31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN 2021!

Normally, I love to try and watch at least thirty-one new horror films during October in celebration of Halloween but October 2021 I was not able to do this as I was also watching a bunch of TV shows during the month as well (I actually enjoyed this more than catching up with the horror films that I had missed throughout the year).  So, I am a little disappointed that I was only able to watch about fifteen horror films during the month but some of these films were the very best I’d seen all year.

 

I’d like to first take a look back to some of the older films I viewed during the month.  The only film I had already seen was The Wraith (1986) which was one of my favorite films of the ’80s and which still holds up extremely well today.  I still love this film!  I also (finally) got around to watching Buried Alive II (1997).  I had already watched the first film earlier in the year.  These were films I just never got around to.  I also watched Nightflyers (1987), The Ladies Club (1986), and Deadly Games (1982).  I generally hated the recent TV series of Nightflyers and this ‘80s film was just a derivative but at least it wasn’t drawn out like the series.  I just did not like the story which is based on a sci-fi novella by G.R.R. Martin.  It did star Catherine Mary Stewart which is the only plus in my opinion.  Deadly Games was completely forgettable and derivative of other ‘80s horror films but it was The Ladies Club which was the big surprise.  The Ladies Club, which is more a thriller, was actually better than I expected as it is a smart and provocative thriller whose themes of rape and abuse are still relevant today for women.

 

The oldest film that I happened to view is the 1976 film Schizo from director Pete Walker, one of the directors whose films I was watching in October and November.  This happened to be the only horror film of his that I ended up viewing as I was catching up with his sex comedies (which he also did a lot of).  Walker is one of those unusual directors whose filmography is mostly horror films and sex comedies – two genres on opposite sides of the spectrum.  I love his style of film-making and this is just as good as other films in his filmography.

 

I caught up with some more recent horror films Voice From the Stone (2017), Gwen (2018), Downrange (2017), Still/Born (2018), and Superdeep (2020).  Voice From the Stone was a pretty average film but it was Emilia Clarke that was the true standout and made it worthwhile whereas Downrange had a pretty basic plot that was made better by the cinematography and suspense as it was a non-stop film in the tradition of thrillers like Joy Ride (2001), Duel (1971), and Breakdown (1997).  Gwen was another mediocre film but it had a lot of atmosphere and strong performances for a slow burn folk film.  Still/Born wasn’t much better as I ended up with a lot of ambitious horror films that had a lot of atmosphere and great cinematography but were not always all that good.  On the other hand, Superdeep was a fun and entertaining Lovecraftian horror film that took a lot of its inspiration from John Carpenter’s The Thing.  Although not a great film it was entertaining and engaging.

 

I do want to take a few moments to make comment about the lost George A. Romero film The Amusement Park (2021) which audiences finally get to see.  This is not entirely a horror film but it is a mindfuck of a film that more a David Lynch film in the tradition of Romero’s early films Season of the Witch (1972) and There’s Always Vanilla (1971).  If you’re a fan of these early films then this film will be a great treat but if you’re not familiar with Romero’s less popular films then this film may leave you wanting more. 

 

The last group of films that I want to include is one of the best horror trilogies put out in a long time and they were released weekly via Netflix.  Fear Street Part 1: 1994 (2021), Fear Street Part 2: 1978 (2021), and Fear Street Part 3: 1666 (2021). Utilizing the same cast members in various roles, the films do an amazing job of linking multiple characters and timelines in a story that’s both entertaining, suspenseful, and at times horrifying.  I was never bored and watched all three in a single day.  The performances from the young cast are exceptionally well done as are all other production elements.  These films are some of the best horror films released in ’21.

 

I did catch up with two TV series this month – Black Summer (Season 2) and Holliston (Season 2).  Black Summer has some amazing production value and the winter setting was a great touch but the show is just too fragmented due to the frequent cutting back and forth between so many characters and so many stories.  The best episodes were character episodes where there were just a handful of characters.  This show has the same problem that The Walking Dead has where the character episodes are better than most other episodes in general.  The show also suffers from characters who repeatedly make dumb decisions and most of the characters are not likable or even interesting.  Holliston, on the other hand, was a vast improvement over the first season as you can tell that the writers finally knew how to tell the stories (and jokes) that best fit the actors.  This was a strong second season and I wished that the show had been able to do a third.

 

This is all for my viewing habits for October 2021!  Not as many as I would have liked and I saw a lot of mediocre films but watching horror films during October is never a bad thing!  Can’t wait until October 2022!

Film Review: BLOOD VESSEL (2019)

A group of survivors on a lifeboat think that they’ve found salvation on the open sea when a large ship comes into view at the beginning of Blood Vessel (2019).  The lifeboat is filled with a mixture of characters including the Captain Malone (Robert Taylor) who managed to help save as many as he could from his ship’s disaster.  When they come across a German boat they think it is salvation despite the fear that the Germans may kill them instead of holding them as prisoners of war during WWII.  But when they get on the deck of the ship they realize that ship is a ghost ship and there is no one around.

 

It’s not long before they discover a young girl hiding and a German soldier who would rather shoot the girl first and ask questions later.  The language barrios between everyone is also a problem and when some of their group are suddenly killed by the German who wants to kill the girl, the group discovers that there are more secrets to behold on the ship and that they have no idea what they have stepped into.

 

Soon, the group discovers too late that the German ship’s precision cargo were coffins containing sleeping vampires and that the girl is just one of their biggest problems.  Now the group must find a way off the ship before they all become victims of one of the greatest dangers they’ve ever faced separate from Hitler’s army.

 

Written by Jordan Prosser and Justin Dix (who also directors) the film borrows a lot from Death Ship (1980) and John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) while has the atmosphere of Virus (1999) and Ghost Ship (2002).  There are also some nods to Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the plight of the crew on the Demeter ship.  The film is extremely well made but borrows so much from other films that it’s hard to see if it has any original ideas of its own.  This is not necessarily a bad thing as it is quite entertaining and the horror aspects and gore are very effective so the film never comes off as boring.

RANTS & RAVINGS ABOUT HORROR - “HALLOWEEN and a New Legacy of Horror”

“HALLOWEEN and a New Legacy of Horror”

Master of Horror John Carpenter returns to the franchise that made him an International celebrity with the release of HALLOWEEN (2018) but instead of writing and & directing this latest sequel he is an Executive Producer and provides the score (with his new collaborators Cody Carpenter and Daniel A. Davies).  There is this idea that there is a need or “want” by audiences that the franchise needs to go “old school” and back to basics so returning with Carpenter is star Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle (as Laurie Strode and The Shape, respectfully).  Helping to get back to this old school vibe are Danny McBride, Jeff Fradley, and David Gordon Green as the screenwriters and Green who directs.  Green made a name for himself with his debut feature George Washington (2000) but is better known for his comedies Pineapple Express (2008), Your Highness (2011), and The Sitter (2011); he soon moved on to the more interesting films Joe (2013), Our Brand is Crisis (2015), and Stronger (2017).  McBride is more known for Eastbound & Down but has shown his horror film creed with Alien: Covenant (2017).

I only mention McBride and Green as they are the key people responsible for putting this film together along with uber producer Jason Blum who came aboard to shepherd the film in a direction for a new era and audience (along with producers Malek Akkad and Bill Block).  As much as I want to say I love the idea of film-makers, in hindsight, claiming that some films/sequels/remakes/re-imaginings/etc. stray too far from the source material, there is no denying that a lot of time has passed from the Carpenter ’78 Original to the more recent Rob Zombie directed Halloween II (2009) and audiences from the ‘70s are completely different from those of the ‘00s.  Blum and company claim that there was a need to return to that ‘70s mentality of horror film that they believe audiences want instead of the more current crop of darker horror film that has a lot of gore and relies less on suspense and subtly.  Franchise films like Insidious, The Purge, Final Destination, Hostel, Saw, and Sinister have replaced the slasher films of the ‘80s and ‘90s which have continuously upped the ante on horror and gore and become huge Box Office draws.  Smaller and sometimes more critically adored films like It Follows, The Babadook, and Oculus have been critical darlings that relied more on atmosphere and mood (and less on gore) have rarely been huge Box Office draws leaving the impression that the more low-key style horror films no longer have a place with mainstream audiences.

So, how do you craft a remake/re-imagining of a beloved classic film that retains the atmosphere of the original while also appealing to modern day audiences who flocked to see the remake of Stephen King’s It (2017) and not the remake of Poltergeist (2015)?  That was the goal of the film-makers behind the ’18 Halloween.   Bringing Carpenter, Curtis, and Castle back was a great marketing gimmick to start but would the resultant film be what audiences really wanted?

Rob Zombie’s very divisive two Halloween films ’07 and ’09 was a means to ground the franchise in a “Zombie-colored” real world in which The Shape was less a Boogieman and more a human being by the name of Michael Myers, a misunderstood and abused child from a broken family that becomes a relentless serial killer.  Gone is the mystique of Carpenter’s faceless killer that was given no meaning or method to his madness; Zombie wanted to present a killer you could understand and empathize with just as much as the heroine Laurie Strode (played in his films by Scout Taylor-Compton).  The ‘00s was a time in which the faceless serial killer was passé replaced by the Dexter Morgan and Hannibal Lectors.  Zombie’s films were loathed by some but cherished by others due to his style and his need to create a Michael Myers who wasn’t simply “evil” by nature but was raised that way.  These films went against everything from the previous seven sequels but then again this wasn’t the first time the franchise was rebooted.

After a less than satisfying part V: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) and part 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) the franchise was again rebooted to dismiss all sequels except for Part II.  For Halloween: H20 (1998), Curtis returns to reboot the franchise in one of the most satisfying of all the sequels in which Laurie Strode has changed her name to hide away from her past.  This film was extremely well liked by both fans and critics as it presented a more three-dimensional heroine than had ever been presented in a Halloween film while also appealing to modern audiences with slick visuals and a young and attractive cast with seasoned professionals and comic wit.  These achievements were short lived as Part VII: Resurrection (2002) became one of the most hated sequels in the franchise. 

After the dismal reception of the non-Michael Myers starring Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1983), gears were shifted to bring Myers and Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) back from their fiery deaths in Part II (1981) for Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers (1988).

This all being said, the Halloween franchise as a whole was rebooted three times before McBride & Green, Carpenter & Curtis & Castle, and Blum decided it was time to once again break the mold and revisit the iconic franchise by making a sequel that directly takes place after the original film and ignoring all of the past 40 years’ worth of continuity and story.  This new story had to appeal to fans of the franchise who had seen all the previous films (or at least some of them) in addition to those who had never seen a Halloween film.   Laurie Strode is a woman suffering from PTSD after the events in the ’78 Original film and been preparing for The Shape’s escape from a mental institution for forty years.  She has a daughter whom she has alienated and a grand-daughter who barely knows her, and her world comes crashing down upon her when a bus carrying The Shape and other mental patients crashes releasing The Shape to menace Haddonfield once again.

I will try not to reveal to many details of the film for those who have not seen the film but despite being a well-done slasher film there is nothing remarkably new or intriguing in this latest sequel that takes the best bits of all the sequels and mashes then together in this “best of” film.  Curtis does her very best to keep the film together but Dr. Sartain (Haluk Bilginer) is no Dr. Loomis and Will Patton is slumming as Officer Hawkins, who is trying to capture The Shape once he realizes that he has a serial killer in his town.    The bumbling cops from the abysmal Part V seem to still be working in Haddonfield now in this new film where there is an extended scene of cop banter that is completely out of place.   There is a child that believes in the Boogieman and a babysitter, but their scenes are so short and haphazard that you wonder the logic of why they are even in the film other than to have an homage to the ’78 Original and Part IV.  Curtis’ character pulls a lot from H20 and there are several nods to that film but there are a few details about the ’18 film that just had me feeling empty about the entire film.

H20 already presented Laurie Strode as a woman with PTSD but one that for the most part has moved on with her life unlike the ’18 film which presents her as a survivalist with a fortified home and a menagerie of guns.  Unfortunately, for the forty years of preparing for the eventual arrival of Michael Myers she’s a horrible shot and she never logically responds to the presence of Myers like you think someone who is obsessed with killing him would be.  She acts and reacts more for plot than logic.  Strode’s daughter Karen and granddaughter Alysson (Judy Greer and Andi Matichak, respectfully) are the best story point of the entire film that is squandered in clichés and bad memories of The Curse of Michael Myers.  I love the fact that this film wanted to present three generations of women effected by the trauma of Myers but there are too many bad decisions and character points that just seem to be there for plot rather than character.  Some of these same relationship issues were developed in Part VI and the Strode family in that film.  The ’18 film had a great opportunity to present three great women characters from different generations, but they ended up coming across as cyphers for Laurie’s familial problems rather than genuine character moments.

My next fault with the film, and this is a big one, is the presentation of Myers.  From the trailer and the vocal aspirations of the film-makers you’d be in the belief that the idea of this film is to go back to the basics of Carpenter’s film regarding how Myers was presented as a Boogieman/The Shape.  Instead, this film rehashes the brutality of the Zombie films without the since of fun or style.  Myers kills everything in his path with complete disregard and it is only by happenstance that he ultimately finds his way to Laurie’s fortified home in the final act.  It never seems like he has any purpose other than to kill-kill-kill which is unlike the ’78 Original or even Zombie’s film.  For gore fans there are plenty of deaths to add to Myers body-count but to fans of the suspense filled original it’s a bit of the same from previous films except less creative as there are many nods to deaths from previous sequels. 

There are various other faults I have with the film but the final element that I’ll discuss is simply that the film lacks any real suspense and when the characters are as hollow and uninteresting as presented her even the high body-count can’t masque what a mediocre film the final product actually is.  Now, I’m sure a lot of people will disagree with me especially considering that the film has grossed over $250 million worldwide on a $10 million production budget but I believe this is more serendipity than anything else due to the involvement of so many people from the ’78 Original.  

Now, to put this all in perspective, I must also add that I saw the far superior Suspiria (2018) the night before and the Korean language Rampant (2018) on the same day as I saw Halloween and both films were shining examples of character based horror films that had style and presented either creepy and unnerving atmosphere (Suspiria) and or action-suspense-zombie-demon horror (Rampant).  Both took clichés and standard horror conventions and presented them in new and surprising ways whereas Halloween ’18 presented the exact same thing that I’d seen before countless times.

I’ll concede that I may be a little biased since I didn’t think there needed to be another Halloween reboot especially with Curtis rebooting her own franchise, again, but the trailer did give me hope that the film would have at least been interesting having Carpenter, Curtis, and Castle involved but the only real thing of brilliance in the film is the musical score from Carpenter (and his collaborators).  The score wasn’t a retread of what came before but an evolution and attribute this to Carpenter and his team as he has found new life in his musical career having produced over the years the amazing Lost Themes I and II not to mention the Anthology album.  The music is the true highlight of the film!

Carpenter’s film career may have stalled after the release of The Ward (2010), which didn’t even get a large Theatrical release, but his music career has been nothing short of brilliant and I’m ecstatic that he’s producing better music now than he has in years.

Halloween ’18 is a monumental success story that has resurrected a fairly forgotten franchise (except for hard-core horror fans) for general audiences and there will definitely be another film which the customary result of many of producer Blum’s films has been (The Purge, Paranormal Activity, Sinister, Unfriended, etc.).  Even though I’m no fan of the film, I am more than happy to admit that the greatest result of the success of the film is that there is a renewed interest in everything “John Carpenter” and I hope that He becomes a new contributor to the expanding horror world of Blumehouse Productions as they continue to allow visionary film-makers to present their visions without studio interference which is the one thing we can all be thankful for.

RANTS & RAVINGS ABOUT HORROR - “The Films of Don Coscarelli – Creator of PHANTASM!”

There are many horror directors who have made a mark in the genre with a vast legacy of films like Wes Craven and John Carpenter and David Cronenberg.  Unlike those influential and profound directors, the there is a name that is just as profound but maybe a little less known which is that of writer/director Don Coscarelli.  Most audiences know him for either Phantasm (1979) or for his more recent cult favorite Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) but he is a director whose small catalog of films have been diverse in genre and subject matter.  

1976 saw the release of two of Coscarelli’s first features.  One, Jim, The World’s Greatest I still have yet to see.  It hasn’t been given a full DVD or Blu-ray release yet.  The most important thing to know is that Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm starred in this film and these would be two actors that Coscarelli would call upon time and time again.  The second was Kenny & Company, which is readily available and stars a young A. Michael Baldwin, who would later make up the triumvirate of stars to make the Phantasm franchise one of the most popular in horror history.  Kenny & Company is the story of two twelve year old’s days of enjoying life and growing up while learning some of life’s many lessons.  It’s a very well done coming of age story that shows Coscarelli’s strengths with a very young cast.

Three years later Coscarelli would unleash upon the world a nightmarish vision of a young boy whose world is turned upside down when death comes calling in the guise of boogeyman simply call The Tall Man. Phantasm was unlike anything audiences had seen before.  A nightmare that neither the characters nor audiences could wake up from.  The Tall Man, as played by Angus Scrimm, was a figure unlike Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees.  The Tall Man was inhuman and from possibly a different dimension and worst part about him is that he was unstoppable and unkillable no matter what you did to him.  Phantasm would catapult Coscarelli and take him into another world with his next film – The Beastmaster (1982).

The Beastmaster is not your typical follow-up to a successful indie horror film as it is an epic fantasy with a main character that can communicate with animals.  Having dealt with children in his previous two films Coscarelli decided to take on the next biggest hassle with film-makers which are animals and there are plenty of them in this film.  Television actor Marc Singer was tapped to star as Dar, the Beastmaster, which he would resume for two sequels and the television series (albeit a different character) which would be one of his most iconic characters next to that of his character in the television series “V” (the original mini-series and its sequel “The Final Battle” and the ongoing series).  Coscarelli got to work with an accomplished group of actors with Tanya Roberts, Rip Torn, and John Amos.  Although Coscarelli did not have a say in how this franchise would ultimately develop after he departed, he wouldn’t allow that to happen to his first major success therefore when given a major studio and budget provided by Universal he stepped back into the nightmare world of The Tall Man with Phantasm II (1988).

Phantasm II was a new nightmare as young Mike has now grown up and been obsessed with finding and destroying The Tall Man.  This time around Mike is played by the “studio approved” actor James Le Gros instead of A. Michael Baldwin who originated the role.  A different actor may have taken over for Mike but all the rest of the original cast (that are still alive) returns with a bunch of new faces to be terrorized.  This film was just as dark as the original but contains better make-up effects and more action.  This was less a moody horror film like the original but that didn’t diminish the film’s impact on audiences.  A franchise was born and The Tall Man would continue to haunt audiences’ nightmares for more films to come.

Coscarelli’s next film would be a film about survival and a more realistic nightmare in Survival Quest (1988).  Lance Henriksen leads a group of city slickers into the mountain wilderness at the same time as a military group with opposing ideals.  When one of the military group is killed they blame it on Henriksen’s group who is then forced to get his group to safety before they get killed one by one.  This is an adventure film of man against man and man against nature.  A very good film that shows that Coscarelli can navigate an adventure film alongside a horror film.  This is a film that was generally ignored by everyone despite some fine direction and performances.  It would also be Coscarelli’s final non-horror film as he would then focus only on horror films which generated his biggest successes.

After the dismal returns of both Survival Quest and Phantasm II (whose cult audience would continue to grow), Coscarelli would have trouble getting his next few films off the ground.  Fortunately, Phantasm would be the one property he could get money for albeit at a reduced budget.  Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994) would ultimately go straight to video but that would be a good thing as Coscarelli would have complete control of the franchise.  A. Michael Baldwin would return as Mike as well as Bill Thornbury as Jody, Mike’s older brother (who was absent in the previous film).  This film would bring back the entire original family from the first film and would be what fans were waiting for.  The Phantasm franchise has never been one easily understood as it asks more questions than it answers and that would not change with this film.  One added element to the franchise would be more humor.  Bannister’s character of Reggie usually carried most of the comedy in the previous films but it is spread across several supporting characters in this film as if Coscarelli was designing this film to be more fun and less horrifying (I mean by film three I doubt The Tall Man is as scary as he used to be).  There are new creatures in the film and Coscarelli reveals more of the world as the audience learns about everything as the characters do.  This film would do excellent business on video which would make getting the next film in the franchise off the ground a bit easier.

Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998) would see life straight to video four years after the previous film.  Although armed with an even smaller budget than the last film Coscarelli came up with a brilliant idea for the film which was to utilize unused footage from the original film.  He would splice this with a story that would reveal the true nature of The Tall Man in order for Mike to finally find a way to destroy him.  This film is not as exciting and action packed as previous films in the franchise but it does try hard to answer the big questions that audiences have had since the first film was released and it continues to world build.  Unfortunately, for fans at least, the film ends with even more questions than answers as if it was just a prelude to something bigger which is what Coscarelli always intended.  Oblivion was intended to be a bridge for an even larger film to end the franchise but as of yet that film hasn’t materialized (more on this later).

It would be another four years before Coscarelli next film which would be as far away from the Phantasm franchise as he could get with the mummy horror-comedy Bubba Ho-Tep, which would see an aging Elvis and “JFK” (Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis, respectfully) in a retirement home battling a mummy.  Based on a story by Joe R. Lansdale, Coscarelli would craft the second biggest film of his career.  In many circles this is considered his best film (especially by younger audiences).  This film just had the perfect cast (with Bannister appearing in a small role), script, make-up effects and monster and had the perfect balance of comedy and horror.  This is still one of my favorites of Coscarelli’s films as I’m sure it is too many.

It would take ten years before Coscarelli’s next feature film saw release in the form of another adaptation of another writer’s work.  In 2012, John Dies at the End would greet audiences with a different type of Coscarelli film.  Based on the book by James Wong, this film is a horror and sci-fi fantasy with all types of monsters, drugs, and different worlds thrown in.  It’s hard to describe the film without giving too much away and it’s a film to experience, just trust me.  It’s both funny and a grand adventure into the strange and weird and it is never predictable.

Coscarelli takes his time in between projects but that doesn’t mean he’s lying low.  In 2005 he directed another Joe R. Lansdale story “Incident on and Off a Mountain Road” for the television series Masters of Horror and most recently he wrote and produced what will be the final chapter in the Phantasm franchise – Phantasm: Ravager which is directed by David Hartman and should be released later this year.  He may best be known for the Phantasm franchise but his style and technique as a film-maker is the reason why so many people consider him a Master of Horror.

"Rants & Ravings About Horror" - Week 34: “Watching John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN on the Big Screen!”

Week 34: “Watching John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN on the Big Screen!”

October 29^th marks the return of John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) to the big screen curtesy of Fathom Events.  I previously was able to take advantage of Fathom Events special screening of Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) and Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989), so I jumped at the chance to see this film the way it was always meant to be seen.

I’m actually of the school of thought where most films should be experienced on the big screen.  I’ve seen both good (The Descent, Crimson Peak, The Babadook) and bad films (Phantoms, Jason X, The Return of Texas Chainsaw Massacre) but regardless of the quality of film I always enjoyed them better on the big screen than when I subsequently viewed them a second time on DVD or television.  Halloween has the distinction of being one of those films that if you hadn’t seen when it was originally released then you would love the opportunity to one day do so.  I jumped at the chance…as any horror fan would.

Halloween, for me, is one of the best slasher films that has ever been crafted and it would influence every subsequent slasher that would come after it.  Not only that, but it would burn the name “John Carpenter” into my subconscious because his name was above the title of the film as with most of his films.  Even today the film has an effect on audiences that is undeniable.

When I stepped into the theater the audience was about half way filled with others wanting to catch a glimpse of the film.  I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the audience was filled with fans who had never seen the film on the film screen like me.  So, in a sense, we were all having a communal experience not seen since ’78 when the film was originally released.  I actually had goose bumps when I realized that I was about to finally experience one of my favorite horror films as if was the very first time.

Halloween was special to the horror genre.  It was a raw and uncompromising look at pure evil as personified by Michael Myers and hunted down by the altruistic yet jaded Dr. Sam Loomis.  Innocence and purity was personified by Laurie Strode who had to overcome pure evil in a night that belonged to the Boogeyman.  Most other slasher films relied on gore and a body count whereas there is very little gore and a low body count in this film (unlike subsequent sequels).  Carpenter’s film relies on mood, atmosphere and most importantly suspense, which is the saving grace of the film and why it still endured to this day.

Watching the film on the big screen the suspense is still there.  The mood is still there.  And the atmosphere couldn’t be more terrifying.  At ninety-one minutes the film is fast and effective still after all these years.  If the film wasn’t enough the night opened with a brief interview with Carpenter himself and a history of the film.  It’s great to hear him speak about his film over thirty years later.

Overall, Halloween is still a great film and watching it on the big screen has made the highlight of my theatrical viewing experience of 2015 as I hope it has for everyone else who was able to see this film for the first time or once again.

"Rants & Ravings About Horror" - Week 33: “The Horror Films of John Carpenter”

Week 33: “The Horror Films of John Carpenter”

John Carpenter is a name synonymous with horror.  There is not a horror fan out there that doesn’t know this name and the importance that he has had on the genre and on generations that have grown up watching his films.  It has been a while since Carpenter has released a new film (2010’s The Ward) so what better time to look back at the horrors he has concocted than Halloween where I’m sure many people sit down to enjoy one of his finest films which is the original Halloween (1978).

Growing up Halloween was one of my favorite and most influential horror films.  I was not only a Halloween fan but a Michael Myers fan as well.  This film is the reason why I love slasher films so much.  Myers is the iconic slasher whose life has gone through some amazing changes due to the talented hands that have crafted the stories and films throughout the years.  Carpenter was the first to impress audiences upon his idea of what the Boogeyman was and for many it endures to this day.  Michael Myers is the “real” Boogeyman and that is because Carpenter made him so.

In 1980 he would unleash his next major horror film which is The Fog.  Now, this is one of Carpenter’s creepiest films because it’s all about mood and atmosphere and what you don’t see rather than what you do see since everything is shrouded in the mist and fog.  This was also more terrifying for me because I identified with the young child being chased by the fog (since I was so young when I first saw the film).  This film is suspenseful and terrifying from beginning to end as audiences are placed in the tropes of a ghost story that the characters are trapped in.  I still love this movie today but for different reasons as I now know all the actors by name and love watching them crew the scenery as only they can in a Carpenter film.  Who doesn’t love watching Jamie Lee Curtis, Adrienne Barbeau, Janet Leigh, Tom Atkins, Charles Cyphers, John Houseman, and Hal Holbrook, to name a few.  This is one of the best movies of the ‘80s. 

As much as I love the previous two films Carpenter’s most realized and affecting film is ‘82’s The Thing.  This is a dark and unforgiving film that is claustrophobic yet provides one of the best ensemble casts of any of Carpenter’s films.  There is not a flaw in this film unless you think the film is too violent and too depressing which it is but that is the beauty of the film.  It is bleak and a socially conscious powder keg of a film where no one can trust their friends not themselves.  This is my favorite Carpenter film.  He was never at the top of his game as much as when he crafted this film.  With the exception of the musical score, this is pure Carpenter.  If there is one film that I tell people to see above all other Carpenter films this is it.

In ’83 Carpenter would put his own spin on a Stephen King novel with his adaptation on Christine.  This is a fun and entertaining film but was never one of my favorites.  Until I was able to fully appreciate Carpenter’s entire career, this was the film (growing up) that I always forgot he directed.  The style and execution of this film is pure Carpenter but I always thought that this film was one that could’ve been directed by anyone and it still would have been effective.  The most important aspect of this film for me is the soundtrack with the excellent choice of music (which I believe has more to do with inspirations from King’s novel but since I haven’t read this novel yet I can’t be 100 percent).  I actually haven’t seen this film in quite some time because when I’m in a Carpenter mood, this is never the film that I pull out but in terms of films based on King’s novels this is one of my favorites.

1987 saw the release of another one of my all-time favorite Carpenter films which is Prince of Darkness.  By the time ’87 came around I knew the name “John Carpenter” because his name was always above the title of the film.  This film about the resurrection of Satan by way science is one of the smartest horror films ever crafted which is both moody and atmospheric as well as suspenseful and terrifying.  Carpenter is working on all cylinders here as he captures the tone and mood of dread of his original Halloween while also capturing the comedy of Big Trouble in Little China and the science and dread of The Thing while continuing to be technically above many of his contemporaries.  The cinematography in this film is magic as is musical score.  This is not nearly as disturbing as The Thing which has turned people away but not simply seen as a “simple” slasher film like Halloween either so this film inhabits a strange place on Carpenter’s resume.

In ’94 my “guilty pleasure” Carpenter film is released which is In The Mouth of Madness.  I think with this film Carpenter is having a lot of fun and everything is on board with him.  This film has the perfect mix of established and character actors with Sam Neill, Jurgen Prochnow, Julie Carmen, David Warner, John Glover, Bernie Casey, Frances Bay and Charlton Heston.  This is a cast that shouldn’t work but does.  Despite the controversy of the film’s monsters and violence being cut, the film actually works better for not showing the monsters in full glory (like those seen in The Thing).  I think that showing the monsters would have destroyed the integrity of the story being told which is about a man going mad due to what he sees or what he thinks he sees.  This also happened to be the very first Carpenter film I ever saw on the big screen so it holds a special place for me.

Vampires was released in ’98.  This is a film I really had high hopes for because James Woods was the star (which I’ve always thought is one of the best actors of his generation).  Unfortunately, after a really stellar first half of the film it soon falls apart the moment Wood’s team of vampire hunters are all massacred.  It becomes a less interesting film from then on despite Woods doing his best to hold it all together.  That and the fact that I’ve never been a big fan of vampire films put this on the bottom of my list of favorite Carpenter films.  Surprisingly, I do believe that this is one of the few Carpenter films that I believe would work better as a television series where the story could be opened up (as long as all the violence is kept intact).

Carpenter’s most recent horror film The Ward is held less together by Carpenter’s talents and more by the performance of Amber Heard who holds the film together.  It is a slow burning psychological film which is contrary to most of his previous films unless you look back at The Fog which it has a lot in common with in terms of mood and atmosphere.  I enjoy this film and recognize that it’s not one of his strongest horror films but it is effective for the story it is trying to tell.

Carpenter has had a long and illustrious career and has provided generations with countless nightmares and for this his films and his name will endure.  I grew up watching (and re-watching) his films and will continue to do so as I pass off my love of his films to new audiences.