Fiends, queens and tentacled beings, allow me to present Sci-Fi Now, covering sci-fi movies of the 70s. I've mentioned this book a number of times on the forum, and figured that it would be useful to create a post about it.
You can read this hidden gem here:
https://archive.org/details/SciFiNowByAlanFrankStarbriteAs a kid, I read this book cover to cover many, many times. Published in 1978, it covered the Star Wars phenomena that had just unfolded, and discussed the films that lead up to it, like its contemporaries Close Encounters and THX 1138. It also talked about Zardoz (1974), Slaughterhouse Five (1972), The Island of Dr Moreau (1977), and much more obscure movies like The Bed Sitting Room (1969), a surreal British film set in a postapocalyptic world where a man fears turning into a room. It even mentions the delightful kids movie The Glitterball (1977).
Like old copies of Starlog magazine, Sci-Fi Now is a wonderful snapshot of movies of the time, offering not only discussion about popular films with loads of great colour plates, but also tantalizing glimpes of lesser known films.
In the last 10-15 years, the internet has allowed me to track down almost all of these films; some I saw on late night TV before the internet, others on VHS when I was able to find them at the video store. I credit this book with igniting my interest in obscure science fiction movies. Oddly, I wonder if I've made a separate post about this book, but since the search function is down, I can't look it up! But here it is, for those who would enjoy this snapshot of the 70s in science fiction film.
