THE TERMINATOR (1984)

THE TERMINATOR

1984 • James Cameron

Screenplay: James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd

Producers: Gale Anne Hurd

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton, Paul Winfield, Lance Henriksen, Bess Motta, Rick Rossovich, Earl Boen

Cinematography: Adam Greenberg

Music: Brad Fiedel

Orion Pictures

You still don’t get it, do you? He’ll find her! That’s what he does! That’s ALL he does! You can’t stop him! He’ll wade through you, reach down her throat and pull her fuckin’ heart out!

In the future, a great war wages between mankind and the machines. A cyborg, or Terminator, is sent back in time to present day (1984) to eliminate Sarah Connor, the mother of John Connor, who leads the human resistance against the machines. The humans send back a guardian for Sarah… a man named Kyle Reese who must help Sarah escape and outrun the deadly killing machine that will stop at nothing to change the future.

It is rare when a film cross-pollinates genres to create something extraordinary. This is what The Terminator does. The Terminator is an action movie with a science fiction concept filmed and presented as a monster movie. Schwarzenegger’s portrayal of the Terminator cyborg is absolutely terrifying. Truly, one of the great screen villains. The Terminator is essentially a hitman with a target. But the difference is, that this hitman is completely unstoppable. Bullets, knives, and explosions do not hurt it. It does not feel pain, nor mercy. These are all classic traits of any of the great horror villains from Michael Myers to Jason Vorhees… except increased exponentially.

On top of this, who is the hero of the story? Sarah Connor. A normal, all-American girl who doesn’t understand why this (literal) killing machine is out to destroy her. Sounds kind of like a final girl. Add all this to the fact that, visually, the film is incredibly dark there are a small number of daytime scenes which add to the movie's monster ambience.

Chances are, you have seen this film before. It ran on cable (remember that?) all the time and its sequel is one of the highest-grossing films of all time. It has become an iconic masterpiece that is completely worthy of its fame. The police station shoot-out scene remains to this day an all-out classic. Why is it so great? Because throughout the film, The Terminator is established as a force of nature that will stop at nothing to achieve its objective. So when he says to the cop at the front desk “I’ll be back,” you KNOW it's about to go down… even if you’ve never heard of the movie or the famous line… You just know what’s about to happen.

There is endless debate amongst the Terminator fanbase as to which film is better: The Terminator or Terminator 2: Judgment Day. What’s entertaining about this argument is that they are incredibly different films. The original is more of a thriller while the second is just straight-up ass-kicking action. However, the debate rages and that can only be a good sign: Godfather vs. Godfather II, Alien vs. Aliens, etc.

James Cameron is an incredibly talented director. The man knows exactly what he’s doing and his movies
always look spectacular and he’s always breaking new ground. The Abyss and Terminator 2 used special-effects technology that was still in its infancy and those movies STILL look amazing. Avatar, while being a recycled story, was a groundbreaking film visually, and hell, yes, even Titanic looks incredible. James Cameron knows how to make a movie. But, the most impressive film to this day still has to be the original Terminator. Why? While Avatar, Titanic, and T2 all look better, they also had HUGE budgets. Terminator was made for practically nothing (by Hollywood standards) and Cameron was put in a position where he had to create a visually impressive movie on pretty much no money. Do some of the effects look hokey in 2011? Sure. But in 1984 that was cutting-edge technology.

Unlike Avatar and Titanic, where Cameron relies heavily on his incredible visuals and sees the story as an afterthought, The Terminator story is classic. He took an old science fiction concept (man vs. machine) and put a spin on it that still keeps your imagination alive. Both T1 and T2 take the concept of fate and the concept of time travel and have a lot of fun with it. Can you change the future for the better or for the worse? Or will the inevitable always happen? It’s phenomenal storytelling.  

I’ll be back.

Notable Accomplishments

• Inducted to National Film Registry: 2008
• 3 Saturn Awards Wins: Best Science Fiction Film, Best Make-up, Best Writing
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills - #42

THE EVIL DEAD (1981)

THE EVIL DEAD
1981 • Sam Raimi 

Screenplay: Sam Raimi
Producer: Robert G. Tapert
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly
Cinematography: Tim Philo
Music: Joe Loduca

New Line Cinema

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The timeless look, the bananas cinematography, the disgusting practical effects, and the unrelenting pace of the last half of the movie make this one the standard bearer of over-the-top 80s horror. This ridiculous horror extravaganza introduced video stores all over America to director Sam Raimi and the unique acting chops of Bruce Campbell.

Before Raimi directed the billion-dollar Spider-Man franchise, he came from these humble beginnings.  The plot is not all that groundbreaking (although it did popularize the trope):  Five friends head towards a secluded cabin in the woods for the weekend.  Once there, they find an old creepy-looking book that was left behind. After heading to the basement they also find and play a tape recording of demonic incantations that release the spirits of the cabin to raise hell upon the five unsuspecting college students.  One by one, the friends fall victim to possession, leaving only Ash (Campbell) to face the nightmarish onslaught. Will he be able to survive until dawn breaks? The narrative may be familiar, but The Evil Dead elevates it with its unique style and execution.  

Although Evil Dead is at times goofy it adds to the film's charm. However, you can see flashes of Raimi's later brilliance in this film, and the makeup and special effects are impressive considering this film cost about $2.53 to make. Regardless Evil Dead is essential horror viewing. On top of that, all of the film’s sequels and spin-offs, such as Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, the 2013 remake, the "Ash vs the Evil Dead" TV series, and 2023’s Evil Dead Rise have only solidified its place as a cult classic.

Evil Dead remains a beloved horror film that deserves its reputation. With its striking visuals, relentless pacing, and introduction of talented individuals who would go on to make their mark in the industry, it is a true gem in the genre. Despite its occasional silliness, this movie has aged well and continues to be a thrilling and entertaining watch. Whether you're a fan of Sam Raimi, or Bruce Campbell, or simply enjoy a good scare, The Evil Dead is a must-see for horror aficionados. Watch out for the trees, though.

Groovy.

Let's watch VIOLENT NIGHT (2022)! *Reaction & Commentary*

Deep Red (1975)

DEEP RED

Profondo Rosso (original title)

1975 • Dario Argento

Screenplay: Dario Argento, Bernardino Zapponi

Producer: Salvatore Argento

Cast: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Macha Méril, Clara Calamai

Cinematography: Luigi Kuveiller

Music: Giorgio Gaslini, Goblin

Cineriz

I can feel death in this room! I feel a presence, a twisted mind sending me thoughts! Perverted, murderous thoughts... Go away! You have killed! And you will kill again!

At a public demonstration of her abilities, a psychic picks up the thoughts of a murderer in the audience, and later that night becomes a victim. Marcus Daly, an English pianist on holiday in Italy, gets involved in investigating the gruesome murder. Every time he gets close to an answer, another murder takes place. Daly soon becomes the target of the vicious serial killer.

Giallo is a subgenre of Italian thriller films, with their focus being on brutal violence, crime, mystery, and a touch of eroticism. Director Dario Argento made himself a career with such films, including The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Suspiria. Dargento doesn't shy away from the violence, he lingers on brutality, usually against the backdrop of intricate sets and stark lighting as is the case with Deep Red. The graphic imagery is always off-putting, but one can't help but admire the way the blood red is used to paint the picture he's trying to create. Some of the camera work is truly gorgeous to look at, thanks to cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller. It may perhaps be the best-looking horror film ever made.

The investigation aspect of the story is the weakest. It takes too long to set up, however, once it finally does get going the story-telling sucks you in. As bodies begin to pile up around Daly, the viewer finds themselves worrying about his danger constantly. The suspense of the films comes from Daly not always being a step behind the killer (as with most serial killer movies), but a step ahead as he continues to uncover clues shortly before the killer strikes. The big reveal of the killer at the end is satisfying, even though a clever viewer could have foreseen it. As a whole, the film works as a suspenseful thriller. It also works as a horror/slasher film... You can see traces of it in many slasher flicks of the 70s and 80s.

The opening shot of the film is of a shadowy figure stabbing and killing another figure while a child's tune is played throughout, resulting in an unsettling effect. The child's tune resonates throughout the film, usually serving as a leitmotif for murder. Also, speaking of music, the film's score was composed by the Italian rock band Goblin. Their score is nearly as chilling as John Carpenter's infamous Halloween tune.

Dargento removed 26 minutes of the film for the American release of the film, therefore multiple versions of the film now exist.

- Well, so now what are you going to do?

- Kill you... I'm sorry 'cause I like you, but I have to kill you.

Notable Awards & Accomplishments

• 100 Essential Horror Movies - #24

• Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival Winner: Best Director

• Cited as influencing directors Quentin Tarantino, David Cronenberg, James Wan

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

ROSEMARY’S BABY

1968 • Roman Polanski

Screenplay: Roman Polanski based on the novel by Ira Levin

Producer: William Castle

Cast: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Charles Grodin

Cinematography: William A. Fraker

Music: Krzysztof Komeda

Paramount Pictures

He chose you, honey! From all the women in the world to be the mother of his only living son!

Author’s Note: This article is not an endorsement of Roman Polanski as a human being.

Roman Polanski wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Ira Levin about a young couple named Guy and Rosemary Woodhouse who move into an old apartment building with a mysterious history. Shortly after moving into the apartment, their elderly next-door neighbors, The Castevets, quickly make friends with Woodhouses and Guy begins to spend an inordinate amount of time with the older couple. After one of the residents suddenly and mysteriously dies, Rosemary begins to have wild dreams and hallucinations, followed shortly by a pregnancy. While normally a time of great joy in a young couple’s life, Rosemary becomes increasingly nervous and perhaps paranoid about the Castevets’ unhealthy obsession with her unborn child.

Roman Polanski, director of classics such as Chinatown, Repulsion and The Pianist, directs what is considered one of the greatest psychological horror movies of all time. The way the movie unfolds leaves you on the edge of your seat and in complete suspense. Without getting into spoilers, the eventual mystery of what the unborn baby could actually be is so disturbing that the audience dares not to believe it. He blends the atmosphere of the creepy apartment building (a typical horror movie-like environment) with the psychological horror of what is potentially happening inside Rosemary’s body (or is it just in her head?) This takes his previous work of psychological horror, Repulsion, and turns it up several notches. Plus the final scene will leave you disturbed for the rest of the day.

Mia Farrow carries the weight of the film as the titular Rosemary and she’s up to the challenge. At first, she is mousy and meek, but as events unfold she slowly falls deeper into depression and potential madness. She knows there is something wrong with her baby, but no one believes her… a girl who cried wolf. Her madness never gets out of hand, and she never goes over the top, but you can tell that she’s ready to snap at any moment. Her reaction to the truth about her baby at the end of the film is absolutely perfect.

John Cassavetes, often praised more for his work as a director than as an actor, turned in more than a
capable supporting performance as Guy Woodhouse. Woodhouse is a struggling actor that would do anything for a shot at greater fame. Cassavetes plays the role with enough charm that on the surface appears genuine, but with a subtle sinister quality that makes you question him just as Rosemary does.

The real star of the show is Ruth Gordon as Minnie Castevets. What’s wonderful about the performance is that Gordon plays the role completely straight… all she appears to be, objectively, is a nosy, overly concerned little old lady next door. There is nothing about her actions that would make you think she is anything other than what she says and presents herself to be. However, Rosemary’s perception of her leads the audience to question her motives as well. Gordon’s work in this film is truly deserving of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress that she earned.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

1968 • George A. Romero

Screenplay: John Russo, George A. Romero

Cast: Judith O'Dea, Duane Jones, Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Judith Ridley, Keith Wayne

Cinematography: George A. Romero

Producers: Russell W. Streiner, Karl Hardman

Continental Distributing

They’re coming to get you, Barbara.

A strange radiation, originating from a fallen NASA satellite, reanimates the dead, causing them to hunger for human flesh. A group of strangers find themselves trapped in an abandoned house, besieged by these reanimated corpses. As the undead close in, tensions rise among the survivors, leading to a harrowing struggle for survival. This film, often regarded as the quintessential zombie movie, laid the foundation for the entire genre and has since become a classic in the horror film canon.

Zombies. THEY WON'T STAY DEAD. Night of the Living Dead demonstrated this terrifying truth to the world in 1968, birthing a genre that has since become a staple in popular culture. What's remarkable about this film isn't just its ability to make your heart race and your skin crawl—it's the fact that it achieved all of this on a shoestring budget. It proved that you don't need big bucks to produce quality horror; all you need is a compelling story, dedicated filmmakers, and a lot of ingenuity.

An undeniably creepy, iconic, groundbreaking horror that remains my favorite of the genre. It possesses a unique rawness that sets it apart from other horror films of the time. Every frame exudes a sense of desperation and dread, captured in gritty black and white. The characters, far from polished Hollywood professionals, are real, flawed individuals. Their fear is tangible, their actions visceral. The film's low budget lends it a rough, unpolished quality, which paradoxically enhances its authenticity. The absence of glamorous sets or elaborate special effects creates an atmosphere that feels unsettlingly genuine. It's this rawness that makes every scream, every drop of blood, and every moment of silence resonate on a primal level. The unvarnished presentation of horror, stripped of embellishments, forces viewers to confront the nightmare head-on.

George Romero stages a national disaster but reduces it to a single house for greater effect. The monster
that is the zombie had been a little experimented with before in the film White Zombie, but never like the dark depths that George took it to. A collection of strangers are holed up in an abandoned house and fight off the zombies for as long as they can. The plot is pretty conventional nowadays, but you have to realize that this is the film that started it all. It's still pretty downright scary and effective filmmaking.

This movie was shot outside Pittsburgh on a very small budget. There is no on-screen copyright notice, nor any of the usual legal disclaimers typically found in movie credits; this is the main reason the film has been in the public domain since its release, making it accessible to everyone. For its time, this low-budget independent picture helped change the landscape and gave upcoming horror films a new path to follow.

Night of the Living Dead isn't just a horror movie; the great ones never are. It’s a reflection of societal fears, anxieties, and prejudices. Its legacy and how it has been interpreted as a commentary about racism are testaments to its depth. By putting ordinary people in an extraordinary situation, Romero created a narrative that transcends the horror genre, making us question our own humanity in the face of the monstrous. It reminds us that the scariest things are not always the undead banging on our doors, but the prejudices and ignorance that divide us as living beings. Nothing proves that more than the shocking final moments of the film

It serves as a powerful commentary on racism, albeit subtly woven into the fabric of its narrative. In casting a black actor, Duane Jones, as the film's protagonist Ben, director George A. Romero made a bold statement in a time when racial tensions were high in the United States, especially due to the Civil Rights Movement. Ben, intelligent and resourceful, takes charge, yet his competence is tragically undermined by one of the white characters around him, reflecting the deep-seated racial prejudices prevalent in society. [[SPOILER]] [[SPOILER]]The film's climax, where a posse of white vigilantes mistakes Ben for a zombie and shoots him without hesitation, is a gut-wrenching reminder of the racial injustice and brutality faced by black Americans. Night of the Living Dead challenges viewers to confront the horrors of racism, suggesting that in the face of a common enemy, humanity’s greatest threat may still lie within ourselves. [[SPOILER]] [[SPOILER]]

The word "zombie" is never once said in the whole movie. Usually, the living dead are referred to as "those things." Night of the Living Dead fundamentally redefined the term "zombie," transforming it from its traditional voodoo origins into the reanimated, flesh-eating creatures we recognize today. In the film, these reanimated corpses, brought back to life by mysterious radiation (a Cold War era boogeyman), were not just mindless slaves, as depicted in earlier zombie lore, but became relentless predators driven by an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Romero's vision of zombies as a relentless, unstoppable force, driven by an instinctual urge to consume the living, introduced a new archetype in horror. These creatures, once ordinary people, now reduced to an animalistic state, forced audiences to confront the unsettling idea of their own neighbors, friends, and family turning into monstrous, unfeeling beings. The film's depiction of these reanimated corpses as a horde of ravenous predators became the defining characteristic of zombies in popular culture. It set the stage for countless films, TV shows, and books, shaping the modern zombie mythos and ensuring that the undead would continue to haunt our nightmares for generations to come. In addition to its spinoffs like Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead and the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, you can trace back the roots of films like Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later, Zombieland, Planet Terror, World War Z, and the enormously successful TV show The Walking Dead all back to Night of the Living Dead.

Yeah, they're dead. They're all messed up.

Notoable Awards & Accomplishments

• National Film Registry: Inducted in 1999 

Santa Claus Rises... Let's Watch FATMAN (2020) Together!