Before the comics, the sequels and the movie crossovers, there was a simple little film called Predator (1987).
The idea for the film started off as a joke. It was something along the lines that Rocky Balboa had fought everything except an alien. Somebody thought it sounded like a good idea. John McTiernan directed the film. Before this he had only made the horror movie Nomads with Pierce Brosnan. It was a mediocre movie about an extinct tribe of evil spirits. After Predator McTiernan directed such films as Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October. And then his career went into the gutter.
The story starts off like a standard action film. A team of specialists are flown into the jungle to look for a downed chopper and rescue the survivors. Arnold Schwarzenegger leads the team with Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, Richard Chaves and Shane Black as the team of bad assess. It quickly becomes apparent that they are not alone and that something is amiss. It seems that a camouflaged alien is hunting them and the film quickly goes from action film to the old horror standby Ten Little Indians.
There is very few horror movies that take place during the daylight mostly because it’s hard to create suspense without any shadows. With the Predator running around in a digital camouflage that blends in with the trees, there is a lot of tension as people wonder where it is. Nothing like playing hide and seek in the daylight.
