IT’S NOT JUST J.J ABRAMS

Star Trek Beyond is being screened in cinemas across the country this week. Many science-fiction fans, especially Star Trek maniac, came to the cinema to watch. It includes me of course. It really a good one, as always we were spoiled by attractive and also hi-tech effect but my interest to write about this film was not about the story or the movie itself…but the producer, J.J Abrams…

Before Star Trek Beyond took it place, in May 2016 there’s other movie of Abrams, 10 Cloverfield Lane, which by coincidence was also the latest movie I wrote on this blog. Funny that 10 Cloverfield was very much different from Star Trek in genre, the first one classified as horror though Sci-Fi influence still hardly attach.   

Why a sci-fi creator is interested to make horror movie? Perhaps what Mr. Abrams do is become the answer and prove as well that every human being…I mean anyone despite it ethnic, race, or religion… are aware of the existence of external life and force outside themselves…something that scared us but also interested because the more mysterious that thing, the more curious we are to found out.

So, I think it commons for horror fans to love Sci-Fi movie as well…you know, horror explore the existence and the mystery of supernatural world while Science-Fiction explores the mystery of life and the world in another galaxy or scientific nature. The two worlds that couldn’t translated perfectly by human beside something that we called faith.

It turn out that it’s not just J.J Abrams who made films from two different genres – it goes the other way around base on the reason I said before - because there are 8 movie creators who’s got the similarity as him :

1. STEVEN SPIELBERG

Everybody knows he’s the most imaginative man in the world. Producing and directing dozens of super cool sci-fi movie as Close Encounter of the Third Kind (1977), ET The Extra Terrestrial (1982), Inner Space (1987), Jurassic Park (1993), Minority Report (2002), War of the Worlds ( 2005), Super 8 (2011), he also master to make horror movie that no less awesome than the sci-fi and became some hits like Something Evil (1972), Jaws (1975), Poltergeist (1982), and Twilight Zone The Movie (1983).

2. SAM RAIMI

He was born in Michigan; October 23, 1959 and also directors who make sci-fi and horror movie. Mr. Raimi has many horror movie that well known in Indonesia like The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead 2 (1987), The Grudge (2004), Boogeyman (2005), The Grudge 2 (2006), The Possession (2007) , Boogeyman 2 (2008), Boogeyman 3 (2009), The Grudge 3 (2009), and Poltergeist (2015). While his sci-fi film, though not as many as the horror but also shown here, Dark Man (1990) and Time Cop (1994).

3. JOE DANTE

Born in New Jersey, November 28, 1946 Dante couldn’t passed his passionate in horror and sci-fi movies while his father who was a very famous golfer in mid 70-80 and tried so hard to influence him to follow his career as golfer. Eventually, Joe's career as a director spawned horror films such as The Howling (1981), Twilight Zone The Movie (1983), Burying The Ex (2014) while filming a science-fiction film such Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), The Warlords: Battle for The Galaxy (1998).

4. GUILLERMO DEL TORO

As a Mexican, Del Toro was deeply influenced by Spain urban legend where can be seen on The Devil's Backbone (2001), Pan's Labyrinth (2006), and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2010), but he had some passion in sci-fi world and the future world where human existence is threatened by monsters and how to overcome them by robot fighter in the Pacific Rim (2013)

5. JOHN CARPENTER

Known as the director and producer of sci-fi and horror at the age of 70-80, John Carpenter, who was born January 16, 1948 in New York has made a well-known science-fiction movie like Dark Star (1974), Escape From New York (1981) The Thing (1982), Starman (1984), Black Moon Rising (1986), Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1987), and Escape From L.A (1996) but he also had many horror film like Halloween (1978), Christine ( 1983), Prince of Darkness (1987), Village of the Damned (1994), and Halloween Resurrection (2002).

6. TERENCE FISHER

Raised by his grandmother in conservative Christian Scientists neighborhood in the UK made Fisher a very critical person. Various scientific articles devoured and explored which finally became cool classic horror film as The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958), The Mummy (1959), The Curse of The Wolves (1961), The Man Who Could Cheat Dead (1961), The Horror Of It All (1964) while his science-fiction movie as Spaceways (1953), Four Sided Triangle (1953), The Earth Dies Screaming (1964). Through science-fiction movie Fisher once nominated on Fisher Hugo Awards.

7. STANLEY KUBRICK

A great producer and director who have broad genre on his work, from drama to wars, you’ve just name it. Though he didn’t had as many horror or sci-fi film as the other in this list but Mr. Kubrick’s movie becomes legend of classic art such The Shining (1980), The Shining Forward and Backward (2011), and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

8. M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN

He started his career in the film industry since 1992, once nominated in Oscar and Golden Globe in 1999 for his creation, Sixth Sense and The Village for Oscar in 2004. His name is an image of horror and mystery after the release of horror films that brought world’s attention such as The Sixth Sense (1999), The Village (2004), Lady In The Water (2006), The Happening (2008), and The Devil (2011). On the other hand he’s also interested in the world of science-fiction that accomplished in The Sign (2002) and After Earth (2013).

So, I guess we don’t have to worry to expand our imagination, do we?