John Carpenter: My Top Ten Favorites

Right off the bat and without fear that I’ll sound like a nerdy fan boy, I’ve got to say that John Carpenter is a living legend, who has—since the late 70s—set the bar and created the template for all other filmmakers to follow. From the design of a horror movie, to the archetype of the bad-ass action hero, even including social commentary to a science fiction piece, Mr. Carpenter was the pioneer of those aspects.

Now, I admit, I haven’t seen every John Carpenter film that he’s directed, either due to not finding the film or not finding the time, so I can’t say that I’m an expert on his film compendium. But of the ones I have seen—and I have seen most of them—I’ve got to say that he’s a master of his craft.

So, without further ado, let me go over the films which I feel are his top ten.

Number 10: John Carpenter, after his success with arguably one of the best horror films in the 1970s, followed up that achievement with a made-for-television biopic, simply titled, Elvis, about one of the greatest entertainers of our time.

Prior to the DVD release a few years ago, the broadcast in 1979 was the only time I had seen this film. But Presley was, and still is, my very favorite music star from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Sadly, this movie didn’t age well and is not as entertaining as I remembered it to be. It stars Kurt Russell as the music icon, rising from a teenager to the singing sensation he came to be. Some of the supporting cast members are Shelley Winters as Gladys Presley, Bing Russell (Kurt’s real-life dad) as Vernon Presley, Season Hubley (Kurt’s wife at the time) as Priscilla Presley, and Pat Hingle as Colonel Tom Parker.

The film is very interesting in the beginning as it shows how he made his first recording and becoming big, but the film starts to fall flat as it gets into his later life. The story stopped short of documenting his death and I think maybe that was the problem. It seems as if the movie maybe wanted to go to that part of his life, but decided to stop short of that chapter.

All in all, it’s still enjoyable to see Kurt Russell play a pretty good rendition of The King of Rock & Roll.

Number 9 on my list belongs to 1995’s Village of the Damned, a remake of the 1960 British film of the same name, starring Christopher Reeve as Dr. Alan Chaffee and Kirstie Alley as Dr. Susan Verner.

In this one, some alien-influenced incident happens in this small town that knocks everybody out momentarily, but strangely affects ten women of the town by leaving them pregnant. Nine months later, ten platinum-haired children are born and grow to be emotionless children with evil powers, using it against the adults of the town that get in their way.

The film is very entertaining, and if you can put aside that “Superman” is in the lead role, you can thoroughly enjoy it.

Number 8’s pick is 1996’s Escape From L.A. In this sequel to 1981’s Escape From New York (see number 4), Snake Plissken is once again called in—against his will—to go into a maximum security prison—Los Angeles—to retrieve something very important to the fate of the United States, as well as the world.

A lot more colorful and special effects-laden, this sequel is so entertaining and fun to watch, it almost feels like a parody of Carpenter’s 1981 film.

Kurt Russell is back and just as bad-ass as he was back in 1981 as he goes through this retread of the first film. You can almost see that Carpenter maybe wanted a chance to re-do the first film and this is what we got.

The film also stars Steve Buscemi as “Map to the Stars” Eddie, Stacy Keach as Commander Malloy, Peter Fonda as the burnt out surfer Pipeline, a nice cameo by Bruce Campbell as the Surgeon General of Beverly Hills, the late Cliff Robertson as the President of the United States, and the beautiful Pam Grier as Hershe. They’re definitely a star-studded cast that has a lot of fun in this one.

Number 7 on my list of favorite John Carpenter films is one I’ve seen maybe once or twice. 1993’s Body Bags is an anthology that (I think) went straight to video or only showed on one of the movie channels of its time. Anyway, it’s actually a difficult one to find on disc and believe me, I’ve been looking for a while. I remember catching it on Showtime and being intrigued with the concept of having some weird coroner introduce each story. It wasn’t until my second viewing that I realized it was Carpenter who played the cadaver-like guy in the morgue.

The film highlights three stories and I believe Carpenter only directed two of the stories, “The Gas Station” and “Hair” while Tobe Hooper directed the third story, “The Eye.” It’s funny, although I love all three tales, my favorite is the one that Hooper directs. “The Gas Station” is a story of Anne (Alex Datcher) and her first night as a service station clerk. Before her coworker, Bill (Robert Carradine), leaves, he tells her an escaped psycho is on the loose and advises her to stay locked in the booth. As you can imagine, this story is pretty suspense-filled.

In “Hair,” Richard (Stacy keach), is upset about how bald he is and wishes there was something he could do about it. He visits a seemingly disreputable doctor who offers him a scalp treatment he guarantees will work. After going through the procedure and taking off the bandages, Richards hair grows stunningly…but things go very wrong and very weird.

But my favorite of the stories, Brent Matthews (Mark Hamill) is a baseball player who gets in a car accident that leaves him without an eye. However, an experimental surgery to have an eye from a donor replace his damaged eye is done and completed successfully. But the donor of the eye turned out to be a serial killer and things get twisted in Matthew’s life as he sees flashes of the serial killer’s life and begins to be taken over by it.

Very good anthology and it’s a shame that it’s taken so long to get a special edition on Blu-Ray, but Scream! Factory finally announced we’ll be getting one soon!

Number 6, is 1988’s They Live, starring Roddy Piper and Keith David, an excellent sci-fi flick that makes you think long afterward about the social commentary the film subliminally suggests. But I like to watch this film for the concept and the idea of alien takeover.

The film has sort of a slow start as we see Piper’s character, Nada, getting a job doing some hard labor at a construction site and moving in to some homeless camp, but soon picks up when he sees some weird goings-on at the church across the way. He soon discovers these magical Wayfarers that, when worn, shows what’s really going on in the world. He picks up magazines and the pages are simple white pages with large words like “CONSUME” or “SLEEP” and other subliminal commands. He notices the billboards have the same messages and sees that there are futuristic aircraft patrolling the skies. The one big thing he discovers is that some people are not what they seem.

I don’t want to give too much away, because it’ll take away some of the surprise and shock you may feel when watching this film. The third act of the film is mainly a lot of action as the story gets into the climax, but the film, overall, doesn’t disappoint.

I wish Roddy Piper would’ve done more films because he was one hell of a leading man in this flick.

Number 5 is a moody piece from 1980 and one I watch annually around the Halloween season. The Fog is yet another nostalgic film I love, making me remember all the TV spots I had seen as a child and wishing I were able to see the movies advertised.

Finally, after a few years, I was able to rent this film on VHS and enjoyed it immensely. As Carpenter’s theatrical follow-up to Halloween, and if you try to compare it, it’s a little disappointing. But as a stand-alone film, it’s a brilliant ghost story with an excellent cast, led by the awesomely tough—and mustache-less—leading man, Tom Atkins.

The town of Antonio Bay is about to celebrate its centennial and when the clocks strike midnight—the witching hour—everything in town goes berserk. All the cars in town start honking their horns, public payphones ring, televisions turn on, and other paranormal activities occur. At the same time, the priest at the local church notices a stone that falls from the wall. When he goes to look at the hole left from the missing stone, he discovers an old diary left there by his grandfather. As he reads some of the entries, he learns that Antonio Bay has held a deep, dark secret.

The opening scene with John Houseman reciting the ghost story to the children was a nice touch and was a good introduction to the film. The stand-out to the film is the special effects, as well as the make-up effects, highlighted throughout. We all love Tom Atkins, and even though he’s missing his trademark ‘stache, he’s still the bad-ass we all know and love. But let’s not forget Adrienne Barbeau as the local radio disc jockey, looking as great as ever.

When I watched one of the behind-the-scenes featurettes about the work involved in getting the fog effects to work, I was amazed. With no CGI effects back in 1980, you can imagine the trouble they had in getting the fog to move and stay in frame back then. Some of the tricks they came up with will surprise you.

The Fog is a must for John Carpenter fans, and even if you aren’t, this flick is still scary and spooky. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

Number 4’s pick is 1981’s Escape From New York.

The story begins with a voiceover on how the country, in 1988, has gone to shit and decided to make the island of Manhattan a maximum security prison for undesirables to live on their own and survive in a place where there is no law and no rules.

Nine years later, in 1997, Air Force One is overtaken by a group of terrorists who take over the plane and is about to crash it to kill the president (played by Donald Pleasence), but he evades certain death by using an escape pod (does Air Force One really have an escape pod?) to get away. As luck would have it, the plane was flying over the air space of the New York prison and that’s where the president went down.

Kurt Russell plays Snake Plissken, a Eastwood-esque man-with-no-name type, who’s brought in, after being arrested for a bank robbery, to rescue the president and he reluctantly agrees. To make matters worse for Plissken, and unbeknownst to him, his carotid arteries are injected with microscopic pellets that’ll explode in 24 hours. He’s told that if he brings back the president alive, the pellets will be neutralized and he’s free to go.

Yes, this film is awesome, showing us that Kurt Russell is no softy from the Disney movies he'd been featured in, but a bad-ass that kicks ass. Plissken’s appearance is pretty cool, with his weathered leather jacket, fatigue pants, and the eye patch, looking like someone you don’t want to mess with. The movie features a well-rounded supporting cast, giving us some memorable scenes. The film features Lee Van Cleef as Hauk, Adrienne Barbeau as Maggie (you won’t forget that dress!), Harry Dean Stanton as “Brain,” Ernest Borgnine as “Cabbie,” and Isaac Hayes as the “Duke of New York.” With quite a few other Carpenter regulars (Charles Cyphers and Tom Atkins) and some character actors that really make this film enjoyable. One little complaint? When I finally watched this film after seeing the movie poster, I was a little let down that the Statue of Liberty’s head wasn’t crumbled on one of New York’s streets. In fact, we see it intact and never damaged throughout the movie. False advertising!

Number 3 is a favorite of mine of 1983, due to the work the film is adapted from, which is the novel, Christine, by Stephen King. Though it differs a little from the book, the overall idea is there and is yet another nostalgic outing from John Carpenter. Although it’s not the first movie about a vehicle terrorizing people, it’s probably the one movie people remember when asked about the subject matter.

The film stars Keith Gordon as Arnie Cunningham, your average nerd who is picked on in high school by the school bully, Buddy Repperton (William Ostrander), and doesn’t excel in much except getting good grades. But when one day, Arnie and his friend, Dennis (John Stockwell), pass an old lot that has a busted up rust bucket—a 1958 Plymouth Fury—for sale within the weeds of the property, Arnie tells his friend to pull over. He buys the car—which he’s told by the old man who owns it, George LeBay (Roberts Blossom), that her name is Christine—and tries to take it home to his angered parents, but instead has to rent a stall at the local junk yard to work on it.

Soon after, the car begins to look better, but so does Arnie, as he stops wearing glasses, starts to dress better, and starts to act like a douche bag. Along with all this, some find out, if you cross Arnie, Christine will become infuriated.

Again, Carpenter had some amazing talent working with him to make some of the special effects work. I still don’t understand how they were able to get some of those scenes to pan out, especially the way they were able to make it look like the car was able to retain its shape after being dented and wrecked. All of the action scenes were very memorable, especially the car driving down the road as it’s engulfed in fire. This movie is a must for all to see.

Number 2 on my list, and I’ll probably receive a bombardment of resent for choosing this film as my second favorite Carpenter film rather than first, but I admit that he left his mark in the film world with this one, especially in the horror genre part of it, when he directed the now-classic, 1978’s Halloween, starring Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode and Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis. When I mentioned before that Carpenter set the bar for horror films, this is the one that many have imitated or have used as a template.

The film is full of suspense and there’s not much I can say about this film that everyone hasn’t commented on already. But I love watching it every year, especially in October when All Hallow’s Eve is just around the corner. It’s nostalgic and fun to watch, never getting old and scaring me to this day. You can see why this film set John Carpenter up as the go-to-director of the 80s, because he really delivered in this one.

Just some advice: if you’re going to rent or purchase this DVD or Blu-Ray, make sure you get the 1978 version and not the Rob Zombie remake. Zombie’s version is okay, but pales in comparison to John Carpenter’s classic film.

Number 1, for all intents and purposes, is what I think John Carpenter’s real masterpiece should be, and that’s The Thing from 1982.

I’ve actually read an article here and there where Carpenter actually feels the same way about this film, that it's his best work to date.

It broke new ground in practical horror effects that were just so off-the-way crazy, but was perfect in this flick, as it brought to life an organism that can imitate anything, yet transforms in a visceral and organic way. This film proves, without a doubt, that practical effects are the way to go. The prequel that was released in 2011 definitely proves that CGI doesn’t cut it when it comes to this type of sci-fi/horror film…or any other film for that matter.

Unfortunately, this film was released the same year as E.T. and audiences bought into the friendly alien from another world, rather than watch an evil one which kills and causes destruction.

When this film was released, I was around 11 years old. My parents didn’t take me to see movies that often—and they definitely wouldn’t take me to see an R-rated film—but I was still aware of the movie due to the headlines it made. It was mainly because of the gross and gory special effects, but it made me want to watch this movie even more than I had already wanted. It wasn’t until years later that I was able to rent it on VHS and enjoyed every second of it.

The cast was a great ensemble and acted this yarn out believably. You can definitely feel the tension and fright in the men as they realize that the Alien organism is on the loose and could’ve taken the form of any one of them. The “who’s-really-who” plot adds to the scares that we get in this film and having it set in an isolated part of the world where no one is able to reach outside of their realm for help is terrific.

Kurt Russell certainly shows us why Carpenter includes him in quite a few of his films as the leading man, because he fills that position nicely as he takes charge when the shit hits the fan.

One fun thing I suggest you do is to listen to the commentary between John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. You can tell these guys are good friends and love what they do.

Another interesting thing you can do is watch the 2011 version right before watching Carpenter’s version and decide which is better. My money’s on Carpenter’s film. But The Thing is definitely a fun movie to watch, especially if you decide to watch it during a cold winter night.

So there you have it, my little love letter to the Master of Horror himself, Mr. John Carpenter. One thing he mentioned in an interview or commentary when discussing Escape From New York was that he was toying with the idea of making another sequel called Escape From Earth. I actually tweeted to his Twitter account, asking if that will ever come to fruition. I was overjoyed that he actually responded to me (although, it could’ve been someone who takes care of his account), but then saddened when he responded that the movie will never happen. But it does anger me that we had a movie come out last year called Lockout that very well could’ve been a sequel to the Escape movies. And I know damn well that Mr. Carpenter would’ve made a much better film than that piece of crap.

I really do hope we get more from John Carpenter in the future because he is a brilliant director who has a résumé of great films that span over three decades.

I’ll leave you with this: the man deserves a lifetime achievement award in the Academy and a star on the Walk of Fame (if he doesn’t have one there already). He is my all-time favorite director and hope to meet him one day, just to shake his hand and tell him how great he made my experience growing up watching his films. He’s a legend—a living legend—and although those are my top ten favorite films of his, I adore them all and always enjoy a John Carpenter marathon, every year.

Thanks for reading!

You can reach me on Twitter: @CinemaBits!

Man of Steel

The character of Superman, from the DC line of comic books and graphic novels, has had a bit of a rough history in the last few decades when it comes to translating him and his story to film. Superman Returns was a decent outing directed by Bryan Singer back in 2006, but it wasn’t quite satisfying to Superman fans and seemed more of a love letter to Richard Donner and his 1978 classic than a diving board for ongoing sequels to come. Movements were made here and there, from Kevin Smith’s treatment to the almost certain depravity Tim Burton was planning, which, thankfully, never came to fruition.

Ever since I had watched that final scene in The Matrix, where Neo takes off in flight, I knew the special effects were there and just waiting for a good Superman script to allow it life. But, alas, it seemed as if it was never meant to be.

Enter Christopher Nolan, giving Batman new life with his Dark Knight trilogy and cementing his roots into the filmmaking ground while making tons of money for Warner Bros. in the process. He could do no wrong in the eyes of the WB execs and was allowed free reign with any project of his choosing.  So when it was announced that he would “godfather” a new Superman film as a producer, I had some small hope starting to grow inside me. Little by little, over the last couple of years, we heard tidbits of info, a not-too-interesting teaser trailer that had risen doubt in my mind, and finally a full-fledged trailer that made me curious, until Man of Steel was released to us…

Yes, after over 30 years of a Superman drought, we get Zack Snyder and David Goyer’s vision—or shall I say reimagining—of the DC superhero that may be setting the upcoming Justice League movie on its way to us.

But that’s getting a little ahead of ourselves. First, let’s get into Man of Steel…

…without spoilers, I promise.

To synopsize, the film is a complete reboot, starting with the origin of Superman/Kal-El, as he’s born on the alien world of Krypton. As war begins on the planet, his parents, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Lara (Ayelet Zurer), knowing that their planet is doomed—because of the pending destruction that led to the war initiated by Genral Zod (Michael Shannon) and his soldiers—they send their son off into space to reach the planet of Earth for a chance to live out his life. As General Zod, along with his remaining soldiers, is arrested and tried for his crimes, he’s sentenced to the Phantom Zone. On Earth, the adult Kal-El (Henry Cavill), not knowing his origin and identifying himself as Clark Kent, raised by Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane), is on a journey, taking odd jobs around the country, to find out who he really is. As his journey comes to an end and he finds out who he is, he then finds himself at odds with our country’s military and a returning threat that found its way from Krypton: General Zod.

I didn’t want to give away too much about this film, which is why I went with a quick plot summary and didn’t give away too much detail on the story. But going into this movie, I was completely mesmerized from start to finish.

The beginning scenes on Krypton was spectacular and I’m glad they went with changing it up, going away from the crystal/ice look of the 1978 film to this Star Wars-esque landscape that they feature here. Rather than wanting the film to move on and get to Kal-El’s life on our world, I wanted to stay on Krypton to see more of it. The clothing and armor worn throughout the scenes on Krypton had an old renaissance feel to it, seeming like the planet was in the dark ages. But the technology, looking primitive and insect-like, was surprisingly fresh and was its own, not seeming like a Star Wars rip-off.

I felt there was a good balance while the story played out and moving to Kal-El/Clark’s adult years as he travels the country, trying to find his way on earth. I mention balance, because there are equal parts of present-day story, as well as flashback scenes to Clark growing up in Smallville.

Once we see Cavill take the reins and become the character of Superman, the movie takes on a bewildering feel and takes us on a believable, yet effects-laden, rollercoaster ride that never lets up. Don’t get me wrong…it’s not that the movie is not exciting before that, but if you want action...wow…the last third of this film delivers.

Now I have to admit, at first, Henry Cavill, as Superman, was a concern for me going into this. When I found out the character—being such an American icon—was being played by a British actor, it sort of bothered me. But by the time we see him play out the first heroic act in the film, I was totally okay with him and his portrayal, looking forward to upcoming sequels and the planned Justice League movie.

The second concern was Michael Shannon playing General Zod. I mean, after seeing Terence Stamp make that role his own in 1980’s Superman II, I felt like nobody should ever attempt to fill his shoes. Surprisingly, Shannon nails it and even adds a little more heart and soul to the character, even making us see his side of his argument in the story.

Kevin Costner really turns in a great performance as Jonathan Kent and I actually wish we had more of his character interacting with the actors playing the 9-year-old and 13-year-old Clark Kent (Cooper Timberline and Dylan Sprayberry respectively). But the flashback scenes we get from him were stellar accomplishments and made us understand how he—as well as Diane Lane as Martha Kent—was a key character in Clark’s upbringing.

Finally, Amy Adams as Lois Lane was really interesting and the character arc was something we’ve never seen in any Superman incarnation on television or film. The chemistry between Adams and Cavill was

believable and enjoyable to watch. Thankfully, there was no “Can You Read My Mind” scenes between them and I never felt that she was unneeded in the story.

Rounding out the cast in Man of Steel: Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, Antje Traue as Zod’s right-hand woman Faora-Ul, Harry Lennix as General Swanwick, Richard Schiff as Dr. Emil Hamilton, and Christopher Meloni as Colonel Nathan Hardy.

So, what’s my final “bit” on Man of Steel?

While the film doesn’t have the epic feel of its 1978 counterpart, I think it was done on purpose, perhaps preparing for the DC universe to open up and making way for the forthcoming Justice League project. The plot had a different twist that we’re used to (if you know a bit about the Superman lore), yet stayed pretty true to its source. The film contains enough heroic feats and battle scenes for any action fan to enjoy, giving us the best Superman film to date, by special effects standards anyway. By the end of this film, Superman has believably solidified himself in this DC universe of films and leaving us to wonder what’s next. Man of Steel is definitely what Warner Bros. needed to jump start their superhero franchises back into film, opening a doorway for more…and I can’t wait. I’m planning to see this again, so that should tell you how good this flick is (I rarely see a movie more than once when it’s making its theatrical run).

Watch out, Marvel…DC is making a comeback!

Thanks for reading!
You can reach me on Twitter: @CinemaBits

V/H/S/2

Being a big fan of 2012’s V/H/S, when the sequel hit OnDemand circuits yesterday, I gladly paid the ten bucks to order it in for the night. The first one was such a fresh take on the “found-footage” type films, making it more believable how these scenes were caught on film, having novel ideas on reasons why cameras are present rather than just some schmuck lugging around a camcorder when he should be running for his life.


The same can be said for 2013’s V/H/S/2, where the film has some pretty cool concepts on why a camera is recording what we see.

Now, straightaway, I’ll say that this outing wasn’t as good as the first film. Without getting too much into it, I’d say the first film had better story concepts for each tale and we’d gotten better shocks from it as well. V/H/S/2 has some shocks, but they’re more of the gory and visceral type, making us want to turn away from the screen instead of enjoying a good, yet resigned, jump scare. In comparison, part one had me wanting more at the end of the film; part two…well…I was satisfied, but I accepted the ending.

In the wrap-around plot, “Tape 49,” a guy and girl are checking out a house, looking for clues on the disappearance of a college student. Just like the first film, they enter the house through a window and find a room with a bunch of televisions displaying static screens with white noise. Stacks of VHS tapes are piled

nearby and the guy tells the girl to look through them as he searches the rest of the house. Between each vignette, we see how the tape viewings are affecting the girl, causing her nose bleeds and moments of blanking out, until the fatal climax of this wrap-around story.

The actual first story, “Clinical Trials Phase 1,” a man is in a doctor’s office, being looked over and examined. It becomes clear that he has received an artificial eye that contains a camera and records everything the man sees. Upon leaving the clinic, he notices a young lady staring at him as he leaves out the door and she comes into play a little later in this

segment. As darkness falls at his place, the man notices some glitches to his new eye and he starts seeing things, like a bloodied man and a little girl, both pale and ghostlike. He becomes frightened and runs into his bathroom to spend the night in the tub, until the next day when the girl from the clinic rings his doorbell. She explains to him that she received an artificial transplant—a cochlear implant— and like his ocular implant, causes one to have paranormal senses. From then on, the shit hits the fan and we have some shocking moments that were pretty scary. The only problem I had with this one was the solution the girl had to make one of the spirits—who happened to be her uncle—go away; it seemed a little contrived and tacked in for some gratuitous boobage.

So, onto “A Ride in the Park.” I liked this one a lot as it was a fresh idea on how to make a film with a zombie’s point-of-view. With the popularity with these Go Pro cameras with hikers, bikers and all-around adventurers, these cameras can be mounted anywhere to give the viewer the feeling they were riding a bike or jumping off a cliff or zip-lining through a forest or whatever the escapade may be. In this little ditty, a biker is getting set to ride a trail through the woods, with his camera mounted on his helmet, when a lady comes bursting onto the trail before him, screaming about her boyfriend. The biker stops, all the while we see what he sees, and tries to help the lady as he sees she looks wounded and bleeding. He hears noise coming from

off the trail and sees people scrambling up to them, looking inhuman. Turning back to help the lady, he sees she is now puking up blood or some dark liquid and seems to die. But shortly thereafter, she jumps up and attacks the biker, biting and scratching at him. He gets away and appears to fall and lose consciousness, laying in a patch of grass until some other bikers come to his aid. Suddenly, the biker jumps up—obviously a zombie now—and attacks the couple that tried to help him. From then on, it’s a fun watch as we see the biker as a zombie attacking other people. It ends quizzically as we re-think what we know about zombies.

The next tale, “Safe Haven,” a group of three guys and one girl decide to film a news documentary of a known Indonesian cult. During this outing, the footage is shot with the news cameras, as well as a few spy cams. Hoping to get a look at what goes on within the compound, the crew goes to the leader of the cult to

ask his permission to film them inside their place. He tells them his views of his cult and alluding to what they do within the compound, but it becomes clear to the news crew that things aren’t right within, as the founder speaks of how he purifies the young children within the group, referring to sex. He keeps referring to him and his people going to the Paradise Gates soon, which makes the viewer think of the few cults that have come to pass (Jim Jones and the People’s Temple and Heaven’s Gate) and ended with suicides. As the crew enters the compound, the feeling between them—as well as the viewer—is unease. Everyone they meet seems euphoric and a little unsettling as the crew makes their way within the corridors of the compound. When the sound of a large bell starts tolling off chimes, the founder thumbs a microphone to announce it is time to start the descent to Paradise Gates and that’s when the craziness begins.

One of the more engaging stories in this anthology is “Slumber Party Alien Abduction.” The novel idea with the camera work, again, utilizes the Go Pro type of camera, this time strapping it to the family dog. At a family cabin near a lake, the parents of two boys and a teenaged girl leave for the night, leaving the girl to be in charge of the boys. As expected, the girl’s boyfriend shows up and the boys are forgotten. A couple of the boys’ friends come over and they start playing pranks on the girl and her boyfriend. One prank involves the

boys sneaking up under water—with water balloons and squirt guns—to the pier where the girl and her boyfriend are laying out, to pop up and unloading on them. This time around, one of the boys have the camera strapped to them and for a few seconds plops down under water where we see some kind of creature swimming towards the camera in the distance. Before we can make it out, the girl’s boyfriend dives in the water and we don’t see the creature any more. That night, after the boys pull another prank on the girl and her beau, the invasion begins to a very frightening climax.

As a whole, the wrap around story is pretty interesting, but it almost seems to duplicate what we saw in the first film. I thought they could’ve changed it up a bit instead of the same story of some people sent to an abandoned house to look for something. Yet, it still had a good creepy feel to it as we saw things in the background that the character didn’t see. Each story had its own style and really didn’t disappoint, but it seemed to go for gore rather than an interesting story. I guess it just seemed predictable and I never felt surprised like I had in the first film.

The artificial eye story could’ve added a little more to it, to make the gory ending seem like that was the only thing to do. Maybe if he experienced more mayhem for a few nights to show us he had no choice but to do what he did, it’d make it more believable. I’ve got to give the director props for trying to tackle this one, because an eye doesn’t move around like someone holding the camera. Yet, you’ve got to suspend disbelief, especially when they include the guy’s blinking—very nice touch.

I wish the ending of the zombie biker could’ve been foreshadowed somehow, but the ending was still a nice touch and a twist to the zombie lore.

The story of the cult being filmed for a documentary was pretty good, but I kind of wished it was featured in English so we didn’t have to read subtitles and miss some of the action on the screen because of it.

Finally , the alien abduction was pretty awesome, showing only enough of the aliens to creep you out. Was it me? Or did that blast of noise accompanying the bright lights of the aliens sound like the horn from the Creeper in Jeepers Creepers?

Overall, this is a worthy sequel and I’ll, more than likely, buy it on Blu-Ray when it’s released. It’s worth the OnDemand purchase and, if it’s released in your neck of the woods, worth the theater admission price as well.

My final “bit” on V/H/S/2?

I hope they continue this franchise and keep making quality sequels. No need to polish it up to give it a more Hollywood look, because it’ll go the way of the Paranormal Activity dodo. As long as they keep the look of watching something on VHS, it’ll keep a faithful audience. When—or if—V/H/S/3 comes out, I’ll definitely shell out another ten dollars to see it. Magnet Releasing has definitely given us horror hounds something to look forward to, helping the horror genre come back full force.

Thanks for reading!

You can reach me on Twitter: @CinemaBits or you can email me at Cinema Bits!

Scream Quadrilogy

Now, right off the bat, it has to be noted that, for now, the Scream franchise is going to be called a quadrilogy. Even though a while back, it was reported that a whole new trilogy was going to be added to make it a total of six movies, I, as well as a lot of people-including a few of the actors and actresses of the films in question-believe the franchise is dead. Scream 4—or Scre4m—hammered the final nail in the coffin. But, we'll get into that final chapter later, so sit back and enjoy my take on this well-written—at times—horror movie series.

Back in 1996, people were all abuzz about a new horror movie that was scaring the shit out of everybody.  During a time where a lot of 1980s horror movies were trying to seep into the new decade, but failing miserably, I took this bit of news with a grain of salt.  At the time, I had my fill of silly Friday the 13th sequels, tiring part whatevers of the Halloween series, and campy A Nightmare on Elm Street runs, so I found it hard to believe that there was a new horror film that would outdo them all.  Even my wife (girlfriend at the time) was eager to see it, and if you knew her (she's the complete opposite of a horror movie fan), you'd know that it takes a lot to get her to sit through a scary film.  So, I took the bait and we went to go see Scream.

At first, I was a little taken a back, seeing Drew Barrymore in the intro to this movie with that god-awful wig and playing a high schooler.  But as the scene went on, you really could feel the tension and suspense the character was going through, dreadfully imagining yourself being in that same predicament.  After watching this film countless times, as well as the subsequent three sequels, this one scene is the part that I, as well as anybody else who enjoys these films, remember the best.  It's an iconic performance by both Barrymore and the voice of Ghost Face, Roger Jackson, which will live in horror movie infamy.

For its time, Scream was well-written (scripted by Kevin Williamson), giving us a realistic examination of high school life in the 90s.  There weren't too many moments where you'd feel like yelling at the screen to ask a character what the hell they were doing because they all did what, I think, must of us would do in their place.

Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott did well as the lead "survivor girl" must of us can relate to; with her good morals and trusting attitude, she played the part believably, giving us someone to root and care for from the start.  Her best friend, Tatum (Rose McGowan), turned in a very good performance as well, giving us someone else to care for, but knowing full well that she'd be a victim later on.  Skeet Ulrich as Sidney's boyfriend, Billy Loomis, did fine; being presented as the red herring at first and then the villain was very entertaining and believable.  Besides Courtney Cox and David Arquette, playing Gale Weathers and Deputy Dewey respectfully, the glue that holds this movie together is Randy Meeks (played by Jamie Kennedy); with his knowledge of famous horror films and applying their plot points as rules in life is very entertaining; the scene at the party where he explains the rules to a horror movie is hilarious.

Wes Craven was able to present his name back on the mantle of Horror Master by directed this flick.  After directing the great A Nightmare on Elm Street, he didn't have many worthy follow-ups on his repertoire.  It seemed after he directed the boring Vampire in Brooklyn that we'd never hear his name again.  But a mere 14 months after the start of Eddie Murphy's downfall, Craven gives us this refreshing take on horror movies.

Although we have many modern icons of horror like Jason, Freddy, Leatherface and Michael, they all had to make room on their pedestals for the new kid on the block, Ghost Face.  Really, the whole costume of the character was a no-brainer—something, to this day, that's very easy to obtain, and not because of the movie.  A black cloak with gloves and a hooded ghost mask.  That's it.  But still, that visage alone was enough to make audiences scream with fright when Ghost Face appeared from behind a door or popped up at a window.  The thought of not knowing who was behind that mask throughout the film added to that thrill and gave the whole movie an exhilarating feel.  Even after years of viewing and knowing who's behind the shroud of the white spooky mask, it's still intimidating to watch.

There's not much to nitpick here as this movie seemed to have been treated with the utmost care and no cheats were put into the story.  If there's anything to complain about is how it's a victim of the times.  And what I mean by that is how difficult the killer would have in this day and age as caller ID and GPS locating would give them away.  Seeing the cell phones back then, how large they were, is laughable, but we have to realize that this movie is over 15 years old.  Another thing you'll catch is how Sidney's boyfriend is taken in and questioned as to why he's carrying a cell phone.  Why he's carrying a cell phone???

As a whole, Scream is fun and scary.a great movie to sit back with a tub of popcorn and enjoy.

A year later (although the narrative of the story explains it as two years later), Scream 2 was released in 1997.

Yes, Dimension was able to crank out this sequel and it wasn't as bad as I thought it might've been.  Usually, a movie rushed into production to meet a date only a year after its predecessor doesn't make as much money as the first and is met with harsh criticisms, understandably so.  But it fared well and was a commendable sequel.

Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson return to give us a nice sequel, bringing most of the remaining cast back for another round of murders all revolving around Sidney again.  Sidney's now in college with a new boyfriend, Derek (Jerry O'Connell), trying to retain her life after the Woodsboro events.  However, after a couple of murders during the opening night of Stab—the movie-within-a-movie—which clues Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and the local police that there'll be more murders, Sidney's life is turned upside-down once again.

As with the original, the theme of movies is compared to real life, explaining how the rules in movies apply in real life.  This time around, however, it's the rules of horror movie sequels.

It's nice how they took the throw-away subplot of Cotton Weary from the first film and place it here as an added decoy to keep us guessing as to who is the killer or killers.

Returning again to hold the movie together and to give the movie a speaking account of the rules is Randy (Jamie Kennedy).  Along for the ride as well is Dewey (David Arquette), showing the signs of his injuries from the first film as he limps around from nerve damage in his back.  I actually like these two characters together—the scene in the college café is priceless as they strategize who may or may not be the killer or killers.

The film keeps the same feel as the first and was written intelligently with nary a cheat.  Well.maybe a few here and there.

O'Connell is thrown in there as a red herring, as is Timothy Olyphant as Mickey—a counterpart to Randy's knowledge of movies—as well as Debbie Salt, a local journalist who is always butting in to Gale Weathers and her leads.

The climax of the movie could've been a little better, in my opinion, but it did answer some questions to sort of wrap up what happened after the events of the first film.  It's an earnest follow-up and should be watched right after part one.

In 2000, as we all headed into the new millennium and had the big Y2K fear die down around the world, Scream 3 was released.

Now, this outing was criticized a bit, but I felt it had a very good story, something we all didn't see coming.  With everyone thinking one of the original cast members was the killer, or one of the Stab 3 troupe might be, or even the new character of Detective Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey), Wes Craven, along with Ehren Kruger taking Kevin Williamson's place as writer, presented us another intelligent horror film that delved deep into Sidney's life—actually, before she was born.

So, as I had mentioned, the story revolves around the filming of Stab 3.  Murders start to happen, prompting the movie to be shut down and the guessing begins.  The clues are vague, at first, as the killer leaves photos of Sidney's mother, Maureen Prescott, at each murder scene.  I love that aspect of the story, how it just confuses you at first, jarring your mind on what the clues can mean.  But when it finally comes to place, you're still confused because you still don't know who the killer might be.

Again, the film has many misleading clues and characters, making you think one person might be the one under the mask and black cloak, but then they end up dead.  Or are they...?

Now, for my nitpicking of one aspect...but it's a doozy.

If there's anything I can criticize about this film is the device the killer uses to change his/her voice to duplicate the voices of other people he or she chooses.  In the first two films, it was a push and you can dismiss it, seeing that there are devices in stores that do the same thing (granted, it doesn't make you sound like a whole different person, only alters your voice, but it's close enough).  But to have an unrealistic McGuffin that helps the film move along is a pretty big cheat.  I really don't think there's a device (in civilian hands anyway) that can make you sound like a person of your choosing and in such a loud and articulated manner like the gadget used in this flick.  If this movie was Mission: Impossible, I could let it slide, but it's not.  It's never explained where this thingamajig came from.  Was it bought on eBay?  Purchased at the local pharmacy?  Is the killer some kind of genius and able to build such a device?  Did a CIA operative give it to the killer?  Ooooh...that'd make a good sequel to this one...instead of the way part four went, they should've had the new killer be a CIA operative that brainwashed the past killers to do his or her deeds, giving them this high-tech doodad that changes your voice to whomever you sample...that would've been more entertaining—and believable—than what they did in part four.  But anyway, it's a big plot point in the film to trick us with showing us it's a certain character's voice just to show it wasn't the character and keep us guessing, so it ticks me off a little bit.  But I have to just dismiss it as this not being a Kevin Williamson joint, so let's just move along, shall we?

Scream 3 keeps you guessing until the end, what with the clues giving you no hint whatsoever, the end is a surprise and changes the history of the franchise and what we thought started it all.  Besides the voice-changer device—which I cannot, for the life of me, get around—this chapter refreshed the series and didn't just go the way of Friday the 13th or Halloween with tiresome sequels all doing the same thing over and over, albeit entertaining.  No, I, for one, like what they did here and turned the franchise on its side, not giving us some kids who just decided to put on the Ghost Face mask and have a crack at it (which is what they did in part four).

So watch these first three films and enjoy them.  Watch part four at your own discretion.  I can't take responsibility for your anger at what they did with the latest (and probably last) sequel.

My Scre4m review was published on 4/28/2011, so please check that out.  All I can add to it, because I recently watched the film, is how unbelievable it was to finally find out the identity of the killers.  To see Ghost Face run around, looking between 5'10" and 6' tall, and then to see the unveiled killers standing 5'5" or so, it's pretty ridiculous.  It's especially evident when you watch it a second or a third time, because you can't help but notice scenes where the people who turn out to be the killers are talking to Sidney and they have to look up at her.  When they're under the cloak, they suddenly gain half a foot.

Overall, my final "bit" on the Scream franchise is that it's an enjoyable quadrilogy, regardless of part four, and I actually hope they can continue on with the announced second trilogy.  But I don't think it will happen.  Aside from that, they're all good films and won't let you down in its entertainment value.  Check them out if you haven't already.

On Twitter: @CinemaBits

Terminator Franchise

When it comes to sci-fi movies, there are a couple of concepts that need to be included within the story to keep my attention throughout. Because, let’s face it, the definition of a science fiction movie, for me anyway, is movies that include technology and conceptions that we haven’t achieved yet in our present. For me, time travel and cyborgs are a must. Whenever I watch a film that shows someone going from the past to the future, or vice versa, I’m intrigued. And if it is a story of someone going into a future or a past that includes cybernetic organisms, I’m there. The Terminator, James Cameron’s 1984 classic includes both and to great effect.

The film features Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role of the cyborg assassin—the Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 T-800 infiltrating Terminator, a role he’ll always be remembered for and he was perfect for the part. If you think about it, a man with a thick Austrian accent acting in an American movie should stick out like a sore thumb, and I admit he does in some of the movies he was featured in after making this film, but he doesn’t here. Why? Because he barely spoke any dialogue. Why should he? He was a robot sent from the future to kill a target. In that aspect, it’s very easy, as an audience, to get past the accent.

During a decade where we had so many cheesy sci-fi films and horror flicks, with only the dramatic pieces being taken seriously, here comes The Terminator to give us an intelligent and well-written science fiction movie that keeps the audience enthralled throughout. From the moment the film opens with a look into the dismal future and the narrative text telling us it’s the year 2029, we see how machines have taken over the world—a truly scary window we, as the audience, look into. In a time when America had a constant background fear of the Soviet Union sending over nuclear missiles to take us out, how we all were very conscious of the Cold War, seeing this film showed us what could happen as an aftermath. Not necessarily machines taking over, but how everything would be destroyed and not many people surviving.

Luckily, James Cameron only gave us a glimpse of that world and quickly brought the story back to the present where the majority of the film takes place.

Simply put, the film is about a cyborg that is sent back from the future to terminate Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). At the same time, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) is sent back, as well, to protect her. At the beginning of this, Reese is trying to convince Sarah what is happening and, like most of us would do if we were in her place, she doesn’t believe him. The rest is a cat-and-mouse game of Sarah and Reese trying to get away from the machine, giving us exciting action sequences, until the electrifying climax of the film.

I’ll never forget the day my brother and I saw this movie. Like most movies we saw, our mother would drop us off at the theater and pick us up two hours later. One reason, and it’s a pretty sad reason, I’d never forgotten this day was an old man was hit and killed by a car that had ran a red light. It happened right in front of us and, after going over the obituaries for the next few days, we found out he was 81 years old. Crossing the street with his wife like they did day after day, I’m sure, and living on this earth for 81 years, he gets taken out by an idiot who ran a red light. Sad.

Sorry for the digression.

Now, we all associate Arnold Schwarzenegger as the kick-ass hero from all his movies, toting a huge machine gun and blowing shit up to save the day. But in this film, he wasn’t anything of the kind. In fact, he was the villainous killing machine murdering and executing anything that gets in his way while Michael Biehn was the hero. And that’s one thing about the beginning of this film, if you’ve never seen it. When Arnold shows up, especially when he takes out those punks to get himself some threads, you know he’s the bad guy. When Kyle Reese shows up, you’re not sure what to make of him. At first, he seems shady and might be after Sarah Connor as well. I remember thinking that both men were going after her at the same time, working together somehow. It blew me away when I found out that Arnold was a machine and Reese was there to protect Sarah from it. For its time, The Terminator is one of the best science fiction stories put to film.

Of course, any movie is victim to time and seeing that this flick was made in the mid-80s, you know there are going to be some flaws. But it was pre-CGI and practical effects were there all the way, all done by one of the masters of special effects: Stan Winston. With the replica Arnold head that was made to accomplish the eye removal scene and the fake arm to achieve the tendon repair part of the film, the stand-out is the Endoskeleton which we see in the final act. All other robot designs fail in comparison to Winston’s design of the terminator’s skeletal structure. From the glaring red eyes to the steel tendons and servomechanisms, it’s a masterpiece. With the exception of the stop-motion portions of the film, the final act was awesome and still has me on the edge of my seat when I watch it to this day.

The Terminator is the one that started it all.

Fun fact:

In the DVD and Blu-Ray, the extras include some deleted scenes. Most are fluff that was taken out to cut down the running time of the film, but two stand out in particular that should’ve been left in. One scene takes place after Sarah “terminates” the machine and police are securing the area. Two employees of the warehouse that the climax takes place in are talking when one finds an odd computer chip on the floor, hiding it in his shirt pocket before a cop walks by. The other scene takes place as Sarah is being taken away in an ambulance. As she’s being placed in the back of the vehicle, the shot widens out to show us the building’s company name as Cyberdyne. These two scenes show us that James Cameron always had a sequel in mind and I wish they would have placed these scenes back in the movie as a special edition.

Back before the internet, when we didn’t have so much information, I hadn’t heard about a sequel until I read about it in a TV Guide. “A TV Guide?” you ask? Yes...a TV Guide. I wasn’t into film magazines much, but I’m sure I would’ve picked up on the sequel news if I had. Nevertheless, the news floored me. It wasn’t too long later when I went to go see Arnold’s 1990 classic, Total Recall, that I was floored again. Before the movie started, a mysterious trailer began showing an Endoskeleton being scanned and placed in some steel pod, with a read-out showing that some sort of initiating sequence was beginning. As it opened up, there stood Arnold Schwarzenegger as the camera panned up his body to his face with his eyes closed. Suddenly, he opens his eyes and they’re glowing red. The trailer closes and you hear Arnie’s voice declaring, “I’ll be back.” In 1991, he was back…back as the T-800 once again in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Once again, James Cameron brought us something new and exciting, with a lot of action and great story-telling. He introduced us to a new type of special effects that changed the film industry on its head, giving us the love/hate relationship of CGI. Now, he used it in a movie before this one, in a little movie back in 1989 called The Abyss, but not as extensively as he uses it in this film. It’s hard to believe T2 (as it’s called in most media formats) is over twenty years old, but I still view it as a fresh work of art. Watching it today, you’d be hard-pressed to find many mistakes or flaws in this piece.

Although this film follows the basic premise of the first film, with a villain coming back in time to kill someone with another hero to come back as well, saving the someone from the villain. This time around, however, it’s a little more complex. The terminator that comes back to kill the person is a new advanced machine, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), a liquid metal that can imitate anyone and creates blades or stabbing weapons out of its hands. The hero, though, is the terminator model from the first film, the T-800 (once again, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), which was captured by the resistance of the future and reprogrammed to go back in time to save the person that needs saving. The person that needs saving isn’t Sarah Connor this time, but her son, John Connor (Edward Furlong), the one who becomes the leader of The Resistance and is responsible for sending the T-800 back. Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) isn’t faring too well as she’s been incarcerated in a mental institution for what happened in the first film as well as other atrocities she’s perpetrated in order to stop Cyberdyne Systems from eventually creating Skynet, the computer network that ultimately leads to humanity’s demise.

First off, after getting through the fantastic idea of this sequel as well as the returning cast members from the first film, I’ve got to say that the casting directors did a fabulous job of finding Edward Furlong. Thirteen years old at the time, Furlong brought a youthful perspective to the movie in the beginning, having the young-and-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude of what he felt was abandonment by a crazy mother. The change he goes through as he finds out she was right all along and realizes he will become the leader of the resistance of the future was so transcending, you start to believe he has what it takes to lead.

Now, Arnie coming back as the T-800, in itself, is awesome. The opening scene for his appearance was pretty exciting the first time I saw it. How he went through the redneck bar to find himself some clothes and a motorcycle was classic. I guess what stuck in everybody’s minds after the first film was Schwarzenegger’s outfit of leather as he rode the motorcycle, so Cameron outdid it by putting him on Harley Davidson Fat Boy this time around. I have to admit, though, the George Thorogood cue of “Bad to the Bone” was a little cheesy, but I liked it. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that Arnold was already 44 years old when he made this film, but he appeared to be in tip top shape.

Now, the entrance for Robert Patrick as the T-1000 was equally as impressive as he shows up and takes the persona of a police officer and gets to work, looking for John Connor. Unlike the T-800, this newer model is able to feign some personality here and there to be accepted more easily into society. But when it’s time for this terminator to become evil, he’s hands down ten times as evil as his predecessor. Being smaller and less bulky, the T-1000 is able to move swifter and faster, making him a force to be reckoned with.

What I like about this installment is that it gets a little deeper into Skynet and how it will come to be the threat it will be in the future. Unlike the first film where Skynet is just some unknown computer threat with no background to it, T2 introduces the reasoning behind it and the human basis that made it what it was. It made us, the audience, divided and made us think what we would do in the protagonists’ position. Would we kill a man who, in a sense, creates Skynet to prevent the future war of humans against machines? Would we simply take out a human being whose only crime is trying to advance technology to help the human race, not knowing the end result is a network that turns on us?

It’s funny how Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character, this time, becomes the hero of this flick, playing the evil character that, only a mere seven years prior, was killing whoever got in his way. Even in this one, the T-800 has no problem trying to terminate someone who gets in his way. But the writers played it smart and made John Connor responsible for everything the machine does because it has been programmed to follow John’s orders. So when John tells him he can’t kill anyone—albeit after asking “why?” a few times—the T-800 complies.

I hate to say it, seeing and hearing how much of a douche bag James Cameron turned out to be in later years, but he nailed it in this movie and really closed out the story perfectly. He’s been quoted—when he was asked to direct a potential sequel to this one—that he felt the story was finished with this one and that there was nowhere to go with it. But a money-making franchise always has somewhere to go, especially when you have intelligent writers and an adequate director to helm a worthy sequel, and that’s they did a long twelve years later.

Fun fact:

On most of the media versions of the film, you have a choice to watch either the theatrical version of the film or the long version of the film.  More than that, you can enter the code 8-29-97 in order for an extra-long version of the film.  Both include a cool part where the T-800 informs John and Sarah that the microchip has a learning processor function that's left off.  But if switched on, he can learn and take on more information to help him act more human.  The scene proceeds with John and Sarah opening the port to the chip to switch on the function.  It's a pretty critical scene from the film that explains why the terminator starts acting more human towards the end of the film.  Other scenes are forgettable, especially the part where the T-800 tries to smile.

2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is far from a classic, but a well-intentioned sequel nonetheless, giving us more of the same with a little twist towards the end. But what else can you do to re-establish a franchise that looked like it ended twelve years prior? Well, you just add a line about how Judgment Day was postponed, that’s all. Then you just start the story all over again.

As a side note, between the late 1980s and into the late 1990s, I read quite a few comic book titles. One series I had picked up a few years after T2 was a simple memory was a “Terminator” title that I forget, but it had me intrigued. The story picked up right after T2 finished, with Sarah and John back on the run, still paranoid about terminators coming for them and thinking the war will still happen. I enjoyed how the police showed up to search the steel mill and found the T-800’s arm stuck in the gears—the same arm that Arnold’s character breaks off and leaves behind to go find the T-1000. It also turned out that the government backed up all of Miles Dyson’s files so the destruction of Cyberdyne was all for nothing. So, with that story in my head, I thought T3 would go that direction and I was excited about that because there was so much that the writers of the comic book got into, it blew my mind.

But, alas, the movie was nowhere as exciting as that comic book storyline. Don’t get me wrong…the movie was very good and it was interesting in the route it took, but I had my sights lined up in a totally different direction.

So, the narrative opens up, with the adult John Conner (Nick Stahl) explaining where’s he’s been and what he’s been doing since we’ve last seen him, which is basically laying low and staying off any radars. He gets into an accident and needs medication and breaks into a veterinarian clinic to find some. Meanwhile, the newest terminator, the T-X (Kristanna Loken)—a female terminator with an Endoskeleton covered in mimicking liquid metal—shows up to look for and terminate John Connor’s Resistance lieutenants. Also, the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is back as well, showing up at a country-western bar during ladies night to look for some threads. As John is found out by the manager of the vet clinic, Kate Brewster (Claire Danes), both terminators arrive shortly—one to terminate, one to save.

Above all else, I’ve got to say that 56-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger looked damned good in this film. Everyone involved with the movie claimed that there were no CGI touch-ups during the scene where Arnie shows up in the buff, so if that’s true, I’m damned impressed. I definitely have to give a guttural growl for Kristanna Loken as the T-X, as she shows up in the buff as well. But both entrances of the terminators were great, except for the cheesy comedic lines during Arnie’s time at the country-western bar.

I like that they went with the military taking over the Skynet system and needing to put it online as a worldwide computer virus begins. But it didn’t seem to explain much, like how they went on with Dyson’s work with the advanced computer microchip. I guess it’s assumed that they took it over or was watching his work from afar, but I would’ve liked to hear or see that chronicling of events. Also, without spoiling the ending twist, I don’t understand how the primitive machines at the end of this film would be able to create the more advanced machines we see in the next sequel.

So, without those items I had just mentioned, the film is basically a reboot of the previous film.

The good parts of the film—and there are some here and there—are, of course the entrance of Arnie and Kristanna as the T-800 and T-X, respectively. The chase scene was exciting, as it seemed like they destroyed many city blocks. The fight scene between the two terminators was pretty kick-ass and with the advancement of special effects meshed with CGI helped it out a lot. The return of Dr. Silberman was done well, humorously showing that he’s still trying to make sense of the events he had witnessed in the previous film.

I do enjoy this film, don’t be mistaken…I just had really high hopes for this outing and it didn’t live up to my imagination.

Fun fact:

In one of the extras on the Blu-Ray or DVD, there is an omitted scene that shows General Brewster watching a video featuring a Sergeant Candy (Schwarzenegger) talking about Cyberdyne and the robotic work they do.  The funny thing about this scene is that his voice is dubbed with some over-the-top southern accent.  It's a pretty cool scene to watch and I'm kind of glad they left it out because it's just too comical and dorky the way Arnold's portrayed here.

So, the last entry in the franchise—so far—is the McG directed, 2009 film, Terminator Salvation, starring Christian Bale as John Connor and Sam Worthington as the mysterious Marcus Wright. As a side note, I did review this film back on May 18th, 2009, shortly after its release. If you go back, you’ll notice I drooled all over this film, mainly for the reason that I grew tired of james Cameron’s ego at the time. But since its release onto Blu-Ray and a few viewings, as well as getting over my hatred of Cameron, I put more thought into it, so here it is. So, get ready for some nitpicking because I’m going to have a few things to say about this one.

Before getting into the likes and don’t-likes of the movie, let me summarize it as best as I can to break it down a bit. The film opens in 2003, with Marcus Wright waiting on death row, when a Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) shows up to try and have Marcus sign his body away for science after his death. The film then opens to the future with John Connor and resistance soldiers invading a machine-controlled area to rescue human prisoners, but is destroyed before they can, leaving Connor as the only survivor. After getting away from a damaged T-600 terminator, Marcus appears—obviously from the underground bunker prisoners were being held—and makes his way to make sense of what is happening, not knowing he’s now in the year 2018. Along the way, he meets up with a young Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) and his friend, Star (Jadagrace Berry), as they make their way to find Connor and The Resistance. I won’t say too much more because my nitpicking will just make it redundant.

First and foremost, the situation with Marcus Wright in jail with Dr. Kogan was weird, even when I first viewed it in the theater. I know they were trying to convey that the character of Kogan was dying of cancer, but they didn’t do their homework when they wanted to find a way to show that in her character. A woman who goes through chemotherapy will lose her hair, correct, but I don’t think her eyebrows will be immune to that fact. I know, it’s trivial and I can get past that, but the ludicrousness of having her wear a scarf on her head only to cover half of her head so we can see that the rest of it is bald is absurd. Anyway, the whole gist of this scene shows that Cyberdyne (as we see the paperwork Marcus signs has the company’s header on top) had plans from the get-go to make a cybernetic organism. So, let me get this straight…Cyberdyne knew they’d need to do this in 2003 to have Marcus infiltrate The Resistance in 2018? Even if it were just an experiment, why did Cyberdyne revert to such primitive terminators like the T-600? If they had the technology to make a terminator Endoskeleton that fit in a normal-sized human being, why did they make monstrosities like those rubber-skinned machines afterwards? I guess I can buy that Cyberdyne was just trying to collect bodies to put on ice to do research on incorporating machine and electronics to humans, but the film implies this has been a plan from the outset.

Another thing that bothers me every time I watch this is how Skynet has Kyle Reese on its kill-list. How does Skynet know about Reese? It shouldn’t. Even if it obtained police files from 1984, it should only know about how he helped Sarah Connor get away from the original terminator. It shouldn’t know about him fathering John Connor, unless there were illegal surveillance cameras in the motel room when Sarah and Kyle were making love. Even if Skynet had that information, why wouldn’t it have Kyle Reese terminated when he was captured and placed in its prison camp? Why does it keep him in a cell to lure in John Connor? This makes no sense.

Although the terminators are pretty awesome in their appearance, with great special effects to make them move and animate, why is it that they only throw people around when they don’t have weapons? In the opening future scene, the damaged T-600 only throws John Connor around. It could easily break his neck or punch a hole through him, but it only resorts to throwing him against the helicopter or across the terrain. Even the climactic scene in Skynet’s factory, the T-800 (more on that later) only throws John around as well.

Finally, the fact that most of the fighting and combat is done in the middle of the day ruins it a bit for me. In the first two films, when we’re shown the flashes of the future war, we see that most of the battles take place at night. I know it’s more logical for them to do combat with the machines during the day because the machines’ night vision or infrared wouldn’t be as useful during the day, but those scenes of the future were so awesome to me and I was looking forward to seeing them in this one. Overall, it didn’t seem like Skynet was much of a threat the way that The Resistance was able to fly around in choppers and jets, not to mention being able to have a base in plain sight.

Okay, now for the good parts of Terminator Salvation.

Above all else, the special effects are phenomenal. The fact that they had Stan Winston on board for this film helped out a bit. Some of the newer machines were great, like the Harvester that put Michael Bay’s Transformer robots to shame, or the MotoTerminators that detached from its legs—those things were so cool! The HydroBots were pretty remarkable as well, showing us that there were no hiding places you can go that didn’t have a threat. Of course, the advancement of CGI and motion capture technology get them the ability to show us some cool terminators like the T-600 that Reese mentions in the first film, which were giant human-like machines with rubber masks for face that can fool you from afar, but not when you’re close to them. Last, but not least, the climactic scene with the T-800 was magnificent! If there’s any saving grace to the idiosyncrasies I have with this film is the final battle scenes between John Connor, Marcus Wright and the T-800. This is a spoiler, but you have to see this to believe it. In the beginning of the film, Connor comes across a computer where the prisoners are being held that shows Skynet’s plans of finally going forward with a new terminator series: the T-800. In the culminating scene at the end of the film, we see it unveiled for the first time. Although risky and a little rough, it worked perfectly to show us Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800. After looking into this, I’d discovered that they were able to digitally map Arnold’s face from the first film to the face of the body builder who acted in this film. Oddly enough, the man in this role, who we never see his face, is Roland Kickinger. I say oddly because for one, the man was born in Austria, just like Schwarzenegger. Also, he looks a little like Arnie, even has the same accent. Lastly, he played the young version of Arnold in the TV movie, See Arnold Run.

So, generally, Terminator Salvation has a lot of plot holes, especially if you’re a big fan of the franchise like myself, and have followed it all the way through, but the special effects keep you entertained and the story is somewhat interesting as it shows John Connor moving up in the ranks to become the leader of The Resistance. Here and there, some nice touches were placed to pay homage to some of what we’ve seen in previous entries, like the explanation of John Connor’s scar that we see in the beginning of T2, the return of Guns’N’Roses’ “You Could Be Mine” and how Reese was taught to tie a cord from his shotgun to his shoulder.

It’s a shame that they couldn’t go forth from here and if Hollywood studios keep up with the only trend they seem to be green lighting these days is that if we do get a Terminator 5, it’ll be a reboot or remake. But I’m going to keep my fingers crossed and hope they don’t do something stupid like that.

Anyway, my final “bit” on the Terminator franchise?

The first two films are hands down the best, giving us some great entertainment and story throughout. The third entry, although a retread of the second, is engaging as well and sets it up nicely for the fourth installment. Sadly, they went with a mediocre director like McG and didn’t do their homework before getting into this. However, all films are enjoyable throughout and it’s perfect for a nice eight-hour movie marathon.

Thanks for reading!

You can reach me on Twitter: @CinemaBits.