Skip to main content

Saturday Night In: Escape from New York


Escape from New York may not be a horror title but one must not forget that this futuristic 80's action flick is still brought to us by a true horror icon, John Carpenter. Luckily, one element he's kept in mind for this title is the violence. Escape from New York features an awesome group of characters led by none other than Kurt Russel playing our hero and his leather and camouflage get-up lets you know he's not messing around.
The story takes place in a futuristic U.S.A where the entirety of New York has been quarantined and used as prison. The people run rampant and chaos has taken over making this place unfitting for a president. The stakes come way up when said president (played by the late and great Carpenter favorite Donald Pleasance) is kidnapped and dropped off (quite literally) right in the middle of murder central. Enter: our hero, Snake Pliskin, a rough and tough ex-soldier with an impressive resume (and criminal record). He is offered a deal by pseudo-villain, Haulk who is played by the iconic Lee Van Clief (or Angel Eyes for all of you The Good, Bad and the Ugly fans): Go in the madness, rescue the president and get him back here in 22 hours and Snake is free to slither off.
I can honestly say that the film delivers on this premise and Carpenter really had fun with the execution. The action scenes are wonderfully over the top and the characters we meet living in New York that join Snake for the ride have an intentionally hammy charm that makes this film all the more fun.  As usual for carpenter, the score only enhances the mood with his signature subtle synth creations running in the background. They add the perfect amount of tension without getting too dark or serious to feel matched.
All in all, Escape from New York is a classic that is perfect to check out (or revisit) for a Saturday night in. Catch it available for stream on Amazon Instant Video and free to stream with Amazon prime. Not even Snake Pliskin can beat a deal like that.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saturday Night In: Creep

          You know those people that are nice to an uncomfortable extent? The type that get a little too comfortable with strangers too fast? Sure they might be a little odd and have a strange sense of humor but they're probably harmless... most of the time.           Creep is the dark, and strange story of one such man (played a little too well by Mark Duplass) who puts an ad in the paper looking for a videographer to film a day in his life. He slowly reveals that that he has been diagnosed with cancer and has only months left to live. He wants to document a personal day in the life so that his unborn son has a video of his father to watch and grow up with. It's a touching premise but things don't stay sweet for very long as the day goes on. Things go from uncomfortable to creepy as the things our protagonist reluctantly agrees to film get stranger.           Duplass does a great job taking the story from ...
2 comments
Read more

Gaming News: Popular horror game "Dead by Daylight" to receive big new update in June.

Hot on the heels of it's two year anniversary, Behaviour Studios' popular online horror game is getting ready for a big new update to celebrate. This new update will include some changes to the game's mechanics but what has fans buzzing most is that developers have announced that a new chapter will be included in this update. For those who don't know, a new chapter includes a new killer, survivor, map and all the lore that comes with it. Behaviour has remained tight lipped about this new chapter but they did tease it at PAX north in Boston recently by handing out cards showing a piece of the new killer (shown above). This chapter will be different from previous chapters in that with it's release, new cosmetics will be available following the theme of this chapter for all unlicensed survivors. The new killer seems to have a carnival aesthetic which is also something different for Dead by Daylight as the previous (unlicensed) chapters have been centered more to...
1 comment
Read more

Monday Blues: Truth or Dare?

               You know those movies where the premise was good, execution was good but characters development killed the potential? Well, picture that but with an eye-roll inducing premise and terrible execution. I’ve chosen Truth or Dare for today’s pick so read on and be sure to avoid this movie tonight.                 The story centers on a group of college friends going on a road trip to Mexico (nobody was shooting for originality points, here) where they encounter a friendly stranger at a bar. After a night of tequila fueled college kid shenanigans, they decide to follow said stranger on a little hike to an abandoned hospital and play a game of “Truth or Dare”. If you’re anything like me, the words “freaking why?” might have gone through your head at some point but for the sake of the script, we’ll buy it for now. This decision ...
Post a Comment
Read more