Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

There’s a mix of old and new releases coming from Signature next month, with a number of interest to Sci-Fi Bulletin readers.

Spy thriller Legacy of Lies arrives on October 12. A decade ago, agent Martin Baxter quit MI6 after his wife’s tragic murder in an operation gone wrong. But when Sacha, a beautiful journalist, asks for help solving an old case, Martin finds himself in the crosshairs of both UK and Russian intelligence. Now, with his daughter held captive by the KGB, Martin has just 24 hours to deliver the secret case files — which means risking both Sacha’s life and his own. Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2) stars in this global spy-thriller, written and directed by Adrian Bol (Blindspot).

A Call to Spy arrives on October 23rd on digital and November 2nd on DVD. Inspired by incredible true stories, A Call to Spy is the award-winning account of the personal sacrifices of the courageous women who put their lives on the line to fight for freedom during World War II. At the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), to recruit and train women as spies. Their daunting mission: conduct sabotage and build a resistance in Nazi occupied Europe. The SOE’s “spymistress” Vera Atkins (Stana Katic), recruits two unusual candidates: Virginia Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas), an ambitious American
with a wooden leg, and Noor Inayat Khan (Radhika Atpe), a Muslim pacifist. Together, these women help to undermine the Nazi regime in France, leaving an unmistakable legacy in their wake.

New historical horror Blood Harvest arrives October 12. The film explores the disturbed bond between Audrey, an enigmatic young woman, and Agatha, her domineering mother, who live secretly as occultists on the outskirts of a remote Protestant village. Following an ominous encounter between Agatha and a grieving townsman, and a rare sighting of Audrey by a local, Agatha’s authority crumbles as Audrey asserts her dominance. Meanwhile, hysteria mounts within the community as a mysterious pestilence spreads throughout the fields and livestock, yet the Earnshaw farm remains strangely unaffected… Set against the autumnal palette of the harvest season in 1773, Blood Harvest is a nightmarish descent into the mythic, starring Catherine Walker (A Dark Song), Hannah Emily Anderson (Jigsaw) and written and directed by Thomas Robert Lee.

Relic will be released in cinemas and on digital on October 30. When elderly mother Edna (Robyn Nevin, The Matrix Reloaded), inexplicably vanishes, her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer, Mary Poppins Returns) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote, Neon Demon) rush to their family’s decaying country home, finding clues of her increasing dementia scattered around the house in her absence. After Edna returns just as mysteriously as she disappeared, Kay’s concern that her mother seems unwilling or unable to say where she’s been clashes with Sam’s unabashed enthusiasm to have her grandma back. As Edna’s behaviour turns increasingly volatile, both begin to sense that an insidious presence in the house might be taking control of her. A deeply unsettling psychological horror, Relic is the unforgettable debut feature from writer and director Natalie Erika James who brings a fresh and profoundly human twist to the genre. Relic is produced by Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker. The film is executive produced by The Russo Brothers. Signature Entertainment releases Relic in partnership with the Frightfest Presents Label.