Science Fiction Theatre is a collection of essays on the first fifty films that have been shown by the film club of the same name. The screenings took place from November 2013 to May 2018 at various venues across London and were advertised with specially-commissioned posters and included post-film speakers. The book presents this artwork alongside new writing on the movies too.
A good thing about this collection is it works as a standalone piece; it doesn’t matter if you attended any of the screenings or not, it’s an impressive overview of some incredible movies. The majority will be well known by STARBURST readers, although there may be one or two curveballs that will send you scurrying away to seek them out somewhere. These include ZPG (1972), Michael Campuss’ futuristic tale in which childbirth is forbidden and the Harvey Keitel-starring Death Watch (1980), which sees Romy Schneider’s character become a celebrity by contracting a terminal disease in a world in which such things no longer happen. The brief write-up takes in synopsis as well as some light critique, and is well-written and quite often very informative. The artwork is a mixed bag of styles ranging from the obvious to the intricate with the occasional minimalist and simplistic interpretation. Autun Purser’s RoboCop could easily double as the cover of a graphic novel, Samuel Brewer’s Starship Troopers would not look out of place advertising the film outside of an art-house cinema. Daria Golab’s take on The Mist captures a monochrome nightmare and in contrast, Lisa Leblanc gives The Year of the Sex Olympics a psychedelic make-over. The book is rounded out with a little info on the writers, artists, and the speakers at the original screenings, as well as some work in progress images for the posters.
It’s difficult to know where the book is pitched. It is definitely a fantastic souvenir for those who attended the screenings, but surprisingly, it’s entertaining and informative enough to be of interest to those who did not. It’s never condescending in the writing, unlike some loftier collections of essays and each contributor shows a passion for the genre that leaps off the page. It’s a small press book and – like the screenings – a labour of love, but comes across much slicker than it should be. Well worth checking out.
SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE: SCREENINGS 1 -50 / EDITOR: GRAHAM AINSLEY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
