In the success of Masters of Horror, ABC will be debuting a new series on August 4th at 10:00 PM. This series however will have nothing to do with horror. Masters of Science Fiction opens each episode up with a message from world renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. The Awakening will be the second Episode to air, it will on August 11th.
The Awakening, based on the short story by Howard Fast begins in the middle of a fire fight outside the city of Baghdad in Iraq. During the fight an Iraq soldier and U.S. soldier meet face to face and begin to argue, however during this argument they suddenly begin to realize that they can understand one another even thought they speak different languages. They both come across a mysterious body in the desert and then the both of them seem to go into a trance. The U.S. army then comes and takes the body along with the two soldiers back to base. Soon all over the world mysterious bodies begin to appear and they begin to communicate with the human race. Now the governments of the world are being forced between peace or another world war. All because these mysterious bodies seem to be taking over the earth.
The script and story for this episode are really good. I partially liked the plot and the great message it has for in it. The dialogue is not all that bad for being a teleplay. And the plot flows very well. So no complaints about the script or the story. The script is written and the film is also directed by Michael Petoni whom you may know as the director of The Dangerous Life of Alter Boys.
The cast for the film is actually one that has some semi well known television actors. Terry O’Quinn of Lost fame, and Elisabeth Rohm of Law & Order. The acting is pretty good in this flick and I have to say that the performances were pretty good. I’m not sure of the name of the actor who played the President in this film, but I really thought he did a great job in his role. Terry O’Quinn however stole the show as the general in this flick, and he did a great job with his performance. The overall co-stars were all pretty good and the cast seemed to be pretty tight.
The production value of this episode was pretty good, but it did have that made for television look to it. I’m not really sure what format this particular episode was shot on, but think about how The Outer Limits was shot; it’s pretty much the same look. The set design was decent, although I though the presidents crisis headquaters looked a bit like something out of a sci-fi flick from a nineteen eighties Roger Corman directed sci-fi pic. Both make-up effects and CGI effects were pretty decent, some may argue the CGI part with me, but I think it was perfect for the purpose it served in this televison episode.
Overall, The Awakening is one of the better episodes in the Masters of Science Fiction series. One of the main reasons why I liked this episode so much was not so much the look and feel of the film, but the message it had towards humunity. I’ve always said that a film with a message is more important than a film that pure entertainment. The Awakening is a televison episode that will not only grab a hold of you the human inside you, but also test your faith.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
