FRENCH FRIES and FULL MOON FEATURES part X: "Arcade" and McCain Spicy Straight Cut Fries

Between 1989 and 1993, Full Moon Entertainment managed to become synonymous with Science Fiction/Fantasy, Gothic Horror, Post Apocalyptic Action, and Small (literally) Creature Features. Added to the fact that most of these movies shared production teams and shooting locations, the company's output managed to generate a sustainable vibe that seemed to be common across its films; a Full Moon feel. 

Though in 1991, Albert Pyun directed a movie with a David S. Goyer screenplay (based on "an idea by Charles Band" of course), and an Alan Howarth music score, about teens being trapped in the virtual world of a video game. Apparently, that "virtual world" was too aesthetically similar to 1982's Tron, and Disney threatened to sue. So, after some time reworking the film's computer effects, Arcade didn't see a U.S. release until 1994. But by that point, the whole atmosphere of the film felt kinda fresh alongside stuff like Subspecies III and Puppet Master 4, and even watching it now, a warm Southern California setting with a story featuring a bunch of kids is a welcome departure from the castles and dungeons and wastelands that are populated with beasts and dolls. The story itself is very much like Tron and probably already a dozen other works of fiction by that point: some kinda haunted video game (actually, Virtual Reality game) is stealing the souls of anyone who plays and is trapping them in its CGI world, and it's up to Megan Ward and Peter Billingsly to do some detective work and then become VR warriors to save their friends from a cartoon environment. People generally savage this movie for the lame computer-simulated scenes, but that raises the question: Compared to what? What exactly were all the really good examples of fictitious virtual reality - particularly in the 1990s? Honestly, outside of the trappings of an intentionally artificial 3D background, the story is gripping enough that is surely all sounded better on the page; it looks and feels and plays out like a soft R-rated Are You Afraid of the Dark? or Goosebumps episode. That's a really fun place to be in.  

This is our fourth recorded experience with McCain fries, which isn't a shock; they're "the largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, with 1 in 4 french fries in the world being a McCain fry." But we found a way to make that exciting (sorta): these are their "New Flavor" Spicy Straight Cut Fries. However, it's really hard to believe that McCain has never employed this specific flavor to anything before; if you've ever had anything in the neighborhood of "seasoned fries" then you know exactly how these taste. Who knows, maybe they added an extra milligram of paprika or onion powder to justify the label, but we're pretty sure McCain has dabbled in the "spicy" realms before. And they're not bad - obviously they're great! We just don't appreciate the ruse. 

The Movie: B-

The Fries: A-