John Carpenter Film & Music Reviews

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Lisa Blount, Victor Wong, Dirk Blocker, Jameson Parker.

Directed by John Carpenter

Written by John Carpenter

Music by John Carpenter

StudioCanal

November 2018

When the last guardian of the forgotten sect, The Brotherhood of Sleep (a religious organisation kept secret even from the Vatican), dies he leaves a key to a Catholic priest (Pleasence). The key opens a door into the basement of an abandoned church. Inside is a large canister which appears to contain a green sludge. The priest asks a college professor of theoretic physics (Wong) to investigate, and he agrees, taking along a handful of his students. They discover, via an old manuscript, that the canister is seven million years old and can only be opened from the inside. The substance it holds is the essence of pure evil - Satan itself, if you like. As the students attempt to study it, the sky begins to change, and hordes of mysteriously psychotic homeless people surround the building, making it a prison. The green substance begins to spread its contagion by spraying in the face of its victims - while the survivors try to barricade themselves in a room - preparatory to bringing through Satan's father, the Anti-God...

Having paid tribute to Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock in previous movies, John Carpenter wanted to do the same with Nigel Kneale, who had always impressed the young director with his solid and believable combinations of science fact and fiction, physics, horror and the supernatural. Consequentially, Carpenter wrote the script for Prince of Darkness under the honorary pseudonym of Martin Quatermass.

The part of the priest was offered to Donald Pleasence, who was glad to accept, having openly told the press in recent years that Carpenter was his favourite director. The professor was played by Jason Wong who had enjoyed a prominent part in Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China. The leader of the homeless people was acted by none other than horror rock singer Alice Cooper, who also contributes a song that is heard playing through the headphones of a student.

The film can be enjoyed on two levels, but is essentially an intellectual exploration of the spatial universe. What actually is 'evil' and does it have a purpose? The spreading of the evil through bodily fluids is an obvious allegory to AIDS. Carpenter described it as the second film in his 'Apocalypse Trilogy' which incorporates The Thing (1982) and In the Mouth of Madness (1994) - though all three are standalone stories with no recurring characters.

Although the eighties was awash with horror films (most of them franchises or inferior copies), thereby losing this one somewhere in the middle, Prince of Darkness was well-received by the public and most Carpenter fans. A budget of only $3 million recouped $14.2 million at the box office, and no doubt all of the home format releases have increased this amount significantly. A small contingent saw this moment as the beginning of a slide in talent by the director, but I think those people simply saw this as students versus demon, missing the intelligently written script which explores anti-particles, tachyon transmissions, and differential equations - along with questions such as what is Man's place in the universe, and where does he fit in with science?

The important thing here is that Carpenter was making a film that he wanted to see - which is all any writer, director or artist of any kind can do. It is proof of his conviction in this regard to know that he turned down big-money directing jobs on Top Gun and Fatal Attraction.

When They Live and The Fog first appeared in the UK on these incredible StudioCanal 4K Collectors Editions, I received only a remastered DVD of Prince of Darkness for review. I was blown away by the stunning newly-upgraded picture quality which was so crisp and clean, and quickly availed myself of the 2-Disc Blu-ray version. The picture is so alive that I suspect I may have been watching previous versions through muddied spectacles. It’s such a treat to have these films from my favourite director of all time seen as they should be. Perhaps this will offer them more widespread mainstream appeal – although I’m selfishly guilty of wishing they remain our little secret. I didn't think it could get any better, but then the 4K Collector's Edition arrived in the same on-shelf format as the previous two.

There is newly-commissioned artwork by Matt Fergusovn, along with moving menus fashioned in the same style. There is a 4K format of the film, A Blu-ray version, a disc of extras and the complete John Carpenter soundtrack. If you’re a keen John Carpenter enthusiast like me you’ll want to know what extras there are.

There is Malevolent: John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness, the brand new retrospective documentary (the highlight of this disc), featuring interviews with Cinematographer Gary Kibbe, actor Peter Jason, Alice Cooper, Alan Howarth (Mr ‘in association with’ music man), Script Supervisor Sandy King, Visual Effects Supervisor Robert Grasmere, Stunt Coordinator Jeff Imada, Carpenter biographer John Muir, Film Historian C. Courtney Joyner, Music Historian Daniel Schweiger and Producer Larry Carpenters (there can be only one!); Sympathy For the Devil (a 2013 interview with John Carpenter); Horror’s Halloween Hallowed Grounds With Sean Clark (a tour of the film’s locations); An Intro by John Carpenter (from an interview in 2003 for a French DVD release); a Scene Analysis by John Carpenter (again, from the 2003 interview); Audio Commentary by John Carpenter (always an entertaining, light-hearted and informative listen) and Actor Peter Jason; a Photo Gallery (from both in front of and behind the camera); Theatrical Trailer; and Radio Spots. As inserts, there are large Photo Cards, a Film Poster featuring the striking new artwork, and a full colour glossy booklet - featuring a foreword by Kim Newman, The Production Story, Biographies, a John Carpenter Q & A, Original Background Notes, and a Fangoria Magazine feature.

Verdict: 10 out of 10

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2018 - Updated 2024)

Starring: Dan O'Bannon, Brian Narelle, Cal Kuniholm, Dre Pahich.   

Directed by John Carpenter

Produced by John Carpenter

Written by John Carpenter (with Dan O'Bannon)

Music & Sounds by John Carpenter

Fabulous Films

January 2012

Bombed out in space with a spaced-out bomb! Talby, Doolittle, Pinback and Boiler comprises the remaining crew of the Dark Star, a deep space craft which clears the way for human colonisation. The mission is to blow-up unstable planets with ‘smart bombs’, of which there are twenty. The men have been together for so long that they are unkempt and pretty much uncaring. Talby dreams of seeing the ultra-rare Phoenix Asteroid, Doolittle misses his surfboard, and Pinback is actually an imposter. When an asteroid storm causes damage to the automated systems, the intelligent Bomb 20 arms itself and begins a countdown to disaster. The answer might lie with Commander Powell, but Commander Powell is dead and in the cryogenic freezer after his seat mechanism exploded. Time is fast running out, but Powell’s memory isn’t what it was when he was alive...

In 2004 the 30th Anniversary Special Edition emerged, nicely packaged and presented on a single disc, but with very little extras. In February 2011, after a gap of seven years, an updated DVD version of Dark Star, called the Hyperdrive Edition, emerged. It was well overdue because it was by far the most definitive version. It was over two discs, and incorporated more than three hours of additional features. The film was sourced from a new 16 x 9 35mm transfer, with frame by frame digital restoration of the video master to vastly improve the resulting picture. The soundtrack was also digitally enhanced and restored to Dolby 5.1.

If it looks like I’m reviewing an old disc, it’s because, generally speaking, I am. This Blu-ray edition is on one disc rather than two, but aside from the brighter picture you would expect from this medium, the release is little different.

Let There Be Light: The Odyssey of Dark Star, is an almost 2-hour length documentary which explores the four year journey from conception to theatrical release. With John Carpenter’s main partner on this project, Dan O’Bannon, sadly no longer with us, you would expect there to be a lot of Carpenter material. Although the documentary is very thorough, the vast majority of the reminiscences and anecdotes are told by O’Bannon’s widow and Brian Narelle, who played Lt Doolittle. There are audio recordings from an old Carpenter interview, but there are no accompanying pictures of the man himself, and the recording is subtitled due to the sub-standard quality. Dark Star was first released in 1974, so I suppose like any old film it becomes increasingly difficult to find people to dig for recollections. Plus the fact that some people just don’t want to be reminded of their past.

The biggest disappointment, extras-wise, is that there is no audio commentary by John Carpenter to accompany the film. For a huge Carpenter fan like myself this is a major oversight. I find his other film commentaries highly entertaining He is not afraid to be self-deprecating and tell his audience what didn’t work, and there is normally a great deal of insight and information surrounding the process of filmmaking. They really should have made it worth JC’s time, as it would have rounded off an almost perfect release. I say almost, because although everything looks very pristine, there are some extras on the DVD version which are not present here - including the highly entertaining interview with SF writer and Dark Star novelist Alan Dean Foster. Instead, we have two versions of the film: the Director’s Cut and the Theatrical Release (for which there is 15 minutes additional material).

And now to the film itself. This should be on every Carpenter/O’Bannon fan or historical film collector’s shopping list. As far as the casual mainstream viewer (or even SF fan) goes, you’ll be sorely disappointed if you’re expecting a big Hollywood production with spectacular stunts and special effects. This began as a student project while John Carpenter was still at film school. With help, he was determined to see it through to a theatrical release. Even then it took four years, primarily because he kept running out of money. 

Consequentially, it was released on a shoestring budget. The film has been described as a parody of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, but present day parodies are blatant comedies. This is closer to dark humour; it’s quirky but there are no laugh-out-loud moments, except perhaps the celebrated feeding the alien sequence. I tend to regard this as a valuable piece of nostalgia. It’s highly entertaining without being exciting. Of course, John Carpenter went on to great things, such as Halloween, Escape From New York, Assault on Precinct 13, The Thing, and many others. But let’s not forget where he came from.

This is the most comprehensive release of Dark Star thus far. The picture is phenominally crisp (earning half the points alone), and the menus are nice. There is a 2023 German release of the film, with new artwork. It's Region B (Europe), but from what I can gather so far is no different from the 2012 release I'm reviewing - and it goes back to two discs! Aren't we well overdue for a 4K release? Or, perhaps the film quality cannot be enhanced beyond Blu-ray.

This is not usually the film I select if the Carpenter bug bites, but it does receive a deserved viewing every few years. Give it a go. You'll be pleased to know that Talby gets to see the Phoenix Asteroid, and Doolittle gets to surf - but neither in the way you would expect. The sentient and jobsworth bomb reminds me somewhat of Marvin the Paranoid Android from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, however, it undoubtedly has closer connections to Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Verdict: 8 out of 10

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2012 - Updated 2024)

Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman, Tom Atkins, Nancy Loomis.  

Directed by John Carpenter

Written by John Carpenter (with Debra Hill)

Music by John Carpenter

StudioCanal

October 2018

The little town of Antonio Bay is preparing for its centenary celebrations, but it has a dark secret. 100 years before, the Elizabeth Dane ship, lost in a thick bank of fog, crashed on the rocks at Spivey Point, misdirected by a campfire intended to ground the vessel. The vicar of the church discovers the diary of Father Patrick Malone, when a brick falls from the wall of his vestry. The writings give credence to the possibility of the fog returning, bringing back the dead crewmen seeking revenge for cold-hearted betrayal ("Midnight till one belongs to the dead.")...

Stevie Wayne is a single mother who runs a radio station from the lighthouse at Antonio Bay. Kathy Williams learns from the vicar about the town's curse and considers the celebrations a sham. However, for the sake of the people she is persuaded to go through with them regardless. The fishing trawler, The Sea Grass is the first subject of retribution, when an ancient ship emerges from a ghostly glowing fog and barely seen figures butcher the handful of men. During a candlelit vigil held by the town, the fog rolls in along the coastline. Stevie Wayne warns the people via her radio station, and stays at her post to report on its curiously purposeful direction ("There's something in the fog!"). She tells the fleeing people to congregate at the church, but is besieged herself at the lighthouse. The church proves to be the focal point, as the stolen gold being transported by the Elizabeth Dane was forged into the large cross which adorns the church. Then the figures emerge from the fog.

Antonio Bay, California has turned a hundred years old and is getting ready to celebrate its centennial year. As the residents of the small, quaint harbour town begin to celebrate, an eerie fog envelops the shore and from its midst emerge dripping, demonic spectres, victims of a century old shipwreck... seeking revenge.

If the original Halloween (1978) is one of my top two movies of all time, then The Fog (1980) is certainly in the top six. I am a huge John Carpenter fan and (to mix metaphors) at the drop of a hat will bore the hind legs off a donkey, telling everyone within range what I know about the great man and his films. For as long as I can remember I’ve bought the video releases, soundtrack CDs, DVDs and now Blu-rays and 4K transfers.

Now is a very good time to be a Carpenter enthusiast; not only have I seen he and his band play his film themes live in London for the second time, but there is the new Halloween movie (for which he contributed the score and was actively used as a consultant, bringing back Nick Castle to play Michael Myers), and a number of new and upgraded releases for us to devour.

Five John Carpenter films have been repackaged in intriguing 4-disc sets. They incorporate an Ultra HD version of the film, an up-scaled Blu-ray version, a disc of old and new extras, and the full Carpenter soundtrack. They contain newly commissioned artwork and other internal goodies. Needless to say, I have them all.

The restorations were made using the original negatives, and are approved by The Fog’s Cinematographer Gary B Kibbe and Director of Photography Dean Cundey. Confidence in the new formats is evident in the fact each of these classic films have enjoyed full theatrical screening dates: The Fog between October 26th and 31st. The colours are particularly vibrant and the always excellent subtle lighting on Carpenter’s films is even more moody and menacing. It’s good that standard DVD releases are also available for the mainstream audience who may not be willing to pay out for the 4-disc sets (which were £30 but are changing hands for somewhat more now). This was shown to be the case when a family member recently requested a new 2018 DVD print of Halloween (1978) as a birthday gift.

Carpenter and producer Debra Hill were in England and decided to visit Stonehenge. Behind it was a low, eerie mist which seemed to pulsate, and Carpenter commented, "What do you suppose is in the fog?" Keen to follow-up Halloween with another scary tale, Carpenter borrowed a true event from the 1700s when a ship laden with gold was lured on to the rocks by the locals. The crew was drowned and the gold stolen. The Fog therefore is essentially a supernatural tale of revenge. It’s an old fashioned ghost story set in the then-contemporary time. It’s about revenge from beyond the grave, and a celebration under false pretences. The pace and build-up is spot on, the menace and danger very real, the lighting as near to perfect as possible, and as for the music and sound effects – it’s one of Carpenter’s very best soundtracks (I even went so far as to buy the double album on Limited Edition vinyl). In short, you need this in your collection.

Jamie Lee Curtis - the original 'Final Girl' in Carpenter's Halloween - returns playing a very different character (older, more street wise and sexually aware). She pairs with Tommy Atkins' character, and he will turn up again in other Carpenter projects. Nancy Loomis was also in Halloween. Adrienne Barbeau, the sultry late night Lighthouse DJ was the lead in Carpenter's made for TV film, Someone's Watching Me, and would also turn up in Escape From New York (besides becoming the great man's wife for a while). Janet Leigh is, of course, a legend as the victim in Hitchcock's Psycho (remember the shower scene?). She was Jamie Lee Curtis's real life mother (her father, Tony Curtis!).

A with the They Live release, this 4K Collector's Set contains large movie cards, a new artwork film poster, a full colour book (which includes a study of the production by film critic and author Kim Newman, a Carpenter Q & A, Actor Biographies, and the full features from the Cinefantastique special.

The extras include Retribution: Uncovering John Carpenter's The Fog; The Shape of The Thing to Come: John Carpenter Unfilmed; Film Intro by John Carpenter; Scene Analysis by John Carpenter; "Fear on Film: Inside The Fog" Featurette; Audio Commentary with John Carpenter (always entertaining) and Producer Debra Hill; Audio Commentary with actors Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins and Production Designer Tommy Lee Wallace; "The Fog: Storyboard to Film" Featurette; Horror's Hallowed Grounds with Sean Clark; Outtakes; TV Spots; Theatrical Trailers; and a Photo Gallery (including Behind-the-Scenes). Phew.

Verdict: 10 out of 10

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2018 - Updated 2024)

Starring: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster. 

Directed by John Carpenter

Written by John Carpenter (Based on a Short Story by Ray Faraday).

Music by John Carpenter

StudioCanal

October 2018

John Nada is a homeless and jobless drifter who comes to town looking for labouring work. He finds refuge with a large destitute homeless community, but it is soon mysteriously attacked and destroyed by riot police. Most of the individuals are taken away. When Nada witnesses a similar raid on a nearby building, he waits it out before entering to look for clues as to what the purpose of the raid was. Inside he finds a pair of sunglasses which changes everything around him when he puts them on. A percentage of the population actually consists of aliens with skeletal faces, and just as importantly all advertising and media is subversive brainwashing aimed to instruct the populace with messages such as Consume, Procreate, Submit, Obey, No Independent Thought, and on the money, This Is Your God. When Nada meets Frank he has a hard time convincing him, but a scrawled message, They Live - We Sleep, convinces them that there are others who know the truth. The problem is how does this small band of rebels open the eyes of the world...?

John Carpenter has always had an inherent dislike of authority; this comes across in some of his films (such as the anti-hero Snake Plisskin in Escape From New York), but none more so than in They Live. This was his comment on Regan-era USA, with money, consumerism, capitalism and middle-class "Yuppies", not to mention the plight of the forgotten homeless (the name Nada means 'nothing'). He believed at the time that everything we see is designed to sell us something, that the only thing society wants to do is to take our money.

Carpenter adapted and scripted a short story by Ray Faraday called 8 O'clock in the Morning, which was published in a magazine in the 1960s. Under the pen name Frank Armitage (a character in The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft) Carpenter added plenty of social commentary and found that a lot of humour was creeping into the story. In fact, it's this dark, knowing irony and satire which makes the film stand out so prominently as original and entertaining. One such example is when two TV icons are revealed to be aliens while they are criticising Carpenter and George Romero films for being too violent.

As with Prince of Darkness, the budget was only $3 million and the shooting schedule 8 weeks. For the part of Nada, Carpenter recruited experienced wrestler "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, whom he had seen at a Wrestlemania event. Taking a chance paid off, because Piper brings much more than brawn to the part. Keith David (who had appeared in The Thing) was alongside him with Meg Foster. Mind you, Piper's profession did help when Carpenter scripted-in a seven minute alleyway brawl because he wanted to out-do The Quiet Man as the longest on-screen fight.

As with his previous film, Carpenter composed another excellent mood-enhancing music score. Releasing the film just prior to the 1988 elections was either inspired or a very lucky happenstance, because it proved to be a hit at the box office - seemingly the only Carpenter film that audiences 'got' straight away. An inherent message in the film about not selling-out for big financial success was not lost on Carpenter fans, who know that he has never been close to doing so. There was talk of a sequel to They Live, titled Hypnowar, but it was never made.

They Live has always existed as an unsung hero, both as an individual film and part of the Carpenter collective. It’s often overlooked and seldom named when people list his most popular projects. However, other Carpenter fans, like myself, will reveal the truth of the matter: that it is another classic in the Carpenter movie arsenal. The main appeal is that it is different. A political statement on consumerism disguised as entertainment, yes. But it’s not just a veil; there is so much to enjoy here. The science fiction element of aliens living among us, the humorous but somewhat creepy alien reveal (when they realise they can be seen as they really are) and the plethora of one-liners ("I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum."), and there is the action which hardly lets-up and introduces one of the greatest pairings in film history.

The movie is at times uncanny, darkly comic, intriguing and character-driven. Ideal popcorn entertainment – even though it’s making a statement on society. Subsequent films, such as The Matrix, have borrowed heavily from this concept of a false life we are leading behind a sinister secret.

They Live is one of five 4-disc box set releases – the others being The Fog, The Thing, Prince of Darkness and Escape From New York. These incorporate a 4K version, a Blu-ray, a full disc of old and new extras, and the Carpenter soundtrack. The clean-up and upgrading from the original film negatives – even on the cheaper DVD version – is phenomenally crisp and bright, with vibrant colours so, you can imagine the effect it has on 4K. Not to mention the crispness of Dolby Atmos sound! I urge any true Carpenter fan to invest in the 4-disc set, which includes a full-colour glossy booklet with an essay by author and film historian Kim Newman, with newly-commissioned artwork, art cards and poster.

For those curious film lovers new to the many worlds of John Carpenter, begin with the newly-upgraded DVD versions. You won’t be sorry… Well, not unless you’re expecting lots of extras. The one John Carpenter commentary is worth its weight in gold. For avid fans of John Carpenter - such as myself - this set is indispensable. Extras on this set include: Subversion - Exposing John Carpenter's They Live; Original EPK - The Making of They Live; John Carpenter, Meg Ryan and Roddy Piper Profiles; Audio Commentary by John Carpenter and Roddy Piper; Fake Commercials in the Film; TV Spots & Photo Galleries; Independent Thoughts With John Carpenter; and Interviews With Meg Foster & Keith David.

Verdict: 10 out of 10

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2018 - Updated 2024)