Headfirst Editor's Pick
"True cinephiles judge the time of year by the days until the cult horror/action/sci-fi Forbidden Worlds bonanza. 4 days of mind-bending screenings from must-revisit blockbusters (Speed, Stargate, Timecop) to rarely-shown gems (Soviet dystopian comedy Kin-dza-dza). Plus a deep dive into the Killer Queens of the screen with a special 4K restoration of Luc Besson’s uber-stylish sociopath Nikita."
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A event on Saturday 18th May. The event starts at 12:00.
Saturday 18 May 2024
12pm: FOXY BROWN (1974)
Dir: Jack Hill | USA | 91 mins | Cert. 18
With her title roles in 1973’s Coffy and this equally iconic 1974 blaxploitation gem, Pam Grier solidified her status as a feminist action legend.
Breaking racial and gender stereotypes, Foxy Brown is a force to be reckoned with as she takes her vengeance on the mobsters who killed her lover. Beguiling the objects of her revenge with intelligence, cunning, and physical prowess, Grier’s character resonated deeply with audiences, particularly women and people of colour, as she challenged the status quo and inspired countless subsequent generations of feminist action heroes.
This film contains scenes of sexual assault.
2pm: THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984)
Dir: Nick Castle | USA | 101 mins | Cert. PG
In many ways, The Last Starfighter is the ultimate in teenage wish fulfilment – what if your prowess at a computer game meant that you were the last chance to save the galaxy?
That’s the situation faced by teenager Alex Rogan (Lance Guest, whose genre movie credentials also include Jaws: The Revenge and Halloween II).
When Alex finally achieves the high score on Starfighter, his favourite arcade game, and discovers that it is secretly a training simulator for developing and recruiting pilots to help fight a war in space, he is whisked away from the banality of his trailer-park life to an intergalactic battlefield!
Directed by Nick Castle, the man who had embodied Michael Myers in the original Halloween, The Last Starfighter was a pioneering work when it was first released in 1984, becoming one of the first films to have CGI effects – all generated on a Cray X-MP computer!
4.30pm: GENRE FILMMAKERS OF THE FUTURE: SATURDAY SHORTS SHOWCASE
60 mins | Cert. 18
Enjoy some of the newest genre shorts from filmmakers near and far!
As part of our Genre Film-Makers of the Future: Shorts Showcase, in-person attendees will be able to vote for what they think should win the inaugural Forbidden Worlds Audience Choice award!
6.30pm: NIKITA (1990) [UK PREMIERE OF 4K RESTORATION]
Dir: Luc Besson | France | 117 mins | Cert. 18
The nineties was the decade that truly established Luc Besson as a leading genre filmmaker. With Leon, he reinvigorated the hitman movie. With The Fifth Element, he reimagined the look of the science-fiction action movie with a little help from bandes dessinées artists Jean ‘Mœbius’ Girard and Jean-Claude Mézières, and fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. But before both, there was Nikita…
Anne Parillaud plays Nikita, a teenaged drug addict sentenced to life imprisonment following the death of a policeman during an armed robbery. Whilst serving time, she is whisked away by a shadow agency known only as the Centre – they fake her death, cure her of her dependencies, and train her up to become an assassin.
Presented in a brand-new 4K restoration courtesy of Gaumont that will be screening for the very first time in the UK, Nikita can now be seen as an transitional and influential work, bringing the ‘girls with guns’ sub-genre popularised in Hong Kong into the mainstream, and inspiring numerous international remakes (both official and unofficial) and, to date, two television series.
Please note: this film will be shown in its original French language with English subtitles.
9pm: OUTLAND (1981)
Dir: Peter Hyams | USA | 109 mins | Cert. 15
Fusing science fiction with suspense, Peter Hyams’ Outland can stand alongside Ridley Scott’s Alien in its masterful world-building and attention to detail, immersing viewers in a gritty, dystopian future where lawlessness thrives in the vast expanse of space.
Transposing the classic western High Noon to Jupiter’s moon, Io, Outland concerns a federal marshal stationed at a mining colony who uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy. But when he gets himself targeted by the criminals, he gets no help from the workers or authorities.
Heightened by Sean Connery's stoic portrayal of a lone lawman fighting against overwhelming odds, Outland offers not only a thrilling cinematic experience, but also a thought-provoking reflection on the darker aspects of human nature and the challenges of maintaining order in the far reaches of space.
Entry requirements: no age restrictions
12pm: FOXY BROWN (1974)
Dir: Jack Hill | USA | 91 mins | Cert. 18
With her title roles in 1973’s Coffy and this equally iconic 1974 blaxploitation gem, Pam Grier solidified her status as a feminist action legend.
Breaking racial and gender stereotypes, Foxy Brown is a force to be reckoned with as she takes her vengeance on the mobsters who killed her lover. Beguiling the objects of her revenge with intelligence, cunning, and physical prowess, Grier’s character resonated deeply with audiences, particularly women and people of colour, as she challenged the status quo and inspired countless subsequent generations of feminist action heroes.
This film contains scenes of sexual assault.
2pm: THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984)
Dir: Nick Castle | USA | 101 mins | Cert. PG
In many ways, The Last Starfighter is the ultimate in teenage wish fulfilment – what if your prowess at a computer game meant that you were the last chance to save the galaxy?
That’s the situation faced by teenager Alex Rogan (Lance Guest, whose genre movie credentials also include Jaws: The Revenge and Halloween II).
When Alex finally achieves the high score on Starfighter, his favourite arcade game, and discovers that it is secretly a training simulator for developing and recruiting pilots to help fight a war in space, he is whisked away from the banality of his trailer-park life to an intergalactic battlefield!
Directed by Nick Castle, the man who had embodied Michael Myers in the original Halloween, The Last Starfighter was a pioneering work when it was first released in 1984, becoming one of the first films to have CGI effects – all generated on a Cray X-MP computer!
4.30pm: GENRE FILMMAKERS OF THE FUTURE: SATURDAY SHORTS SHOWCASE
60 mins | Cert. 18
Enjoy some of the newest genre shorts from filmmakers near and far!
As part of our Genre Film-Makers of the Future: Shorts Showcase, in-person attendees will be able to vote for what they think should win the inaugural Forbidden Worlds Audience Choice award!
6.30pm: NIKITA (1990) [UK PREMIERE OF 4K RESTORATION]
Dir: Luc Besson | France | 117 mins | Cert. 18
The nineties was the decade that truly established Luc Besson as a leading genre filmmaker. With Leon, he reinvigorated the hitman movie. With The Fifth Element, he reimagined the look of the science-fiction action movie with a little help from bandes dessinées artists Jean ‘Mœbius’ Girard and Jean-Claude Mézières, and fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. But before both, there was Nikita…
Anne Parillaud plays Nikita, a teenaged drug addict sentenced to life imprisonment following the death of a policeman during an armed robbery. Whilst serving time, she is whisked away by a shadow agency known only as the Centre – they fake her death, cure her of her dependencies, and train her up to become an assassin.
Presented in a brand-new 4K restoration courtesy of Gaumont that will be screening for the very first time in the UK, Nikita can now be seen as an transitional and influential work, bringing the ‘girls with guns’ sub-genre popularised in Hong Kong into the mainstream, and inspiring numerous international remakes (both official and unofficial) and, to date, two television series.
Please note: this film will be shown in its original French language with English subtitles.
9pm: OUTLAND (1981)
Dir: Peter Hyams | USA | 109 mins | Cert. 15
Fusing science fiction with suspense, Peter Hyams’ Outland can stand alongside Ridley Scott’s Alien in its masterful world-building and attention to detail, immersing viewers in a gritty, dystopian future where lawlessness thrives in the vast expanse of space.
Transposing the classic western High Noon to Jupiter’s moon, Io, Outland concerns a federal marshal stationed at a mining colony who uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy. But when he gets himself targeted by the criminals, he gets no help from the workers or authorities.
Heightened by Sean Connery's stoic portrayal of a lone lawman fighting against overwhelming odds, Outland offers not only a thrilling cinematic experience, but also a thought-provoking reflection on the darker aspects of human nature and the challenges of maintaining order in the far reaches of space.
Entry requirements: no age restrictions
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