By Travis Johnson
While most Terminator movies are increasingly terrible action flicks, the original (and still the best) is at least 50% survival horror, with old mate Arnie’s implacable killing machine bringing a palpable sense of menace and racking up an impressive and bloody body count.
Berlin-based, Scottish-born animator, Bruce Stirling John Knox, or BSJK to his mates, remembers this, and that horror vibe is a big part of this three minute flash animation he made to basically say, hey, since the powers that be clearly have no goddamn clue as to what to with the franchise, he’s more than happy to throw his hat into the ring.
Yes, by the end of the clip it’s all laser beams and explosions, but the dominant mood is one of apocalyptic despair and man’s inhumanity to man – sort of like The Walking Dead if it had Terminators instead of zombies, and was actually watchable. Plus, the music, by producer John Fryer (NIN, Depeche Mode, This Mortal Coil) has that ’80s electro thing going on that the kids are into these days.
What do you think? Is this a viable direction for the Terminator franchise? Let’s face facts, it can’t be much worse than what has gone before.
