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“Only In a Rerun”: 30 Years of ‘The Running Man’

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It’s always fascinating when genre films like The Running Man become incredibly prescient as time goes on. The ones that seem a bit silly or odd in the moment, but no longer feel that way years (sometimes decades) later when we look at our own current social issues. In 2002, many thought it weird that Paramount changed the villains of The Sum of All Fears from tje Middle Eastern terrorists of the novel to Neo-Nazis in the wake of 9/11. Some even accused the filmmakers of softening the source material in favor of going with an unlikely group of antagonists. Fifteen years on, we now have events like Charlottesville taking place. So much for unlikely villains!

Escape from L.A. turned 20 years old last year and despite its sometimes silly nature, it too was proved prescient. Within the United States of EFLA, numerous peoples are expelled from the country just for having beliefs or life practices that are different from a fearful chunk of the population. John Carpenter has all too often been right on point (and ahead of the curve) with his cinematic criticisms of society, even when he’s aiming for wackiness.

Why bring up Carpenter? Because The Running Man desperately wanted to be a John Carpenter movie. Everything about it screams Carpenter, from the catchy synth score to the production design to the socio-political commentary permeating it from top to bottom. It might be (loosely) based on a novel by Stephen King, but it’s one of the biggest Carpenter riffs of the 1980s. This is a good thing.

For those who haven’t witnessed this over-the-top science fiction actioner before, I’ll allow the film’s opening crawl to give you the set-up for the world it showcases within…

By 2017 the world economy has collapsed. Food, natural resources, and oil are in short supply. A police state, divided into paramilitary zones, rules with an iron hand.

Television is controlled by the state and a sadistic game show called “The Running Man” has become the most popular program in history. All art, music, and communications are censored. No dissent is tolerated and yet a small resistance movement has managed to survive underground.

When high-tech gladiators are not enough to suppress the people’s yearning for freedom…

…more direct methods become necessary.

A good chunk of this comes from King’s novel that he wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. The crawl itself is pure Carpenter, however, and so are the changes to the story’s protagonist, Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Richards is a bit of an everyman in the novel, but we all know that Arnold is everything BUT an everyman. In the film, Richards is a police helicopter pilot who is framed for a state-sanctioned massacre of protesters. He is tried for a crime he actually attempted to prevent, locked up, and forced to work at a prison rock quarry. Why? Because audiences needed to see Arnold’s sweaty muscular physique in the film as soon as possible!

Arnold being Arnold, he manages to escape the prison camp, along with the aid of a few resistance members. The resistance aims to “wake up” the populace by exposing all of the governments lies. Like Snake Plissken, Richards wants no part in their righteous crusade. Hell, this easily could have been turned into an Escape film. Also like Snake, Richards just craves freedom. Naturally, he is captured later on and that’s when the titular game comes into play.

Even if you haven’t seen the film, you know the drill here. Contestants, who are often unwilling, are tossed into a dangerous environment where they are forced to battle for their lives against those hunting them for sport and entertainment. It’s not a particularly new premise and it is one that has repeatedly been used again in the likes of Battle Royale and The Hunger Games.

The contestants are called “runners” and they are hunted by the “stalkers”, professional athletes who are beloved by the public for killing people who have been labeled criminals by their tyrannical government. Like any good pulp sci-fi actioner, each stalker has a distinctive personality, ramping up the archness of it all.

We could talk about how The Running Man is a pitch-perfect example of ‘80s genre-mashing action cinema, particularly of the Arnold variety. It very much is. Instead, I’d rather take a look at all of the ways this 2017-set film actually managed to reflect the modern society it is satirizing amidst its violent, futuristic stylings. The police force is militarized? Check. Whether you agree with the tactics of law enforcement these days, there’s no arguing that it hasn’t become more and more militarized over the past 30 years.

Media that is filled with lies is the biggest comparison, of course. The movie might not have envisioned the misinformation-filled invention that is the internet, but it definitely nailed the overall direction that things were headed in. Technology is being wielded against a weapon against the populace in this tale and its insidious use is the spread of confusion and lies. Truth is still shouted by those who care, but a vast majority of the public seems content to sit back and be “ruled with an iron hand”.

The audience seems way more upset about what’s going on with their favorite TV program here than with the injustices going on around them. Shades of the recent NFL controversy? The world of The Running Man even has a president who has a talent agent! While such a throwaway line was clearly meant as a jab at Ronald Reagan when the movie was made three decades ago, it is sadly 100% on point again in 2017. Especially in a film where the primary villain is the host of a TV show. It doesn’t stop there either. There’s even a gag involving a popular show where viewers literally watch poor people trying to get money while being torn apart by dogs. The war on the poor perfectly distilled.

30 years later, The Running Man’s social satire hits harder now than it did upon arrival. That alone makes it worthy of remembrance. Once you throw in a pulpy premise, a fun cast, adrenaline-fueled action, hilarious lines, a pulse-pounding synth score, and Arnold at the top of his game. If you haven’t seen it before, now’s the time to change that. If you have? Well, there’s no better time for a “rerun”.

Devourer of film and disciple of all things horror. Freelance writer at Bloody Disgusting, DVD Active, Cult Spark, AndersonVision, Forbes, Blumhouse, etc. Owner/operator at The Schlocketeer.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

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Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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