Year: 1984
Director: James Cameron
Summary: A cyborg (Schwarzenegger) is sent from the 21st century to present-day Los Angeles to assassinate a seemingly innocent women whose child will play an important part in the world from which the killer came.
Times Watched: About 10
My Experience: I had little interest in seeing this movie until a friend of mine convinced me to watch Terminator 2. Then I just had to watch the prequel. At first I was a little disappointed, used to the high energy of the sequel. But upon repeated viewings, I came to love the first movie as a horror flick. It’s darker, more subtle. Hamilton plays a pretty realistic heroine who uses only her desperation to try to survive and barely doing that given her limited acumen in cyborg killing. The soundtrack by Brad Fiedel is amazing, creepy while watching the movie, yet pleasant outside of it.
As a result of this movie I’m always a little nervous around a hydraulic press.
Death By Troggles 
Nailed it with your praise of the soundtrack. Brad Fiedel’s work is great (especially that totally awesome main title track).
The movie itself is great, as well, obviously. The ending scenes with the Terminator chasing her into the press never fail to entertain.
This film is seminal, to me. I’m so glad you went back and discovered it. I was lucky enough to see T2 in theatres in 1991. My Dad sat me down and had me watch this ’84 film beforehand. It remains one of the best things he’s ever done for me.
Nice review!
Thank you, sir.