Things were not going well for James Cameron in the spring of 1982.
It was then that Cameron had the nightmare which would change the course of his career.
Although primarily a sci-fi action film,The Terminatoris shot through with a wide streak of horror.
Every frame of Camerons movie, it seems, is haunted by the dream which spawned it.
My contemporaries were all doing slasher-horror movies, Cameron once said.
John Carpenter was the guy I idolised the most.
He madeHalloweenfor $30,000 or something.
That was everyones break-in dream, to do a stylish horror movie.
It was a very slasher film pop in image.
And it really was the launching pad for the story.
LikeAlienfive years earlier,The Terminatoris unusual in that it gives the killer top billing.
A few hours later, she realises that shes next on the list.
Its worth pausing here to note how powerfully Cameron captures downtown Los Angeles circa 1984.
The opening act shrewdly leaves Kyle and the T-800s agendas unclear.
The Terminator, meanwhile, is going around slaughtering people in true slasher movie style.
The ambition Cameron shows, given his low budget, is worth noting here.
InThe Terminators final third, Cameron wrings every last ounce of tension from his merciless cyborg.
The Terminator is, as Cameron once put it, death rendered in steel.
