Monster preview

Fangs, claws, scales and the odd blast of atomic breath… all the other monster hits stomping your way.

THE PREDATOR

Before he became a screenwriting wünderkind selling scripts for millions, Shane Black starred in Predator as Hawkins, the first macho mercenary to meet the extraterrestrial hunter’s ire. It’s an experience that clearly left an impression as Black is behind this summer’s big-screen comeback for the ugliest mofo in movies, and he’s bringing a taste of the ’80s with him.

“Part of the reason for doing this is just… the nostalgia,” says Black, who directs and co-wrote the script with his Monster Squad writing partner Fred Dekker. “I wanted to recapture the sort of moviemaking that we would line up for on a Saturday afternoon, the way we did for Wrath Of Khan or Raiders.”

But after 31 years of sub-par sequels and risible crossovers, what makes The Predator different? The answer again lies in the past. “There’s a 30-year trail of breadcrumbs,” Black explains. “You can go back and pluck the elements you want, take the nostalgia, what is iconic, and then enhance as needed.”

To that end Black and Dekker (no pun intended) have concocted an enticingly irreverent spin on the alpha male formula established in the ’87 original, with a squad of traumatised vets the front line of defence against the galaxy’s ultimate killing machine. Several ‘classic’ Predators will feature, alongside a new, 10ft tall, genetically advanced ‘Ultimate’ Predator, born of experiments in hybridisation.

“When I make a movie that pleases me, it tends to be that I’m not that far removed from the actual audience,” Black smiles. “So I’m hoping people will find it as nostalgic and as chock-full of stuff as we hope it is.” The hunt is on.