L . A . N . C . E

I was thinking about Lance Henriksen the other day. He was once the go-to weird guy a bit like Steve Buscemi was the natural maniac.

I remember Lance in Aliens playing Bishop the android. I'm reminded of his famous knife trick on the terrified Hudson aka the late Bill Paxton every day when I see skoolkids attempting the same with biros! I don't think his role was as iconic as Ian Holm's Ash in the first film but I enjoyed the Android element in both films tremendously.

Lance also had roles in old horror films like the video nasty Massacre Mansion [along with Richard Basehart of VTTBOTS], which I used to see at Blockbusters in its early days and also the neo-vampire classic Near Dark directed by a young Kathryn Bigelow of The Hurt Locker fame, where Lance plays the patriarch of a modern family of undead ruffians living in a van. Near Dark also starred Bill Paxton!

For many sci-fi fans its Millennium that Henriksen will be remembered for in his role as Frank Black. This old TV series was a sort of X-Files spin-off, written by Chris Carter. Black was able to see into the minds of killers and as I recall it was a rather gloomy affair all round. I wish I'd have seen more but nothing could compare really with the first season of the X-Files, which for me was groundbreaking and gave me all the X-appeal I needed.

For myself its another horror film that will always remind me of Lance, the eighties schlocker Pumpkinhead. Henriksen plays a grief-stricken father hell-bent on avenging the killing of his young son by a bunch of city types. His wrath takes the form of a demon summoned from the pit, the Pumpkinhead of the title. For those like me who like big monsters then this flick didn't disappoint. The demon is fabulous.

What do you like about Lance Henriksen readers?

Aged 80, he's still alive and kicking!