Reaction & Review | Arcade

 

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be covering a sci-fi horror movie from 1993. That movie is "Arcade".

Now, I stumbled upon this movie a couple of years ago on YouTube. And this was back when the movie was still up on YouTube before it got taken down. And when it was still up there, I was somewhat curious about the title, and I wanted to find out more about it. And upon doing the small amount of research on this thing, what I uncovered made me all the more interested in checking it out.

What I can tell you right off the bat is that this movie was put out by Full Moon Features, which is an indie film studio that is mostly known for putting out the "Puppet Master" series. While I'm on the subject of Full Moon, I noticed that I haven't covered a film from this studio since I reviewed "Tourist Trap"...which was way back in early November of 2020. So...it's been quite a while. I suppose the reason why I haven't covered a Full Moon film in that long period was because, as I just mentioned, the last film that I watched from them was "Tourist Trap". And since both that movie and "Zombies vs. Strippers" were so bad, I had to give myself a break from covering anymore of their films for a while. But tonight, I'm finally gonna break that long streak and cover this movie.

One other thing I call tell you about this movie are a few names of the cast that they advertise on the front cover. We have Peter Billingsley, who is the star of "A Christmas Story". We have Seth Green of "Robot Chicken" fame. And then we have Megan Ward, who is listed as the star of "They Live". About that last one...I'm going to assume they are talking about John Carpenter's "They Live", because when I checked this actress's filmography on IMDB and Wikipedia, I didn't see any mentions of her being in "They Live". Now maybe she was an extra in that movie that I wasn't made aware of, but I do not recall her name ever being associated with "They Live". Now, that's just a minor thing in the long run, but it was something that caught my eye, because I just don't remember her being in that movie at all.

But anyway, I'm just stalling at this point. I'm really hoping that this movie is going to be good. But I also have to be aware that I haven't found a good movie from Full Moon, outside of most of the "Puppet Master" movies. Well, save for "Curse of the Puppet Master" and "Puppet Master 8: The Legacy". Those movies sucked balls. I'm hoping that this movie is going to break that streak tonight. But the only way I'm gonna find out if this thing is any good at all, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Arcade".

9 minutes later

All right, that has got to be one of the homeliest-looking video arcades I've ever seen. Guys, I have been to quite a few arcades and casinos in my time, but I don't recall any of them having this much blue lighting. It just looks rather off-putting to me. Just thought I should mention.

11 minutes later

Wait a second here. So, Alex went to check on Greg, only to find him missing. The only thing she found was the botched picture that he took with her with his camera. Mind you, he's only been playing the game, Arcade, for about, what, a minute? And when she asks the others where he's been, they think he just left because he got "bored". Wouldn't they have possibly seen him leave? Or better yet, if Greg had survived the game, he would've already came back to them to tell them about his experience. I'm sorry, guys, but it just seems a little bit weird to me that Alex didn't pick up on this first, when she found the picture, you know what I mean?

12 minutes later

So, after Alex told Nick to call their other friends, the phone goes off and says that they're all busy. And Nick, somehow, doesn't think that this is suspicious? Because, you know, after 3 attempted phone calls, and getting the exact same responses, that is in no way considered coincidental. I'm sorry, guys, but I would be rather concerned if I got nothing but busy responses after experiencing the Arcade game telling me that my boyfriend's soul was trapped in the game. But hey, maybe that's just me.

18 minutes later

So...hold on a fucking second here! So after getting all this information on how to beat Arcade from the programmer himself, and how exactly the game was even built, his advice to our main characters is to not play the game. What possessed John de Lancie's character in even hiring this guy to begin with?! If the game was so hard to beat, why not just do a recall of all the home versions of Arcade and terminate the game entirely? I understand that the idea of a recall would probably not matter at this point, seeing as how all of the people who've played it have pretty much died. But still, it would be something that I would at least consider.

17 minutes later

You know, guys, I think now is a good time to mention this as any. The CG for these Arcade worlds, along with the Screamer monster, looks pretty cool for something that was made in 1993. I will get more into this later, but I do think the special effects involving CG are pretty good for these standards. I will say that much.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Arcade". And that was...certainly an interesting ending. Let me go ahead and shut this off...OK. Well, I think I should start by saying this. Earlier, I commented about how the last several movies I watched from Full Moon Features have not been exactly to my liking. Two of which, I covered for this series. And both of those movies were so bad that they ended up being on my worst movies I covered for 2020. And I wasn't sure if I was going to find a decent film from Full Moon, that isn't tied with the "Puppet Master" series. Well, after almost two years, I believe I have found the movie that actually ends that losing streak. "Arcade" certainly towers over bullshit like "Tourist Trap", "Zombies vs. Strippers", and "Hell Asylum". Now, mind you, this film does have it's problems, but I will say that they are mostly minor compared to the problems I found in all those other movies.

So, with that said, let's get into the writing. I will say that the concept is certainly really cool. There's this arcade game simply known as...well, Arcade. Granted, the name is incredibly generic, but that is just a minor thing. So, the game itself is sorta unique. Basically, the game rules are that there are seven levels. And with each level, you have to find these green keys on each level with a given time limit. And with each level that you pass, the time in which you need to complete it gets smaller and smaller. And the game gets progressively harder as well, obviously. And basically, Arcade itself is alive and that it pretty much communicates with the people that plays it. And according to Difford, which is John de Lancie's character in this movie, with each player that fails to complete the game, Arcade itself changes depending on how the player themselves played the game. However, since we're dealing with an AI that is "alive", it pretty much takes the players souls whenever the Screamer catches up to them if they're not fast enough to complete the level. Now, I know people who are into anime will probably hate me when I make this comparison, but I want you to imagine "Sword Art Online", with the only differences that you don't have the time to complete a level and you are trapped into the game world if you lose. Now, I did say that the people who played the game were pretty much dead, however, I kinda learned later on that it wasn't really the case. Plus also, another difference between this and SAO is that, if you die in SAO, you die for real. Again, that's not really the case for this movie. It's just that they are trapped in the Arcade game until someone beats it. And for those that are wondering, I'm basing this comparison off the first season of "Sword Art Online". I know in later seasons it changes, but that's neither here nor there. So anyway, the concept here is pretty cool. At least, when it comes to how the game of Arcade is played. And to be honest, I would actually see this kinda game being played in real life. Granted, it would obviously be fine-tuned and the game wouldn't take your soul if you lost. However, I would still imagine that this game could be a decent hit, seeing as how it uses virtual reality and that some people still use it. Granted, I'm one of those people that think VR games are a pointless fad, however, if this game did somehow make it to where you didn't need to use stupid VR goggles in order to play it, then I still think it would be a decent hit. However, that's just me theorizing about bullshit that probably isn't going to happen. But still, I felt like I wanted to mention that.

Now, with all that being said, I do have one problem when it comes to this movie's writing. And that's how the game was made. Now, I'm gonna try not to tread too deeply into spoilers here, because I don't want to spoil this movie for you guys. So at one point, Alex and Nick are at the company that made the Arcade game after their friends have disappeared from playing the game. And they end up getting to meet the game's programmer. And rather than go for the direct approach and ask about the game's questionable development, they ask about the game's secrets, such as how to beat it and what to do. To which, the programmer does do this. However, he doesn't reveal everything about it, until Nick brings it up and asks it himself. Basically, Arcade, the boss of the entire game, was built using a dead kid's brain cells. I shit you not, guys, that is what he says. He says that the company did this so that the game's boss could become, well...more realistic when communicating with the players. Instead, it pretty much acts on it's own and is making the game much more deadlier than usual. Now, I could ask a ton of questions about this. The most obvious one being how the hell do you use someone's brain cells for the development of your virtual reality game? I would love an answer for that question, because that just floors me on how asinine that idea sounds. Furthermore, if this programmer knew that the game was going to be dangerous, why didn't the company just do a recall of the home versions of the Arcade game? Because then, you could avoid a ton of lawsuits from parents and others that their kids are disappearing because this game is making them disappear, almost without a trace. While I'm on that subject, Alex, at one point, calls Greg's mother to see if he had come home. And she says that he hasn't. By the tone of her voice, it doesn't sound like she's worried at all that Greg hasn't come home, especially considering that Alex tries to call him at 12:30 in the morning. And when Alex goes to Nick's house to try and call their other friends, they don't get any other answer then that their phones are busy. Don't their friends have parents of their own? Why didn't Alex or Nick try to contact them and ask to see if their friends are at home? Unless if they have the same singular phone number, then it's possible that they could've gotten a hold of any of the parents. Then again...thinking about it now, I guess that wouldn't be possible, seeing as how this movie came out in 1993, and cell phones weren't really a thing back then, so I guess that kinda answers my own questions. But still, it is something that I think would be worth asking about.

So, beyond all of that, the writing here is still decent. The only thing that might hold this thing back for you is that if you do think about those issues for too long, then you might think that this movie sucks. However, if you can ignore those minor problems, then the movie is still pretty good. And really, it's not going to be a huge issue in the end, because the movie is still going to keep you interested. And it does a good enough job to where you can follow where the story is going. Our characters are, admittedly, not the most developed. Like, the only two that I can think of right at the top of my head are Alex and Nick. Nick really is just kind of there, and Alex has issues at home. And in Alex's case, her mother killed herself last year, and her dad is a depressed drunk that doesn't care about her. And that's kinda it for the dad, because he only appears in one scene, and that's it. I kinda wish we got more out of it, but, oh well, the movie does still a decent enough job in making the viewers care about our main character. And that's really the best I could ask for.

Now, with all that said, I may as well just jump straight into acting. The acting here is pretty good. There was one actor, in particular, I was curious about. And it wasn't any of the actors I mentioned at the beginning of all this. The one actor I'm talking about is John de Lancie. For those who don't know, John de Lancie was mostly known for playing the character of Q from "Star Trek: The Next Generation". And in case you're wondering, he plays the gaming company's CEO, who we also see at the beginning of the movie as he showcases the Arcade game to the people at Dante's Inferno. Now I will say that his performance in this movie, while decent, is not all that memorable. He's only in the movie for about 5-10 minutes total, and that's about it. Which is a bit disappointing in retrospect, however, I would also be foolish in trying to compare his performance here with his character from "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Because obviously, there is no comparison to be had. But I will say that what little time he spends in this movie is still pretty good. And as for the rest of the cast, most of them turn in pretty good showings. Even the ones that don't really get a lot of screen time, barring John de Lancie, still turn in decent showings. So, I can say that the acting here is good, but none of it is great.

Now let's get into the special effects. For the practical effects, the only thing I can mention is blood effects. Which there aren't really a whole lot of in this movie, but what is here is pretty good. But let's get to the meat of the special effects by talking about CG. This movie has a lot of CG, mainly for the Arcade virtual reality game. And the CG for a lot of things here such as the Screamer, the face of the Arcade boss, and the gaming worlds for each level. Some of these levels are provided with blue screens/green screens (whatever you prefer) as the characters are there in front of them. And the blue screens on these worlds look pretty good. You can kinda see some of the blurs when the camera is zoomed in on the characters, but it's not really that noticeable unless if you were actively looking for them. And, well, I did. So you just have to take it for what it's worth. Now, I should make mention that since this movie came out in 1993, I have to view this thing by 1993 standards. And by those standards, the special effects involving CG and blue screens look pretty damn good. Now obviously, if I were dumb enough to compare the special effects by today standards, I would say that they look cheap and dated as shit. However, as I just said, you have to be a complete fool to try and compare this movie's special effects by today's standards. So yeah, the special effects are here pretty good, especially for the standards of 1993.

Camerawork here is pretty good. Lighting is mostly good, save for one scene. And that's when our characters first enter the video arcade known as Dante's Inferno. When they first enter this place, the entire room is almost lit with bright blue, and it really pales in comparison with the darkness, because you really can't see much of anything when the camera is trying to get a shot of our characters inside the video arcade. I have no idea why this is. I'm going to take a guess here and say that maybe it's because some of the arcade's are giving off a bright flash that, for whatever reason, it gives off a blue lighting. I really have no idea, but that whole scene of them when they first enter the video arcade just comes off as overly lit, thanks to the bright blue lighting. Sound-mix is mostly good, save for one scene, again. And it happens right around at the beginning of the movie when Alex and her friends first get together. And the sound quality during that whole scene is horrible. Because there is so much background noise that I could barely hear what the characters were saying at times. It probably would've helped if the actors tried to loop in their dialogue, so that way we didn't have to deal with the unnecessary sound that almost drowned out their dialogue. Beyond that though, sound-mix is fine throughout most of the entire film. Music, I couldn't really tell you a single memorable song in the movie, and the score is just there to exist. Mind you, I wouldn't really call the score bad, but it's also something that you're not going to remember this movie for.

So, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Arcade"? Yes, I mostly can. Provided, of course, you are into B movies, and you're able to overlook the minor problems this movie has when it comes to the writing. If you're not into B movies, then there's obviously no way in hell I can recommend it. However, if you're looking for something that's kinda, sorta different, especially when it comes to sci-fi horror movies, then go ahead check it out. And if you're into Full Moon films, then I can almost instantly recommend it. Now, mind you, this thing is nowhere near as good as most of the "Puppet Master" films, but I will say it is better than the two films I mentioned before I started up the movie. And as a standalone Full Moon film, it's probably one of the best. Now again, I'm basing this off the few movies I've seen from Full Moon that are just standalone films. Such as the ones I mentioned earlier, like "Tourist Trap" and "Zombies vs. Strippers". And I was rather skeptical going into this movie, because I bought it off a Valentine's Day sale that Full Moon was advertising last year on their website, and I bought it for around, maybe, $13. And I can officially say that this was most certainly worth the $13 I spent to buy this. This movie was pretty good, and I'm definitely going to be holding onto this movie for my DVD collection. Now...I'm kinda in the mood to watch another sci-fi film, and I think I'm gonna go watch my copy of "Promare". It's been a couple of years since I last watched it for this series, so I think I'm gonna go do that after I'm done putting this review together.

Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.