History NightmareFuel / TheTerminator

** When the T-800 kills the first Sarah Connor, it pumps a few more bullets into her corpse. Think about that for a moment; [[FridgeHorror this thing is fully aware that its target might play dead in the hopes it would leave them alone and it's not taking any chances.]]

*** Except that throughout the film, the T-800 overall still passes off as a fully healthy human in spite of this, maintaining his muscularity and skin color...which means that its own flesh may not have been decaying. [[FridgeHorror Maybe it was somebody else's.]]

--> My take is that it was not being kind to tell the truck passenger to get out but was just being logical. It will have taken few more extra seconds to kill the passenger than just to utter a 'Get out', and time was of the prime essence to it at that point because its target (Sarah) was trying desperately to exit the crashed pickup. The Terminator just missed hitting Sarah and Kyle too, so perhaps saying that 'Get out' was still enough to just delay it.

** FridgeHorror kicks in when you realize that, even in the finished movie, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness due to the lack of a blue sphere that destroys what it comes in contact with]] and protects the time traveler from this exact fate, this could have easily happened to Kyle if he had spawned just a bit closer to just about anything else nearby, and Skynet would have easily won without anyone to protect Sarah because her would-be savior died in a freak accident.

-->'''T-800:''' ...'''''{{Get out}}.'''''

* The mere fact that the T-800 is seemingly unstoppable. True to Kyle's description, it looks like anything they do will NOT stop it. Shotgun blast that knocks it over? It takes a few seconds to get back up. Get it into a traffic wreck? It repairs itself and goes right back to the chase. Run it over with a truck, then blow the hell out of it? It stands back up, motors damaged beyond repair and flesh destroyed. Even blow off its entire lower body? The screen screeches with a deafening ScareChord as it reactivates to possibly the most nerve-shattering JumpScare in history, as it slithers over Kyle's corpse like a gleaming metal scorpion to strangle the life out of Sarah with what little remains of its shattered form.

* [[WhatCouldHaveBeen In the first script draft for the film]], Kyle wasn't the only human solider sent back in time, as another one named Sumner was sent in as well. Unfortunately for Sumner, he ends up materializing in a fire escape room ''fused'' with a fire hydrant, suffering a horrible and agonizing death in the process.

[[caption-width-right:350:'''{{GET OUT}}.''']]

'''Kyle:''' Hunter-Killers: patrol machines built in automated factories. Most of us were rounded up, put into camps for orderly disposal. ''[pulls up his right sleeve, exposing a mark]'' This is burned in by laser scan. Some of us were kept alive to work, loading bodies. The disposal units ran night and day. We were that close to going out forever.

** The way Kyle describes the BadFuture he came from, the recurring nightmares about that time how the RobotWar began, and the resultant damage shows that he clearly suffers from PTSD.
-->'''Sarah:''' Reese. Why me? Why does [the T-800] want me?\\

** Never mind Reese's [[VasquezAlwaysDies female Resistance cohort]] in the future battle scenes, who comes out of cover for a moment to fire back at the advancing Terminators and is [[NotEnoughToBury blasted apart by an energy weapon]].

** The Tech Noir shootout sequence contains one of the film's most easily overlooked moments of horror. The T-800 shoots at Sarah with a fully-automatic weapon and does not miss; the only reason Sarah survives is because an anonymous terrified clubber accidentally serves as her HumanShield.

** And even at the end, with the T-800 destroyed and Sarah victorious, [[DownerEnding there is no hope]]. We are left with the sudden realization that those nightmare visions glimpsed in Kyle's past ''are going to happen''. There's a storm coming. For all of us. Until T2 undoes everything.

* Of all the films in the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' series, this one feels like a genuine {{horror}} film. The Terminator's relentless attacks are made even more terrifying by the fact that the protector is just a man, not another Terminator. The movie starts with a strong SerialKiller vibe, and the entire thing is basically part SlasherMovie. One of the last scenes is the Terminator, now with its legs blown off, crawling towards Sarah in one last attempt to kill her. Even when being crushed, it makes a last-ditch effort to strangle her.

* Hell, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpMg1upld0w theme]] can inspire fear because there's something so primal about it. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK. ''Terminator 2'''s more famous and arguably more accessible theme is written in classic 6/8, but the original's is in 13/16, or 6/8 plus an additional 16th note. It's not immediately notceable at first hearing, but that extra tick in the rhythm creates an auditory uncanny valley sensation, a sense that there's just something "off."

** Arnold Schwarzenegger’s utter lack of expression is unsettling, particularly without the trademark sun glasses. It’s most notably shown when the T-800 starts parroting the thugs’ mocking comments of it without even shifting an eye to them. It wasn’t even talking to them, it was just assessing their mode of speech. They were never speaking to another human being and realized it too late when the Terminator ''did '' speak to them directly.
** Because the T-800 looks relatively human, even in its endoskeleton form, it's easy to forget what it really is: A computer. It's not a villain in the traditional sense, because it's just a weapon Skynet made. It kills because that is what it is supposed to do. There's no malice (no real malice, anyway), no sadism, no evil, nothing than what its master programmed it with. All it knows is that it is supposed to kill Sarah Connor and let no one stop it. It's fulfilling its programming, no more, no less.
*** The Terminator is indeed just a weapon, but a weapon driven by a cold, ruthless intelligence which kills because that is literally what it ''exists'' for. The saying goes that "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." The Terminator is a gun that kills people of its own volition.

** The Technoir shootout sequence contains one of the film's most easily overlooked moments of horror. The Terminator shoots Sarah with a fully-automatic weapon and does not miss; the only reason Sarah survives is because an anonymous terrified clubber accidentally serves as her human shield.
** When the Terminator kills the first Sarah Connor, it pumps a few more bullets into her corpse. Think about that for a moment; [[FridgeHorror This thing is fully aware that its target might play dead in the hopes it would leave them alone and it's not taking any chances.]]
* This was the movie that helped make James Cameron's career so it's likely that there was never a plan for the sequel even if James had ideas about how he'd like to continue the story which is why there is such a difference between this movie and the subsequent ones. The biggest difference is that the flesh shell of the Terminator was heavily implied to be temporary and something that could be applied to any T-800. Unlike later versions which had even more ArtisticLicenseBiology by having the flesh shell capable of regeneration even if only gradually, this version of the T-800 is more realistic in that the flesh covering degrades, dies, and decays over time as there isn't a system of organs, circulatory system, or fuel intake(eating food) that would allow the organic parts to survive long term or heal and rebuild. As the Terminator gains more injuries over the course of the film it goes from being indistinguishable from human to resembling an undead RevenantZombie. While the Terminator can slow this degeneration by applying some first aid, it's implied that eventually, the whole flesh covering will die and rot off. Some notable scenes conveying this effect:
** First, one hand isn't working right, so it placidly starts ''cutting its arm open'' to get at the endoskeleton beneath. We're thankfully spared the sight of it, but the close-up shots of bloodied implements as well as the ''sounds'' of flesh being cut and peeled all builds up to the sight of its arm opened, and the Terminator calmly reaching in to tinker with the pistons underneath controlling its finger movements. And the whirring noises of the pistons show the Terminator's robotic nature, as it was designed specifically to terminate by being disguised as a human. Even a minor injury like this won't prevent the machine from completing its preprogrammed objectives. Then, staring into a mirror, it confirms that one organic eye has been badly damaged by the car crash. So, mildly, it takes up a scalpel and ''[[EyeScream gouges the eye out]]'', dropping it into a sink full of blood-tainted water. We then get a [[SarcasmMode nice]] [[GrossUpCloseUp close-up]] of [[GlowingMechanicalEyes the hellish, burning-red cybernetic lens]] in the now-exposed socket. The Terminator looks itself over impassively, then [[SunglassesAtNight reaches for a set of sunglasses to cover it up]]. It almost seems to preen itself before judging the disguise acceptable, then grabs its shotgun and assault rifle, and heads off to the police station.
** After taking much more damage, the next day in the motel room it's using as a hide out, the Terminator has a very pale complexion, and there isn't any evidence of blood in its exposed eye, implying that due to the shootout and damage to the flesh covering, the organic parts bled out and now the whole thing is quickly dying, which is confirmed by the flies gathering on its face and the janitor of the building even commenting on the foul smell like a dead animal. It's horrifying to think about the fact that this machine is now walking around covered in rotting dead flesh. Not to mention the T800 is essentially on an accelerated deadline to kill Sarah, otherwise its skin disguise will rot off its endoskeleton, and the Terminator will stand out like a sore thumb anywhere it goes.
** The Terminator companion novel does give an explanation as to why the skin rots. The T800 has an organic heart in its chest cavity, the only real organ it has in its entire body, for the purpose of pumping blood into the skin. The novel explains that when Kyle fired all of those shotgun rounds dead center into the T800's chest they ruptured the heart, and thus blood was no longer being pumped into the skin. While later movies are presumably forgetting this was even a thing, it's possible that the T800 and T850 from T2 and T3 weren't given the chance to rot because they sacrificed themselves before it could happen.
*** Except that throughout the film, the Terminator overall still passes off as a fully healthy human in spite of this, maintaining his muscularity and skin color - which means that his own flesh may not have been decaying. [[FridgeHorror Maybe it was somebody else's.]]
* The police station rampage. It really drives home how unstoppable the T-800 is, especially when the police break out the big guns and still get mowed down like grass.
** Arguably the most chilling element of this is how strongly the destroyed police station resembles the massacred human bunker in the future, almost as if the Terminator were remaking the past in the image of its present in a sort of inverse of HistoryRepeats.
** Especially unsettling is how ''terrified'' the police are that nothing they do is killing the Terminator, and how quickly they fall into a panic when they see the futility of resisting. By the time it's over, nobody remains to stop the T-800.
** Someone took the time to place the T-1000 theme from [[Film/Terminator2 Terminator 2]] (itself an already disturbing theme) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2pnjIR_M1Y and synchronized it with the above mentions police station rampage]]. This makes it worse, as now a DroneOfDread permeates the scene, all while the T-800 continues to slaughter police officers that barely nick it.

--->'''Reese''': You still don't get do you!? ''He'll find her!'' [[SuperPersistentPredator THAT'S WHAT HE DOES! THAT'S]] '''''[[SuperPersistentPredator ALL]]''''' [[SuperPersistentPredator HE DOES!]] [[ImplacableMan YOU CAN'T STOP HIM! HE'LL WADE THROUGH YOU]], REACH DOWN HER THROAT, AND ''[[AndShowItToYou PULL HER FUCKING HEART OUT!]]''
*** You could tell in that moment as she's watching Kyle on the monitor going off directly at the surveillance camera, Sarah knew deep down that he was telling the truth.
* Before Sarah's dream in ''Judgment Day'' stole the spotlight as the reigning king of NightmareFuel in the ''Terminator'' series, the future war scenes fill that role. [[SceneryGorn These scenes featured a destroyed city-scape washed with blue moonlight, and massive tower-like tanks rolling over human skulls scattered around like debris]].
** Later on comes Kyle's flashback of a Terminator attack on a base of LaResistance. The door guards let a group of refugees into the shelter when, suddenly, one of them throws up his garments to reveal a massive gun. Before anyone can react, the cyborg opens fire on the soldiers, as well as on women, children, and guard dogs. Kyle attempts to fight back, but an explosion knocks him to the ground, sending his photograph of Sarah into the inferno. As he watches it burn, he gazes up to see the silhouette of the Terminator, [[RedEyesTakeWarning eyes burning fiendishly red]] as it continues methodically gunning people down.

* A very subtle detail occurs as the film progresses. Although the Terminator is not fully destroyed until the end, it takes moderate damage over the course of the film; its flesh coating is slowly injured, and its endoskeleton also receives minor damage. Slowly but surely, [[BodyHorror it accumulates a collection of injuries and scars that slowly deform it, making it look ever more menacing as time passes]]. It is especially noticeable at the climax, when it has been reduced to (half) a metal skeleton...[[ImplacableMan and yet still continues to pursue its prey]].
* And now the context behind the page image: After the Terminator is run over by a truck, he is left with a limp, optical damage, and even more flesh wounds. He then proceeds to incapacitate the driver, get into the truck...and slowly turns over to the passenger.
-->'''Terminator''': ...'''''{{Get out}}.'''''
-->'''Passenger''': ''[obliges, panicking]''
** And keep in mind: This is the kindest thing the Terminator has done in the film, apart from [[PetTheDog not killing dogs]].

** The HopeSpot also counts. Sarah and Kyle hug each other, believing that the T-800 is finally dead...and then in the background, ''it slowly rises from the debris''. It then looks at the two with probably the closest a SlasherSmile a skull could ever get, and thus resumes its hunt. And aside from its skin burning off and having a damaged hydraulic on the back of its calf, it's still fine. Repeat; the damn thing just had a ''gas tanker'' blow up in its face, and the only damage inflicted that means anything is a sprained ankle.

** The T-800's skeleton is also animated in stop motion that [[UncannyValley clashes with the rest of the film]].
*** Except for a single, over the shoulder shot of the T-800 where it appears to lose its jerky movements and almost looks ''real'', which is arguably ''worse'' than the stop motion.
* The mere fact that the Terminator is seemingly unstoppable. True to Kyle's description, it looks like anything they do will NOT stop it. Shotgun blast that knocks it over? It takes a few seconds to get back up. Get it into a traffic wreck? It repairs itself and goes right back to the chase. Run it over with a truck, then blow the hell out of it? It stands back up, motors damaged beyond repair and flesh destroyed. Even blow off its entire lower body? The screen screeches with a deafening ScareChord as it reactivates to possibly the most nerve shattering JumpScare in history, as it slithers over Kyle's corpse like a gleaming metal scorpion to strangle the life out of Sarah with what little remains of its shattered form.
* [[WhatCouldHaveBeen In the first script draft for the film]], Kyle wasn't the only human solider sent back in time, as another one named Sumner was sent in as well. Unfortunately for Sumner, he ends up materializing in a fire escape room and is ''fused'' with a fire hydrant, suffering a horrible and agonizing death in the process.
** {{Fridge Horror}} kicks in when you realize that, even in the finished movie, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness due to the lack of a blue sphere that destroys what it comes in contact with]] and protects the time traveler from this exact fate, this could have easily happened to Kyle if he had spawned just a bit closer to just about anything else nearby, and Skynet would have easily won without anyone to protect Sarah because her would-be savior died in a freak accident.
** And even at the end, with the Terminator destroyed and Sarah victorious, there is no hope. We are left with the sudden realisation that those nightmare visions glimpsed in Kyle's past ''are going to happen''. There's a storm coming. For all of us. Until T2 undoes everything.

* Hell, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpMg1upld0w theme]] can inspire fear because there's something so primal about it. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK. ''Terminator 2'''s more famous and arguably more accessible theme is written in classic 6/8, but the original's is in 13/16, or 6/8 plus an additional 16th note. It's not immediately notceable at first hearing, but that extra tick in the rhythm creates an auditory uncanny valley sensation, a sense that there's just something "off."

* Hell, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpMg1upld0w theme]] can inspire fear because there's something so primal about it. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK. CHNKCHNK CHNK CHNKCHNK.

** The HopeSpot also counts. Sarah and Kyle hug each other, believing that the T-800 is finally dead...and then in the background, ''it slowly rises from the debris''. It then looks at the two with probably the closest a SlasherSmile a skull could ever get, and thus resumes its hunt. And aside from its skin burning off and having a damaged hydraulic on the back of its calve, it's still fine. Repeat; the damn thing just had a ''gas tanker'' blow up in its face, and the only damage inflicted that means anything is a sprained ankle.

--->'''Reese''': You still don't get do you!? ''He'll find her!'' [[SuperPersistentPredator THAT'S WHAT HE DOES. THAT'S]] '''''[[SuperPersistentPredator ALL]]''''' [[SuperPersistentPredator HE DOES!]] [[ImplacableMan YOU CAN'T STOP HIM! HE'LL WADE THROUGH YOU]], REACH DOWN HER THROAT, AND ''[[AndShowItToYou PULL HER FUCKING HEART OUT!]]''

Behold, the very film that propelled Creator/JamesCameron to stardom, and the one that left millions terrified of homicidal robots and A.I. to this day. Fitting, as said movie was inspired by a nightmare of his.

** Someone took the time to place the T-1000 theme from Terminator 2 (itself an already disturbing theme) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2pnjIR_M1Y and synchronized it with the above mentions police station rampage]]. This makes it worse, as now a DroneOfDread permeates the scene, all while the T-800 continues to slaughter police officers that barely nick it.

** After taking much more damage, the next day in the motel room it's using as a hide out, the Terminator has a very pale complexion, and there isn't any evidence of blood in its exposed eye, implying that due to the shootout and damage to the flesh covering, the organic parts bled out and now the whole thing is quickly dying, which is confirmed by the flies gathering on its face and the janitor of the building even commenting on the foul smell like a dead animal. It's horrifying to think about the fact that this machine is now walking around covered in rotting dead flesh.
** The Terminator companion novel does give an explanation as to why the skin rots. The T800 has an organic heart in his chest cavity, the only real organ it has in its entire body, for the purpose of pumping blood into the skin. The novel explains that when Kyle fired all of those shotgun rounds dead center into the T800's chest it ruptured the heart, and thus blood was no longer being pumped into the skin. While later movies are presumably forgetting this was even a thing, it's possible that the T800 and T850 from T2 and T3 weren't given the chance to rot because they sacrificed themselves before it could happen.

[[caption-width-right:350:'''GET OUT.''']]

-->'''Terminator''': ...'''''Get out.'''''

* The fact that Reese is not even remotely joking, exaggerating, or lying when he says that a Terminator will never, ever, ''ever'', '''ever''', '''''ever''''', '''''EVER''''' stop trying to '''''kill''''' you. No matter how badly damaged it is, it will not falter. No matter how many times you escape, it will not give up. No matter how many times you put it down, it will not despair. From its activation to its total destruction, that thing is programmed to be your '''''death'''''.
-->'''Kyle:''' Now '''''listen'''''! And '''understand'''. That ''Terminator'' is ''out there''! It can't be ''bargained'' with, it can't be ''reasoned'' with. It doesn't feel ''pity'', or ''remorse'', or ''fear''! And it absolutely ''will not stop'', '''''ever''''', until you are '''''dead'''''!

** [[FridgeHorror Unless it wasn't his own flesh.]]

--->'''Reese''': You still don't get do you!? ''He'll find her!'' [[SuperPersistentPredator THAT'S WHAT HE DOES. THAT'S]] '''''[[SuperPersistentPredator ALL]]''''' [[[[SuperPersistentPredator HE DOES!]] [[ImplacableMan YOU CAN'T STOP HIM! HE'LL WADE THROUGH YOU]], REACH DOWN HER THROAT, AND ''[[AndShowItToYou PULL HER FUCKING HEART OUT!]]''