Shape of things to come

Press, 25 February 1988, Page 22

Shape of things to come

The following list of science-fiction, horror and fantasy films that we can expect to see in our cinemas this year was compiled by Richard Scheib:

“The Running Man” stars Schwarzenegger in Stephen King’s pseudonymous future thriller where convicts run for their lives on a TV game show. Paul Michael Glaser, one half of TV’s “Starsky and Hutch,” directs.

“Nightflyers” stars Catherine Mary Stewart and Michael ("Robin of, Sherwood”) Praed in the story of a space expedition searching for a lost alien race.

“The Princess Bride” is a fairy tale fantasy adapted by the Oscar-win-ning screenwriter, William Goldman, from his own novel and directed by Rob (“Spinal Tap,” “Stand By Me”) Reiner. It has made several critics’ Top 10 lists in the U.S.

“Spaceballs” is Mel Brooks’s latest, a send-up of the “Star Wars” canon, in which he plays a pintsized, aphorism-sprouting guru named Yoghurt. Rick Moranis is the vil-’ lainous Dark Helmet.

“The Serpent and the Rainbow” is the latest film from Wes (“A Nightmare on Elm Street”) Craven. It is a voodoo thriller based on a truelife book and shot on location in Haiti. Unlike recent films like “Angel Heart” and "The Believers,” this will treat voodoo sympathetically. In the light fantasy tradition of films like “Topper” and “Heaven Can Wait,” there will be “Date with an Angel,” about an angel knocked to Earth by a passing satelite.“Made in Heaven” an after-life love story pairing Timothy Hutton and Kelly McGillis; and “Like Father, Like Son,” sounding suspiciously like

“Freaky Friday,” a Disney comedy of some years back, in which father Dudley Moore and son Kirk (TV’s "Growing Pains”) Cameron swap minds accidentally. “Hellraiser” is the directorial debut of the horror author, Clive Barker, a spook show which has been getting some of the best scareraising reviews for some time.

John Carpenter will be back with “Prince of Darkness,’’which is set in the world of quantum physics with scientists coming face to face with the Devil.

“When the Wind Blows” is an animated film with a soundtrack by David Bowie about a middle-aged couple surviving the nuclear war. In the same vein is “Whoops Apocalypse,” a remake of the 1982 TV series, starring the likes of Peter Cook and Alexei Sayle. Terry (“Brazil”) Gilliam will make “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” the fantastic exploits of the world’s greatest liar. Next from Spielberg will be “Batteries Not Included,” which sounds a little like “Cocoon,” and even including two of its stars, in its tale of pensioners encountering U.F.O.s; and “Amazing Stories,” a triplet of tales from Spielberg’s TV series. He will direct one, with William (“Bigfoot”) Dear and Robert (“Back to the Future”) Zemeckis helming the other two. Spielberg’s partner-in-arms, George Lucas’s next is “Willow,” a fantasy shot in New Zea'and.

While on the suoject of New Zealand, Vincent (“Vigil”) Ward’s next film, “Navigator,” is about a fourteenth century boy’s visions which lead a group of people into the twentieth century. There will be a film version based on TV’s “Dr

Who.” Susan (“Desperately Seeking Susan”) Seidleman’s “Making Mr Right”is a feminist comedy concerning a love story with an android. “Who Shot Roger Rabbit?” is a Disney-Lucas film co-production in which detective Harrison Ford investigates the murder of a cartoon character. Made in both liveaction and animation. “The Monster Squad,” from “Night of the Creeps” director, Fred Dekker, is a childoriented effort which affectionately reunites the classic Universal monsters — Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein’s monster and the Creature from the Black Lagoon — in a live-action adventure caper. “Amazon Women of the Moon” is a multidirector grab bag of comedy skits a la “Kentucky Fried Movie.” The title segment is a send-up of bad 50s s.f. films. The directors include John Landis and Joe Dante. “A Nightmare on Elm Street Part IV,” and Freddy himself, Robert Englund, is to direct a horror called “976-Evil” ... “Friday the 13th, Part Vll,”as well as “Friday the 13th - the TV Series”