Two kidnappings and two grotesque transformations.

Listener discretion advised...

This week on Journey Through Sci-Fi, we head into the grisliest corner of our Mad Science season as we explore The Human Centipede (2009) and Tusk (2014).

From Tom Six's clinically cold, torture-era nightmare to Kevin Smith's surreal walrus transformation, both films twist the mad scientist archetype into something deeply insular... not driven by progress, but by obsession.

In The Human Centipede, Dr Heiter's experiment is cold, clinical and cruel - a Frankenstein figure filtered through torture cinema.

In Tusk, Howard Howe isn't chasing science at all - he's chasing memory, trauma and a warped sense of redemption.

We unpack:

• The torture-porn moment of the 2000s and its legacy • The "100% medically accurate" myth • Mad science as private fetish rather than public breakthrough • God complexes, conditioning and forced transformation • Comedy vs horror - why Tusk makes you laugh and recoil • And why these scientists don't want to change the world… just their victims

From surgical body horror to psychological conditioning, this is mad science stripped of romance and left with nothing but obsession.

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Two Marvel origin stories. Two very different mad scientists. Only one built a cinematic empire.

This week, we revisit Hulk (2003) and Iron Man (2008) to explore the science behind the superheroes and why one experiment failed while the other changed blockbuster cinema.

Ang Lee's Hulk is a tragic tale of inherited trauma, gamma radiation and fractured identity, a full-blown mad science horror hiding inside a superhero movie.

Iron Man flips the formula: no monster, no accident, just a billionaire engineer weaponising his own genius and building the future in a cave.

From Frankenstein echoes to high-tech spectacle, this is the moment Marvel transformed mad science into the foundation of the MCU.

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This week on Journey Through Sci-Fi, we're heading into murkier, creepier territory as we pair Mimic and Splice - two films that take mad science out of the lab and straight into body-horror nightmare fuel.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro and Vincenzo Natali, they arrive from very different moments in sci-fi cinema. Mimic comes out of the late-90s creature-feature era, mixing practical effects with early CGI and big studio ambition. Splice, released over a decade later, taps into anxieties around gene splicing, biotech, and scientists who really should know better.

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We look back at the biggest sci-fi moments of 2025 — franchise returns, standout TV, Marvel's slump, DC's revival, and the auteur films that kept the genre interesting. From Superman and 28 Years Later to Severance and Alien: Earth, we break down what landed, what didn't, and what comes next for JTSF.

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This week on Journey Through Sci-Fi, we revisit Flubber (1997) and The Nutty Professor (1996) to explore how both films became showcases for the 90s CGI boom.

We look at how early digital effects, morphing tech, ILM's rubbery animation, and ambitious makeup and prosthetics reshaped the mad-scientist trope for a family audience. From Eddie Murphy's multi-character transformations to Flubber's bouncy CGI flying rubber, we break down the moment Hollywood shifted from practical FX to digital spectacle and what effect it had on the depiction of Mad Science.

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"Remember, no matter where you go… there you are." This week on Journey Through Sci-Fi, we're looking at two very different visions of genius at work - one saving the world, the other stealing dreams. We discuss The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) - now say that five times fast - and The City of Lost Children (La Cité des enfants perdus, 1995) to explore the heroes and villains of mad science.

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We're back with another Future Frontiers episode, covering all the latest sci-fi hitting screens this month.

We chat about Predator: Badlands, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia and the upcoming Running Man remake from Edgar Wright - plus we try to decode what on earth Vince Gilligan's mysterious new series Pluribus might be.

We also talk about what we've been watching lately - Peacemaker S2, Gen V, Foundation, and Demon Slayer - and tackle your big listener questions. Should The Thing and Predator start one minute later?

• 00:00:00 – Welcome Back to Future Frontiers
• 00:01:05 – What We've Been Watching
• 00:05:32 – Anime at the Box Office Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man.
• 00:08:15 – New Sci-Fi in Cinemas - Bugonia, Predator: Badlands, and The Running Man remake.
• 00:15:01 – Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
• 00:17:51 – Upcoming Sci-Fi Series: Pluribus & Stranger Things 5
• 00:22:26 – Mailbag: Time Travel & The Toaster Paradox
• 00:26:02 – Jake's hot take on re-editing iconic openings and fan edit talk.
• 00:30:12 – What's Next for Journey Through Sci-Fi
• 00:31:00 – Outro & Sign-Off

Subscribe for deep-dive sci-fi chat every other Thursday, and join us on Patreon for exclusive bonus episodes.

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"Who's going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow!"We're diving head-first (literally) into the weird world of Frankenstein's legacy once again, with Re-Animator (1985) and Poor Things (2023). From glowing green serums to brain-swapping brilliance, we explore how both films rewire the Frankenstein formula mixing horror, humour, and the eternal question of whether a mad science creation can ever truly go 'right'.

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To celebrate the upcoming Predator: Badlands and the big-screen re-release of Prey on November 5th (for a very limited cinema run) we're bringing one of our favourite Patreon episodes to the main feed.

In this bonus epsiode we revisit Prey (2022), and discuss how it re-energised the franchise, why it works as sci-fi horror, and where it fits in the Predator legacy.

🩸 Predator: Badlands lands Nov 7 — we'll be covering it exclusively on Patreon. 🎧 Join us at patreon.com/journeythroughscifi

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What happens when unlicensed nuclear accelerators meet ancient rituals?

This week we look at what happens when mad science collides with the world of ghosts, gods, and monsters. From proton packs in Ghostbusters (1984) - Oh the nostalgia! - to underground experiments in The Cabin in the Woods (2011), we explore how science and the supernatural crash together in hilarious and horrifying ways. A perfect pairing for the spooky Halloween season!

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