cinema history class: terror train

Session: And Then There Were None, Week 2
Movie: Terror Train (1980)
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
College students are trying to have a party on a train, but a killer lurks among them. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:

For the most part I was judging Terror Train, by comparing it to The Prowler, which we watched a week earlier. Terror Train did a much better job of keeping me guessing, and I enjoyed the heightened suspense. And the ending was much clearer, and more satisfying. The fact that the script threw in a major red herring helped it along.

In some ways this seemed to me less of a typical slasher film, though Keith argues against that. I also wondered out loud whether the fact of it being set on a moving train -- executive producer Daniel Grodnik was trying to make Halloween on a train. Keith and Christina both argued that the train helped make the film work in that it created more of a feeling that the partying potential victims were trapped. I suppose they're right; without the train, there would have been less to make Terror Train stand out from the other revenge slasher movies.

Terror Train was enjoyable and satisfying, but ultimately it was light fare. 

Ratings:

Me: 7.25

Christina: 8.5

Ethan: 8

cinema history class: the prowler

Session: And Then There Were None, Week 1
Movie: The Prowler (1981)
Directed by Joseph Zito

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
A college graduation party is stalked by a psychotic killer in full military gear. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:

I'm actually of somewhat mixed minds about this movie. There's a certain vagueness about the exposition that I found frustrating. And yet, since I was able to figure out the unstated backstory and the killer's motives, maybe it was OK and I should be thankful that they didn't hit the viewer over the head with it.

I haven't seen a whole lot of slasher movies in my life, but I could still recognize all the standard tropes and formula-driven sequences. So I knew early on which main character would survive, and throughout I could knew exactly how scene after scene would play out. Yeah, she'll struggle with the door until the last second... Yeah, she's gonna die now... He'll save her, but die in the process... But, like the visual equivalent of comfort food, it was satisfying to watch. Not particularly memorable, but satisfying.

I have to give the film credit for Tom Savini's wonderful makeup and effects. They really made it.

Ratings:

Me: 7

Christina: 8.2

Ethan: 7

it's zmedsday!! (xciv)

 

early voting? not me

Some might say that the election is a week away, but in a very real sense it has already begun. And I don't mean that the campaigning has begun or there have been debates. I mean the election has begun because of early voting. The last I saw, something like 70 million votes have already been cast. I see a lot of social media posts celebrating the number of early voters, encouraging people to vote early, and bragging of having voted early. I find it all misguided.

I'm not opposed to the idea of making early voting available. I understand that it's arguably a necessary accommodation to reduce the barriers to voting that some might have. But I don't think we should be encouraging people to vote early as a primary strategy. It really should be for situations where voting on election day presents some kind of difficulty. That's not to say that anyone should have to prove hardship; no eligible voter should be stopped from voting early if they want to. I just wish we didn't have so many people wanting to, and I don't think we should be encouraging people to want to.

If you vote early, you voluntarily give up information. I get that many people have made up their minds, and can't imagine what could possibly make them change their minds -- and that's more true of this year's presidential election than most. I really do get that. Like many people, I've made up my mind and put the probability of my changing it between now and next Tuesday at somewhere around zero. And yet, maybe something will happen to make me change it. I doubt it, but I don't see where trading that possibility is worth the right to brag "I voted already" for a few days.

I'll be at the polls on Election Day.

 

it's zmedsday!! (xciii)