Journey Through Sci-Fi: A Science Fiction Film Podcast

The Human Centipede (2009) & Tusk (2014): Torture, Transformation and Obsessive Creation

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. Visit our website https://www.journeythroughscifi.com/ Email Us! Support the podcast on PATREON Add us on INSTAGRAM Find us on TIKTOK Like us on FACEBOOK Follow us on LETTERBOXD

Hulk (2003) & Iron Man (2008): Two Mad Scientists. One Built the MCU

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. Visit our website https://www.journeythroughscifi.com/ Email Us! Support the podcast on PATREON Add us on INSTAGRAM Find us on TIKTOK Like us on FACEBOOK Follow us on LETTERBOXD  

Splice (2009) & Mimic (1997): Genetic Experiments Gone Wrong

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. Visit our website https://www.journeythroughscifi.com/ Email Us! Support the podcast on PATREON Add us on INSTAGRAM Find us on TIKTOK Like us on FACEBOOK Follow us on LETTERBOXD

The Best Sci-fi of 2025: Future Frontiers

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. Visit our website https://www.journeythroughscifi.com/ Email Us! Support the podcast on PATREON Add us on INSTAGRAM Find us on TIKTOK Like us on FACEBOOK Follow us on LETTERBOXD  

Flubber (1997) & The Nutty Professor (1996): The 90s CGI Boom

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. Visit our website https://www.journeythroughscifi.com/ Email Us! Support the podcast on PATREON Add us on INSTAGRAM Find us on TIKTOK Like us on FACEBOOK Follow us on LETTERBOXD