Friday, October 14, 2016

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Black Hole (1979)

The Black Hole is a movie that scared the crap out of me when I first saw it.  Granted I was 10 and it was at a drive-in theater.

I saw it again on VHS about 20 years ago and then again this past weekend with my wife and son.

Connor: "This is boring and not scary at all. I knew the 'robots' were people from the start. He didn't have an materials to make robots."

I have to concur. There are some frightening elements and the story really is a mad scientist in an old, maybe haunted castle.  Even the images of hell make this more horror in space than sci-fi.

The version I watched looked fantastic, but that doesn't make up for some glaring errors in this movie.  I remember back when I was 9 thinking the robots should not have psychic powers and I still think that.


2016 Movie tally
Watched: 15
New: 10


6 comments:

Deadstop said...

Do the robots have psychic powers, or do Kate's psychic powers work on robots? I thought it was the latter, which goes against the typical convention, but since there's no established mechanism for how telepathy would work, there's nothing saying it absolutely has to be between biological brains only.

Jonathan Linneman said...

Interesting choice for the challenge (and interesting comments from Connor!). I wouldn't have thought to include it, but it does make a lot of sense. (I'll probably always have a soft spot for this one, but yeah, it has some issues...)

Venger Satanis said...

One isn't supposed to examine gothic horror under a microscope. Did it create an impression of dread? If so, then it succeeded. Of course, not everyone is susceptible to that kind of horror.

WQRobb said...

And the book version of the movie reinforces the supernatural elements of the story beyond what was shown in the movie. But I'm with you on how terrifying it was as a kid, especially when you're suckered in by it being a Disney film.

Timothy S. Brannan said...

@Venger. Have you *read* this blog? I have been doing exactly that for the last 8 years! :)

Venger Satanis said...

Examining gothic horror under a microscope or creating an impression of dread? If it's the former, then you've most likely been wasting your time. If the latter, three tentacles up!