Now you may be asking yourself what The Terminator is doing as an entry in my incredibly sporadic horror movie trivia onslaught. You see, I make the argument that The Terminator is very much a slasher flick, very much like other 80s movies about a near-indestructible engine of destruction going on a rampage and racking up an impressive body count until one lone survivor, a lady, is left alone to fight it. The only difference is that instead of knifes and stabbing weapons, there are guns. Lots and lots of guns.

That, and it's the movie's 30th anniversary today, and it's one of my favorite movies, and I'm in charge here, so we're doing The Terminator. If you don't like it...

- The movie is based on a nightmare director James Cameron had in which a metal torso is crawling away from a fire with a fistful of kitchen knifes. He used this as the basis of a stylish slasher story, which he thought up to be in the same vein as John Carpenter's Halloween. See, I told you.

Cameron's agent thought his idea for the film wasn't worth pursuing. Cameron fired his agent.

- James Cameron was married to producer Gale Anne Hurd at the time. He sold her the rights to his story for $1.

- The original story involved two terminators getting sent back, one a cyborg and one a liquid metal shape-shifter. James Cameron realized that special effects at the time wouldn't come close to what he envisioned for the latter, so the idea of the two terminators was held off for any potential sequel.

- OJ Simpson was considered for the role of the Terminator, but James Cameron couldn't see him as a killer. Instead, he wanted actor Lance Henriksen to portray the Terminator, based on the fact that he looked normal, and the Terminator should blend in with a crowd like an infiltrator should.

Arnold Schwarzenegger became involved when Orion Pictures wanted him for the role of Kyle Reese. James Cameron absolutely hated the idea, so he schemed to distance Arnold from the project by picking a fight with him during their meeting. But they got along swimmingly, and Cameron was entertained by Arnold's ideas on how the Terminator should be portrayed. After seeing what Arnold's face looked like when he stood still and emotionless, Cameron was convinced the guy would make "a hell of a terminator," regardless of the fact that Arnold is probably the last guy who could blend into a crowd.

- Because of Arnold Schwarzenegger's casting, production had to wait while he shot Conan the Destroyer. In the meantime, James Cameron wrote Rambo: First Blood Part 2 and the best frigging movie ever made.

- The Terminator was brought to life by the late great Stan Winston. He would go on to help design and give life to the xenomorphs in Aliens, the Predator, Edward Scissorhands's hands, all the physical effects for the T-1000, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, the Iron Man suits, and many more of the your favorite special effects from the past thirty years or so.

- Sarah Connor is suppose to be 19 here.

- The producers wanted Kyle Reese to have a robot dog, and at one point it was suggested that the Terminator drink some alcohol and act silly like E.T.

- The laser sight on the Terminator's pistol required an external power source, so a battery was rigged up in Arnold Schwarzenegger's sleeve.

- Linda Hamilton spent most of the production with a sprained ankle.

- The movie originally ended with the tanker exploding, but James Cameron found this to not be hardcore enough. It was also written into the script that the Terminator gains a limp right before his skin gets burned off so it'd be easier to animate the endoskelton and make it look like it had the same range of motion as before it got toasted.

- Arnold Schwarzenegger trained with firearms for three months before shooting began, to the point that he was almost robotic in his movements. It paid off: the use of guns in this movie earned praise for being far more realistic than other action movies at the time.

- The Terminator glowing eye piece that Arnold Schwarzenegger had to wear later in the movie burned him whenever it was on.

- The set was tense most of the time. Arnold Schwarzenegger was not enjoying himself, almost every action scene took place at night, leading to a very to-the-minute production, and James Cameron was easily irritated by people who came to him with ideas he didn't like.

- Total body count of 28.

- The car chases were filmed at normal speed and sped up in post.

- Oh hai Bill Paxon.

- Brad Fidel's musical score was made to sound like the heartbeat of a mechanical man.

- The teaser trailer is narrated by Peter Cullen, aka Optimus Prime.

- Writer Harlan Ellison swore this movie was a rip off of an Outer Limits episode he wrote and proceeded to squeze some money from Orion Pictures, while James Cameron proceeded to call him, and I quote, "a parasite who can kiss [Cameron's] ass."

- If you haven't gathered by now, there is a very real chance you will be murdered by James Cameron.

-There's a reason Kyle Reese starts making pipe bombs out of nowhere. A deleted scene has Sarah Connor and Reese decide to destroy Cyberdyne Systems before it can unleash Skynet on the world, another idea held off for a potential sequel.

But what are the odds of that happening?!

- The Terminator is the only film character to appear both the American Film Institute's Top 50 Villains list and their Top 50 Heroes list.

- Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted the line changed to "I will be back" because it was easier for him to say in his accent. James Cameron refused, and, well, y'know...

http://youtu.be/-YEG9DgRHhA

Happy 30th Anniversary, The Terminator.

http://youtu.be/5C6GZQ7UNaU