"Cultural Video Room" is Uncle Zhao's film viewing notes
Interpretation of selected classic cult films of film history
Help everyone understand its story and the culture behind it
In 1982, an American research station in Antarctica.
The examiners discovered a strange thing.
In order to hunt down a husky, a helicopter used all kinds of weapons and even accidentally injured the scientific research personnel.
In desperation, the investigators killed the people on the helicopter and took in the poor Husky.
Afterwards, they checked the body of the deceased, recognized that the other party was at a nearby Norwegian research station, and took a helicopter to take a look.
Unexpectedly, the Norwegian research station was in a mess, and the staff died horribly.
Even more bizarre is that a distorted and torn human body was burnt and thrown in the snow.
The scientific examiners brought the human body back to the research station to observe and study, but there were a series of terrorist incidents.
That night, riots broke out in the dog cage.
The newly admitted Husky suddenly turned into a monster, devoured other dogs, and merged with them to grow into a huge monster.
Fortunately, the scientific research personnel burned it to death without causing more harm.
The next day, the investigators found a wreck of a flying saucer nearby through the Norwegian image data.
Combined with the results of laboratory research, it is concluded that this is an alien creature with the ability to imitate other creatures.
The Norwegian research station was destroyed by it.
In this way, the classic sci-fi horror film "Freak" in the 1980s began.
(There are spoilers below )
In order to find out the alien, the investigators suspected each other, drew their guns at each other, and put an old doctor who was mad from fear into confinement.
But after calming down, everyone decided to respond rationally.
Taking advantage of the fact that aliens are afraid of high temperatures, they used hot red wires to test the blood of scientific researchers one by one, and finally found out the alien.
It is not easy to completely eliminate aliens, because every part of its body can grow into a new individual.
To truly eliminate it, you must bring all the parts together.
The investigators overcame the panic and continued testing, only to find that the doctor who had been confined had escaped.
Not only that, he also builds spaceships in the cellar.
Undoubtedly, the doctor has been replaced by aliens.
As a result, the surviving investigators used explosives and decided to fight the aliens.
In the process, the aliens came and went, killing the scientific examiners one by one.
But in the end, the wit and brave protagonist successfully detonated the explosives, blasting the scientific research station into a sea of flames, and blasting the aliens into dregs.
In the ruins, the surviving protagonist sat down to catch his breath. At this moment, another survivor suddenly appeared...
"Strange Shapes" was released in 1982, and is the most famous work of "The King of B Films" John Carpenter.
It was just released that year, and because it was robbed of the limelight by "Alien" (1979), the evaluation was not high.
But later, its wild imagination and hard-core temperament became more and more favored by movie fans, and gradually became a cult film that the niche likes crazy.
In 2003, the two iron fans went to Antarctica to find the filming location of the film, like a pilgrimage.
The fan club also agreed to go to the 40th anniversary celebration of Nanji Film in 2022.
In addition, "Strange Form" has become a part of Antarctica's culture. Every year during the Midwinter Festival (June 21), all British scientific research stations will broadcast this film at the celebration.
In fact, "Strange Shape" still seems shocking today.
One of the shocks is the horror of alien form:
There is no entity, but it can imitate other creatures. When the imitation is not completed, or when it is stimulated, the appearance is simply "unscrupulous".
For example, people have monster claws.
Spider legs grow from the dog's body and human's head.
There are also people with open stomachs (too disgusting to keep the picture).
This horror of body mutation has influenced the later works such as "Parasitic Beast", "Resident Evil", "Parasitic Eve" and "Fish" (Ito Junji).
Both in the 1980s and today, they are quite heavy-mouthed and avant-garde.
The second shock is that the content is hard core and does not cater to business at all.
There is not a single female character in the film, and there is no scream, only Kurt Russell (the father of "Guardians of the Galaxy 2"), a tough guy who doesn't shave .
The IQ of the scientific research personnel is also very normal. There is no death-dealing plot common in horror movies. Everyone is trying to survive, but the opponent is too strong.
The hardest part of the movie is the ending.
There was no comfort from the rest of the catastrophe, only two men stared tiredly in the fire, either killed by aliens or frozen to death.
This desperate ending is discouraging.
From another perspective, it is more realistic and uncompromising.
This approach that does not cater to mainstream business is the coolest and most real thing in the eyes of fans.
In the final analysis, "Strange Form" still expresses the fear of Soviet spies during the Soviet-American Cold War.
The feeling that "the enemy is among us" and "everyone can be an enemy" was a nightmare for a generation of Americans.
As an ordinary viewer, the strongest feeling after watching "Strange Shape" is the awe of the uncertainty in the complex human nature.
Simply put, don't trust others easily, because everyone may have a strange shape lurking in their hearts.
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