The More Things Change: Terminal Invasion (2002)

Matty looks at a historically important SyFy spin on a John Carpenter classic.

The Alien (1979) riff is a cornerstone of B-horror, from straight lifts Inseminoid (1981) and Forbidden World (1982), to kookier twists such as The Intruder Within (1981) and Creepozoids (1987) (‘Alien on an oil rig’ and ‘Alien in a nuclear bunker’ respectively). A less popular relation are the apings of John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). Some keep with the research base milieu (Deep Freeze (2002), Alien Hunter (2003)), others unfurl against a more novel backdrop a la Alien Raiders (2008) (‘The Thing in a supermarket’) and this agreeable SyFy opus, TERMINAL INVASION (‘The Thing in an airport’).

Understandably given its chump change budget and made-for-television genesis, Terminal Invasion lacks the gore and FX quotient of its progenitor. And in terms of atmosphere and suspense, it’s about as tense as waiting for a Rustler’s to ping. Nevertheless, the film atones for its anaemia by offering several imaginatively presented moments. The peak is an extraterrestrial attack that occurs inside an x-ray machine, the violence and terror — the minor violence and terror — enacted by CGI skeletons on a monitor, saving money and circumventing strict network censorship.

As with the bulk of director Sean S. Cunningham’s wares — the huckster-cum-unwitting horror hero’s biggest contribution to the genre, Friday the 13th (1980), included — Terminal Invasion is a meat n’ potatoes affair. The visuals aren’t particularly interesting, and Cunningham’s bright, midshot-heavy style positions the film closer to a ‘90s sitcom than anything cinematic. Still, it’s snappily paced and keeps boredom at bay.

Conceived by longtime Cunningham co-conspirator Lewis Abernathy (helmer of House IV: The Repossession (1992) and scripter of Cunningham’s similarly minded Alien/Thing hybrid, DeepStar Six (1989)), Terminal Invasion’s ‘guess the evil spaceman’ narrative hook is enlivened by the mugging of its cast. A top-billed Bruce Campbell does the requisite badass shtick as a criminal turned have-a-go hero; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine hottie Chase Masterson is The Chin’s suitably feisty female counterpart; and the rest of the ensemble — many of whom recruited for the film’s Canadian shoot based upon their presence in various Maple Leaf SyFy shows (Mutant X, PSI Factor) — do enough to boost their soundalike dialogue.

The first in a five picture deal with Amberlake Entertainment [1], Terminal Invasion marked the start of SyFy’s aggressive, in-house approach to moviemaking after they’d spent the preceding decade acquiring content rather than producing it themselves (the odd exception like Digital Man (1995) — which, coincidentally, featured Masterson — aside). The film premiered on 14th September 2002 and became one of SyFy’s highest drawing Originals for a spell, in third place behind ratings smashers Epoch (2001) and Mindstorm (2001). While SyFy were happy with the film — to the point they let Campbell make his long-gestating passion project, The Man with the Screaming Brain (2004), off the back of it — Terminal Invasion was subsequently referenced by network exec, Chris Regina, as an example of missed potential and how not to title a movie. Regina and his compatriots, Thomas Vitale and Ray Cannella, were, of course, the driving force of SyFy film production. And though Terminal Invasion’s name was suggested by the channel’s brass (it was written and produced as ‘Devil’s Pass’), Regina believed the film would have benefited from a moniker indicative of the threat at the heart of its plot, like the Ronseal-esque vibe of later SyFy epics, Boa vs Python (2004) and Mansquito (2005).

USA/Canada ● Sci-Fi, Horror, TVM ● 80mins

Bruce Campbell, Chase Masterson ● Dir. Sean S. Cunningham ● Wri. Lewis Abernathy and John Jarrell and Robinson Young, story by Lewis Abernathy