A24's John Carpenter Meets The Terminator Horror Movie Completes A Secret Halloween Trilogy
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A24's latest thriller is best described as John Carpenter's The Terminator, and is part of a secret movie trilogy that's ideal for a Halloween binge-watch. A24 is known for critically acclaimed psychological thrillers and horror movies like Hereditary or Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). Thus, it came as quite a secret when the trailer for Adam Wingard's Onslaught dropped, which promised audiences a pulpy, throwback B-movie.
It looked like a mash-up of everything from Universal Soldier to most of John Carpenter's movie CV - in short, it looked awesome. Still, A24 received mild backlash for producing such a project, with critics feeling a straightforward action-horror film was somewhat beneath them. Onslaught received mostly positive reviews, but proved a box-office failure, grossing less than $4 million on an estimated $15 million production budget (via Box Office Mojo).
It feels like this Adam Wingard movie was designed from the start as a cult item, alongside his other horror offerings like You're Next and The Guest. In fact, Wingard has confirmed that Onslaught is set in the same world as those two movies, which form a stealth trilogy that is perfect for a Halloween binge.
Onslaught Is The Final Part Of Adam Wingard's Secret Halloween Trilogy
The links between the three films aren't overt, and there are no connecting characters or plotlines. While Dan Stevens appears in both The Guest (playing the titular role, in fact) and Onslaught, he is playing two very distinct characters. In The Guest, Stevens plays David, an experimental supersoldier who escapes from containment and hides out in a small desert town. In Onslaught, he plays a German scientist named Hans Kammler, who creates a trio of "perfect" assassins who, surprise surprise, escape containment and go on a rampage.
Kammler also puts the "K" in KPG, the defense contractor responsible for the experiments that created David. KPG was first mentioned back in You're Next, linking all three of Wingard's horror actioners together. The final major connection is that both The Guest and Onslaught are set in the same town: Moriarty, New Mexico.
The plot of Onslaught bears a vague resemblance to an unproduced John Carpenter movie called Shadow Company, about a squad of resurrected Vietnam soldiers who declare war on a small town.
Both of those films also take place around Halloween, and while You're Next doesn't, it has become an honorary Halloween mainstay for horror fans regardless. All three outings are around 90 minutes in length too, so they make for a nice, digestible binge during the spooky season. You're Next would be the most straightforward in terms of being a slasher, but they've all got a strong horror vibe and they are all very much indebted to the works of John Carpenter.
A Fourth Entry In Adam Wingard's Series Is Still Possible
While Onslaught's credits scene isn't necessarily setting up a sequel, it is teasing that Wingard has more stories to tell in that universe. Namely, devotees of the original are holding out hope for The Guest 2 to happen. While the first film wasn't much of a hit, it has attracted a sizable cult, while Stevens and co-star Maika Monroe (It Follows) have only gotten more bankable since 2014.
As an April Fool's gag in 2022, Wingard even released an original soundtrack for The Guest 2 - despite the fact that no such movie exists yet. The tracks and artwork for this imaginary sequel suggest David and Monroe's Anna would go up against a cult of some kind, though it's unknown if this would be the actual plot if a sequel ever happened.
Whether it's a direct sequel to one of the KPG trilogy (for lack of a better term), or another spiritual sequel that takes place in the same universe, it feels like Wingard will return to that world someday. That said, Onslaught's lack of success means it could be a few years, or another decade, before that happens.
It will be interesting to see what the director does in the aftermath, as he wrote and directed his 2026 actioner as a response to years of working on big franchises like the Godzilla vs Kong duology. Since pulpy B-movies are where his heart seems to lie, hopefully Wingard's next project is closer in spirit to Onslaught.
Source: Box Office Mojo
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An Army sniper is forced back into combat when a rogue squad of genetically engineered super soldiers escapes into the desert.
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The Guest
- Release Date
- September 5, 2014
- Runtime
- 100 minutes
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Dan Stevens
"David"
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Anna
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Brendan Meyer
Luke Peterson
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Sheila Kelley
Laura Peterson
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When Erin accompanies her boyfriend Crispin to his estranged family's reunion, things quickly turn horrific when she and the other family members are attacked one by one, in brutal fashion, by assailants wearing the masks of a lamb, a fox, and a tiger.
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