Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #19 October 2015 | Page 40

matic to homicidal in a single beat, but doing so in an
effective, believable and menacing way.

holes. The most significant is the last minute reveal
that Ellie has been replaced by an android. After
Challis has destroyed the factory and the pair have
escaped, she attacks him. This leads to robot dismemberment and decapitation, presumably as a final jolt
for the audience. The problem with this twist is that
it is nonsensical. It not only means that Cochrane can
turn out a perfect android duplicate of a person in the
space of a few hours, but that he’d bother to do so on
the eve of his mass sacrifice of America’s youth. Even
if the viewer accepts that, why would android Ellie
wait until the movie needed a last minute bit of action
before taking action? Why not stop Challis before he
destroys the factory and kills her creator? It’s a clumsy, unnecessary scene and one that adds nothing to the
film. There are similar moments throughout the film
that indicate sloppy plotting and are indicative of having too many writers working on the script.

Director of Photography Dean Cundey (Back
to the Future, Jurassic Park) captures some nice imagery, his roving camera work helping keep the visual
pace moving. There are some well-executed effects,
the highlight being a scene where a minor character
has his head ripped off by one of Cochrane’s killer
android. The score by John Carpenter is his usual
driving synthesiser music. Like his scores for Halloween, Escape from New York and The Fog, the rhythmic pulsing becomes an important part of setting the
mood. In Halloween III, the music helps to reinforce
the idea of an ancient, magical power flowing underneath the modern world.
“It’s time again. In the end, we don’t decide
these things you know, the planets do. They’re in
alignment and it’s time again. The world’s going to
change tonight, Doctor. I’m glad you’ll be able to
watch it.”
Conal Cochrane
The story has some very nice touches. The idea
that Stonehenge is part of an ancient, magical technology is interesting, as is the idea that there are other
gods lurking in the spaces beyond our world. There
is just enough exposition to give the viewer an idea
of what Cochrane’s grand plan is without bogging the
story down. The idea of whole town being monitored
and controlled, while seeming creepy in the Eighties,
is positively quaint in these days of the TSA, body
scans and universal NSA data mining. Finally, the ending is downbeat, which works perfectly for the story.
Unfortunately, the film has some serious flaws.
The primary problem is Stacey Nelkin’s lack of acting
ability. She has one expression - a blank, slightly annoyed stare - and is unable to portray what should be a
character trying to deal with the horrible death of her
father. While attractive, she is a poor acting companion for Atkins. Other characters have little screen time
and barely register as more than a cliché or two.
While elements of the story are interesting and
engaging, others are not. There are a number of plot

Where the film succeeds is in creating an
otherworldly atmosphere, one in which ancient forces
move beneath the surface of the modern world. Our
rituals are shown to be hollowed out shells of a deeper
past. Our tools - TV, Cochrane’s androids - are just
delivery mechanisms for ancient truths. And modern
man is left flailing against the ancient darkness. It does
have too many problems in acting, plot and story, to
give it a full recommendation. Instead, watch it, but be
aware of its flaws.
Notes
1. Kneale had his name removed from the
credits due to what he saw as interference from the
producers, particularly Dino De Laurentiis who insisted on including graphic violence that was missing
from Kneale’s script.

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