In honor of the wild train wreck in Ohio, I watched Super 8. I’m kidding; that had nothing to do with choosing it for my evening watch. I came across it on Amazon Prime and remembered my son loving it when it first came out, so I had to give it a go. And, damn, for a movie that feels more geared toward kids, it’s pretty fucking good.
It really has the feel of some of my favorite films from my youth, like The Goonies, Explorers, and The Monster Squad. It’s an epic adventure, with a great cast and killer special effects. I totally see why my son loved it so much.
The basic premise is this: a group of kids in 1979 are making a zombie movie with their super 8 camera. They meet up at the town train station at midnight to film a scene, and while they’re doing this, a pickup truck drives onto the train tracks just as a train is coming, causing a massive crash. Then something . . . escapes from the train. The military shows up, bossing people around. People and dogs disappear. Electronics and engines disappear. And through it all, there is this hulking thing wandering through town, never really showing itself until the end.
It’s really well done, and probably J.J. Abrams best film as a director. All the kids involved were wonderful actors. The story was smart and perfectly paced, allowing the suspense to build and build until the final explosive conclusion.
There isn’t much to complain about with Super 8, but if I had to pick something, it would be that Ron Eldard feels miscast in the film. He just isn’t very convincing as the mean, drunkard dad. Maaaaybe the ending was a little cliché. But that’s easily forgivable given the success of the rest of the movie. I really enjoyed it.
Let’s see how it scores on the PHEMSA without any gore or sex . . .
PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!
Gore - 0
Special Effects - 8
Nudity/Sexuality - 0
Wow Factor - 6
Acting - 8
Fear Factor - 5
Story/Plot/Originality - 8
Cinematography/Atmosphere - 8
Sound/Music - 7
Fun Factor - 10
Nice! Super 8 gets a 60 PHEMSA despite having two zeros. It really is a fun movie, and one the kids will love too. You can find it on Amazon.