THE TERMINATOR

Arnold Schwarzenegger

THE TERMINATOR (1984). Director: James Cameron.

In the year 2029 Los Angeles and the world are in the midst of war started by rogue robots who want to destroy mankind. When a cyborg killing machine known as a "terminator" (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent back in time to murder the mother of the leader of the resistance -- John Connor --  he is followed by Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn of Deadly Intentions), whose mission is to save her life at any cost. At first Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) is resistant to Reese's approaches, but after the Terminator wipes out a police station she realizes that his fantastic story is utterly true ...

Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton

I confess I was never all that carried away with this picture at the time of its release, and my opinion hasn't changed all these years later. The Terminator uses a number of sci fi and comic book tropes to tell its story, which is mildly interesting, and the characters are hardly that dimensional. (Harlan Ellison felt the opening moments of the film were too close to one of his stories and received a settlement and a credit on the DVD.) Although the movie moves at a very fast pace, it seems better edited than directed. The performances are good -- Schwarzenegger only needs to look determined and grim and he does that okay -- and the film has an undeniably exciting climax in a factory when the robotic infrastructure of the Terminator is revealed. The obligatory sex scene is tiresome, but necessary in some ways for the plot.

The Terminator sheds its Schwarzenegger skin

Although these questions may have been answered in the sequels -- to date there have been five -- one has to wonder why the unmarried Sarah doesn't ask Reese why her son in the future has the same last name that she does. And why does the cyborg have an Austrian accent? Bill Paxton has a very small role as a thug but in a few years he would be co-starring with both Schwarzenegger and Biehn [Aliens] in different productions (both directed by James Cameron). Dick Miller [A Bucket of Blood] has a cameo as a gun shop owner who gets on the wrong end of Schwarzenegger's shotgun. Brad Fidel's score is generally pretty cheesy, but the FX work by Stan Winston and others is fine.

Verdict: Odd that this mediocre and highly over-rated little film started such a successful franchise. **1/2. 

DEAD AND BURIED

James Farentino

DEAD AND BURIED (1981). Director: Gary Sherman.

Dan Gillis (James Farentino) is the sheriff at the small town of Potter's Bluff, which suddenly seems to have an epidemic of homicide. Mutilated corpses are turning up, and we see that the perpetrators are gangs of ordinary citizens attacking outsiders. Dan, however, is even more perplexed than the audience, especially when one of the victims turns up alive with a new identity. Dan's paranoia increases when he suspects that the town's old mortician, Dobbs (Jack Albertson), who is also the medical examiner, may know more than he's saying, and when he finds that his wife, Janet (Melody Anderson), has been reading a book on witchcraft. Then he gets a piece of film that reveals the true horror of the situation, and one especially shocking revelation ...

Jack Albertson

Dead and Buried counts many things among its influences, Frankenstein chief among them, but it also has its own originality if you take it with a grain of salt. There are scenes that go on too long (the opening especially), but otherwise the film is well-paced and consistently suspenseful. Although Jack Albertson [The Subject Was Roses] would not have been my first choice for the role of Dobbs, he's still effective and never chews the scenery. Farentino is excellent, adroitly handling a difficult role, and Melody Anderson [Flash Gordon] is also on target as his wife. The supporting cast, which includes a pre-Freddie Krueger Robert Englund, is well-chosen. Although there are several exciting and chilling sequences in the film, perhaps the most memorably disturbing is an attack on a frightened family in an old abandoned house. The gruesome make ups are expertly handled by Stan Winston. Director Gary Sherman originally wanted this to be a black comedy, but, fortunately, the movie, despite its absurd aspects, is played straight.

Verdict: Very creepy picture with a disquieting premise. ***.

PUMPKINHEAD

Lance Henriksen

PUMPKINHEAD (1988). Director: Stan Winston.

Fruit seller Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen of Aliens) has a loving relationship with his little boy, Billy (an appealing Matthew Hurley), but this is shattered when the child is killed in a motorcycle accident. Harley holds responsible a group of young people who came to the country for a drive, some of whom seem irresponsible, to say the least. Remembering an incident from his childhood, Ed goes to see an ancient witch who revives the demon, Pumpkinhead, to help him seek vengeance. However, Pumpkinhead doesn't seem to care if he kills the innocent or the guilty, and Ed tries to save the members of the group who are still alive at great personal cost. 

Pumpkinhead, itself

Pumpkinhead had its admirers back when it was released, but even then I thought it was a disappointment and still feel the same. On one hand it's better than a lot of the tacky mad slasher films that came out around this time and earlier, even if this is really just a comparatively tasteful slasher film with a demon instead of a maniac. The script reads like an old EC Comics revenge story, and hasn't much originality, twists or surprises, except perhaps the bit with Ed turning out to be linked to the monster (although even this has been done before). The picture is also rather slow-moving, the monster is too Alien-like, and the film is never scary or especially suspenseful. The locations all have a sound stage-like artificiality, but there is some atmospheric lighting throughout. The victims aren't quite dimensional enough to really care about. The FX in the film are generally good, however. A major Pumpkinhead franchise did not develop, but there was a direct-to-video sequel, Pumpkinhead: Blood Wings, and a couple of cable follow-ups. Lance Henriksen gives a strong performance. The only other name actor is Jeff East from Superman.  

Verdict: Smash that pumpkin! **1/4.