Is it just me, or does the phrase "A Sci Fi Original" kind of make you cringe? They use it a lot when promoting the very special Saturday night movies, and let's be honest, a lot of them are really bad. Rick Schroder is hoping to change all that. He's signed on with RHI Entertainment to direct Hellhounds. Scott Elrod gets the starring role. He'll play Kleitos, a Greek warrior, who leads his men in a battle against the hellhounds of Hades in an effort to rescue his bride from the Underworld. It appears they nixed the idea to have S.S. Doomtrooper make a cameo.
The gig makes a lot of sense for Schroder. He's been slowly building up his directing resume with music videos and the feature Black Cloud. He also has a long history with RHI. They were the ones behind Lonesome Dove. I don't know if it's resentment over the cancellation of Stargate Atlantis, or if I have finally just seen one too many bad movies on Sci Fi Saturday, but I have trouble giving this one the benefit of the doubt. The best thing I can say about it at this point is that it sounds like a better idea than Aztec Rex, but then, that's not saying a whole lot. That said, I'll still probalby end up watching it. I just can't look away from Sci Fi Saturday. So here's hoping Schroder can buck the trend.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-29-2008 @ 1:44PM
Europa said...
“Is it just me, or does the phrase "A Sci Fi Original" kind of make you cringe? … Rick Schroder is hoping to change all that.”
Then you gave the description and it sounds like the usual Sci Fi crap. Believe me, if the great minds behind Farscape couldn’t make two decent “Sci Fi Original" movies (“Heatstroke” and “Aztec” something or other) believe Schroder isn’t going to be able to. Sci Fi channel has basically become the kiss of death for any original movie.
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8-29-2008 @ 2:28PM
bc said...
Sci Fi doesn't really care whether reviewers like the Saturday movies because they're laughing all the way to the bank. They've developed a formula that's relatively inexpensive to film, brings in adequate advertising sales, and gets ratings comparable to their other programming, and therefore makes a profit. Peabody awards aren't the objective.
8-29-2008 @ 6:20PM
Europa said...
You said it BC. Quality is not job one with them. It's all about the "Benjarmins." If it was about quality science fiction they would have wrestling as part of the programming.
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8-29-2008 @ 6:22PM
Europa said...
Correction/repost:
You said it BC. Quality is not job one with them. It's all about the "Benjarmins." If it was about quality science fiction they wouldn't have wrestling as part of the programming.
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8-29-2008 @ 8:37PM
Elyse said...
If you go to the dictionary and look up the word "Dreck", you'll find the definition: "Any movie made by SciFi Channel." They can't make good movies, nor buy decent ones (and if they get one of those, they edit them so badly it's a waste of time to watch).
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8-29-2008 @ 11:32PM
dukeman said...
A few years ago when SciFi announced they were moving away from space based shows, they should have just said, "We moving away from scifi and into fantasy because it is much cheaper to produce total crap." Scifi original movies have captivated me...ah...ah...never.
Why can't SciFi just get back to spacefaring heros and heroines toting blasters and vanquishing aliens. It works!
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