John Lyttle on cinema

John Lyttle
Tuesday 04 October 1994 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Processing data now: Brainscan is about a boy (Edward Furlong, right) who plays an interactive game that erases the line between reality and virtual reality; the result is murder, mayhem and slapdash FX as the boy (perhaps) turns byte-sized executioner.

The picture is meant to fuse sci-fi and hi-tech and horror, but parents will recognise Brainscan for what it is - documentary realism. Check out your programmed progeny as they sit hunched over the keyboard/joystick/mouse, playing Street Fighter II, ready to tear the heart out of the competition. Well, children should be encouraged to have a hobby, shouldn't they . . .

Movies have always played on our fear of machines, from Metropolis (robot betrays the workers) to The Forbin Project (computer rules the world) to 2001: A Space Odyssey (the computer goes crazy and kills). But these were future scenarios, safely set the day after tomorrow, warnings that expected to be heeded. Now the future has arrived and it's in our homes.

Don't watch the cable channels because you'll mutate (Videodrome). Don't mess with the instruction manual or you'll end up inside the TV (Stay Tuned) or trapped inside an arcade game (Tron). Remember to unplug all the electronic goods before going to bed or the thing inside might escape (Ghost in the Machine). And switch to solar power pronto, because the bloody electricity is out to get you too: see Shocker and Impulse.

Which is why Brainscan should be taken very seriously. If you have children, march into their rooms and smash everything except the beds. And don't forget to stomp on the Walkman: in Amityville II that's how the devil persuades the eldest son to shotgun the entire family.

(Photograph omitted)

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in