Terminal Invasion

Oh dear. This reminded me of the kinds of films that I used to rent on VHS purely because of the cover.

I bought this because of Bruce. And to be honest, he is, as is usual, the highpoint of this film which has the qualities of a day time soap.

The average X files episode used to sweep this kind of stuff in 45 minutes and there is a high degree of stretch to the story. The acting is pretty poor as well with some fairly desperate stereotyping.

As a cable production Cunningham (Director) probably had little to work with budget wise but this looks and feels cheap from the opening scene.

Avoid.

Terminal Invasion has the look of a home video movie, but it just goes to show that even with the most amateurish of film production values, one can still deliver an entertaining feature. It's always a pleasure to see Bruce Campbell, and though he's not all that funny here, I'd say he is one of Terminal Invasions saving graces.

I thing I have a pretty good idea what Sean Cunningham (Friday the 13th) and Lewis Abernathy had in mind when they constructed Terminal Invasion. It has a fairly strong does of The Thing to it. An alien life form has found its way into a small airport (In one of the north western States, it doesn't say). Bruce Campbell is a prisoner, who escapes the custody of his escort there, and holds everyone at gun point. Unfortunately until the storm outside clears, he ain't gonna be able to fly outta this one, and it's a seventeen mile walk to the nearest town. He finds himself stuck with a dozen angry/confused/nervous (but quirky) folk. and some of them as he is about to find out may not be human.

Sean Cunningham is certainly not a name that I'd expect to see in the director's chair of something like this. Perhaps he needed a break from Hollywood and investing is all the crappy sequels to his classic. To say the film is played for laughs may be a slight overstatement. It is not a comedy but it has it's funnier bits. In one sequence the gang, use the luggage x-ray to determine who is alien and who is not. If nothing else I'll probably remember Terminal invasion for two things Bruce Campbell, and that scene.

To tell you the truth, I got a small kick out of the whole thing. It's not much of a movie, but it's good amateurish fun. If you catch it on the sci-fi channel, you may as well watch for a bit.

Bruce Campbell stars as Jack, a convict who is being transported during a blizzard, unfortunately the car crashes and the police and him must hike to a nearby private airport that is shut down because of the blizzard and has a handful of angry customers who want to get out of there. Things go awry when people start disappearing and who is blamed? Of course Jack is, he is a convicted murder after all, but was it him?

The movie is basically borrows most of its originality from John Carpenter's the Thing but it really doesn't do that bad of a job of it. One redeeming quality of the movie was that the director, who directed the original Friday the 13th by the way, doesn't show the "creature" very much, which a lot of directors of todays big-budget horror movies could really learn something from.

Overall, this movie is a lot better then most of Sci-Fi's premiere movies and nearly all made-for-tv movies. Fans of Bruce Campbell should really enjoy this movie, as some of his humor of previous appearances play through in his character in this one.

Overall : 7/10

With the "near-great" Brucie, how can ya miss. Ok maybe he doesn't crack wise enough (Big Way my fave from another dud Navy spoof) but the scene near beginning in the men's room -- oh yes. Especially the religious slant. Gotta love it. Had this had an Aliens 2 style budget it would have kicked people better. But for FREE on Sci-Fi channel, what's to barf. Couple nifty twists offer a pleasant little ride. Grade: Gentleman's C. (C for Campbell)

Friday the 13th's Sean S. Cunningham directs The Evil Dead's Bruce Campbell in this entertaining piece of B-movie sci-fi/horror hokum. Although made for TV, 'Terminal Invasion' has its fair share of decent moments and Cunningham, no stranger to the genre, delivers a slick fun-filled film. Only the iffy editing and some dodgy scene transitions belie the movie's TV origins.

In a script that draws comparison with John Carpenter's (far superior) The Thing, a group of people, trapped inside a remote airport terminal during a severe blizzard, discover a malign alien presence intent on enslaving mankind. But with the extra-terrestrial creatures in human guise, paranoia and panic soon sets in.

Bruce Campbell, not the greatest of actors put possessing a strong screen presence, hams it up the only way he can, bringing a welcome familiarity to his role of Jack; this is basically Ash from Army of Darkness, minus his boom-stick! The rest of the cast give credible performances; a commendable feat given the cheesy lines they are forced to deliver.

The special effects are sparse, but effective; once out of their human form, the aliens are a creepy bunch of ugly critters, and there is even a tiny smattering of gore to keep horror fans happy.

Despite 'Terminal Invasion' being a made for TV offering, it is great to see Sean S. Cunningham directing again after a long hiatus-this is, after all, the man who gave us Jason Vorhees-and I look forward to 'Trapped Ashes', a horror anthology which will contain segments from four different directors (Cunningham directs the second segment) plus non-segment portions by Joe Dante. The film has been described as 'extremely twisted'. Sounds promising.