Michael Mayne

Michael Mayne, not exactly a household name but, honestly, if you’re into cult classics or weird late-night horror, his work probably rings a bell. Moontrap from ‘89? That’s the one where astronauts stumble onto some freaky ancient alien tech on the moon, only for it to turn out there’s something way nastier lurking up there—killer cyborgs cobbled together from bones and scrap metal. The vibe? Kind of a mashup between schlocky sci-fi and those old-school horror movies your older cousin made you watch at midnight when you were way too young for it. Mayne’s role isn’t front-and-center, but he’s part of that strange, scrappy energy that holds the whole bizarre thing together. Then there’s The Nostril Picker from ‘93, which—yeah, let’s just admit it—wins the bad taste award hands down. This one’s more grindhouse than anything else, dripping with that sleazy, shot-on-video charm. The plot’s totally bonkers: a lonely loser learns a spell that lets him turn into a teenage girl, and chaos ensues. Think cheap practical effects, awkward dialogue, and a sense of humor so dark and offbeat it loops back around to being hilarious. Mayne pops up in the madness, proving he’s not afraid to go all-in, no matter how out-there the script gets. If you’re looking for something polished and mainstream, keep walking. But if you live for the oddball corners of cinema, Mayne’s filmography is a weird little goldmine.