Produced written and directed by Kenneth D Barker

Well, it's certainly anew kind of superhero (or heroine) indeed.  Nathan Lubbock-Smith stars as the eponymous hero...I say eponymous...let's start from the beginning...

Ben Gerick (Lubbock-Smith) is a sharp city lawyer on his way to the top.  However, he holds an incredible secret!  He's..nope..not super-powered...he's a she!  Sometimes anyway.  At home Gerick transforms, via cross-dressing, into a (not altogether convincing) woman.

The Darth Vader to this Lucy Skywalker is General Killgarth the Negative.  Sentenced to life imprisonment on a backwards planet, Killgarth escapes with the help of his nefarious brothers-in-arms.  Unfortunately, he only succeeds in escaping via an escape pod, rather than a ship and ends up crash-landing on planet Earth.

Nevertheless, with the valued Thrixium orb, Killgarth is ensured of ruling this mudball of a planet...only, the orb he has is a fake.  Instead, on his/her first 'outing', Catalina is given the true orb by the dying pilot of Killgarth's escape pod, imbuing her with fantastic super-powers...and on a direct collision course with Negative!

This is a low budget movie from small UK independent company, Water on the Rock.  Fortunately, advances in technology mean that small is now not too far behind the television companies in FX and screen quality.  If like me, you are a fan of the likes of Blake's 7, then the special effects are actually far in advance of those series.  Not that there aren't any glitches!  Don't see this movie expecting it to look like the X-Men or Doctor Who.

The storyline is tongue-in-cheek.  I would expect the superhero community to take the plot in good humour, although what the transvestite social scene will make of it, I have no idea.  I would suggest it's probably a show made for fans of Torchwood/Doctor Who that would like their heroes to have that little bit more eye-shadow (hmmm, that's probably Sarah Jane), plus a very British-style of self-effacing humour that isn't always in yer face.  Certainly, anyone who's a fan of Bevis Musson's Queen of Diamonds would do well to buy a copy.  Check out the trailer at the link below or go straight to the company's website at http://www.wotr.co.uk/

Trailer: http://www.wotr.co.uk/Also%20sprach%20zarathustra%20trailer.mov

Chris Smillie

SUPERHEROSTORE MULTIMEDIA