Link (film)

Link is a 1986 British horror film starring Elisabeth Shue and Terence Stamp along with a trio of simian stars which consist of Locke as Link, Jed as Imp, and Carried as Voodoo. The title character, "Link", is a super-intelligent yet malicious chimpanzee (played by an orangutan) who lashes out against his masters when they try to have him euthanised.
It was directed by Richard Franklin and written by Everett De Roche from a story by Lee David Zlotoff and Tom Ackermann. The score was provided by Jerry Goldsmith. It was filmed in St. Abbs, Scotland. Shue and Goldsmith received Saturn Award nominations for their contributions.
Franklin was a devotee of Alfred Hitchcock - he had recently directed "Psycho II" - and said after filming “I hesitate to liken it to "The Birds" because everyone will say ‘Oh shit, he's doing Hitchcock again.' Unlike "The Birds", which is kind of a fantasy, "Link" is based on anthropological realities. I’m calling it an anthropological thriller as opposed to a psychological thriller.”
Plot.
Dr Steven Phillip lives in a Victorian mansion by the English Coast with three chimpanzees whom he has been doing research on to investigate the “link” between man and ape. Jane Chase is invited to his house during summer vacation as an assistant, and upon
arriving, she gets greeted at the door by a chimp named Link, dressed in a butler's uniform.
Philips disappears, but Jane thinks he left for London. She decides to stay with the chimps. Over time the chimps become more violent. They begin to take over the house and to get involved in inter-tribal squabbles, leading to a confrontation with Jane.
Production.
In 1979 Richard Franklin optioned a short outline which he described as "a sort of "Jaws" with chimps." He did not do anything with it until the writer Everett de Roche showed him a "National Geographic" article by Jane Goodall about violence among chimpanzees.
Franklin later said what sparked the idea of the film was Goodall observing "the cannibalizing of young chimpanzees by one particular mad female chimp. She observed actual inter-tribal warfare, not unlike the opening of "2001", between two groups of chimps. The whole ’60s idea of man being the only animal to make war against its own kind was suddenly thrown out the window. Since then, they’ve discovered that lions and other animals do it as well, but that, to me, was a really interesting idea for a good thriller.”
Everett De Roche wrote the script. Franklin tried to get finance for the film in Australia in 1981 but was then offered "Psycho II" which led to "Cloak and Dagger". After those films he decided to reactivate "Link".
""Link" is much more mysterious than it is horrifying," said Franklin. "For a long time, the girl doesn’t know, nor does the audience, exactly what happened to the doctor. It owes a bit to "Psycho", actually, because you’ll notice that in mood, tone and look, it resembles "Psycho II", crossed with the English setting of "Jane Eyre".”
"It’s very suspenseful and moderately violent, although chimps indulge in bloodless violence," said Franklin. "They don’t use weapons, they just pull your arms off.”
Shooting.
The film was made in the UK for EMI Films. "The English setting to me was essential," said Franklin. "I wanted to contrast the primitivism of jungle animals with Old World values, high culture, and "civilisation" - which is one of the subjects of the picture."
Franklin was asked to use make up for the apes but he elected to use real apes, and editing techniques to make it seem how they were reacting.
"From a technical viewpoint, it was really not as hard to do as I had anticipated," said Franklin. "But there was a lot of pressure on me, even at the last minute, to use men in suits, which I thought would be dishonest. We weren’t making a fantasy, and we weren’t making Greystoke with its fable-like qualities. We were doing something which was supposed to be based on what chimps can really do. "
Filming finished in July 1985. It was one of the last films made under the regime of Verity Lambert at EMI.
"The killings are strange with one chimp actually pulling somebody through a mail slot, which is kind of different,” said Franklin. “It breaks new ground, and cinema- tically, it has never been done."
Release.
Prior to the film's release Frankin said "Universal’s instinct will probably be
to release it this summer, which I really hope they don't do. It’s not a Spielberg movie. It’s quite different and, in a way, I wish "Psycho II" had been given the chance to make more money by playing fewer theatres for a longer period of time. "Link" is a very special thriller and should be treated accordingly.”
When the film was released in the US by the Cannon Group, eight minutes were cut, despite Franklin's objections. When EMI was taken over by the Cannon Group, five more minutes were cut out. Franklin later described this process as "each new one chipping a little more away until my wife was moved to liken the plight of my monkey movie to that of the horse in "Black Beauty"."
Reception.
The film received generally mixed to negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave at the film 33% positive reviews based on 9 reviews. Franklin later called the movie "on almost every level... an unsatisfying experience."
Possible Sequel.
Prior to the film's release Franklin said he had an idea for a follow up movie, about an anthropologist in Africa who becomes involved in a chimp war. "It would be another picture entirely, ” said Franklin. "Steven Spielberg said he would direct Jaws 2 if he could do the story of the Indianapolis, which is the story that’s told in Jaws by Robert Shaw. With Link, we got an entirely different story, which takes chimps as far from the jungles
of Africa as possible.” However the commercial failure of "Link" meant the film was never made.


Sonic Runners Adventure

Sonic Runners Adventure is an endless runner platform game published by Gameloft for Android and Java-based mobile phones. As part of the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series, the game serves as a sequel to 2015's "Sonic Runners". The game was first released in select regions on June 10, 2017, and was released to the rest of the world on August 9, 2017.
Gameplay.
Similar to its predecessor "Sonic Runners", "Sonic Runners Adventure" is a platform game with endless runner elements. Players choose between several different characters, each with unique abilities. Players must guide their chosen character through a series of levels based on locations in "Sonic Generations" and "Sonic Lost World". Characters automatically move forward, so players must tap their screen to avoid obstacles and enemies. Scattered around levels are golden rings, which serve as a form of health: rings protect the player from enemies or obstacles, though they scatter when the player is hit and blink before disappearing. Several changes from the original game have been made as well; the game can be played offline, and there are three types of levels in the game: "Finite", "Looped", and "Infinite".
Development.
In April 2017, Gameloft accidentally released a FAQ webpage for a purported sequel to Sonic Team's 2015 endless running game "Sonic Runners", titled "Sonic Runners Adventure". The page was quickly taken down, though it was later restored when the game was launched in PAL regions on June 10, 2017. When the game was initially released back in August, the game was only made exclusive to Gameloft's store in which you had to pay money to download the app. However, on December 1, 2017, it was officially announced by Gameloft on social media and their website that the game will officially release on the App Store and Google Play sometime soon.
Reception.
Carter Dotson of "TouchArcade" expressed hope that an iOS version of the game would be released, and praised the fact that it was a game with a fixed price, rather than the original "Runner" freemium approach. It currently holds a Metacritic score of 78 out 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews", with the gameplay, level design and presentation receiving praise.


Thunder (TV series)

Thunder is a 1977-1978 American children's show which aired on Saturday mornings on NBC. The show centered on the adventures of Cindy Prescott (Melora Hardin) and her friend, Willie Williams (Justin Randi) and featured Thunder, a black stallion who ran wild near the ranch owned by the Prescott family: The cast also featured Cindy's parents: Bill (Clint Ritchie), a rancher, and Anne (Melissa Converse), a veterinarian.
Thunder was always there to rescue Cindy and/or Willie in times of trouble “caused by others’ misdeeds and thoughtlessness,” including a forest fire caused by a practical joker, and Willie being hit by a stray bullet fired by teens in a no-shooting area. Also playing a part in the adventures was Willie’s stubborn mule, Cupcake, who was trained to “burp” on camera.
For about a month, in an effort to improve ratings, the producers of "Thunder" re-titled the show “Super Horse, Starring Thunder.”
"Thunder" was created by the creators of "Fury", another show featuring a stallion. This show also aired on NBC, from 1955 to 1960.
"Thunder" was part of a 90-minute block of three live action shows to debut on NBC during the 1977 season, along with "Search and Rescue: the Alpha Team" and "The Red Hand Gang". It was the only one of the three to run for a full season in the United States, with all episodes aired. ("Search and Rescue: the Alpha Team" was shown in prime time in Canada, where it was filmed and simply titled "Search and Rescue", and stayed on the air for a full season.)
Concerning international broadcasting, it is best known that in Italy the show ran in syndication in the early 80's under the title "Fulmine" (Italian for "lightning").


Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet

Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet is a 1965 American science fiction film, one of two versions adapted for Roger Corman from the Soviet science fiction movie "Planeta Bur" ("Planet of Storms"), scripted by Aleksandr Kazantsev from his novel and directed by Pavel Klushantsev. Curtis Harrington oversaw the editing and dubbing of principal portions of the source film, and directed new principal scenes featuring Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue. The resulting new film was then syndicated to television by American-International Television Inc.
Plot.
The film essentially follows the story of the Soviet original, with Rathbone and Domergue replacing two Soviet actors in roles as space-station monitors of the primary action. The rest of the film stars the remaining Soviet players, dubbed.
In the revised telling, it is 2020 and the Moon has been colonized. After traveling 200,000,000 miles, the first group of men land on Venus, where they find a prehistoric world in which the crew are attacked by various monsters, plants, etc.
Production.
Roger Corman purchased the rights to Planet of Storms (a Soviet film "Planeta Bur") and used footage from that movie to make this movie and "Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women".
The American-made scenes were shot at the same time as "Queen of Blood", another film directed by Harrington that was developed around the story of, and footage from, Soviet science fiction films. Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue shot their scenes in half a day using the same costumes and on the same set as "Queen of Blood".
Harrington later recalled, "It had to do with a couple of people orbiting the planet Venus. So, I had, instead of the Soviet actors, Faith Domergue orbiting the planet Venus. Then all the scenes with the Russians were dubbed in English. She was in touch with Basil Rathbone who was supposedly on a moon station. That’s all I shot. I shot about a day or two with her as she was in that ship orbiting around planet Venus. All the rest of it was just dubbed stuff."
While Harrington considered "Queen of Blood" good enough to keep his name on, he is credited in this film as "John Sebastian", derived from Johann Sebastian Bach.
Reception.
In a retrospective on Soviet science fiction film, British director Alex Cox called "Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet" "an act of cinematic cannibalism." Creature Feature gave the movie two out of 5 stars, saying that it looked like it was spliced together with Elmer's Glue.


Plop Goes the Weasel

Plop Goes the Weasel! is a 1953 Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson. The cartoon was released on August 22, 1953, and features Foghorn Leghorn and the Barnyard Dawg.
The title is a pun on the song title "Pop Goes the Weasel". The tune is played during the intro and in subsequent cartoons involving the weasel vs Foghorn.
Plot.
The story begins with a wanted poster for a weasel with the subtitle "WEASEL (CHICKEN THIEF)." The Dawg is seen guarding the hen house by marching back and forth. Foghorn, who is on the other side of the wire fence, states to the audience that the Dawg is "strictly G.I.", meaning "Gibbering Idiot," not to mention the fact that he's being stubborn as a donkey. Foghorn distracts the Dawg by deliberately letting a young chick escape from the barnyard. As the dog chases the chick around, Foghorn allows a second chick to escape. Then, as the Dawg gives chase, Foghorn props himself on the wire fence and lifts his feet, allowing all of the chicks to run free. As the Dawg realizes he's being tricked, he shouts at Foghorn to "Hey, cut that out!" and collects all of the chicks, even using his tail to scoop up a dropped one when the weasel appears. The Dawg, in order to open the gate to the barnyard, inadvertently asks the weasel to hold on to the chicks. Realizing he just spoke to the weasel, he lifts it up, deposits the chicks back in the yard, and then kicks the weasel away, causing it to yelp repeatedly. Foghorn continues to mock the Dawg by removing a knot and then push a chick through a knothole in the fence.
As the chick escapes, the weasel catches it but then the Dawg catches the weasel and takes back the chick. Foghorn then goes outside of the fence and demands that the Dawg put him back inside. The Dawg obliges by deliberately stuffing Foghorn through the knothole, and using a wooden stick to force him through to the inside. Foghorn then conspires to get a large chicken (a "Red Island Rhode") if the weasel will wait. Foghorn then cracks a barrel of syrup over the Dawg and covers him with pillow feathers, then alerts the weasel, who takes the dog back to his den and begins to rip the feathers from the Dawg's ankle. The Dawg snaps that he is not a chicken and offers to team up with the weasel to help him catch Foghorn. The Dawg lures Foghorn over a wooden fence then the weasel hits Foghorn with a mallet. A dazed Foghorn appears intoxicated and is challenged by the Dawg to walk a straight line. Foghorn complies but as he does so one of his legs falls into the weasel's den. The weasel begins to cook Foghorn's foot on a hot skillet and Foghorn begins to shriek. The Dawg appears for a moment to sympathize with Foghorn, but then puts on earmuffs so that he cannot hear Foghorn as the cartoon irises out.


Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (known commonly as Skippy) is an Australian television series created by Australian actor John McCallum, Lionel (Bob) Austin and Lee Robinson produced from 1967 to 1969 (airing from 1968 to 1970) about the adventures of a young boy and his highly intelligent pet kangaroo, and the various visitors to the fictional Waratah National Park, filmed in today's Waratah Park and adjoining portions of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park near Sydney.
Ninety-one 30-minute episodes were produced. Additionally, a full-length film titled "Skippy and The Intruders" was released to theatres in 1969.
Plot and setting.
"Skippy", the show's namesake star, is a female eastern grey kangaroo, who is befriended by 9-year-old Sonny Hammond, who with 16-year-old brother Mark are the children of widower Matt Hammond, the Head Ranger of Waratah National Park. The stories revolved around events in the park, including its animals, the dangers arising from natural hazards, and the actions of visitors (featuring numerous stars, predominately of the period in guesting roles). The boy's mother is said (in Episode 48 "The Mine") to have died shortly after Sonny was born.
The small and unusually intelligent Skippy was not a pet and it was often reiterated in the series that Skippy lived in the park and was free to come and go as she pleased. Skippy was found in the bush as a baby by Sonny - an orphan, her mother having been killed by shooters. It was always understood that once Skippy was old enough to look after herself she would go back to the bush, but a strong bond had been built up between Skippy and Sonny and the rest of the Hammond family. Skippy was a remarkable kangaroo. Capable of near-human thought and reasoning, she could understand everyone, open doors, carry things in her pouch, cross streams on narrow logs, foil villains, rescue hapless bushwalkers, untie ropes, collect the mail and even operate the radio. In one episode she plays drums in a band, in another she places a bet - and wins - on a horse at Randwick Racecourse.
Sharing the Ranger Headquarters residence was the helicopter pilot, Flight Ranger Jerry King, aged in his mid-20s. Later several female characters were introduced to the series, including Dr. Anna Steiner, a research scientist working in the park, and school girl Clancy Merrick, the teenage daughter of another park ranger who boards with the Hammonds. Members of the Aboriginal Theatre from Yirrkala in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory made guest appearances in three episodes.
The series was often characterised as a kangaroo version of Flipper or Lassie.
Cast.
The main characters were:
Episodes.
Three series were made with a total of 91 episodes and production was wound up in September 1969. It was never intended to make more, partly because 91 episodes was considered enough, and partly because the child actor who played Sonny, Garry Pankhurst, was growing up.
Production.
The Skippy TV series was produced by Fauna Productions. During 1963, British film director Michael Powell had visited Australia to pre-produce his film, 'They're A Weird Mob'. There he met actor and theatre businessman John McCallum and legal expert Bob Austin who used their local knowledge to find finance from Australian backers. The film did well, and McCallum and Austin together with veteran Australian producer Lee Robinson went on to set up Fauna Productions. The business made it reputation with Skippy, produced in association with Frank Packer's Channel Nine. Fauna Productions went on to produce the TV series Barrier Reef and Bony as well as the feature film Nickel Queen. Fauna Productions is still in business, now being run by two sons of the founders, Philip Austin and Nick McCallum. It holds copyright over the original Skippy TV series while the Nine Network holds the trademark.
Most episodes were directed by Max Varnel or Eric Fullilove with scripts written by Australian writers. Producer Lee Robinson said "Each story has the underlying thought, which is the preservation of wild life".
Accomplished musician, band-leader and composer Eric Jupp was responsible for the theme and incidental music for Skippy. "It took me a few days to write the Skippy theme," said Jupp. 'I'd already written three or four versions and then rejected them. But the effort has proved worthwhile because about 30,000 records of the theme have been sold in Australia alone.'.
Location filming.
The series was shot in northern Sydney, on then undeveloped Crown land west of Namba Road now known as Waratah Park. Permission to film and build structures on the site was given by Warringah Council. Also necessary was the cooperation of the newly created NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, under government minister Tom Lewis, and the Ku-ring-gai Chase Trust to allow access to a further within the adjacent Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Following preparatory work, filming commenced in May 1967.
The Ranger Headquarters and residence was purpose-built for the series and used for both exterior and interior scenes. Power and water supply had to be connected and roads constructed, together with a helipad and helicopter servicing area. Other national parks were also utilised for filming, as well as the streets and beaches of Sydney and surrounding districts. "The Australian bush provided an excellent scenic backdrop, which was much appreciated by local and overseas viewers alike."
Animal actors.
Between nine and fifteen kangaroos were used for each show. The apparent manual dexterity was often achieved by using separate arms in the hands of human operators. Skippy's trademark "tchk tchk tchk" noise was entirely fictional. Kangaroos make no such sounds. But some sort of sound was needed for the series, and someone came up with the idea of clicking their tongue to make the sound. To this day, many people believe that kangaroos make "tchk tchk" noises. To make Skippy mover her mouth, supposedly creating the vocalisations, production staff gave the kangaroos chocolate, chewing gum or grass and, in some cases, an elastic band around the lower jaw.
A menagerie of other animals and birds were utilised for the show, including dingoes, possums, emus, galahs and koalas, all trained and managed by Scotty Denholm, a former NSW police dog trainer. In theory there was only one Skippy, but in reality there were many stand-ins. "Like people, some kangaroos are brighter than others," said producer Dennis Hill. Nonetheless there are limits to what you can get a kangaroo to do. Often the actors could be noticed patting the kangaroo to get her to move, or holding her to prevent her moving. Kangaroo paw bottle-openers, of a type that could be purchased at any souvenir shop, were utilised for close-up scenes of Skippy opening doors or picking up objects. There was also a stuffed kangaroo from a taxidermist used for scenes from behind, or when Skippy was required to jump into a confined space such as the helicopter.'.
Feature film.
Filming of the Skippy movie commenced in October 1968. Entitled "The Intruders" or "Skippy And The Intruders". the movie was largely filmed on the Waratah Park set as well as near the south coast town of Mallacoota. "Basically a feature-length episode, the movie was seen as a good rollicking adventure yarn and was well-received by Skippy fans.".
Popularity and awards.
Skippy was the first Australian series to be heavily merchandised. The "Skippy Club" boasted over 67,000 members. In Japan, short 8MM colour films were on sale. In Australia and many overseas countries you could buy Skippy pyjamas, ice-creams, toys, jewellery, soap, comics, jelly-beans, rulers, pencils, puzzles, toothpaste, shampoo, T-shirts, towels and soft drinks. The Commercial Banking Company had Skippy moneyboxes, the contents of which could be banked with the details entered into a Skippy passbook. There were LP and EP records, an adventure story narrated by John McCallum, several books and in 2009 you could still buy Skippy Corn Flakes. The popularity of Skippy was summed up by Fauna's Marketing-Merchandising Manager, Kevin Gleeson: 'Skippy is clean, non-violent fun with no sex. It's wholesome, family-type entertainment. . . most importantly, any necessary violence is innocuous and insignificant, with the old Skippy coming to the rescue at the end of each episode.'.
Skippy won a number of awards: a 1968 Logie Special Award for Best Export Production, a 1968 Logie for Michael Wright, writer of episode 4, "The Poachers", a 1968 Penguin for Best Live Show and a 1969 Charlie Award for Best Promotion and Contribution to the Australian entertainment industry. All three series of Skippy plus the movie "The Intruders" have been released on DVD.
The series sold around the world, reportedly shown in 128 countries. It is still being shown in some countries, some 40 years after it was made.
Broadcast history.
Domestic.
The show was produced for global distribution and filmed in colour. It premiered outside of Australia. The domestic premiere in Sydney (on TCN-9) and Melbourne (GTV-9) was Monday evening, 5 February 1968.
The Nine Network readily repeated the series several times after Australian television switched to colour transmission in 1975. In 2009, the Nine Network began to rerun the series in a graveyard slot in the early hours of the morning.
In 2013, 9Gem started showing "Skippy" at 6:30am.
International.
The Australian series was one of the most heavily exported programs. It was broadcast in all Commonwealth countries, including in Canada where it was adapted in Quebec for the Standard French market as "Skippy le kangourou".
It was dubbed into Spanish in Mexico, where it is known as "Skippy el canguro", and has been seen in most Spanish-speaking countries, including Cuba and Spain, where it became very popular. In Latín América, the show was broadcast on free TV in 1970s, and on pay TV (Cable, Satellite and IPTV) vía Sundance Channel (Channel 520 of DIRECTV).
It was shown in the Netherlands, where it was first screened between 1969 and 1972. In Germany, it was known as "Skippy, das Buschkänguruh", while in Italy was known as "Skyppy il canguro" and broadcast by RAI Television. The show was popular in Scandinavia, and in Norway a chain of shopping centres were named in honour of the programme. The series crossed the Iron Curtain and was aired in Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.
The series was also widely distributed in Ghana where it aired weekly on the GBC. The series was also broadcast in Iran.
When it was transmitted in the United States, "Skippy, The Bush Kangaroo" was largely shown as weekend-morning children's television.
"The Adventures of Skippy".
The series was revived in 1992 as the short-lived "The Adventures of Skippy". This revival series focused on the now adult Sonny Hammond (played by Andrew Clarke) – having followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a ranger at a wildlife park – who now had his own family and a pet kangaroo named Skippy.
This version also aired on Animal Planet in 1997, and is currently airing in the U.S. on TBN's Smile of a Child TV children's network.
The complete series of 39 episodes has been released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment.
Later history.
In 1998, an animated spin-off series was produced, known as "". It featured a version of Skippy, portrayed as a male, anthropomorphic kangaroo, working as a park ranger.
In 1999, Skippy starred in advertisements for the chocolate confectionery Rolo Cookies.
In September 2008, actor Tony Bonner sued the production company seeking residuals from merchandising and DVD sales from the series.
On 17 September 2009, a documentary "Skippy: Australia's First Superstar" was broadcast on the ABC in Australia and the BBC in the UK. The documentary was produced by Western Australian-based documentary production company Electric Pictures.
In popular culture.
The original series was parodied in a recurring sketch as part of the British comedy series "Goodness Gracious Me" under the title "Skipinder, the Punjabi Kangaroo": the parody redubbed scenes from the original "Skippy". The show was also parodied in the 1989–1992 Australian sketch comedy TV show, "Fast Forward".


Crazylegs Crane

Crazylegs Crane is a 16-episode made-for-television cartoon series produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises in 1978 for "The All New Pink Panther Show" on ABC.
Production.
This was Crazylegs Crane's first series dedicated solely to him. Previously, he had made regular appearances in the three DePatie-Freleng animated comedies, "Tijuana Toads", "The Blue Racer" and "The Dogfather". Larry D. Mann voiced him in all but two of his appearances, with Bob Holt voicing him in the "Tijuana Toads" short "Flight to the Finish", and Daws Butler voicing him in the "Dogfather" short "The Goose That Laid a Golden Egg". His personality is similar to the Disney character Goofy. In the German series, this character was known as "Dummvogel", literally "stupid bird".
Plot.
In the cartoons that star Crazylegs Crane (voiced by Larry D. Mann), he always goes through various misadventures (often accompanied by his son Crazylegs Crane Jr. (voiced by Frank Welker)) and often deals with his frenemy, a fire-breathing dragonfly (voiced by Frank Welker impersonating Andy Kaufman).
None of the shorts contained any credit information; only the series title and episode title were shown.
Reruns.
Crazylegs Crane previously aired as part of "The All-New Pink Panther Show" on This TV on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30am Eastern Time until September 22, 2011. Also, most of the shorts often air as filler material on Boomerang. Some episodes have also appeared on YouTube, Hulu and other online video sites.
Home video.
A DVD and Blu-ray containing the 16 episodes were released on April 26, 2016 from Kino Lorber.


Varjak Paw

Varjak Paw (2003) is a novel by the British author S. F. Said and illustrated by Dave McKean. The illustrations in this book have a dark "gothic" quality. The novel received the 2003 Smarties Gold Award for the 6–8 years range, and has been adapted for other media.
Characters.
Varjak Paw's name is an allusion to the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's". In the film, one of the main characters, Paul Varjak, has written a book called "Nine Lives". When he and another character look for the book in the library catalogue, it is listed as "Nine Lives by Varjak, Paul". S.F. Said is not known to have commented on this connection.
Adaptations.
Theatre.
In October 2013, Playbox Theatre Company took on S. F. Said's Varjak Paw, in a major multi-media production.
Opera.
In 2010, composer Julian Philips completed an opera on Varjak Paw, to a libretto by Kit Hesketh-Harvey, performed by The Opera Group in September–November.
Film.
"Varjak Paw" has been optioned by The Jim Henson Company to be developed as an animated family feature film, with Faith Fawusi as director.


Swetha Naagu

Swetha Naagu is a 2004 Indian devotional horror starring Soundarya, Abbas, and Sarath Babu. The film was originally planned to be made simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil; however the film was later shot simultaneously in Telugu and Kannada (as Shwetha Naaga) with a different supporting cast for each version. This is Soundaraya's hundredth film. A white snake from Meghalaya was used in the film. Abbas, who garnered acclaim with "Prema Desam", was signed to play one of the leads in the film. The film began production in mid-2003. The Telugu version was dubbed in Tamil as "Madhumathi".
Release.
"Idlebrain" gave the film a rating of 2.75 out of 5 and wrote that " Swetha Nagu is an average devotional film. And the USP (Unique Selling Point) is Soundarya". A critic from "Sify" noted that "The first half of the film is interesting, but the film peters out in the second half. However the plus point of the film is Soundarya".


Erik of het klein insectenboek (film)

Erik of het klein insectenboek (English translation: "Erik or the small book of insects") is a 2004 Dutch family film, based on the homonymous book of Godfried Bomans: "Erik of het klein insectenboek". It was co-produced with among others the Danish company Zeitgeist.
The film received a Golden Film for 100,000 visitors.


Matador (film)

Matador is a 1986 black comedy-drama thriller film by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar about a student matador, Ángel Giménez (Antonio Banderas), who confesses to murders he did not commit.
Plot.
Diego Montes (Nacho Martínez) is a former bullfighter who was forced into early retirement after being gored. He finds sexual gratification by viewing slasher films. Among the students in his bullfighting class is Ángel, a diffident young man who suffers from vertigo. During one episode of vertigo in the practice ring, Ángel has a vision of a woman killing a man with a hairpin during sex, in a manner similar to how a matador kills a bull. After class, Diego asks Ángel if he is homosexual, noting that he is not experienced with women. Ángel says he is not and vows to prove himself. Later that day, Ángel attempts to rape his neighbour Eva (Eva Cobo), who is also Diego's girlfriend. As she leaves him, she trips in the mud and gashes her cheek. At the sight of her blood, Ángel faints.
The next day, Ángel's mother insists that he go to church as a condition of living in her home. After mass, she insists that he go to confession. He instead goes to the police station to confess to the rape. When Eva is brought to the station, she says he ejaculated before penetrating her and declines to press charges. Alone with the police detective (Eusebio Poncela), Ángel notices photos of dead men with the same wound administered by the woman seen during his earlier spell of vertigo. He confesses to having killed them. The detective then asks about two missing women, who were also students of Diego, and Ángel confesses to killing them as well.
Although Ángel is able to lead the police to the two women's bodies buried outside Diego's home, the detective is not convinced. He questions how Ángel could have buried them there without Diego's knowledge, finds that Ángel has an alibi for the murder of one of the men, and discovers that he faints at the sight of blood. Meanwhile, Ángel's lawyer, María Cardenal (Assumpta Serna) the woman from Ángel's dream suspects that Diego killed the two women. She takes him to a remote house where she has collected memorabilia related to Diego since she first saw him kill a bull. At Diego's home, Eva overhears the two and realizes that they are the killers. When María leaves, Eva tells Diego he has to take her back since she knows everything. Eva then goes to María to tell her to stay away from Diego, since Eva knows her secrets. María's reaction does not reassure Eva, and she goes to the police.
While Eva is telling the detective what she has heard, Ángel's psychiatrist (Carmen Maura) calls the detective to tell him that Ángel has seen Diego and María in a vertigo trance, and that they are in danger. Ángel is able to guide them to María's house. Just as the police, Ángel, Eva, and the psychiatrist arrive, an eclipse begins and they hear a gunshot. María has stabbed Diego between the shoulder blades and shot herself in the mouth as they were making love. Viewing the scene, the detective says that it is better this way and that he has never seen anyone happier.
Reviews.
Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" wrote, "The movie looks terrific and is acted with absolute, straight-faced conviction by the excellent cast headed by Miss Serna, Mr. Martinez and Mr. Banderas. "Matador" is of most interest as another work in the career of a film maker who, possibly, is in the process of refining a singular talent."
In his book "Almodóvar on Almodóvar", the director admitted that he considered this film and "Kika" (1993) to be his two weakest.
On Rotten Tomatoes, "Matador" holds a rating of 92% based on 26 reviews.


FishCenter Live

FishCenter Live (also shortened to FishCenter or FC Live or just FCL) is an American talk show hosted by Dave Bonawits, Andrew Choe, Matt Harrigan, Christina Loranger, and Max Simonet. It premiered on the official website of Adult Swim in September 2014; it started airing on the network proper in February 2015. The series ended on November 25, 2020, following layoffs that resulted in the cancellation of the Adult Swim streams.
Summary and production.
"FishCenter Live" is presented as a weekday call-in talk show narrating over footage of tropical fish swimming around in a fish tank. The fish are ranked according to their points, which are awarded when the fish complete a number of challenges. These challenges include "Coin Quest," floating over coins that are superimposed on the video feed.
The show is hosted by Dave Bonawits, Andrew Choe, Matt Harrigan, Christina Loranger (since 2019), and Max Simonet, employees from the digital department room of Adult Swim. An original incarnation of the show involved a straight video feed of the fish tank, without narration. Commentary and a phone number for call-in segments were later added. Initially, callers were mostly other Adult Swim employees; when the competition portion was added, the hosts saw an increase of outside callers.
Starting in 2015, both Dave Bonawits and Max Simonet began hosting another show for the streams, a New York Times crossword solving show initially called "Crossword". The series was re-titled "Bloodfeast" in 2016, and later received two television spin-offs: "Tender Touches" and "Gēmusetto Machu Picchu".
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show was done remotely starting in March 2020, with the hosts talking through Zoom. During this time, two hosts left for extended hiatuses: Dave Bonawits left from late April to early June for parental leave, while Andrew Choe left in late July after feeling burnt out, returning for the show's final two weeks in November. The show was reduced to just three days a week in September, running two hours every Tuesday through Thursday, while also being simulcasted to YouTube and Twitch.
On November 10, 2020, parent company WarnerMedia announced a large round of layoffs, with Adult Swim being affected. Among the laid off staff were all of the "FishCenter Live" hosts, except for Max Simonet, and the layoffs ultimately resulted in the cancellation of the Adult Swim streams. Following two more weeks of programming, "FishCenter Live", and the Adult Swim streams as a whole, ended on November 25, 2020, with a two-part finale declaring TZ2 as the last Galaxy King. The live stream then became a silent feed of the fish tank until its eventual removal in January 2021.
Games.
The callers, fish, and guests compete for points in various games:
Games created for guests have included:
Guests.
Guests.
100 Gecs, Alvvays, George Clinton, Carach Angren, Consider the Source, Dinosaur Jr. Dying Fetus, Billie Eilish, Daughters, Hard Working Americans (HWA), Colin Hay, Le Butcherettes, Los Lobos, Morbid Angel, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, David Sedaris, Tower of Power, Trampled by Turtles, and Turkuaz played on "FishCenter Live". Alvvays' played the song "Not My Baby" from their sophomore album "Antisocialites". HWA played the songs "Burn Out Shoes" and "Half Ass Moses". HWA was on tour promoting their live album "We’re All In This Together". Post Malone was also a guest twice and did Trivia on frequent FishCenter guest Kelvin Taylor (actor), along with being bitten by Mom after drinking 9 beers on his first appearance. Waka Flocka Flame and DJ Whoo Kid played on "FCL" as well. Fish-themed Joy Division cover band, Koi Division, said their dream is to appear on "FishCenter Live". George Clanton and Nick Hexum played the song "Aurora Summer". 100 Gecs later included their performances on the show in the digital version of "1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues", released on July 10, 2020. The final band to play on the show was Dawes, who appeared on the November 12, 2020 episode.
Collaboration.
On 24 October 2019, American rock band Cage the Elephant's released a music video for the song "Social Cues" from their album "Social Cues". It was shot at "FishCenter Live" with additional direction from Matt Shultz.
Homages.
In the episode broadcast Thursday, 13 December 2018, a parody of the s USS "Enterprise" was featured called the "USS "FishCenterprise" NCC-1065." 1065 is a reference to the street number for Williams Street, which produces content for Adult Swim.
Broadcast and reception.
"FishCenter Live" was originally released in September 2014 on Adult Swim's official website. The show came about when staff decided to film the tropical fish swimming around their aquarium as an idea for developing content for the website's online streaming channels. New episodes were presented on weekdays. The show was added to the network proper in February 2015, broadcast at 4 a.m. These airings are condensed versions of the live version, consisting of 11-minute highlights from each day.
In the first week of its televised broadcast, the show garnered 2.6 million viewers in total. In a press release, the network ranked the program first place across all targeted demographics in its time slot during the second week of March 2015. The network observed some of these viewers as confused Twitter users, wondering if the show was a prank. After these airings, live viewership rose from 120 to 5,000. The success led to the creation of a separate live stream dedicated to the network's Toonami block.
In August 2017, a premiere of a "Rick and Morty" episode was delayed due to an episode of "FishCenter Live" on the same live stream.
Critical reception has been positive. "Adweek"s Jason Lynch called "FishCenter Live" "its flagship livestreaming show." "The Comedy Bureau" received the series favorably with "you’ll find, while giggling the whole way through, that you do get sort of invested in the individual fish." "Decider"s Kayla Cobb said "[i]t's weird, but it works." Ranked sixth in their list of best "unknown" television series of 2015, "Newsday"s Verne Gay reviewed "“FC Live” is insane — as such, a perfect distillation of all that is Adult Swim." "The Outline"s Samuel Argyle said ""FishCenter" border[s] on the avant-garde. "JamBase"s Andy Kahn called it "wacky." "The Guardian"s Mark Lawson critiqued "Ambitiously, this is a phone-in show, although disappointingly, the fish don’t take the calls, but swim in tanks that surround the presenters." "The A.V. Club"s Erik Lindvall said "FishCenter" "the latest weird thing" to come from the network "in a streak of really weird things", describing it as a "wonderful, web-based world of piscine sports".
"Live for Live Music"s Ming Lee Newcomb described "FishCenter Live" as "eccentric" and "bizarre." Ranked fourth in their list of "[t]he 26 Weirdest Adult Swim Shows Ever," "Deadspin"s Sheldon Pearce commented "Adult Swim employees came up with this one, which means it’s definitely on-brand if nothing else." In reviewing "Tender Touches", "Geek"s Jose Rodriguez said the pilot had "more in common with "" or "FishCenter"." Reviewing their Alvvays performance, "Uproxx"s Derrick Rossignol declared "every band should be on it, because at the very least, it’s one of the most bizarre live internet shows you can possibly watch." Later, while reviewing the Post Malone episode, Rossignol followed-up with "a totally bizarre, daytime, aquatic, call-in web show that doesn’t make much sense, and that’s what makes it great." In an interview with host Max Simonet, "Sonoma Index-Tribune"s David Templeton remarked "[it's] a bizarrely simple cult-hit web-and-television show."
Controversy.
In 2016, two Dragon Con cosplayers, claiming an association with Adult Swim and Cartoon Network and wore "Make FishCenter Great Again" hats, dressed as the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks. Images of the cosplay were widely shared on social media sites as Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter. "Bleeding Cool"s Rich Johnston speculated they were cosplaying as the game "Rampage", while Facebook commenters drew a connection with the anime "Terror in Resonance".
Australian Adaption.
Australian channel 9Go! promoted their Australian adaption of "FishCenter" (known as "FishCentre") airing at 12:00 on the channel, along with the Adult Swim block they have on the channel. Unlike the American version of "FishCenter", "FishCentre" was not live and consisted of scripted shorts no longer than 2 minutes in length, with voices super-imposed onto the fish. It ran for 12 episodes.


Hypothermia (film)

Hypothermia is a 2012 American independent horror film written and directed by James Felix McKenney. It stars Michael Rooker, Blanche Baker, Greg Finley, Don Wood and Amy Chang. The film centers on a family out ice fishing only to discover that something deadly is stalking them from the icy waters.
Plot.
On an icy lake, Ray Pelletier scouts out a good ice fishing spot for his family. He spots something bloody on the ice near a hole, walks toward it and falls through when the ice breaks. Back at the cabin, his wife Helen, son David and his son's girlfriend Gina are waiting for him. Ray has been struggling for hours to get out of the hole. Helen asks David and Gina what their plans are after college, and they mention that they will be joining the Peace Corps and going to Uganda following graduation.
Meanwhile, something in the water watches Ray as he struggles. He finally gets out of the water as his family goes out searching for him. The creature follows David as he walks on the ice. David finds Ray passed out from exhaustion. They return to the cabin, where Gina examines him. Ray assures everyone he is fine. The creature watches the family from a window.
The next day, the family drills through the ice as the creature watches from underneath. They wonder why it is taking so long for the first bite of the day. They see a truck arrive on the ice, towing a trailer. Steve Cote and his son Steven Jr. set up for ice fishing. Ray eventually gets annoyed at their loud music and asks the Cotes to turn it down, which they do. The Cotes then drive away in the truck, leaving their trailer.
Soon after, the Cotes return on snowmobiles, chasing the creature under the ice. The creature and the men head straight for the family. The creature snags all of their lines and their rods break. The Cotes are frustrated that they did not catch the creature. The two groups socialize and the men offer to fish with them, but the Pelletiers decline. Steve then shows the family their trailer. While walking back to their fishing hole, the family spots the creature heading straight for the men. Steven Jr. attempts to reel it in, but it pulls him down. Steve grabs his ankles, and Ray grabs Steve and they all pull Steven Jr. up. They notice that he has a huge gash on his arm. Steve takes him inside for "a hot shower and a cold beer".
The Cotes discuss the creature. They believe it can sense vibrations and is eating everything in the lake. Steve invites the Pelletier family to dinner and they reluctantly accept, since they have nothing, having planned to eat whatever they had caught. During dinner, Steven Jr. begins to feel disoriented, and his wound squirts blood onto Gina. They examine the wound, which looks infected. Gina wraps it up. Steven Jr. insists the creature is not a fish because it had legs. The family urges Steve to take him to the hospital, but Steve angrily refuses, implying his son is too tough to need a doctor.
Later that night, Ray, Steve and David are out on the ice, running a motor to disorient the creature's senses. Steven Jr. comes out from the trailer and collapses as soon as the others see him. They hear a noise and the creature attacks, grabbing Steven Jr. and pulling him into the water. Steve jumps in after him, but sees that his son is dead. Ray jumps in and retrieves Steve.
When Steve wakes up, they decide to leave as soon as he is ready. They also tell Steve that he was cut by the creature. When Steve tries to get up, his cut oozes as if infected. Gina doesn't understand why, as she had treated it with disinfectant. Steve yells about wanting to hunt down the creature that killed his son. The family calms him down and they agree to leave in the morning.
As they rest, Ray hears Steve starting the snowmobiles to attract the creature. As Steve argues with Ray, he begins to experience the same disorientation that his son felt earlier. The creature attacks after David comes out to see what is going on, and takes Steve with it. When it returns, David and Ray get into the trailer, but David now has a cut on his face. Helen panics and sucks out the venom. They stay in the trailer to hide from the creature. They decide to wait for an opportunity to leave. As David lies on the floor, the creature's hand pushes through the lid in the floor and claws at David, cutting his throat and killing him.
In the morning, Gina reveals she and David had planned to get married before going into the Peace Corps, and that they were going to announce it last night at dinner, but never got a chance with all that happened. Ray grabs one of Steve's guns and the family goes outside. Gina views Steve's remains with horror. Ray attempts to attract the creature by starting the snowmobiles, but they will not start. They walk toward the cabin carefully. They hear a sound, and look back to see that Steve's body is gone. The creature is eating the body under the water. As they continue walking, they see the shadow of the creature swimming under the ice beneath them. Ray urges Helen and Gina to get to the shore while he fights the creature off. The creature rams the ice under Ray so that it cracks and breaks under his weight. Ray is killed. The creature stalks Helen and Gina. When it catches them, it stares them down as Helen talks to it. It leaves them and the women calmly walk toward the cabin.
Production.
"Hypothermia" was shot in Mayfield, New York at Great Sacandaga Lake, finishing in March 2010.
Release.
The film was released on DVD by Dark Sky Films on October 2, 2012.
Reception.
"Hypothermia" received mostly negative review upon its release.
Dread Central awarded the film a score of 2.5 out of 5, criticizing the film's minimal plot, character development, editing, and monster costume, which they called "laughably cheap". The review did, however write, "That said, there’s still enjoyment to be derived from both the competently made and laughably bad sides of "Hypothermia". An ungainly mix, to be certain, but one I can semi-recommend to fans of old fashioned monster movies." Rob Getz from "HorrorNews.net" stated that the film started out strong, with good cinematography, building of tension, and establishment of its sparse characters. However, Getz further stated that the film was ruined by the "cheesy" monster costume, and anticlimactic finale, calling it "a shameful waste of potential". Felix Vasquez of "Cinema Crazed" similarly criticized the film's monster design, and finale, while also criticizing the film's off kilter tone and writing. Vasquez concluded his review by writing, "I wish I could recommend this and boast about it being a hidden gem, but in the end it’s merely forgettable and only worth trying for the sake of Rooker." Ian Jane from DVD Talk gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, writing, ""Hypothermia" features a decent performance from a top billed Michael Rooker and has the potential to be a fun little monster movie but never quite lives up to its potential."
Jason Coffman from "Film Monthly" called it "a lean, suspenseful horror show", while noting the low-budget monster design, he commended the film's acting, natural chemistry between characters, and convincing gore effects.


Come Outside

Come Outside is a British educational children's television series that ran from 23 September 1993 to 18 March 1997. Presented by and starring Lynda Baron and her dog 'Pippin'. It remains one of the BBC's most successful and watched children's programmes of all time and due to its popularity, was repeated on CBBC and CBeebies until late 2012.
Overview.
The series aims to encourage young children to learn about the world around them. The starting point for each programme is something with which children may already be familiar, such as: wood, paper, boots, spiders, buses, soap and lampposts.
The two main characters are Auntie Mabel (played by Lynda Baron), and her dog Pippin, who was initially played by a female dog called Pippin, and later by the dog's grandson, Mr. Higgins. A feature of "Come Outside" is Auntie Mabel's unusual mode of transport: a small aeroplane (a Slingsby T67 Firefly) with multi-coloured polka dots.
Animals.
Pippin was a mixed-breed dog, half Tibetan Terrier, half Bearded Collie, roughly third generation descended from the famous American acting dog Benji and was owned and trained by the award-winning animal trainer Ann Head. Pippin was quite old at the start of the first series in 1993 and so she performed the slower but complex moves while her grandson, Mr. Higgins, performed any physically demanding actions.
Pippin retired at the end of Series 1 and Mr. Higgins took over the role of 'Pippin' entirely for Series 2 and 3. Mr. Higgins also starred as the Bakers dog for Bakers Complete pet food commercials and is still pictured on the products. He died in 2008 of old age while his grandmother, the original Pippin, died in the late 1990s.
Many other animals took part in "Come Outside". Specially-shot footage included snails from London Zoo, frogs at Chester Zoo, geese at Folly Farm in Gloucestershire, rabbits at Tilgate Nature Centre in West Sussex, butterflies in the Butterfly Centre, Eastbourne, hedgehogs supplied by St. Tiggywinkles Animal Hospital and spiders from a private collection. In addition archive shots were provided by the BBC's Natural History Film Library in Bristol.
Production details.
Elizabeth Bennett created the format and characters, wrote the scripts, directed many of the programmes and produced all three series.
Two different production companies were involved. Series 1 was made by "Spelthorne Productions", which has since closed. Series 2 and 3 were made by Elizabeth Bennett's production company "Tricorn Associates".
Aerial views of the various locations visited by Auntie Mabel were shot by Jeremy Braben.
Series 1 was set in a cottage on the corner of Denham Airfield in Buckinghamshire, and was used to provide the exterior shots of Auntie Mabel's house. She would come out of the house, walk through the back garden and on to the airfield to climb into her aeroplane (registered G-RAFG). The interiors were shot at Capital Studios in Wandsworth, South West London. Chronologically, this series takes place after Series 2 & 3
Series 2 was shot entirely on location, including the interiors of Auntie Mabel's house, with the exception of the bathroom in the Spiders episode which was shot in a studio. The cottage at Denham Airfield was occupied and so a new location had to be found. An empty cottage on some farmland in Harefield, Middlesex was rented. To allow for the change of location to be incorporated into the show's continuity, a programme about moving house was shot to link the two locations, which makes the first series the third chronologically. The plane (now registered G-BOCM) was kept in a field nearby
Series 3 was commissioned two years later and was also shot at the cottage in Harefield, with the plane updated with a new spiraled propeller and registration G-SFTZ
In every episode Auntie Mabel ventures outside and this involved shooting in many locations in the United Kingdom, such as a pencil factory in Keswick, the manufacture of Wellington boots in Dumfries, a pottery in Stoke, growing bulbs in Spalding, Lincolnshire and making brushes in Portsmouth.
Sometimes Auntie Mabel's adventures stayed closer to home. Some of the episodes were filmed in the Middlesex area, for example in the episode "Buses" Auntie Mabel boards a bus bound for Uxbridge and is later seen exiting the public library at Ruislip Manor. Scenes were also shot in Woodley, in the precinct and in the veterinary clinic.
In the episode "Marmalade" Auntie Mabel flies to Seville to visit an orange grove. Shooting was restricted to the one day on which the oranges were ready for harvesting. This was only known with very short notice and consequently arrangements to fly out were made at the last minute. It happened well outside the main production period by which time Lynda Baron was committed to other work and was not free to travel to Seville. To make it appear that Auntie Mabel had visited the orange grove, she was recorded in the studio against a Chroma key background while a body double was used for reverse angle shots of her in Spain.
Animation Sequences for Stories, Songs and Skits was done by Penny Holten, Touch Animation, Really Animated Pictures and Eailing Animation (Occasionally)
Awards and honours.
The episode entitled "Bricks" won the Royal Television Society Educational Television Award 1997 in the Pre-school and Infants category.
Home video.
The BBC issued a collection on VHS tapes in the early 2000s, later released on DVD. The complete series is now available in a DVD box set.
The BBC also released a collection of DVDs with booklets and notes not intended for home use but instead for use in schools and other educational purposes.
A selection of books were issued by the BBC in the mid 90s based on the episodes.


The Descent

The Descent is a 2005 British adventure horror film written and directed by Neil Marshall. The film follows six women who, having entered a cave system, struggle to survive against the humanoid creatures inside.
Filming took place in the United Kingdom. Exterior scenes were filmed at Ashridge Park, Hertfordshire, and in Scotland. Because the filmmakers considered it too dangerous and time-consuming to shoot in an actual cave, interior scenes were filmed on sets built at Pinewood Studios near London designed by Simon Bowles.
"The Descent" opened in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 8 July 2005. It premiered in the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and released on 4 August 2006 in the United States. The film received positive reviews and was a box-office success, grossing $57.1 million against a £3.5 million budget.
A sequel, titled "The Descent Part 2", directed by the first film's editor Jon Harris, was released in 2009.
Plot.
Thrill seeker friends Sarah, Juno, and Beth whitewater raft together. Afterward, Sarah, along with her husband Paul and their daughter Jessica, are involved in a car accident when Paul is distracted. Paul and Jessica are killed, but Sarah survives.
One year later, Sarah, Juno, and Beth, as well as friends Sam, Rebecca, and newcomer Holly reunite at a cabin in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina for a spelunking adventure. The next day, they hike up to a mountain cave entrance and descend. While in the cave, Juno apologizes to Sarah for not being there for her after the accident, but Sarah is distant. After the group moves through a narrow passage, it collapses behind them, trapping them. After a heated discussion, Juno admits that she has led the group into an unknown cave system instead of the fully explored cave system that they had originally planned to visit, and so rescue is therefore impossible. She then tells Sarah that this adventure was in the hopes of restoring their relationship.
As the group presses forward with hopes of finding an exit, they discover aged climbing equipment and a cave painting that suggests an exit exists. Holly, thinking she sees sunlight, runs ahead, but falls down a hole and breaks her leg. As the others help Holly, Sarah wanders off and observes a pale, humanoid creature drinking at a pool before it scampers away. Later, the group comes across a den of animal bones and is suddenly attacked by a creature known as a "crawler." Holly is killed when a crawler attacks and bites through her throat. Sarah runs and falls down a hole, where she is knocked unconscious. Juno, trying to prevent Holly's body from being dragged away, kills a crawler with her pickaxe but then, startled and in shock, accidentally strikes Beth through the neck. Beth collapses with Juno's pendant in her hand and begs Juno not to leave her, but a traumatized Juno flees.
Sarah awakens to find herself in a den of human and animal carcasses, witnessing Holly's body being mauled and eaten by crawlers. Juno discovers cave markings from previous explorers that point to a specific path through the caves. Juno locates Sam and Rebecca. Sam has deduced that the crawlers are blind and rely on sound to hunt. Juno tells them about the markings, but she will not leave without Sarah.
Meanwhile, Sarah encounters Beth, who tells her that Juno wounded then abandoned her. Beth gives her Juno's pendant, which Sarah recognizes as a gift from Paul, and realizes that Juno and Paul had an affair before his death. Beth begs Sarah to euthanize her, which Sarah reluctantly does by bashing her head in with a rock. Sarah then encounters several crawlers and manages to kill them all, falling into a blood-filled pond in the process and emerging covered in blood.
Elsewhere, Juno, Sam and Rebecca are pursued by a large group of crawlers. They reach a chasm and Sam tries to climb across, but a crawler scaling the ceiling attacks and rips her throat out. Sam stabs it before bleeding to death in front of Juno and Rebecca. Rebecca is then dragged away and eaten alive as Juno escapes. Juno encounters Sarah and lies to her about seeing Beth die. After defeating a group of crawlers close to the exit, Sarah confronts Juno, revealing the pendant and her knowledge of Beth's fate and the affair with Paul. Sarah then strikes Juno in the leg with a pickaxe and leaves her to die as a swarm of crawlers approaches. Juno is last heard screaming as Sarah escapes. Sarah falls down a hole and is knocked unconscious.
US Ending: When Sarah awakens, she sees sunlight and clambers up a slope covered in bones to escape the cave. After exhaustedly running to her car, she speeds out of the woods before she pulls over to the side of the road, breaking down in tears. After a truck passes her, she vomits out the window. When she sits up, she sees a hallucination of a bloodied Juno sitting next to her and screams.
UK Ending: Following the events of the US ending, Sarah awakens in the cave after hallucinating her escape. She sits up to see Jessica sitting across from her holding a birthday cake. She smiles at this. The cake's fire is shown to actually be her torch. The camera slowly backs out as the crawlers are heard closing in on Sarah, revealing that she is still trapped in the cave.
Production.
When Neil Marshall's film "Dog Soldiers" (2002) was a moderate success, the director received numerous requests to direct other horror films. The director was initially wary of being typecast as a horror film director, although he eventually agreed to make "The Descent", emphasizing, "They are very different films." Marshall decided to cast only women in the main roles, going against the original plan for a mixed cast, due to his belief that women were underrepresented in the horror genre.
Casting.
Filmmakers originally planned for the cast to be both male and female, but Neil Marshall's business partner realized that horror films rarely have all-female casts. Defying convention, Marshall cast all women, and to avoid making them clichéd, he solicited basic advice from his female friends. He explained the difference, "The women discuss how they feel about the situation, which the soldiers in "Dog Soldiers" would never have done." He also gave the characters different accents to enable the audience to tell them apart and to establish a more "cosmopolitan feel" than the British marketing of "Dog Soldiers".
The cast included Shauna Macdonald as Sarah, Natalie Mendoza as Juno, Alex Reid as Beth, Saskia Mulder as Rebecca, MyAnna Buring as Sam, Nora-Jane Noone as Holly, Oliver Milburn as Paul, and Molly Kayll as Jessica. Craig Conway portrayed one of the film's crawlers, Scar.
Filming.
While "The Descent" is set in North America, the film was shot entirely in the United Kingdom. Exterior scenes were filmed in Scotland, and interior scenes were filmed in sets built at Pinewood Studios, near London. The cave was built at Pinewood because filmmakers considered it too dangerous and time-consuming to shoot in an actual cave. Set pieces were reused with care, and filmmakers sought to limit lighting to the sources the characters bring with them into the cave, such as helmet lights.
Marshall cited the films "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", "The Thing", and "Deliverance" as influences in establishing tension in "The Descent". The director elaborated, "We really wanted to ramp up the tension slowly, unlike all the American horror films you see now. They take it up to 11 in the first few minutes and then simply can't keep it up. We wanted to show all these terrible things in the cave: dark, drowning, claustrophobia. Then, when it couldn't get any worse, make it worse." Marshall also said at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival that he was inspired by Italian horror films of the past, in particular, those by Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci.
Simon Bowles designed the maze of caves for "The Descent". Reviews credited Bowles: e.g., "Bowles' beautifully designed cave sets conjure a world of subterranean darkness."
The film had twenty-one cave sets, built by Rod Vass and his company Armordillo Ltd. using a unique system of polyurethane sprayed rock that was developed for this production.
Production of "The Descent" competed with a big-budget American film that had a similar premise, "The Cave". "The Descent" was originally scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom by November 2005 or February 2006, but "The Cave" began filming six months before its competitor. The filmmakers of "The Descent" decided to release their film before "The Cave", so they fast-tracked production to be completed by the end of February 2005.
Editing.
"The Descent" was released in North America with approximately one minute cut from the end. In the American cut, Sarah escapes from the cave and sees Juno, but the film does not cut back to the cave. The 4 August 2006 issue of "Entertainment Weekly" reported that the ending was trimmed because American viewers did not like its "uber-hopeless finale". Lionsgate marketing chief Tim Palen said, "It's a visceral ride, and by the time you get to the ending you're drained. [Director Neil] Marshall had a number of endings in mind when he shot the film, so he was open [to making a switch]." Marshall compared the change to the ending of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", saying, "Just because she gets away, does that make it a happy ending?" The ending is featured on DVD as an "unrated cut" in the United States.
Creature design.
In the film, the women encounter underground creatures referred to as crawlers by the production crew. Marshall described the crawlers as cavemen who have stayed underground. The director explained, "They've evolved in this environment over thousands of years. They've adapted perfectly to thrive in the cave. They've lost their eyesight, they have acute hearing and smell and function perfectly in the pitch black. They're expert climbers, so they can go up any rock face and that is their world." Filmmakers kept the crawler design hidden from the actresses until they were revealed in the scenes in which the characters encountered the creatures, to allow for natural tension.
Conception.
Director Neil Marshall first chose to have a dark cave as the setting for his horror film "The Descent" then decided to add the element of the crawlers, describing them as "something that could get the women, something human, but not quite". The crawlers were depicted as cavemen who never left the caves and evolved in the dark. The director included mothers and children in the colony of creatures, defining his vision, "It is a colony and I thought that was far more believable than making them the classic monsters. If they had been all male, it would have made no sense, so I wanted to create a more realistic context for them. I wanted to have this very feral, very primal species living underground, but I wanted to make them human. I didn't want to make them aliens because humans are the scariest things."
The crawlers were designed by Paul Hyett, a makeup and prosthetics creator. Production designer Simon Bowles said that the crawler design had started out as "wide-eyed and more creature-like", but the design shifted toward a more human appearance. Crawlers originally had pure white skin, but the look was adjusted to seem grubbier. The skin was originally phosphorescent in appearance, but the effect was too bright and reflective in the darkened set, so the adjustment was made for them to blend in shadows. The director barred the film's cast from seeing the actors in full crawler make-up until their first appearance on screen. Actress Natalie Mendoza said of the effect, "When the moment came, I nearly wet my pants! I was running around afterwards, laughing in this hysterical way and trying to hide the fact that I was pretty freaked out. Even after that scene, we never really felt comfortable with them."
The crawlers reappear in "The Descent Part 2", a sequel by Jon Harris with the first film's director Neil Marshall as executive producer. For the sequel, Hyett improved the camouflaging ability of the crawlers' skin tones to deliver better scares. According to Hyett, "Jon wanted them more viciously feral, inbred, scarred and deformed, with rows of sharklike teeth for ripping flesh." A charnel house was designed for the crawlers as well as a set that the crew called the "Crawler Crapper".
Description.
Rene Rodriguez of "The Miami Herald" described the crawlers as "blind, snarling cave-dwellers, looking much like Gollum's bigger kin". Douglas Tseng of "The Straits Times" also noted that the crawlers looked similar to Gollum, being a cross between the creature and the vampiric Reapers from "Blade II". David Germain of the Associated Press noted of the crawlers, "[They] have evolved to suit their environment—eyes blind because of the darkness in which they dwell, skin slimy and gray, ears batlike to channel their super-hearing." The crawlers are sexually dimorphic, with males being completely bald, whilst females sport thick dark hair on their heads. They are nocturnal hunters which surface from their caves to hunt for prey and bring the spoils of their hunts to their caverns.
Marketing.
The skull of women motif used in some advertising material is based on Philippe Halsman's "In Voluptas Mors" photograph.
The film's marketing campaign in the United Kingdom was disrupted by the London bombings in July 2005. Advertisements on London's public transport system (including the bus that had exploded) had included posters that carried the quote, "Outright terror... bold and brilliant", and depicted a terrified woman screaming in a tunnel. The film's theatrical distributor in the UK, Pathé, recalled the posters from their placement in the London Underground and reworked the campaign to exclude the word "terror" from advertised reviews of "The Descent". Pathé also distributed the new versions to TV and radio stations. The distributor's marketing chief, Anna Butler, said of the new approach, "We changed tack to concentrate on the women involved all standing together and fighting back. That seemed to chime with the prevailing mood of defiance that set in the weekend after the bombs." Neil Marshall stated in a review "Shauna was pretty upset about it; it was on newspapers all across the county" and cites the attacks as harming the film's box office, as "people were still trapped underground in reality, so no one really wanted to go see a film about people trapped underground...". Many commentators, including writers for "Variety" and "The Times", remarked on the rather unfortunate coincidence.
Due to these events there was some initial concern that the film's release might have been delayed out of sensitivity for the tragedy but Pathé ultimately chose to release the film on schedule, with a slightly retooled advertising campaign; however, the US promotional campaign managed by Lionsgate Films was significantly different from the original European version.
Release.
Reception.
"The Descent" premiered at the Edinburgh horror film festival Dead by Dawn on 6 July 2005. The film opened commercially to the public in the UK on 10 July 2005, showing on 329 screens and earned £2.6 million. The film received limited releases in other European countries. The London bombings in the same month was reported to have affected the box office performance of "The Descent".
The film has received positive reviews from critics. Based on 177 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, it received an 85% "Certified Fresh" overall approval rating with an average rating of 7.35/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Deft direction and strong performances from its all-female cast guide "The Descent", a riveting, claustrophobic horror film". By comparison, Metacritic calculated an average score of 71 out of 100 from 30 reviews. On its debut weekend in the US, "The Descent" opened with a three-day gross of $8.8 million, and finished with $26,005,908. Total worldwide box office receipts are $57,051,053.
Roger Ebert's editor, Jim Emerson, reviewed the film for Ebert's column whilst Ebert was on leave due to surgery, giving it four out of four stars. He wrote, "This is the fresh, exciting summer movie I've been wanting for months. Or for years, it seems."
Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" described "The Descent" as "one of the better horror entertainments of the last few years", calling it "indisputably and pleasurably nerve-jangling". Dargis applauded the claustrophobic atmosphere of the film, though she perceived sexual overtones in the all-female cast with their laboured breathing and sweaty clothing. Rene Rodriguez of "The Miami Herald" thought that the film devolved into a guessing game of who would survive, though he praised Marshall's "nightmare imagery" for generating scares that work better than other horror films. Rodriguez also noted the attempt to add dimension to the female characters but felt that the actresses were unable to perform.
Top ten lists, 2006:
Bloody Disgusting ranked the film third in their list of the 'Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade', with the article saying "One of the scariest films of this or any decade... Ultimately, The Descent is the purest kind of horror film – ruthless, unforgiving, showing no mercy." In the early 2010s, "Time Out" conducted a poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics who have worked within the horror genre to vote for their top horror films. "The Descent" placed at number 39 on their top 100 list.
Lawrence Toppman of "The Charlotte Observer" thought a weakness of "The Descent" was the failure of the writer to explain the evolution of the creature, though he said, "Their clicking and howling, used for echolocation and communication, makes them more alien; this otherness gives humans permission to mutilate them without seeming too disgusting to be sympathetic." Michael Wilmington of the "Chicago Tribune" thought that the crawlers should have been left out of the film, believing, "Watching those gray, slithering beings chasing and biting the women makes it hard to maintain any suspension of disbelief."
Home media.
"The Descent" was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 26 December 2006.
Sequel.
A sequel to "The Descent" was filmed at Ealing Studios in London during 2008 and was released on 2 December 2009 in the UK.


Dino Crisis (video game)

 is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom originally for the PlayStation console in 1999. It is the first installment in the "Dino Crisis" series and was developed by the same team behind Capcom's "Resident Evil" series, including director Shinji Mikami, and shares many similarities with it. The story follows Regina, a special operations agent sent with a team to investigate a secluded island research facility. Finding the place overrun with dinosaurs, Regina must fight through the facility to discover its secrets and ultimately escape alive with her team.
Instead of the pre-rendered backgrounds of the "Resident Evil" games that preceded it, "Dino Crisis" uses an original real-time engine with 3D environments. Gameplay features traditional survival horror mechanics including action and puzzles, and it was developed to have more consistent visceral terror with the dinosaurs being quick, intelligent, and violent. Capcom would later market the game as "panic horror" as opposed to "survival horror" due to these design changes. The team used carnivorous animals as references for animating the dinosaurs and programming their behaviors. Mikami's vision for the game was not completely fulfilled, as he wanted to develop more complex dinosaur artificial intelligence. However, he did believe the team was able to create sufficiently detailed environments despite hardware limitations.
"Dino Crisis" was a critical and commercial success, with the PlayStation version selling over 2.4 million copies. Critics drew heavy comparisons to "Resident Evil", with some describing it as ""Resident Evil" with dinosaurs". They also praised the game's intensity, graphics, and gameplay. Some criticism was directed towards the lack of dinosaur variety, repetitive environments, and tedious puzzles. "Dino Crisis" was ported to Dreamcast and Windows in 2000, and was re-released for the PlayStation Network in 2006. Two different versions for the Game Boy Color were in development, but both were cancelled.
Gameplay.
"Dino Crisis" features survival horror gameplay that is very similar to Capcom's early "Resident Evil" titles. Regina can walk, run, turn, backpedal, push and climb objects, and perform a 180-degree turn. A map is available which will show Regina's location, destination, save points, and locked doors. Save points are rooms which will prompt the player to save upon exiting them. Some doors are locked by a D.D.K. (digital disk key) device. To open these doors, the player will need both a code disc and input disc which can then be used to decipher a code and unlock the door. There are also force fields of red beams throughout the complex which can be activated to block access to intruders.
Regina's inventory may include key items, weapons, ammo, and medical supplies—the latter two of which she can only hold a limited amount. She can also mix certain items in order to upgrade them or make completely new ones, such as anesthetic darts. These items can be stored in "emergency boxes", which need be unlocked with special items called "plugs" before they are usable. Each emergency box is color coded as either red, green, or yellow. Each box can access the contents of any other unlocked box of the same color.
The player can move with weapons drawn and use automatic targeting functions. Enemies can knock Regina's weapon out of her hand, at which point she'll have to retrieve it. Sometimes "DANGER" may flash on the screen in perilous situations, at which point the player should push all the controller buttons as rapidly as possible to survive. If Regina becomes injured, she will hold her arm or struggle to walk. Med Paks can be used to heal Regina's health. Sometimes a trail of blood may appear, indicating that Regina is bleeding and will continue to lose health. Hemostats can be used to stop bleeding injuries. Two types of medical supplies are available in the game: Med Paks, which heals player health, and Hemostats, which stop bleeding injuries. If Regina dies, the player may continue from the room she died in. After five "Continues" are exhausted, the player must continue from their last save point.
Plot.
In 2009, the Secret Operation Raid Team (SORT) sends an agent, Tom, to investigate a research facility on Ibis Island. He learns that Dr. Edward Kirk, a world-renowned scientist who was reported dead three years ago, is leading a secret weapons project within the facility. SORT sends four agents (Regina, Gail, Rick, and Cooper) to acquire Kirk and return him to custody. The team arrives on the island under cover of darkness, dropping in via parachute. Cooper is blown off course and lands in the jungle away from the others. Lost in the dark, he is chased down by a "Tyrannosaurus rex" and eaten. The other three agents, unaware of his death, proceed with the mission.
Once inside the base, the agents discover the eviscerated and partially devoured corpses of security personnel and scientists. After splitting up to restore power to the facility, Gail goes missing. Whilst searching for him, Regina is confronted by a "Velociraptor". Re-uniting with Rick, the two determine it was the dinosaurs that caused the bloodbath at the base. Although their mission to recover Dr. Kirk still stands, it is now more important to signal for a rescue. Regina sets out to activate the main antenna to contact their airlift. On her way, she is attacked by another "Velociraptor" and is rescued by Gail, who then leaves to continue searching for Dr. Kirk. After restoring communications, Regina heads back to the control room and they receive a signal on their communicators. Believing it might be Cooper or Tom in trouble, Rick wants to investigate. Gail shoots down the idea, wanting to follow up on a closed-circuit television sighting that might have been Kirk. The player must choose which course of action to follow.
If the player follows Gail, they go after an unknown man, but end up losing him. Rick then tells Regina that Tom's dead. If the player follows Rick, they come across Tom, badly injured and near death. Rick takes him to the medical room, however, a "Velociraptor" attacks them, but Tom sacrifices himself to kill it and save Rick. Later, Regina and the team manage to locate Kirk and apprehend him. As they are preparing to leave via helicopter, the "T. rex" returns and destroys the helicopter, forcing them to flee back into the base while Kirk manages to escape. Regina and Rick flee into the facility and locate keys to a watercraft, but find a vortex in the way of getting to it. Rick speculates this is the spacetime distortion that brought the dinosaurs back. The two split up to find an alternate route off the island, and Regina ends up being held at gunpoint by Dr. Kirk. He is about to kill her when the gun is shot out of his hand by Gail, and they arrest him again.
Kirk reveals that the dinosaurs were brought to their time by an experiment he was running using his Third Energy technology. A rift in space was created and a pocket of the island from their time was exchanged with the same from the past, bringing dinosaurs back into their time. Kirk then tells them that if the reactors are set to overload, the energy coming from them and the vortex should cancel each other out if they come into contact. After Regina gets the stabilizer and initializer and uses them to overload the reactors, the energy shakes the base, causing a vent to fall on Gail allowing Kirk to get free again. The team heads towards the waterway to escape the blast, but Gail says they still need to capture the doctor. He starts to hobble away on his gun to go after Kirk, and orders Regina and Rick to leave without him if he does not return in thirty minutes. Regina is given the choice to either go after Dr. Kirk with Gail, or escape with Rick.
Different endings are possible based on the choice the player makes. The endings all involve a battle with the "T. rex" and escaping the island via a watercraft or helicopter. If Regina chases Kirk, Gail reveals that the whole mission was a front and the government did not want Kirk, but instead wanted the Third Energy to use in warfare. After giving Regina a disk containing all the data for Third Energy, Gail dies from his injuries. Regina, Rick, and Dr. Kirk then escape the island. Another ending sees Regina knocking out Gail and leaving instead of chasing Dr. Kirk, allowing him to escape. In the game's best ending, Regina knocks out Gail and chases Kirk by herself, resulting in his capture and the team escaping by helicopter. Regina, regardless of ending, summarizes the fate of all the characters in an email to her superiors, then declaring herself ready for her next assignment.
Development.
"Dino Crisis" was directed and produced by Shinji Mikami, and developed by a team dubbed Capcom Production Studio 4. It is a spiritual successor to Mikami's popular "Resident Evil" series, which Mikami and his team wanted to move away from the fantasy elements of and make something more real. He cited "" and "Aliens" as influences, and liked dinosaurs because they were large, strong, fearsome, and violent. The game was developed and marketed as "panic horror" as opposed to the "survival horror" branding of "Resident Evil". It was made to have more consistent fright, with the dinosaurs being more intelligent, quick, and able to chase the player room-to-room. Mikami described "Resident Evil" as "horror in the fun house" and "Dino Crisis" as more visceral horror akin to riding a roller coaster.
"Dino Crisis" utilizes an original 3D engine with real-time environments, as opposed to the pre-rendered backgrounds of the "Resident Evil" series. Mikami chose a real-time engine to enable better cinematic action and more dramatic character depictions that would otherwise be impossible. With the real-time engine came the challenge of hardware limitations, making it difficult for the team to create detailed environments. The team had to forego a jungle scene because of this issue. Mikami did however believe the team was able to create sufficiently detailed environments despite the hardware's polygon limitations. Like "Resident Evil", the game takes place indoors in an enclosed environment. Mikami wanted to keep the claustrophobic feelings, thinking it was better to build fear.
Since it is unknown how dinosaurs moved in real life, the team had to use their imagination and animals such as crocodiles and dogs as reference. The animators first scanned in drawings, then used animation tools to see what was possible to animate. The dinosaur artificial intelligence was based on lions, tigers, and other carnivores that are not afraid of humans. Mikami's vision for the dinosaurs was not completely fulfilled. He wanted to include more complex dinosaur artificial intelligence, with the dinosaurs each having individual personalities that could understand the player's condition and ambush them. The dinosaur animations and cries also did not turn out as he originally envisioned them. The number of dinosaurs in the North American version was increased from the Japanese version, although the number of species remained the same.
"Dino Crisis" was first revealed at the 1999 Spring Tokyo Game Show. The game was initially released in Japan in July 1999, two months before "". Ports were released for the Sega Dreamcast console and Windows platform in 2000. A top-down interpretation of "Dino Crisis" was in development by UK company M4 for the Game Boy Color, but was cancelled. M4 would later develop "Resident Evil Gaiden" for the system instead. Another UK firm called Fluid Studios was also developing a version of the game for the Game Boy Color. It would have contained all four characters from the original version, as well as seven maps, a hundred different rooms, and five types of dinosaurs; this game was also canceled.
Reception.
"Dino Crisis" was met with mostly positive reviews. Critics compared "Dino Crisis" to the "Resident Evil" series while also drawing comparisons to "Jurassic Park" and describing the game as ""Resident Evil" with dinosaurs". Despite these similarities, reviewers found the game "enhances and alters" the "Resident Evil" formula with "strength of its own merits". The game was a commercial success, being a bestseller in Japan. During its debut week in Japan, "Dino Crisis" achieved sales above 300,000 units, making it the country's best-selling game from July 14 through July 21. The PlayStation version of the game ultimately sold 2.4 million copies worldwide, and is listed as Capcom "Platinum Title".
Critics generally praised the action and intensity of the game, which was heightened by the real-time engine and soundtrack. "GamePro" found the game to have a great mix of action and strategy, with dinosaur AI that keeps the action fresh. IGN described the game as "vicious, flesh-tearing fright", noting the fast-paced gameplay during action sequences. Some praise was directed towards the realism of the game, with the dinosaur behaviors and bleeding mechanics noted. The real-time graphics were generally liked, with critics describing them as "sharp", "sterile", and "clean". GameSpot praised the character models, lighting effects, and found "the use of polygonal backgrounds enhances the feeling of fear even more than "Resident Evil"". The dinosaurs were a consistent point of discussion among critics. "GamePro" found the dinosaurs "imbued with an excellent AI that keeps the action fresh and exciting", although some found the variety of dinosaurs to be lacking. Despite the game being "90% Raptors", which IGN found not as scary as monsters from "Resident Evil", they found the dinosaur sound effects to be well done.
Game Revolution had a more critical review of "Dino Crisis" than others, saying the game expanded on the worse elements of "Resident Evil" while also ruining the good elements. They were impressed by the graphics but thought the environments looked too similar and got boring after a short time. Overall, they believed the game to be worse than "Resident Evil 2", pointing out the game's shorter length, more tedious puzzles, weaker action, and lesser scare factor.
The Dreamcast and Windows ports received mixed reviews from multiple sources, criticized for adding very little enhancements to take advantage of their superior hardware. The graphics were viewed as dated on Windows, with IGN calling it "choppy" and pointing out the poor resolution upscaling. The Dreamcast port was essentially identical to the PlayStation version, with a graphical advantage of not suffering from the texture-distortion effect produced by the PlayStation. On the Dreamcast, "", another Capcom survival horror game, was viewed as a superior experience.
Legacy.
An action-shooter sequel titled "Dino Crisis 2" was released for the PlayStation in 2000 to positive reception. In 2002, Capcom released "Dino Stalker", a lightgun game for the PlayStation 2 to mixed reviews. Finally, an action-based game, "Dino Crisis 3", was released in 2003 for the Xbox to mixed reviews. The protagonist of "Dino Crisis", Regina, has been featured as a playable character in the tactical role-playing game "Namco x Capcom" for the PlayStation 2. Her outfit is also available to wear in "" and in "Dead Rising 3" via downloadable content.


List of Star Fox video games

The "Star Fox" video game series is a franchise of rail shooters and other action-adventure games published and produced by Nintendo. The games have been developed by a variety of developers, but all of the games have had input from Nintendo. All "Star Fox" video games have been developed exclusively for Nintendo video game consoles and handhelds dating from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the current generation of video game consoles. The series debuted in Japan on February 21, 1993 with which was later released in North America and Europe, being renamed in Europe to "Starwing". The series revolves around the Star Fox team, a group of mercenaries hired to protect the Lylat system. The leader of the group, Fox McCloud, is the protagonist of the series, and the only playable character in most of the games. Currently, the series contains nine games. One reason the "Star Fox" series has remained popular is because of the shoot 'em up aerial sequences found in many of the games, which are recognized as the series' high points. Dylan Cuthbert, one of the original creators of the series, noted that it was the combination of the on-rails aerial action and the in-game universe that made the games successful.


Rampage Through Time

Rampage Through Time is an 2000 action game developed by Avalanche Software and published by Midway Games. It is the fourth game in the "Rampage" series and a sequel to 1999's "". In the game, seven previous Scumlabs monsters and one new one use a time machine to rampage through time.
Plot.
The world is yet again rebuilding after the events of "Universal Tour". To speed up the cleaning process, the evil and corrupt Scumlabs creates a time machine to send employees back in time to deal with the destruction without having to do so in the present. Unfortunately, monsters from the previous games (George the ape, Lizzie the dinosaur, Ralph the wolfman, Boris the rhino, Curtis the rat and Ruby the lobster), have somehow returned to Earth, this time joined by a new monster: Harley the warthog. They surprise Scumlabs and enter the time machine, and begin terrorizing the past, present, and future, bringing mayhem to the space-time continuum. Later, a UFO-like craft is created to stop the monsters, only to fail. Eventually, the monsters are finally defeated.
Gameplay.
In Campaign Mode, each time zone consists of four stages. The first three consist of traditional Rampage gameplay, in that the player must destroy all the buildings in each city while avoiding attacks from enemy forces. Campaign Mode is only playable with one player, but the CPU will randomly select two other monsters to oppose the player in that time zone. After each city is destroyed, all three monsters are awarded stars for inflicting the most damage on buildings, people, and each other.
The fourth stage is a multiplayer minigame that varies with each time zone, usually as a parody of games such as "Asteroids" or "Breakout". In Campaign Mode, the player must win these minigames in order to continue with the main game. The stars earned in the Rampage stages are also translated into extra points for the minigames, making it important to earn as many as possible to increase the chances of winning.
Reception.
The game received "unfavorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.