Editorials
[Editorial] “The Walking Dead” is Now in a Position to Finally Be Exciting Television Again
Earlier this week, I had the chance to watch “What Comes After” a few days before it aired on AMC, and I wrote up a lengthy review that I was all set to publish as soon as it finished airing last night. One thousand words boiled down to just a handful, I was pretty damn annoyed that Rick Grimes’ “final episode” sent the character out on such a lame note, with his heroic sacrifice being tossed away in favor of an ambiguous ending that left his fate unclear. I was annoyed because I felt we deserved better. More importantly, Andrew Lincoln deserved better.
But immediately following last night’s episode of “The Walking Dead,“ of course, we learned something we weren’t previously privy to. As franchise architect Scott Gimple revealed on “Talking Dead,” Andrew Lincoln actually will be reprising the role of Rick Grimes in the future, in *at least* three big budget feature length “Walking Dead” movies that’ll air on AMC. Suddenly, my entire review was rendered pointless, and I scrapped the whole thing. After all, why complain about a lame finish to Rick’s story when, well, it’s not actually finished at all.
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that this announcement irritated me in a whole different way, as AMC had been building towards “What Comes After” as the final hour for the Rick Grimes character. Of course, in hindsight, they cleverly only noted that it would be Rick’s “final episode,” and indeed it’s looking like it will be. Movies are an entirely different beast altogether, and though I’m undoubtedly annoyed that they pulled the bait-and-switch on us, I’m not going to sit here and write 1,000 words on how mad I was over being duped.
They tricked us, there’s no doubt about it, but what I’d rather spend some time writing about is the future of “The Walking Dead,” which is actually looking pretty damn bright at the moment. Honestly, I’m more excited about the brand than I have been in a few years, and that’s because, well, the show has needed something of a reboot for a long damn time.
How do you hit the reboot button on “The Walking Dead,” now nine seasons deep? Getting rid of Rick Grimes is honestly a pretty compelling start. Without Grimes as the central character, the show now has the opportunity to start digging into other storylines and strengthening characters that have long been playing second fiddle to Rick, with Michonne, Daryl and Carol now in positions to really lead the charge and take the series down new paths. Of course, how fresh “The Walking Dead” actually is going forward will depend mostly on the show’s writing, but the good news is that the writing does seem intent on giving the series a fresh start. After all, the rest of the series isn’t just Grimes-less, but it’s also set far into the future.
Teased at the very end of “What Comes After,” the remainder of Season 9 is set a complete six years after the season’s previous events, with an adolescent Judith Grimes now taking up the mantle of her missing father and deceased big brother. The jump in time guarantees that “The Walking Dead” will be a different show when it returns this Sunday night, with the world in a far different state and a handful of new characters fighting alongside our old friends. New villains are also on the horizon, with the Whisperers set to arrive within the next few episodes.
The Whisperers, if anyone who doesn’t read the comics isn’t aware, walk around in suits made of zombie flesh as a way to blend in, and Greg Nicotero promises that their arrival will bring some genuine terror back to “The Walking Dead.” The series hasn’t exactly been *scary* in recent years, but the Whisperers may be just what it needs in that department.
While “The Walking Dead” (hopefully) becomes a new show entirely, it’s pretty cool to hear that we’ll also be getting the continuation of Rick’s story in a handful of movies; the first film, which will begin production as early as next year, will explore Rick’s trials and tribulations in a whole new corner of the zombie apocalypse. Separating Rick from the other characters he’s spent the past nine seasons with will allow for new Rick Grimes stories to be told, much the same way that separating them from him will allow for new stories for those other characters.
As Gimple put it last night, “We don’t want to see people doing the same thing, with the same motivations or people with the same lives; it needs to be differentiated from each other in the types of stories that they’re telling, themes and the tones we’re exploring. A variety of locations is absolutely critical to this. Seeing other parts of the world and making sure that we’re not trying to do the same thing that Michonne, Maggie and Carol and everybody have been doing. We want to tell different stories but in different corners of the world.”
I don’t know about you, but as a longtime loyal viewer who has grown tired of “The Walking Dead” being “more of the same,” that statement right there is music to my ears right now.
It’s all in the execution, but as I sit here pondering the show’s future at this very moment, I find myself excited to watch this coming Sunday. And that’s a big step in the right direction.
It’s been 75 years since The Thing From Another World first warned us to “watch the skies”, and filmgoers have done just that by showing up to multiple instances of extraterrestrial contact on the big screen. This makes sense, as a recent CBS news poll estimated that 63% of Americans believe in intelligent life on other planets, and the ongoing disclosure movement aims to raise that number with each passing day.
With Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day leaving many genre fans hungry for more alien footage (preferably of the spooky variety), today I’d like to share a list recommending six underrated alien invasion thrillers for your viewing pleasure. After all, regardless of whether or not you believe that we’re alone in the universe, it can be fun to dream about the worst-case scenario if our cosmic neighbors ever decide to visit.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be focusing on lesser-known invasion stories rather than the popular extraterrestrials of franchises like Alien and Close Encounters of the Third (or even Fourth) Kind. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own alien favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling movie.
While it won’t be featured in this article, I’d highly recommend checking out Dean Alioto’s UFO Abduction/The McPherson Tape if you’re up for some ufology-inspired found footage thrills.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. The Arrival (1996)
Not to be confused with Denis Villeneuve’s Academy Award-winning Amy Adams vehicle about learning to communicate peacefully with extraterrestrial life, David Twohy’s The Arrival is a much more straightforward (but no less entertaining) genre romp where Charlie Sheen faces a global conspiracy involving hostile alien invaders.
It’s not exactly up there with Close Encounters or even Independence Day, but Twohy’s conspiratorial thriller plays out like an exceptionally fun episode of The X-Files that I’d recommend to sci-fi/horror fans who don’t mind a little bit of wonky CGI and 90s excess alongside their alien thrills.
5. Extraterrestrial (2014)
The Vicious Brothers made a name for themselves with the success of 2011’s Grave Encounters, but that was far from the Canadian duo’s only collaboration. And while it’s not exactly a fan favorite, I always point out 2014’s Extraterrestrial as one of their most underrated projects simply because I agree with the filmmakers’ opinion that there aren’t enough ‘cool alien abduction movies’ out there.
Admittedly, the majority of the picture functions like a run-of-the-mill creature feature with paper-thin characters and familiar horror tropes, but I’d argue that the cosmically-terrifying final act elevates the experience to new and memorable heights. The movie also boasts great performances by both Michael Ironside and Emily Perkins – a combination that more than makes up for the occasionally janky CGI.
4. Alien Raiders (2008)
Director Ben Rock has gone on record lamenting how his John-Carpenter-inspired creature feature was forcefully renamed from Supermarket to the painfully obvious Alien Raiders (a change which likely resulted in many potential viewers skipping out on the experience), but the new title doesn’t change the fact that this single-location thriller is something of a hidden gem.
Taking place entirely within a supermarket, Alien Raiders tells the story of an ensemble of customers and employees who are taken hostage by a group of armed men looking for something far more dangerous than an easy payout. I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoiling the experience, but I’d highly recommend this criminally underseen flick to fans of John Carpenter and the Resident Evil games.
3. Phoenix Forgotten (2017)
You’d think that a Ridley-Scott-produced retelling of one of the most infamous real-life UFO sightings of all time would have a bigger following, but I rarely see Justin Barber’s Found Footage period piece brought up during discussions about extraterrestrial-focused horror movies.
This is a huge shame, as Phoenix Forgotten is just as spooky as it is convincing, with this well-researched dive into the Phoenix Lights incident benefiting from surprisingly believable special effects as well as an appropriately horrific finale.
2. Communion (1989)
I wouldn’t blame you for disregarding Whitley Strieber’s controversial book about his alleged close encounter as sensationalist slop, but I’d argue that Phillipe Mora’s 1989 adaptation of these events is much better than the source material. After all, the movie works as a standalone piece of speculative fiction while also benefiting from an incredible performance by the one and only Christopher Walken!
Mora’s take on Communion may not be particularly scary, but the film is still an unforgettable character study regardless of whether or not the abduction really happened. Not only that, but the flick also paved the way for plenty of future sci-fi stories where the extraterrestrial invaders aren’t as evil as they initially appear.
1. Altered (2006)
Originally envisioned as a Sam Raimi-style horror-comedy titled Probed, Eduardo Sánchez (of The Blair Witch Project fame) eventually realized that it would be much more interesting to turn the film into a serious exploration of the emotional aftermath of a traumatic abduction incident.
That’s how we got Altered, a clever inversion of the standard abduction narrative that follows a group of troubled friends as they capture and experiment on an alien in order to enact revenge for their own abduction years prior.
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