Terminus (2007/I)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Trevor Cawood

Writer:

Jason Cawood (writer)

Genre:

Short

Plot:

After inadvertently offending a strange entity that accosts him on his way to work, a 1970s businessman...

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Rob Carpenter	...	Lead
Trent Opaloch	...	Man In Office 2
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stephanie McKenzie	...	Woman in boardroom
Cassidy Wheatcroft	...	Child

Runtime:

Canada:8 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Spy Films

Watch it twice.

This film is a family favourite. Even though it's quite scary, and a little violent, my three-year-old is happy to watch it multiple times, from the safety of Mum or Dad's lap. Even on days when we don't watch it, she is comforted that 'monsters' can only go at walking pace, and you can always outrun them, if need be (this is confirmed by the monsters on *Doctor Who*). I think my young daughter continues to watch *Terminus* because she wants to understand the dream scene.

For myself, the 'monsters' in this film remind me of Mr Pump, the golem in Terry Pratchett's novel *Going Postal*. Golems can only go at walking pace, but they can go forever, without eating or sleeping, and they will catch you. For my partner, they remind him of 'machine spirits' in the role-playing game *Shadow Run*.

There are a couple of reasons to watch this short film twice: Certain motifs reappear, allowing you to have a go at working at why these 'machine spirits' are taking over the city. Also, the title of the movie gains added meaning, as you speculate on what happened to the concrete pillar monster's previous subject, and what the title actually refers to.