Synopsis: A scientist awakes one morning only to realise he may be the only person left alive on Earth after an experiment goes wrong. It's an intriguing if not altogether original concept. The World, the Flesh and the Devil and Charlton Heston's cult The Omega Man were there first. Bruno Lawrence gives a beguiling central performance as someone who is suddenly able to live out his fantasies, to enjoy the empty city without guilt or interference. Shot against stunning Auckland backdrops by Geoff Murphy, the acclaimed New Zealand director of the Maori historical drama Utu, the early section develops a strong sense of mystery, but after Lawrence discovers two other survivors, one male, one female, the script follows an all too predictable path.

Synopsis: Did Markie Post's daughter get abducted by aliens when she disappeared for a few hours one night? Post believes the same thing happened to her when she was a girl, so is history repeating itself? It's an intriguing if fanciful premise, but in fact there's not much to get excited about in this routine TV movie that labours the mystery and menace of the situation to ever-decreasing effect. A lightweight addition to the Communion school of science fiction, and equally silly.

Frenchman's Farm (1987)