Sorry, don't have time to read all the posts regarding the "transmission", but I always assumed that since Susan became the Devil's son (at one point she does call him Father) and she wasn't the one emerging from the church in the transmission, so that had to be Satan himself, why the change at the end having Catherine as Satan? He has his own body, same as the one we saw in the transmissions up to that point, why would he need hers? Any help would be appreciated.
To me, it's like T3's Judgment Day, which was inevitable, hence the new transmission.
"He came home." - Dr. Sam Loomis from the original HalloweeN
Susan was the radiologist with glasses, the first one to become possessed by the green liquid. I think you are referring to Kelly, the one who took in all of the green liquid and became the Prince of Darkness who was trying to bring its father back into our own dimension.
Here is a theory I have always had about the ending, and one which I personally cling to. The earlier transmissions were indeed the devilish looking being emerging from the church wrapped in a dark cloak, the so-called anti-God himself. We glimpsed his hand during the final act at the mirror. This future was prevented when Catherine made the final sacrifice, pushing the possessed Kelly through the mirror and thus sealing off the Anti-God's one link to this world. Yet, now Brian has the dream again, only this time it is Catherine emerging from the church. Ask yourself this question...why is Brian having the dream when he is home asleep? Remember that the dream was always being received by those who were on close proximity to the vile of green liquid. The liquid is now gone, all banished to the dark side dimension. Why is Brian receiving the dream now?
Consider the idea that Brian...the Brian of the future...is the one who is sending the tachyon transmission backwards through time. He seems obsessed with the idea at the film's conclusion of finding a way to save Catherine. His dream within a dream also serves as a warning, though. When he wakes up, he turns and it is a decomposed monstrous looking Catherine laying there, a terrible omen that she is now a vessel for the Anti-God. Yet he would ignore this and focus on the idea that Catherine is still alive, as evidenced by the dream transmission. The transmission seemed aimed at the location of the church in an effort to warn people about future events surrounding the cannister of green liquid. With the future altered, the release of the Anti-God still seems to be something that is going to happen in 1999. One can assume that the entire time, the year that was coming through was 1999, though we only hear it completed at the end. In any case, the transmission is now targeted at Brian's house. Who would know to target Brian there except for future Brian himself? Perhaps he is trying to warn himself against continuing research in a vain effort to save Catherine, which will lead to the unwitting release of the Anti-God after all.
The Anti-God, in the dark dimension, now has Catherine in his clutches. It is conceivable that he would know everything that Catherine knew. Perhaps he decides to take on her appearance to encourage Brian to rescue her. Brian and his obsession with saving Catherine would be the Anti-God's only link to this world now. That is why the Anti-God would take on her appearance when leaving the church, knowing that the dreams are being sent back as a warning and knowing that said dream may influence Brian to use science to breach the dimension and open the portal. Remember, these aren't really supernatural beings or gods, but advanced and powerful alien beings that seem supernatural by our own simple human standards. What appears to be supernatural or magical is really just advanced science.
In essence, Brian is responsible for obsessing over Catherine and enabling the Anti-God to keep his scheduled return. That is by now means an official explanation, but merely my own interpretation.
- - - - - - - Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
The archive tome laid out by the extraterrestrial Christ and maintained by the Brotherhood Of Sleep still exists. Within those pages are the equations and details of how Satan was imprisoned and most likely how to open a portal to the anti-universe.
There's a point were the researchers are trying to decipher the ancient book. One of them says the mathematics inside is barely understandable - beyond what they comprehend.
How many Satanists; true believers would kill to possess that archive - to reveal to the world their Dark Master?
Where is the book now? We can assume that Prof. Birack has it under lock and key. But how many know what actually went down that night at the church?
An alternate answer to the final dream message is stop this. Brain did it once, he can do it again.
The Anti-God was trying to have physical form in our world, the possessed - now pregnant woman, Kelly. In the dash to save the world; we gave IT what it so desperately wanted... a flesh vessel; Catherine.
Why does She emerge from the same church? Maybe because the invokers thought it was dark holy place. This is where IT failed, this is where IT now becomes victorious.
Transmissions:
This is not a dream... not a dream. We are using your brain's electrical system as a receiver. We are unable to transmit through conscious neural interference. You are receiving this broadcast as a dream. We are transmitting from the year one, nine, nine, nine. You are receiving this broadcast in order to alter the events you are seeing. Our technology has not developed a transmitter strong enough to reach your conscious state of awareness, but this is not a dream. You are seeing what is actually occurring for the purpose of causality violation.
and later
Our technology is known to those with transmitters strong enough to reach your conscious state of awareness, but this is not a dream.
The Anti-God was trying to have physical form in our world, the possessed - now pregnant woman, Kelly. In the dash to save the world; we gave IT what it so desperately wanted... a flesh vessel; Catherine.
But it already was a flesh vessel as the arm is very real that is being pulled out of the mirror (I've always assumed that it was the arm from, or at least based on, the devil from the film Legend).
The anti-god is flesh but just happens to exist on the other side of the mirror. It only needed a flesh vessel in our world (possessed by it's son) to open the portal and physically pull it through.
It won't need to inhabit Catherine's form on either side of the mirror, just (I imagine) torture her remorselessly for foiling his evil plan.
Very interesting and sound theory you have here The Solar Sailor. I could see Brian like even the viewer being torn up and haunted by Catherine's fate and him thinking or trying to figure out a way to undo it which might help bring in the Anti-God in the end...
I guess we can't know much, definitively, from what we're shown...other than that John Carpenter has made our piss run cold with one of his most frighteningly ominous endings.
JC's sinister questions that still power the POD ending nearly thirty years later; still wringing fear from the unknown like gangbusters:
Is Brian's final vision a dream or another transmission?
If it's a transmission, is it still a warning? It sure as hell feels like one...
Is Catherine still Catherine...or is it merely her likeness?
If Catherine isn't Catherine anymore, what is she? The Anti-God? An unholy hybrid? Something worse? ...Probably why we have another warning from the year one-nine, nine-nine...
Is Brian's emotional connection to Catherine a liability? The Anti-God had the Prince of Darkness to help him cross over. Does Catherine's doppelganger have Brian?
Could Brian, somehow, reach through the mirror...into the darkness, as the final shot proposes?
With Carpenter, it's as bad as we fear, and probably worse.
Could Brian, somehow, reach through the mirror...into the darkness, as the final shot proposes?
No, I don't think so. If the scene continued instead of cutting away, I think it would have shown Brian touch the mirror and it react like a mirror. Nothing would happen. There is a science behind the seemingly magical ability to use a mirror as a portal into a realm of darkness. That is why I think this will motivate Brian to use his knowledge of physics in the coming years to work on accomplishing just that in an effort to save Catherine. I think the scene at the end is meant to show us that Brian will not give up on her, and I think it hints that he himself may be responsible for giving the Anti-God a second chance at escape. Just my opinion, anyhow.
- - - - - - - Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it? reply share
No, I don't think so. If the scene continued instead of cutting away, I think it would have shown Brian touch the mirror and it react like a mirror. Nothing would happen. There is a science behind the seemingly magical ability to use a mirror as a portal into a realm of darkness. That is why I think this will motivate Brian to use his knowledge of physics in the coming years to work on accomplishing just that in an effort to save Catherine. I think the scene at the end is meant to show us that Brian will not give up on her, and I think it hints that he himself may be responsible for giving the Anti-God a second chance at escape. Just my opinion, anyhow.
Good point, and I think that's right. Cutting when he does, Carpenter poses that question for the audience in a pretty urgent way. But it's framed kind of figuratively, and I agree that the actual circumstances for such an attempt would be somewhere down the road.
I like the unsettling irony that the warning is what could lead Brian's thinking in that direction; it's causal, not preventive. POD is suffused with dread and an air of futility that no matter what, the Anti-God comes a knockin' in accordance with the Quantum world that's "...not exactly what we had in mind."
And thinking back on how much time Carpenter spends establishing Brian's relationship with Catherine, it really does feel like he's suggesting how the road to Anti-God hell could be paved with Brian's best intentions.
I have not seen this movie since I was a teen. I don't remember much about it, but after reading these id love to catch it again! I love love love your last sentences.
My take is that the dream is brought about purely from Brian's guilt at the death of Catherine.
Evil has been defeated. Satan, and it's method of being pulled into our world - the green liquid, has been banished to the other side with no way or enabler to pull it back through.
Catherine's sacrifice has literally saved the world (from this particular horror that is) but Brian feels guilty that he couldn't save her and that her amazing sacrifice will go un-noticed and un-recognised, which is surely the cruellest fate.
I love the ending and the hint of ambiguity when he goes to touch the mirror but going on the logic and facts referenced within the film, there is no way that Catherine or Satan could make an appearance.
1- (Religion dominates) 'Father' was always coming just like 'revelations' prophesized, free will (Catherine sacrificing herself) though altered the future. Catherine is now 'Father'. it's a futile situation, as much as we wanted to believe it could be stopped. The future is set. Brian is connected to Catherine at the end because he was pretty smitten with her throughout the movie. So if she's trying to communicate wouldn't he use his religion (science) to save her?
Carpenter was researching physics and he thought it would be cool to merge science and religion for this movie. That equations could allow humans to understand the spiritual. The dreams could be humans from the future or a higher power. The priest is there throughout the movie and religion is just as important as science as a theme. The priest asks where God is. Maybe this is god working in mysterious ways.
2 - (Science dominates) they really do save the day, 'Father' is defeated and the world is safe. Brian is having the dreams because of guilt and grief. it's not an omen. I's just Brian trying to make sense of what he's witnessed the only way the mind can, breaking it down into rational safe science. Brian was one of the students that was saying "you seriously don't believe this crap".
The mirror symbolism is important because in physics you learn what mirrors are, how they are made up of matter and reflect light (science) or the soul (religion). In the movie they talk of matter (mirror - our world) and anti-matter( mirror realm). this is classic yin and yang - light/dark good/evil/ etc.
Carpenter leaves it ambiguous because religion wars with science, we all come down on a side and maybe that's the point. we'll believe based on our individual beliefs.