What a weekend for the crappy movie!
First, we had the traditional AMC crappy movie night, with a surprisingly good (relative to the standard anyway)night, featuring Christine. I had actually never seen it, so it was a pleasure to actually get to watch something new. Even if I’m not a particular fan of Steven King movies, this one was most pleasantly humorous.
Then, TNT got into the act by airing AVP: Alien vs Predator. Alright, I have this general rule. Any movie that has a “vs” in the title will be utter trash. But, I also have a very special place in my heart for Alien.
There were 3 movies that stand out as scaring the holy hell out of me as a kid. The Birds, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Alien. I LOVED Alien. Or rather, I cowered in fear whenever I was NEAR Alien, and I loved it. I recall when Aliens was coming out. I “knew” I wouldn’t be scared this time because as the commercials were showing, the marines were going in to kick butt! It was going to end my fear of the thing the moment it hit theaters. (hey, I was young) Yeah…that worked. Add to that the fact my mom was working cleaning a local theater at the time, and us kids would tag along to help…so there we were in the dark theater with promo items of aliens all over.
It was about this time Maniac Manor, a local Haunted House, also decided to run with the Alien theme. The last room exitting the place was all catwalks and marines yelling at you to run as the yellow lights spun overhead and fog blasted out of piping in the wall. This Alien pops out of the piping and I totally and utterly lose all semblence of rational thought and RAN out of the place. Only time I’ve ever been scared into running from a haunt to this day, and I did not stop, did not look back till I reached the car.
LOVED Alien so much I even read some of the comics that came out. Alien vs Superman being wonderfully hilarious.
So, I just couldn’t pass up the TNT showing. And I sat there, calmly working on my own molds as the show played. Much to my surprise, I actually rather enjoyed the film. I was vaguely aware of Aliens Vs Predator comics and video games, but really never got into them, not being a big Predator fan. But, this movie, while horrible from a more rational perspective, recaptured a piece of that old Alien magic for me. Not that I was scared these days, but more that I sat with a kind of giddy joy watching the aliens make mince meat out of the Predators, and KNOWING how it would end, with the alien coming out of the surviving Predator, as the clues were abundant throughout the movie.
As familiar as I was with the Alien species, I also knew a sequal would deal with the predator version of the Alien, for they take on the characteristics of whoever they pop out of chest wise.
Enjoying the first, I couldn’t pass up the pay-per-view copy of AVP Requiem the following night. Sitting at the table, making shrunken heads, watching a most spectacularly bad movie. Yet, one that surprisingly stayed very true to the Aliens I had known. I was a little nervous of this, as a co-worker had told me it went into them creating genetic crossbreads. Turns out she was just unaware that Aliens take on the characteristics of whoever they burst out of.
A little disappointed that the Aliens didn’t go nearly as full bore as they SHOULD. Let’s see, we crash land in a forest near a town, bunch of aliens escape, tip for the screenwriters: Aliens don’t only target humans. All life in the forest would have been transformed into copies of aliens. (like the dog alien in Alien 3) But, I guess it just wasn’t as ‘scary’ as them going after just the town.
Unfortunately, this movie more seemed a showcase of the Predator than the former one. Still was a jolly romp down memory lane for me.