SPOILER: In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.Written by
Official site
J.J. Abrams mentions in the DVD commentary that every time you see the water tower in the movie, it is computer generated. See more »
Goofs
The patch seen on the Ohio Deputy Sheriffs did not come into use until 1996 or 1997. The patch before that was a triangular patch that said 'Deputy Sheriff' with a five-pointed star under it and the seal of Ohio inside that star. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Mrs. Kaznyk:
I'm so worried for that boy.
Mr. Kaznyk:
Joe's gonna be okay.
Mrs. Kaznyk:
She was everything to him.
Mr. Kaznyk:
Jack's gonna step up. He's a good man.
Mrs. Kaznyk:
But he's never had to be a father before. I don't think he understands Joe.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Charles's completed zombie movie is shown during the closing credits. See more »
Alternate Versions
In the original theatrical version some shot of Jen Kaznyk walk to Donny in the evacuation center are cut from the DVD version See more »
Heart of Glass
Written by Debbie Harry and Chris Stein
Performed by Blondie
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music See more »
A friend won two tickets to an advanced screening of this movie last night - so this review is done from the perspective of having watched it for free. :)
There are a lot of great things about this movie: The special effects are excellent without being gratuitous. In other words, the special effects enhance the story as opposed to BEING the story. The child actors do a great job of having their own personalities and really portraying the fun that kids have at that age. It does a good job of not making the adults out to be idiots (as so many movies do with child actors) but at the same time the adults have their own weaknesses. I felt connected to all the characters internal struggles. There is a good amount of tension throughout the first half of the movie, including several scenes that make you "jump". There are also several scenes that made me laugh so despite the tension, it never felt heavy.
The bad: The ending was disappointingly predictable. There were a couple moments of, "There is no way a middle school kid would do that."
In the end, I was glad to watch the movie but I don't think I'll be seeing it again. If you're looking for a good popcorn movie with a decent story, this is it. If you're hoping to see a movie that will leave you thinking about it for days, I would look elsewhere.
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A friend won two tickets to an advanced screening of this movie last night - so this review is done from the perspective of having watched it for free. :)
There are a lot of great things about this movie: The special effects are excellent without being gratuitous. In other words, the special effects enhance the story as opposed to BEING the story. The child actors do a great job of having their own personalities and really portraying the fun that kids have at that age. It does a good job of not making the adults out to be idiots (as so many movies do with child actors) but at the same time the adults have their own weaknesses. I felt connected to all the characters internal struggles. There is a good amount of tension throughout the first half of the movie, including several scenes that make you "jump". There are also several scenes that made me laugh so despite the tension, it never felt heavy.
The bad: The ending was disappointingly predictable. There were a couple moments of, "There is no way a middle school kid would do that."
In the end, I was glad to watch the movie but I don't think I'll be seeing it again. If you're looking for a good popcorn movie with a decent story, this is it. If you're hoping to see a movie that will leave you thinking about it for days, I would look elsewhere.