impact in their second season.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Watch any child play with toys and you are witnessing a brand new world being created right before you that only they are privy to.Every single story begins behind the wide eyes of a mesmerised child.
People often ask what inspires me to come up with sci-fi or horror scenarios and aliens. I’ve written an article here on that very subject of inspiration and ideas. Read it by clicking on the link here https://timewarriors.co.uk/2023/04/03/to-sit-down-and-write-get-off-your-arse/ However there is one thing I actually forgot about and yet have surrounded myself with them all my life and will enjoy to the day I die.
As a child you are forever creating stories with your toys and when I was young it was the Star Wars toys especially that gave us our new Star Wars adventures and spin-offs along with the comic strip in Star Wars Weekly. I had a Tardis and a Star Trek transporter that could send my imagination anywhere and to any time. So when my Dad built a rockery in our garden it was the site for many new Star Wars adventures and with the plethora of figures released anything could happen and crossovers between shows were common long before it became popular. Luke Skywalker travelled in the Tardis and R2 was beamed to a lost dimension of Transformers characters. So in this series I will look at the toys that blew me away as a kid and helped spin new worlds in my head. Every single story begins behind the wide eyes of a mesmerised child.
Whether you like it or not Return of the Jedi was a tsunami of alien creatures. Fans all over the world would soon add them to their collections. But there was something special about getting those figures as there was no internet back then. The feeling of walking into a store and seeing a full wall of figures all hanging from pegs was a sight to behold. There was a certain magic in it that no longer exists today due to online shopping. To have the figures you wanted in your hands having fallen for them in the movie never fails to incite excitement. You can’t wait to get it home and open it to play with. Of course if we knew then what we know now, we’d have bought two or at least begged our parents to pay for two, one for play, one for the future.
Now, I’ve collected Star Wars stuff all my life but when I watched Return of the Jedi in the cinema the first monsters that made me sit up and stare were the pig like Gamorrean Guards of Jabba the Hutt’s palace. There was something about them that determined that this was going to be a figure I wanted badly. Now I don’t mean the awful tacky Gamorreans from the Book of Boba Fett which were simply rubber masks on shirtless larger men and did not look right at all. I mean the originals in full armour that Luke choked with a brush of the Force.
When one of them got eaten like a marshmallow by the Rancor monster, I was like “NOOOOOO!” I had gotten attached to them that fast. So when I finally got the figure I was delighted. He was big and burly with a hefty axe that could take a head off. He was green, big, beautiful and mine. I eventually got a second one which became the Gamorean twins working at Jabba’s palace to send information to both the rebel alliance and the Empire. Loyalty wasn’t an issue for them; money was to feed their families back on Gamor. The adventures they had alongside the rebels were endless like Waterworld or the log forests of the rockery. Damn I could write a book.
And that’s the point.
There are no barriers to a child’s imagination; only time when mum calls you for dinner, visit granny’s house or sleep. What you are subconsciously doing is creating storylines, sorting plot holes and creating new characters to populate the world the figure populates and seeing where it goes. If you are a storyteller then this is exactly what you will do when tackling a story. And not realising it you are training yourself to focus on what you like to see in a story and what excites you to write. Even we writers have to enjoy the story too or we end up leaving the story as a bad job.
I still have my Gamorrean Guard to this day but did have to get a repo axe to replace the original. So jump forward forty years to the anniversary of Return of the Jedi’s theatrical release.
A new series of 6 inch figures are announced and among them is the Gamorrean Guard. Only this time he is bigger and bulkier than ever with multiple weapons included. When I saw him on display with the others I just fell in love with him all over again. The packaging was bulkier than the rest but that was to be expected due to his design and size. It was the one that immediately caught the eye but was more expensive than the others. I was thrown back there and then to my Gamorrean twins fooling rebels and imperials alike beneath the very nose of Jabba the Hutt. I was back in the rockery, in Waterworld bath, the record player where an elastic band held Princess Leia to the central pole the record slid onto and Luke had to get past the Gamorrean to rescue her before the record ended. I thought of my Gamorrean in the house in dire need of a big brother. So when one arrived expectantly for my birthday I was delighted. Not that I open the packaging anymore. So he sits on my shelf proudly and that kid in me that never grew up looks at him and smiles. He winks back secure in the knowledge that his double agent life still continues and his family are safe and secure.
As much as I love this figure, it still doesn’t stop me eating bacon sandwiches with brown sauce.
By and copyright Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
More Zombies, more trouble. Welcome to book 2 of Zombie Blues who give us their view on the world and life from behind undead eyes. This time round meet Diabetic Zombie, Racist Zombie, the Ice Queen and why is there a zombie with no teeth? Now on Amazon!
Diabetic Zombie
Holy shit, I found the cure for diabetes!!
Of course, it did involve getting turned into a living dead rotting zombie. As my comic book friends you met earlier will tell you this revelation is like finding the very first issue of Amazing Fantasy #5 featuring Spiderman’s first appearance and finding two of the pages stuck together.
Not good!
What has diabetes got to do with zombies? Easy. Mother Nature had a great plan but it has several flaws. Our bodies rot slowly except our teeth and gums. Those are our greatest weapon. It’s just a pity she doesn’t have enough cosmic power to ensure our entire bodies are sustained until her genocidal plan is carried to completion. It’s like putting a spanking super powered engine in an old banger. It’ll take you a while to get there but at least you can show off the engine.
There’s an equal irony as when I first got diagnosed with diabetes I was told that if untreated it would essentially rot me from the inside out. Believe it or not I immediately pictured myself as a zombie which makes me a trendsetter. This was in the days before zombies became popular thanks to that show from my friend from the last Zombie Blues wanted to be a part of. Now there was a case of be careful what you wish for. Of course, I’m not one to talk. I did picture my self as a diabetic zombie and here we are! What a bitch!
I was diagnosed at twenty five because I had a cut on my arse that wouldn’t heal. That was partially because I love to pick a scab so that would slow down any healing anyway. Don’t be turning your noses up at scab picking. There is not one of you out there that doesn’t love it. There’s just something about it that gives me a sense of pleasure. Knee scabs are the best; that tear of rough skin that makes your spine shiver as you pull it off just can’t be beaten. Well it’s not as if I pull the wings off butterflies is it?
Anyway, it was a lady doctor that day. I told her what was wrong and she asked me to drop the kecks. The macho part of me began opening my belt and sliding my jeans down with this image in my head she would take one look at me and start drooling. I could hear the Diet Coke advert theme play in my head as I then turned and pulled my boxers down. I could see the doctor bite her lower lip as she took in my toned buttocks. Her fingers played with her stethoscope in anticipation. In seconds we would be on her examination table, a scab the last thing on our minds. Yeah, my Perceptions Zombie friend hit the nail on the head. Little did I know diabetes can target your dick making a man’s greatest treasure as useful as a chocolate saucepan.
Of course the reality was she took one look, didn’t drool and just stated ‘you have diabetes’ before sitting back down at her desk. As I pulled my jeans back up I was slightly taken aback at the lack of reaction at the sight of my lower parts. Another part of me said she’d probably seen better hanging out a bird’s nest. Another part of me decided the doctor must not like men which was her loss.
But there it was. My life changed in one simple phrase.
The word diabetes which I associated with people who couldn’t eat chocolate and drink full sugar fizzy drinks was suddenly stamped across my head or in this case my arse.
God, never again would I be able to eat a bag of Maltesers or glug down a 2 litre of Pepsi. But it was only a scab on my arse. Surely I would have lost a lot of weight or been constantly drinking or sleeping all the time. I had been a champion kickboxer and fought all over the country in my twenties. Yeah, I had been a chubby kid in my teens and gained a lot of weight in my early twenties but I had taken care of that.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
When Marvel announced that before the release of the final Guardians of the Galaxy movie, we would be getting a rather special present before the end. A 45 minute holiday special would air on the Disney channel with a dual purpose: sowing seeds for the new movie by introducing us to new crew members  Kraglin Obfonteri (Sean Gunn) and Cosmo the space dog voiced by Maria Bakalova. We also learn that Manta is actually Peter Quill’s sister. They both share the same father Ego the Living Planet, a fact Manta only reveals to Drax at first.
Set after the events of Endgame, Quill is a mess, spending most of his time drinking and feeling spry for himself. He is lost without Gamora. His version was murdered by Thanos but the version restored in the events of endgame has no memories of her and Quill. She doesn’t love him because it never happened for her. She is a member of the Ravagers now. It’s Christmas which makes things worse for Quill. Manta and Drax hatch a plan to cheer Quill up by getting him the bst present ever for Christmas.
They are going to kidnap his hero, Kevin Bacon from Footloose.
Photos copyright Marvel
The mission goes according to plan with plenty of comedy with Drax and Manta at their best experiencing Christmas. They find Bacon and take him when Manta puts him under her spell. However they don’t get the reaction from Quill they were expecting when they present Kevin Bacon to him. A shocked Quill accuses them of human trafficking and releases Bacon from Manta’s spell.
When everything is explained the episode ends with a sing song as Kevin Bacon sings with a band and brings Christmas cheer before departing. So what’s my problem? As good as the episode is, at least up until the end,it failed its udienc completely.
Kevin Bacon is Quill’s hero. Footloose is an amazing movie. It played such a part in the first Guardians installment that the emding of this holiday special should have been a no brainer. I am sure I was not the only one thinking the same thing. When Quill meets Kevin Bacon there should have only been one ending….a bloody dance off!
You meet your hero and the one thing you want is hear their catch phrase or see them do something they are associated with. With Kevin Bacon literally in Quill’s lap, this was the perfect opportunity to give fans what they wanted to see. I thought part way through the song, Bacon and Quill would do a Footloose sequence but it never happened. For me such a great, fun packed story just threw away a chance that would never come again. I don’t even watch the holiday special on repeat because of Marvel’s misstep here. But then again, given the quality of movies and television series that have been produced over the last year mayb this was a glimpse of things to come with Marvel taking their eye off the ball. I can’t believe James Gunn let it slip either but it is what it is.
The Guardians holliday special remains as an almost perfect piece of Marvel with a twist of if only.
Presented by Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
After the bore fest of Godzilla vs Kong, here comes the boys again in the New Empire. This time we will get to see more of the world beneath us and Kong and Godzilla seem to be forced to work together to save everything. That scene alone in the trailer gets me excited. While the story of Monarch unfolds on the small screen in Legacy of Monsters, giving us Titans in drips and drabs, this movie looks like they have learned from the previous movie’s mistakes. Check out the trailer and let us know what you think.
Also released are two new graphic novels to tie in with the new movie.
By and copyright of Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
More Zombies, more trouble. Welcome to book 2 of Zombie Blues who give us their view on the world and life from behind undead eyes. This time round meet Diabetic Zombie, Racist Zombie, the Ice Queen and why is there a zombie with no teeth?
Now available on Amazon
The Question Zombie
I’ll never forget that dark day in June.
We had just entered rainy season but the weather had been mild up to the 22nd of that month. Suddenly the skies darkened and the rain began to fall. I stood blankly by the graveside with no more tears to cry. Inside I was numb with pained rage. My features were locked in a steely glare. Even now as a member of the undead, my expression has not changed. I didn’t think there could any pain worse than what I felt that day in June.
I was aware that the other mourners who had come to pay their respects to my brother were casting furtive glances at me. Inwardly I was grateful that the trickling rain ran down my cheeks in place of real tears. To them I was simply a grief stricken sister lost in the thralls of grief; a statuesque pillar of respectful mourning clad in black.
My head was a muse of clouds of grey that reduced the priest’s sermon to a muffled drone that I could not contemplate.
All I could do was watch the raindrops trickle down the white rose buds of the flower sprays. It looked like the roses were weeping for the loss of the man in the mahogany coffin. All I could do was focus on that image mesmerised by the tranquil beauty of it. The spiral spray with the layered roses was eloquent in design. As the rain fell, each and every rose caught the droplets. Their gentle shaped leaves cradled the moisture as it slowly trickled off the edge of the leaves to the coffin beneath it. It was like a hundred roses crying in harmony for the loss of a soul. The polished wooden surface allowed the droplets to slide gracefully off its edge to the ground below. The white against the dark wood with its myriad moving rain drops gave it an ethereal look like other Nature herself was mourning the loss of Yugala. But as we know that bitch mourns nothing but herself.
A voice whispered in my head sarcastically that at least something was shedding tears. My reserves were simply not there.
I barely registered the coffin being lowered and the ceremony ending with the priest shaking my hand as he gave his condolences. I think I acknowledged his graciousness and I know my husband Chuan gratefully shook the priest’s hand before slipping his an envelope with a gratuity. One by one the mourners dispersed like smoke on the breeze. I must have told Chuan to take the children back to the car as I found myself all alone staring at the grave.
My black overcoat was soaking and my hair was flattened to my head. Someone had put an umbrella over my head during the ceremony but that was gone now. Or had I ushered them away thoughtlessly? Anyone observing would have detected a slight tremble in my frame and assumed it was from the chill of the rain. It wasn’t. It was tropical heat still in this part of Thailand. You could stand shirtless in it and still not be cold. No, my trembling came from a burning desire for answers. I couldn’t understand it.
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.
There have been many incarnations and actors who have played the role of Lex Luthor, Superman’s arch enemy over the years but there is only one version that fans remember and has never, ever been matched for intensity and sheer raw screen presence.
In 1978 you really did believe a man could fly when actor Christopher Reeve took on the role of Superman and blew audiences away. At the start of the movie, we see a tribunal where three criminals are on trial for subverting Kryptonian society. General Zod, the mute Non and Ursa are sentenced by Superman’s father Jor El to the Phantom Zone. But with the success of the movie a sequel was inevitable and there was only one way to go.
Superman 2 is the best and most epic of the movies and that includes the Henry Cavill era. When Superman detonates a nuclear bomb in space that was intended to level Paris, the shockwave shatters the barrier between the Phantom Zone Zod and co were launched in freeing them in our solar system. How ironic that the son of their jailor is their saviour albeit accidentally.
General Zod here is played by Terence Stamp. With theIR distinctive black leather overall and trimmed beard and sallow features is the perfect Zod. His unique English accent is up there with Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber. It stands out and Stamp oozes the character.
Zod is arrogant, ambitious and has little regard for life. When he observes Ursa rip a badge from an astronaut’s spacesuit, his death is a mild curiosty at best. As they explore their new found powers and head to Earth, Zod and his cohorts arrive in a small town where they literally tear it apart turning it into a war zone. He is sadistic with death a mere means to amuse him. This is best displayed when a military helicopter fires missiles at them. Their primitive firepower has no effect on them and with a cold arrogance he asks Ursa to blow them a kiss. Her super breath blows the chopper out of the sky killing those aboard but as new found gods, everyone on Earth are mere sheep to Zod. Their attack on the town is merely a way to gauge the strength of their new found subjects and how much of a threat they are. When it is clear that none of the townspeople have super powers, Zod is angry. The warrior within him demands battle and a constant need to prove his superiority. There can be only one fish in the pond and that’s Zod. He roars into a television news camera for someone to challenge him as he always wins. However as we know Clark is busy revealing he is Superman to Lois and giving up his powers to be with her forever. By the time he finds out about Zod, Clark is completely human.
As the newly self appointed ruler of the planet Earth, Zod turns the faces of Mount Rushmore into his own likeness as does Ursa and Non. They then storm the White House where he observes from the American flag that humans are accustomed to worshipping things that fly. Zod is smart enough to know when a false President is presented to him but learns of Superman’s existence thanks to another old foe of Superman’s, the opportunistic Lex Luthor.
So begins an epic battle on and above the streets of Metropolis when Clark regains his powers and takes the fight to Zod. Luthor leads the Kryptonians to the Daily Planet where they take Lois and the staff hostage in hopes of luring Superman to them. By destroying the son of their jailor, they will have their revenge and take their place as unchallenged rulers of Earth. When Superman arrives we get classic timeless lines that have been used in other versions of the Super family.
“General, would you care to step outside?” and “Kneel before Zod!”
Zod is a warrior and unafraid to fight but he is alo a master tactician and realises that the only way they can hurt Superman is to hurt the people of Earth learning and calculating with every fight.
Destruction reigns down on Metropolis as the four battle in midair. Debris falls to the streets below and Zod and Ursa toss a bus full of people at Superman. He is not as easy to defeat as they first thought. They will burn everything to the ground in order to kill the son of Jor El regardless of the casualties. They have no mercy or compassion and betray Luthor who is delighted when Superman turns up in a classic comedic moment.
“Suoerman, thank God. I mean, get him!”
Zod may be a great warrior but Superman realises the only way to defeat them is to take the fight away from the city. The final standoff is in the Fortress of Solitude where Zod believes with Lois hostage that he has won. He finds it tasteless, a sad replica of a planet long gone.Zod wants Superman to be his slave forever or all Earthlings will die. When Luthor tells Zod that Clark has a molecule chamber which will turn them into humans. Zod puts Superman inside and the machine powers up. But there has never been a look of surprise more explicit than when Zod forces Superman to his knees and offers his hand to sweat eternal loyalty by his new slave. Zod and the others have been turned into humans while Superman was safe. Zod’s pained gasps of surprise are priceless as is the look on his face as his bones are crushed and he is thrown into a precipice of ice. But in a deleted scene Zod and his cronies are arrested and removed from the Fortress by the police. So somewhere Zod, ursa and Non are sitting in prison scheming a way to get back their powers and seek revenge on Superman.
We really are unsure at times through the movie if Superman is going to win but the onscreen chemistry between Reeve and Stamp is electric. Zod is so stoic in his superiority and new found powers under the yellow sun that it in the end clouds his warrior spirit. Stamp brings Zod to life with a regal air that comes from every pore. He bounces off the others brilliantly especially Ursa with his withering glances and his I’m better than everyone else attitude. But there is no doubt that Superman 2 and the epic battle between General Zod and Superman is a must see.
For the ultimate classic super hero villain, keep your Thanos; Terence Stamp as General Zod is the man to watch.
This week we open in 2015 where after picking up a mysterious signal at her outpost a lone female, Doctor Barnes, tries to get through to the assistant director before we jump back to the present day where the death breath ice monster is hunting May, Shaw and the Randa siblings.
We leatn that Dr Barnes works for monarch and the signal she has picked up was previously found before the last emergence. The monsters are coming.,,again. G Day is almost upon us. Tim at this point is a troll in the basement largely ignored so how he came to be of such importance is another piece of the puzzle. But when he calls out the board for short sightedness they listen.
Last week I said Cate’s attitude was becoming boring and yet here she is the nice one. This episode centres on the relationship between May and Kentaro from their first meeting on his debut as an artist on the night his exhibition launches. Their anger at each other is just boring and given they are being hunted by a monster and forced to walk for miles in freezing temperatures, pointless, They risk death rather than work together? They split up. Kentaro going his own way as he believes he saw a structure from the sky as they were landing. It doesn’t make sense that they would go their separate ways and still come out alive from this wasteland. Kentaro has an Obi Wan ghost moment with his father before salvation arrives showing him his dad is indeed still alive. it’s all a bit out there but Shaw states that the presence of the Titans affects their surroundings in to all sorts of weird effects and phenomenon. May almost dies but I found it hard to care given how spiky she is attitude wise. It’s repetitive and adds nothing really to the story. Maybe it is part of the overall arc but we will see.
Why the monster hasn’t killed them is revealed as it follows heat and eats it. Shaw sets a trap to try and kill it but is serves as a distraction to escape. All four are reunited and Kentaro reveals what he has found Shaw gets a look at the portal in the ice and we know full well he knows what it is. Shaw’s computer is wrecked but when they land Tim greets them. They have been delivered to Monarch, the very people they are running from. Cate and Kentaro stare in horror given Tim tried to kidnap them in Tokyo.
Overall, an episode that is more a run around with little impact on the overall story. It felt like a serving of a platter of breadcrumbs with no taste and could do without the metaphysical oddness.
How did you get started in acting? Where did it all begin for you?
Harry Frost, the headteacher at my primary school in Market Bosworth was a keen drama enthusiast. He encouraged all of his students to perform in the plays which he would both write and direct. The long suffering parents would then have to sit and watch proudly.
I became addicted and worked my way through several local drama groups before finally getting a backstage job at the Haymarket theatre in Leicester.
A professional theatre which produced many pre-West End shows, the Haymarket was my introduction to a whole new way of viewing drama and acting in general.
How did the role of Butterball come about?
The director Robin Midgeley encouraged me to apply for drama school and I went from Leicester to London and a three year course at Mountview; a North London drama college.
Whilst there I was cast as ‘The Fool’ in King Lear. Clive Barker was in the audience for one of the performances and asked to meet me.
After an initial meeting he invited me to join his fringe theatre company ‘The Dog Company’ on graduation. His plays were fantastical and intelligent and I was quite overawed by the cast which included a young Douglas Bradley (Pinhead) and an even younger Oliver Parker (director of ‘Dorian Grey’, ‘St Trinians’ and many other films.
After a couple of years the company disbanded as we all needed to earn some money and fringe rarely pays. I didn’t see Clive for a year or two and rang him to see how he was getting on.
The timing was perfect as he a couple of screenplays he had written had been made into movies but rather unsuccesfully and he had just persuaded the producers to let him write and direct the next project which was ‘Hellraiser’. As he asked me over the phone if i would be interested in being a monster.Â
Were you a fan of Clive Barker’s work?
A huge fan. Even in his early work you could tell that he was someone with a great insight into the human condition. His love of William Blake and knowledge of the classics generally, mixed with a mind that was capable of enormous leaps of imagination was addictive.
How did they initially describe the character to you?
A high priest of Hell. Butterball was the groups torturer, hence his belt of blood encrusted surgical instruments. Underneath the dark glasses he had removed his own eyeballs and gained great pleasure from fondling his innards through the gash in his stomach.
How complicated was the costume? What sort of time scale did it take to get you kitted up?
Jane Wildgoose’s costumes were a mixture of leather and fabric. skin tight around the arms mine then included a fibreglass frame which hang on my shoulders and which was home to a naked prosthetic stomach and deep gash which was filled with blood on each take to allow it to drip.
I had a skirt with material that glistened and Jesus sandals which i don’t think are ever visible.
The costume took around 45 minutes to get on.
For the actual mask, how did they go about creating that for you? Was it a head mould?
We were all invited to the home of SFX prosthtic company ‘Image Animation’ at Pinewood Studios to have a life mask cast. This meant having a couple of straws placed up the nose to allow you to breath and then the whole head covered in a substance which gradually set solid.
Once cut out they made a model of our heads on which they could sculpt their creations.
A few weeks later we went back to have the prosthetics fitted and to try out the masks and costumes in a screen test.
How much vision had you got when in complete costume?
None. Because of the sewn shut eyes in the characters past there were no eye holes and I was blind throughout the shoot which caused a few challenges especially early on. There were also no ear holes and I had a set of false dentures glued on top of my own teeth so communication was difficult.
As part of the Cenobite group, how did you try and make him stand out when on screen with the rest?
Because the makeups were so extraordinary Clive realised early on from the rushes that the less we did the more powerful the creatures became. So the direction was usually ‘less is best’. We did find a few character traits we could add such Nick”s chattering teeth and my licking my lips whilst playing with my innards. Sadly the latter was one of the few things the censor drew the line at. The 80’s were a time of increased creative freedom in the UK and we benefitted from being allowed to go much further than horror cinema had been before, but fondling ones intestines crossed the line.
There seems to be a group fluidity between the Cenobites when they move as a group. Am I wrong in that or did you guys work it out between you to accommodate the different costumes?
The costumes certainly created a style of movement. The leather was thick and ungiving but that lead to a kind of Royal glide which we all enveloped and seemed fitting to their postions.
It also resembled the type of movement Doug and I used in Clive’s play Paradise Street years before so may well have been influenced by that.
Are you surprised at his continuing appeal?
Flattered at Butterball’s longevity. We celebrated 25 years recently and if you had told me that when we filmed it I would have been incredulous. No surprise at Clive’s appeal though in fact a little disappointed that he isn’t more widely respected especially in Hollywood.
What for you defines Hellraiser?
Being blind, deaf and dumb was an experience that takes great courage and patience and an inner peace, none of which I possess. So personally I remember the filming process with a mixture of claustrophobia and terror. The end results however more than justify the pain.
How would you rate each movie?
Pass. Too close to them to be objective.
You appeared in another Clive Barker movie, Nightbreed, a great favourite of mine as Ohnaka. This time round there wasn’t as much prosthetics needed. Does being a normal looking human in a horror movie make you strive to make your character stand out among the monsters?
Normally I would say yes but as Nightbreed was packed full of creatures (the most individual monsters of any movie) it actually was in my favour that Ohnaka seemed so human.
It also helped to gain the audiences sympathies which was crucial to his storyline.
It made for a much happier experience on set being able to see and talk to the cast and crew. Also not having to get up at 3am to drive to Pinewood because of hours of makeup meant I was far happier. The tattoos took a while to apply but apart from them my only prosthetics were a pair of nipples.
Of all you appearances in these, what’s been the stand out moment for you?
Watching myself explode and meeting one of my heroes David Cronenberg.
What sums up Clive’s work for you?
Genius…yet to be fully discovered, but when he is expect some extraordinary movies.
How did you become involved in Books of Blood?
When we were in the ‘Dog Company’ Clive was just starting to write ‘The Books of Blood’.
At the launch party for their publication he admitted that the first character in the first story of the first book, Simon McNeal was based around me. The boy who has all the rest of the stories written into his flesh.
A few years ago I heard that they were about to start filming ‘Books of Blood’ in Edinburgh so contacted the production company and casting director. There was no response so I emailed Clive and the next day I was offered the role of Derek. sadly I was 30 years too old to play Simon but it was fascinating watching Jonas Armstrong play me. I decided not to tell him as he had enough on his plate. In fact I didn’t tell any of the cast of my previous film roles.
What can you tell us about the 4th Reich movie you’re involved in. How hard is it to make zombies different?
It has gone very quiet. I was asked to play Underscarfuhrer Kraus back in 2009 since then the cast list has grown and it received a green light in 2012 but then nothing.
I can tell you that my character escapes becoming a zombie which is a shame. I’d love to play a Zombie. They were filming ‘World War Z’ in Glasgow when I was working there and the temptation to gatecrash was overwhelming.
You also have a long and distinguished theatre career for which you’ve won awards. Aside from audience presence, what for you as an actor are the main differences between theatre and movies? Does theatre give you a more immediate buzz?
Absolutely. Three weeks of rehearsal in theatre. Three minutes in film. Immediate audience reaction versus none Long term legacy in films. None in theatre.
What are you working on at the moment?
Just finished voicing ‘Commander Elgin’ for an animated feature called ‘The 11th hour’. I played the lead role of a depressed bereaved man in a short film called ‘Riley’ and am currently touring the world promoting the ‘Cabal Cut’ of ‘Nightbreed’ which is due out later this year.
Where can people find out more about you and your career?
My twitter is @simonbamford or you can catch up at imdb.
5 Nov 2023, 15:33
Robert
Thanks I will get reading these while getting a coffee when I get home.
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Robert
Walked the pregnant wife up Belfast zoo think near killed her
Found a email that contained the interview we did with Simon bamford. I forwarded on to you
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Just reading it. Do u want me to put it on the site
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Robert
That would be so cool man. If I find more of the interviews I will forward them onto you.
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Any photos for it
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Robert
i will see what ican find on the email.
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Any photos send them over whatsapp. Easier 07384671987
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Robert
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Mon 21:33
You sent
I need bio about you including details of space rhino
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Robert
No worries. I will write one up for you
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Mon 21:54
Robert
Robert Nesbitt is a father of three with one more on her way to be part of my mad gang. I am the writer and creator for an upcoming graphic novel known as RhynX coming 2024. I am also currently under taking a screenplay writing course and furthering my eduction as I push myself to achieve my dream. I love retro gaming, comics and movies. Also I am a collector of toys from the 80’s and early 90’s.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
I fell in love with the Walking Dead from the very first episode and it wasn’t long before I realised nobody is guaranteed to get to the following episode. One case in point is the death of Amy played by Emma Bell. What caught me from the start of this show was that I felt sorry for the zombies especially the one Rick met in the opening episode which has been somehow cut in half. (That zombie’s origin was shown in a mini episode to compliment the new season). This was once a woman living her life and now crawled the world as this abomination.
This was different; this was new and there was no better example of this in the death of Amy. She was the sister of Andrea (Laurie Holden) and seemed destined to be a series regular. However in episode four the camp was attacked by a zombie horde and Amy was bitten. What really made this work for me was the reactions of young actor Chandler Riggs who played Rick’s son, Carl. As a young kid, his terrified screams chilled me to the bone as the dead attacked as he clung to his mother.
Amy dies in Andrea’s arms and it is the first time we see a corpse reanimating. But it is how the director shot it that made the horror even more heartbreaking. When Amy begins to reanimate it is as if she is waking from a sleep. Andrea speaks to her and Amy looks to her sister. Slowly she lifts a hand and touches her hair. It is as if Amy recognises Andrea and is reaching out to comfort her. For a moment you swear Amy is going to speak. Her hand is almost stroking Andrea’s hair as her mouth moves. Amy struggles to sit up, her mannerism not yet that of an aggressive zombie. She seems almost confused until her grip tightens on Andrea’s hair and it is clear she is trying to bite her. Yet you cannot help but get the feeling that it is a younger sibling trying to find comfort and reassurance from her big sister in all this horror. Even up to the famous guttural snarls that end with a bullet through the head, Amy seems to be struggling to talk to her sister one last time. It makes things even more tragic when Andrea has to kill her sister.
This is where the Walking Dead differed from every other show. The tragedy of becoming one of the undead is looked at and played out to heighten the suffering of the main cast as they lose loved ones. Amy’s death remains part of the reason the show resonated with viewers and set them on the path as a phenomenon.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 