Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is bringing a cult sci-fi favorite back with Screamers: The Hunting. A sequel to 1995’s Screamers, an adaptation of the Phillip K. Dick short story Second Variety, this latest futuristic thriller stars genre favorite Lance Henriksen (The Terminator, Aliens), as well as up-and-comers Gina Holden (Final Destination 3, Aliens vs Predator: Requiem) and Jana Pallaske (Speed Racer). Sci-fi fans can look for it at retail on Feb. 17.
Thirteen years after the robotic killing machines known as Screamers destroyed the human population of mining planet Sirius 6B, a distress signal brings a team of rescuers to the supposedly abandoned planet. The unit doesn’t know what to expect when they land. They may have been contacted by a long-lost colony of human survivors, or by Screamers that have evolved into something even more sinister that needs to escape Sirius 6B to finish its mission of wiping out the human race.
Screamers: The Hunting was directed by Sheldon Wilson, who previously helmed the 2007 Sci-Fi Channel original movie Kaw. The screenplay was written by Miguel Tejada-Flores, who co-wrote the original Screamers with Dan O’Bannon (Alien). The flick runs 95 minutes and has been rated R for sci-fi creature violence and gore. Listing for $24.96, the disc will include a behind-the scenes featurette.
Widely regarded as an overlooked sci-fi classic, the original Screamers stars Peter Weller (Robocop) and features nasty, blade-wielding mechanical monsters animated with stop-motion by the Chiodo Bros. The new film presumably employs CG animation to bring the mechanized menaces to life. Watch the trailer below.
