News Up To End Of Oct 2006

April 5th 2006

World Scoop - ProLife synopsys

As the title says, here is the definitive synopsys on the new episode JC is going to be shooting for Masters of Horror 2:

A young girl turns to a group of strangers for help and protection, leading to a terrifying showdown that pits a group of clinic workers against her family. What no one seems to realize is that larger forces are at work, and this girl carries within her a dark secret that puts them all at risk.

As I mentioned before this is being written by Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan, the team that brought us the excellent Cigarette Burns, JCs episode for Masters of Horror 1. I am excited about this.

April 2nd 2006

More 13th Apostle sightings

Eu Eu pointed me to this page which prominently displays the 13th Apostle as a title in development. Guess I can finally start considering this a real JC project that we will hopefully see sometime in the future.

April 1st 2006

Masters of Horror 2 - Pro Life

Snooch pointed me at this story from Fangoria and added his own SPOILER input which I deleted on Apr 2nd after being contacted by someone who really does know what is going on. Seems there is more than one McSweeney/Swan PROLIFE script kicking about and the one JC is shooting is very new. I hope it turns out as well as the fantastic Cigarette Burns.

Cigarette Burns DVD

The story I heard about Masters of Horror is that it was designed as a straight to DVD project. A chance for a bunch of drinking buddies to make some horror movies without studio intervention, fuss from the censors and the pressure of TV advertisers. As you know by now the project then got picked up by HBO which was a good thing, but now we get it in the format it was intended for and the quality of the presentation really does show they were aiming for something special on DVD. I got the R2 double disc of Dreams In The Death House/Cigarrette Burns as you can't get them seperately on R2 yet. All the Masters... DVDs are loaded with fantastic extras and The Cigarrette Burns DVD is also special:
My personal favourite is the interview with JC where he is his usual laconic, cynical self. A fantastic piece of inside info for us fans - JC seems so bored with the whole business of making films that it is a wonder we will ever see another JC project again but it is all delivered with that unmistakable JC wink - he seems to be turning into Snake Plissken as he gets older. The JC commentary is a little dry (he works better when sparring with Roddy Pipper or Kurt Russel) but still worth listening to for some more JC gems such as him commenting on a rushed scene that he didn't finish properly because there was a good porn movie on. The writer commentary is much more interesting and much more enthusiastic about the project and what it is like to work with JC. There is a documentary about JCs career that starts off fantastically, full of detailed information, but then gets as far as about Starman and just ends with a "and he also did these films ..." kind of list, like they hit their time limit or something. A bit of a shame but the info on Halloween,Elivs, The Thing, etc. is excellent. Basically if you are even a passing JC fan then you need to get this DVD and spend some hours with a quality JC production.

13th Apostle - really happening?

Marco Brazia posted me this Variety story. I must admit I was also thinking this film wasn't going to happen as all news on it had gone really quiet. Hopefully Marco is right and this indicates it is going ahead.

Posted: Thurs., Feb. 9, 2006, 11:22am PT
Keitel, Beart: 'Crime' partners
French indie ARP takes Carpenter's 'Apostle' rights
By ALISON JAMES

Harvey Keitel and Emmanuelle Beart will topline the New York-set "A Crime," produced and sold internationally by Gallic outfit ARP. In terms of pickups, the company recently took French rights to John Carpenter's "The 13th Apostle."
Pitched to buyers in Berlin as a sexy thriller, "A Crime" was helmed by Manuel Pradal, director of French first film "Marie Baie des Anges." Script is by Tonino Benacquista and Pradal.
Long established indie ARP launched its international sales biz just a couple of months ago.
Other projects it is touting here include "Le Deuxieme Souffle," a remake of the Jean-Pierre Melville thriller of the same name, to be helmed by Alain Corneau. An all-star French cast is attached to star including Daniel Auteuil, Monica Bellucci, Fabrice Lucchini and Jacques Dutronc. A finished script will be ready by Cannes. "

March 4th 2006

Cigarette Burns Gets UK Showing

Nads, last night Cigarette Burns, JCs first directorial effort for years, got its UK debut. So where was this important cultural event? On Bravo, home of cheesy British soft porn and lads shows. I'm glad to say I never watch it (yep, I'm assuredly sniffy and pompous about what I watch) hence I couldn't notify people before it came on. Still, you can always order the R1 disc from playusa or something, or even download it from a torrent site.

Halloween 9 ... and Halloween Remade!

This article on moviehole gives a great summary of the state of Halloween 9 (yawn) and the unbelievable news of a Halloween remake. Why the hell would you want to remake it? Did I miss The Fog remake making a ton of money? Did I miss the fact that it stunk more than 14 day old haddock left out in the sun? I usually avoid posting news on the Halloween sequels as they rarely have anything to do with JC but I had to post this.

Feb 21st 2006

I'm Back - Great Cigarette Burns Review

Yep, back with some of my more infrequent updates. I can't apologise enough so here are the excuses - busy work, 6 nations rugby and my wife is 2 weeks away from giving birth to our second. Now on to the proper news, thanks to Tom Alaerts for this review of Cigarette Burns

Cigarette Burns - a mini review Finally something new from Carpenter, and even better: this short TV movie shows that he still is a relevant director of modern horror. Ghost of Mars, his previous movie, is already a few years old and it left me with a sour taste. Yes it had a few good moments but on the whole it seemed bland and tired. I thought then that it was maybe time for JC to retire in style. But here he's back, even if only with a 57 min. TV movie in the otherwise very uneven "Masters of Horror" TV series. CB is about a movie detective, specialised in tracking down rare prints. He gets the task of finding the one print of the French movie "Le Fin Absolu du Monde" that during its first and only screening caused the audience to tear each other literally apart. The detective encounters various weird people and as he gets closer to the film, he begins to experience hallucinations, as if the film is contaminating everyone who's looking for it.
All in all, this is an intense short movie. "Cigarette Burns" is Carpenter's best work since "In the mouth of madness", of which the story actually superficially resembles this new work. It also reminds me in parts of the original Japanese "Ring" (but it's far less subtle). The story is entertaining, I think however that the writers could have done more with it. There could be a good full-length horror movie in there. I like that, typical for a JC movie, it is serious in tone. It's also a movie for the horror film geeks who are always looking to unearth a rare gem. The visual style of the movie is not what you expect from a JC movie. You don't experience his typical widescreen compositions, that's a limitation of the 16x9 TV format. Carpenter uses tight editing throughout, the story pushes forward. I wasn't too impressed by most of the acting though Udo Kier is convincingly sinister. A final note about the music: this is composed by Carpenter's son and it is similar to his dad's own scores. Not an unforgettable soundtrack but a decent debut. I've read that Anchor Bay will launch this episode on DVD in March 2006 and Carpenter fans should not miss it.

I pretty much agree with Tom. I easily managed to download this (episode 8) with bitTorrent and thoroughly enjoyed it. The whole series is pretty good but this was definitely the best episode and one of the few that didn't seem to be about sex. You can already order it from playusa.com and it looks like it is going to have a good stack of extras. I have heard rumours that some of the 1 hour TV episodes are going to be longer on DVD but that doesn't seem to be the case with JCs movie. It's a shame as it does feel like something that could be even creepier with some more time for a slow build up. Thanks to Tom Alaerts for the great review.

Oct 10th 2005

Stupid Fat Halloween Remake

From Christian Genzel -

I remember that, a while ago, a rumour appeared on the 'net that Michael Bay wanted to produce a remake of Carpenter's HALLOWEEN. Today, Moviehole announces that the Weinstein brothers are planning to produce a remake. http://www.moviehole.net/news/now_its_halloween_getting_rema.html Since Bob Weinstein's Dimension announced a HALLOWEEN 9 a while ago, it's possible that the sequel has been scrapped. Is anybody disappointed?

. Remaking Halloween has to be one of the stupidest ideas I have ever heard. It has not dated at all, what could possibly be gained?

JC Pimps FEAR

I am getting a little worried about JCs apparent happiness to toss his good name around all over the place the moment. Does he have a pension shortfall or something? The latest seems to be this game F.E.A.R which he seems to have nothing else to do with other than to give it some good PR. Strange. What is more interesting is the hint in the same article that JC does not rate the The Fog remake at all.

The Fog (Remake) Stills

From Christian Genzel is this link to Dark Horizons collection of stills from The Fog. Come Oct 14th we can all check out the film ourselves..

Oct 5th 2005

The Fog Remake

Comes out real soon, check out the official site for full details. Christian Genzel continues with his fantastic news updates to let me know:

Ain't It Cool News has an interview with Maggie Grace and Rupert Wainwright online, discussing the FOG remake. Well, everyone seems to love the original ... http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=20943

Cigarette Burns Updates - Pics Online

Some publicity photos for Carpenter's MASTERS OF HORROR segment, CIGARETTE BURNS, have appeared online: http://www.horrorchannel.com/dread/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2648 Sweet! Best, - Christian Genzel

Also from Christian -

The PRP has posted a track listing of the 2-CD soundtrack to the MASTERS OF HORROR TV series. -----------------------------------
The finalized track listing has been revealed for the upcoming "Masters Of Horror" mini-series soundtrack, here's how the 2-CD set shapes up: CD 1:
01 - Mudvayne - "Small Silhouette"
02 - Norma Jean - "Shaunluu"
03 - It Dies Today - "Enjoy The Silence" (Depeche Mode Cover)
04 - Funeral For A Friend - "Lazarus (In The Wilderness)"
05 - Andrew Wk - "You Will Remember Tonight"
06 - Armor For Sleep - "Very Invisible"
07 - Scary Kids Scaring Kids - "What's Up Now"
08 - Shadows Fall - "This Is My Own"
09 - The Bled - "Nervous Breakdown"
10 - Murder By Death - "End Of The Road"
11 - Thursday - "Division St." (Acoustic)
12 - Bloodsimple - "Overload"
13 - Mastodon - "Megalodon" (Live)
14 - Death By Stereo - "Bottled Up"
15 - Fall River - "At Least You Bought Her Flowers"
CD 2:
01 - Buckethead - "We Are One" (Feat. Serj Tankian of System Of A Down)
02 - Rise Against - "Obstructed"
03 - The Bronx - "Bats"
04 - From Autumn To Ashes - "Betwixt Her Getaway Sticks"
05 - Every Time I Die - "Keith The Music"
06 - Matchbook Romance - "In Transit (For You)"
07 - Bedlight For Blue Eyes - "Hindsight"
08 - Alkaline Trio - "We Can Never Break Up"
09 - Avenged Sevenfold - "Beast And The Harlot" (Live)
10 - In Flames - "Discover Me Like Emptiness"
11 - A Change Of Pace - "The Thin Red Line"
12 - Bear Vs Shark - "Victoria Iceberg"
13 - Gratitude - "If Ever" (Acoustic)
14 - Fear Before The March Of Flames - "237"
15 - Yesterday's Rising - "Contrast Of Light And Dark"
An October 18th release date through Immortal is being planned. For more info, check out www.mastersofhorrormusic.com.

and then Christian completes the Cigarette Burns update with -

Drew McWeeny, co-writer of the Carpenter-directed episode of MASTERS OF HORROR ("Cigarette Burns"), posted a VERY long story about his involvement and his visit to the set on Ain't It Cool News. Some nice bits about how he first met Carpenter, or on their discussions about the script. By the way, "Cigarette Burns" stars Norman Reedus and Udo Kier, and was written by McWeeny (a.k.a. Moriarty from Ain't It Cool News) and Scott Swan. The article includes a synposis of the plot, too. http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=20896

and then the final roundup comes from Tom Alaerts

In the last issue of the french mag "Mad Movies" there are a few notes on the story of "cigarette burns", the JC entry for the "masters of horror" TV series. It doesn't deal with giving up smoking. Rather, it's about a search for a lost horror film that was projected once on a film festival in France in the early 70s, the movie had the unfortunate side-effect of turning its spectators into mad killers. Actually this reminds me a bit of the readers in "In the mouth of madness" going crazy when reading the new horror novel by Sutter Cane.

JC Scoring Masters Of Horror

This is great news, I hope this comes out on CD -

Drew McWeeny (aka AICN's Moriarty), co-writer of Cigarette Burns, just popped by on the Dread Central message boards and announced that Carpenter and his son Cody are writing and scoring the episode together!

Thanks to Marco Brazia for the news.

New AOP13 Special Edition DVD

I am afraid I don't know much about this, anyone have any more info .. is it a German only release or something? Sounds cool anyway:

the upcoming ASSAULT 2-disc-dvd will offer the uncut remastered movie and many many interviews and a docu "masters of..." with JC. greetings from germany - marcel

July 26th 2005

Fog Remake Trailer

I am now very amped for this film. I love this trailer - it's got some exact scene-for-scene shots from the original, some interesting looking differences and a pretty good selection of performers. Sure, its definitely a post-Scream trailer but I love Scream and hope this is going to be a great remake. Thanks to Christian Genzel and British Cub for pointing this out to me.

Click Here For Fog Website

Click Here For Fog Trailer

Also British let me know that they are working on a new special edition DVD of the original to coincide with the release of this remake. No word on features on the special ed. yet

May 19th 2005

Blimey, Another JC Film

The old saying about buses of course comes to mind. JC must be feelin rejuvenated to be taking these three projects now (that's the Masters of Horror segment, The 13th Apostle and now this Psychopath). As a massive addict of GTA, Resident Evil and Max Payne this sounds like an exciting new thing for JC to be doing. I always thought Manhunt had the air of a great JC 70s movie as well...

Tempus Fugit sent me the Dark Horizons update:

Dark Horizons posted a link today from a story they had about Carpenter directing ANOTHER movie AND a tie-in video game?! How much has he got on his plate right now?
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/050518g.php
"John Carpenter is taking his next project to game consoles and the bigscreen simultaneously. The horror director is teaming with Titan Prods. on "Psychopath," a new project to be developed concurrently as a videogame and film. Carpenter will oversee the game and direct its produced scenes and is attached to helm and co-write the film, along with Todd Farmer ("Jason X"). "Psychopath" is about an ex-CIA operative called back into action to stop a serial killer who begins to question his own sanity..."

Christian Genzel also sent me an update:

There's more Carpenter news - seems like he's on a roll. There's another project he's currently attached to - it's called PSYCHOPATH, apparently another thriller about an ex-CIA operative who's after a serial killer. Carpenter's going to direct the film and write it together with Todd Farmer (JASON X), and he's going to work on a computer game that's going to be released along with the movie - apparently, Carpenter will even direct a few scenes for the game. - http://www.moviehole.net/news/5647.html

To round it all of Taner Tamer sent me this:

I am a frequent visitor of your site. Here is something new about JC's latest(Not The 13. Apostle)
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/index.php?Show=3922&Template=newsfull
Thanks for your fantastic site and have a nice day.

May 16th 2005

13th Apostle Artwork

Thanks to Leon Russel for providing me with the following official pic:
. Hard to read much into the image, but the fact artwork exists already is promising i.e. this isn't a "development hell" film, this is really happening.

Leon also sent me this synopsis:

The investigation of a series of gruesome murders forces a Pittsburgh detective to exorcise his own demons while uncovering the greater plot of an internet-based serial killers' club. The script was written by Paul Margolis and John Carpenter's wife and longtime producer Sandy King will produce the movie along with Elizabeth Wang-Lee, Oliver Hengst and William J. Johnson for Inferno Distribution.

Christian Genzel has supplied me with a convenient newsround:

Now this is GOOD NEWS: Moviehole ran an announcement today that Carpenter's directing a new film called THE APOSTLE, written by Paul Margolis - it seems to be a serial killer movie set in Pittsburgh, with a detective and a stockbroker teaming up to investigate a series of gruesome murders. - http://www.moviehole.net/news/5621.html
Dark Horizons has some info on it, too: - http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/050513d.php

May 12th 2005

JC To Direct The 13th Apostle

Fantastic news reported on Fangoria today. I'll let you read their article for the full info but the gist is that it is a serial killer flick (reminds of JCs desire to do a non-supernatural thriller...) written by Paul Margolis for JCs "John Carpenter Presents..." new mentor program. Fantastic news. I think this is the same guy so here you can check out Margolis' IMDB page

May 11th 2005

Reasons to be cheerful..

Aaaah, those tricky questions of life such as "what should I wear down the pub to show people I have cool taste in movies?". The obvious answer is a JC shirt but until now the shirts on offer have pretty much been average goth-student XL Black poster reproductions. Until now because Sundance Retro have got a cracking range of JC shirts, such as the mondo cool AOP13 number modelled below:

So now you can get on over to their fantastic shop and declare your hipster movie loving credentials for a fantastic price. I am not affiliated with them, I just figured that any shirts that make me this happy would also make other JC fans happy.

May 8th 2005

New JC "Movie" Update - Cigarette Burns

So I finally have time for an update (looong time on the latest project in work, finished last Wed, hangover now cleared...) and we have some solid info on the newest thing that JC is directing. Ok, so it is not a full length theatrical release but it is better than nothing and as a project in general it sounds pretty cool to me so fingers crossed it does turn out ok:

Kenneth Souza has sent me a great run-down/summary of the project so far:

DavisDVD.com posted the following press release on their site regarding the new anthology series "Masters of Horror" which will air on Showtime later this year and be released by Anchor Bay on DVD. One of the initial installments will be directed by John Carpenter. - Kenneth J. Souza

================

Acclaimed horror film legends including Dario Argento, John Carpenter, Larry Cohen, Roger Corman, Don Coscarelli, Joe Dante, Mick Garris, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper, John Landis and George Romero to contribute original one-hour films of terror and mayhem
Los Angeles, CA (March 29, 2005) -- Showtime Networks has joined with IDT Entertainment's New Arc Entertainment, Industry Entertainment and Nice Guy Productions to present a shockingly entertaining new anthology series entitled Masters of Horror. For the first time, the most prominent directors of the horror film genre have joined forces to produce a series of new original horror films that promises to shock, terrify and captivate even the most discriminating horror film fans. Slated to direct are Dario Argento ("Suspiria," "Opera"), John Carpenter ("Halloween," "The Thing"), Larry Cohen ("It's Alive"), Roger Corman ("Little Shop of Horrors"), Don Coscarelli ("Phantasm" "Bubba Ho-tep"), Joe Dante ("The Howling," "Gremlins"), Mick Garris ("Riding the Bullet," "The Stand"), Stuart Gordon ("Re-Animator"), John Landis ("An American Werewolf in London"), Tobe Hooper ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Poltergeist") and George Romero ("Night of the Living Dead") for a minimum of 13 one-hour films.
While some of the masters will be directing from their own screenplays, an equally impressive roster of writers will be contributing to the anthology, including Richard C. Matheson ("Tales from the Crypt"); celebrated horror comic book creator Steve Niles ("30 Days of Night," "Aleister Arcane"); noted horror writer David Schow ("A Nightmare on Elm Street 5"); Michael Brandt & Derek Haas ("2 Fast 2 Furious"); and renowned horror screenwriters Lawrence D. Cohen ("Carrie," Stephen King's "It") and Matt Greenberg ("1408").
Masters of Horror grew out of an informal bi-monthly dinner attended by many of the horror genre's most highly regarded directors. Mick Garris transformed their collective desire to work together into reality, and will serve as the series Showrunner.
"Showtime is thrilled to be working with this roster of filmmakers, all of whom have contributed significantly to the horror and suspense genre. The title is truly appropriate since Mick Garris and his fellow directors simply are the "masters of horror,'" said Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's President of Entertainment. "It's hard to really scare the audience thesedays, but I guarantee that these guys will really do just that."
"These are the stories the directors have always wanted to tell; but until now, the right venue had not existed. Showtime is the perfect partner given the filmmakers' belief that, in order to deliver something truly terrifying, they need as much creative freedom as possible and for their films to be free of commercial interruption," said Andrew Deane, Partner, Industry Entertainment. "We are thrilled that Showtime Networks will enable us to reach its important premium cable audience. Through IDT Entertainment, its Anchor Bay distribution, and IDT Entertainment Sales' licensing overseas, we can also look forward to a successful launch of MASTERS OF HORROR throughout the world."
"For its high profile directors, writers and producers, Masters of Horror is a labor of love which we hope will become a classic," said Morris Berger, CEO of IDT Entertainment. "We are delighted to work alongside Showtime Networks, Industry Entertainment and Mick Garris as we enter the production phase of this exciting project."
The Executive Producers of Masters of Horror are Mick Garris, Andrew Deane and Keith Addis. Reunion Pictures' Lisa Richardson and Tom Rowe are serving as Producers. Adam Goldworm and Ben Browning are Associate Producers on the series. Principal photography will begin in Vancouver in late April. The first six directors have been scheduled as follows: John Landis will direct "Deer Woman," starring Brian Benben, which he co-wrote with his son Max Landis; Dario Argento will direct "Jenifer," based on the comic book by Bruce Jones and Bernie Wrightson which was adapted by and will star Steven Weber; Don Coscarelli will helm "Incident On and Off A Mountain Road," adapted by Coscarelli and Stephen Romano from Joe Lansdale's short story; Mick Garris is set to film "Chocolate," adapted from his own short story; Stuart Gordon will direct "Dreams in the Witch House," adapted from theH.P. Lovecraft classic; and John Carpenter will shoot "Cigarette Burns," an original teleplay by Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan.
IDT Entertainment Sales will provide worldwide distribution of the series and Anchor Bay Entertainment will handle all video releases.

As is the way with the 'net this Bloody Disgusting story came to me via a JC mailing list email from Marco Brazia, so that's my excuse for not spending the extra time to link to the BD website itself-

During a visit to the set of Sony's remake of The Fog John Carpenter talked a little bit with Bloody-Disgusting about the Showtime project Masters of Horror. He tells B-D, "Each of us has an hour long episode to shoot in ten days, the first director they chose was John Landis- and he's now way over budget and way over schedule." He continues, "Dario Argento starts next week, they pushed me later down schedule." He later explains that he is shooting a script by Drew McWeeney (Moriarty of Aint it Cool) entitled Cigarette Burns and he expects to shoot sometime in July.

Other Sites:
Fangoria have news, thanks to Leon for the pointer: http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=3788
The official flyer:

That's all I have time to update tonight. Coming soon will be the stacks of fantastic news I have recieved about The Fog remake from loads of JCs dedicated fans that keep emailing me. I am sorry I don't respond quickly to all your emails but please be assured I do read them all and they are greatly appreciated. Marc.

Mar 8th 2005

Debra Hill Passed Away Today

Sad, sad news today as Debra Hill, the producer of Halloween, passed away. The influence of Debra on JC, especially his early career, cannot be underestimated. She was instrumental in getting Halloween made and as co-writer with JC created a classic movie. One of my favourite images of Debra is a shot of her and JC blocking a scene for Halloween. You can see the focus of two young filmakers intent on making their movie just their way, and they pulled it off. It's a sad day. She created some of my favourite films and will aways be a part of the experience.

Jan 10th 2005

Merry Christmas

Hello everyone, hope you all had a great Christmas.

I managed to snag some time on a DVD recorder and coupled that with some lucky finds on Ebay so I am now the proud owner of DVDs of:

Someone's Watching Me (US Title), Blood River and Husker Du Live. Excellent...

Excellent new John Carpenter book

The Cinema of John Carpenter: The Technique of Horror - I got hold of this a few months ago and I am planning a decent review soon but wanted to spread the word now. This great new book is a serious analysis of JCs career, his consistent themes and the place of his work in cinema. For anyone seriously interested in JCs movies this book enlightens and even succeeds in putting a fresh perspective on films I have watched tens of times. Well worth getting.

The Fog Remake Update

I am kinda excited about this, but hope it is significantly different to the classic original and also not some po-mo Scream-type tongue in cheek version. I guess a lot depends on the casting, if the usual teen slasher victims start turning up then we know we are in trouble.

The Taxman dropped in with a full set of details for the movie:

Studio - Revolution Studios
Story Source(s) - John Carpenter's 1980 original film
Producer - John Carpenter, Debra Hill, David Foster
Director(s) - Rupert Wainwright
Release Date - Oct. 14, 2005
Release - Wide Release
website : http://movies.go.com/moviesdynamic/movies/movie?id=684866

This from Christian: Ain't It Cool News has some rumours on the possibility that Chris Isaak may be in the FOG remake, apparently in the role that was played by Tom Atkins in the original.
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=19049. They also mention that Michelle Williams and Kevin Williamson may be involved in the next HALLOWEEN sequel (not that anyone is actually waiting to see it).

AOP13 Remake Trailers

So I am very slow on this one but you can see the trailers here. They look good to me and the precinct itself looks an almost carbon copy. This film has got an interesting twist (this time its cops against cops) and a heavyweight cast so hopefully it will be a winner.

Silent Predators Hits US TV

Sci-Fi Channel: Airs Saturday, January 8, at 5PM ET/PT
SILENT PREDATORS
Years after the escape of a deadly Diamondback rattlesnake during its transport to a big-city zoo, thousands of its monstrous offspring set out to terrorize the inhabitants of an unsuspecting California community. Acclaimed filmmaker John Carpenter (Halloween) co-scripted this slithering thriller starring Harry Hamlin (Clash of the Titans, TV's L.A. Law) and Jack Scalia (The Last Leprechaun).

Oct 28th 2004

JC in charge of a Fog Remake (and a new JC film on the way?)

So we have a sequel to The Thing, a remake of AOP13 imminent, and now news of a Fog remake. I am not too sure about all of this, why not some cool new films? What is wrong with the original Fog that it needs a remake? Christian Genzel let us know that:

seems like there's a new Carpenter rumor every day. I hope something will come to fruition soon. Carpenter's going to produce, together with Debra Hill, a remake of THE FOG. He says he's not interested in helming the picture, since he's already made it, but he's excited to see a new version of the story. More info here: http://www.moviehole.net/news/4446.html

but the real gem from Christian is this far more exciting possible news of a proper new project

Also, Carpenter is rumored to be the director of a haunted house flick called THE SECOND-LINE: http://www.moviehole.net/news/4433.html

Harry Knowles is always keen to namedrop so he shares his latest conversation with JC on his website which gives us a little more info on the Fog remake. JC also mentioned that Masters Of Horror (see news below, Aug 5th) which is still ongoing. Good, that sounded cool as well

Oct 27th 2004

The Thing Sequel

Dark Horizons have got a bit more info on the very exciting Thing sequel. Sounds very hopeful, I love the idea of it picking up straight away after the first movie. It'll be interesting to see how this comes off.

Next up, Suicide Girls talked with Frank Darabont and the issue of the Sci-Fi Channel's remake of "The Thing" came up. Darabont quickly confirms "It's not a remake as much as it is a miniseries sequel to the great John Carpenter movie. It got reported in the trades as a remake but I would not want to remake a movie as good as John Carpenter's. But to do a loving sequel as a miniseries really does appeal to me. Then you're not screwing up somebody's great movie". The story is being hashed out right now by scribe Dave Johnson, and Darabont hopes it'll pick up right at the end of the Carpenter classic.

Oct 25th 2004

The Thing Sequel

A while back I reported on a Sci-Fi channel remake of The Thing that sounded like mixed news, especially when we learned that JC had nothing to do with it. Anyway, it now seems that it is in fact a sequel but still with no JC involvement. I have no clue what form this is going to take - will it be 5 mins or 10 years after the original? Anyway, it has gotta be something worth looking forward to. Here is more detail from Coming Soon (thanks to John Amos and all the others who emailed me about this):

Fangoria has learned that the the four-hour The Thing mini-series coming to the Sci Fi Channel is not a remake after all. The project will actually be sequel to John Carpenter's 1982 film! Frank Darabont is executive producing and David Johnson is working on the script. Johnson is expected to complete his adaptation by Christmas and shooting could get under way next year for an airdate on the cable channel of either December 2005 or early spring 2006.

Get those great R2 special editions in the US

Louise kindly informed me that "I am happy to report that Amazon UK (available on the US home page) will ship region 2 to the US, and ebay has all-region DVD players at a reasonable price. I am now very happily watching They Live, Starman, and Prince of Darkness and hearing the commentary. One really great aspect of free trade."

The Fog Special Edition R2

I just want to provide you with some information about The Fog on region 2. The film was finally released on DVD in Europe in April this year. The first release was in Germany on the Kinowelt label, and a few weeks later on RCV in the Netherlands/Holland (both of them using the same sourche with exactly the same content and menus), both as double disc sets with all the bonus material on the 2nd disc.
Those releases are far superior to the American region 1 release on MGM (trust me. I've got them all. I'm a HUGH Fog fan :-) The bonusmaterial is exactly the same as MGM, but the picture quality has been cleaned up a lot and the bitradie encoded on the discs are significant higher than on the MGM release(although I don't have the possibility to check the bitradie myself). There is also a much sharper image on the movie compared to the MGM disc, maybe as a result of being PAL instead of NTSC. I'm not sure, but I have read on the net that PAL is a better system than NTSC.
The only letdown is because of the higher bitradie, there is more visible grain in a few scenes. Most notably in the scene with Stevie Wayne (Barbeau) fighting the ghosts on the top of the lighthouse). But overall - nothing dramatic.
PS Since those releases we also got the Kinowelt set here in Sweden. But that set are the same as the German. Only with a Swedish cover printed. Just for curious ;-) The set will also be released in UK by the Momentum label in October. DS

That great review was supplied by Leif, the "best Carpenter fan in Sweden"

Aug 5th 2004

JC gets back in business

Finally, some solid JC news that he might actually be doing some real full-on filmaking, albeit on TV. Thanks to braziacarp for the pointer

Hi! Just to tell you that this may represent the first Carpenter activity in 4 years!!

From Fangoria:
“August 3: Mick Garris unveils MASTERS OF HORROR TV series Mick Garris has created and will produce a new one-hour anthology cable series called MASTERS OF HORROR, the filmmaker told Fango and announced Sunday night at the Fantasia film festival in Montreal, where his RIDING THE BULLET world-premiered. MASTERS OF HORROR has gotten the green light for 13 episodes, and Garris revealed that the initial directoral lineup will include such genre greats as John Carpenter, George Romero, Guillermo del Toro, Frank Darabont, Tobe Hooper, John Landis, Joe Dante and Garris himself, as well as several others yet to be named. “The shows will be presented uncut and without commercial interruption,” Garris said. “The series is fully funded by a major cable network, foreign interest and a DVD company everyone will know. I can’t mention those names just yet.”
Production on MASTERS OF HORROR will begin in February 2005, after Garris wraps his three-hour DESPERATION telemovie for ABC. Original author Stephen King has scripted DESPERATION, which begins shooting in Arizona in September; casting is currently underway. MASTERS OF HORROR sprang from a series of informal dinners that Garris has been hosting at restaurants in the LA area for the last few years. Other participants at these shindigs who may be corralled for the new anthology program include Eli Roth, Larry Cohen, Stuart Gordon, Don Coscarelli, David Cronenberg and Lucky McKee.
Regarding BULLET, Garris added that the film will open in 10 major U.S. cities October 1. Stay tuned for release updates and see FANGORIA #236, on sale this month, for an exclusive set visit to the film. —Tony Timpone”

Christine DVD Details

This disc sounds fantastic...(courtesy of: www.dvdanswers.com)

Title: Christine SE
Starring: Keith Gordon
Released: 28th September 2004
SRP: $19.94
Further Details
Columbia has also released early details on a special edition of Christine which stars the likes of Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Harry Dean Stanton and Christine Belford. The disc will be available to own from the 28th September this year, and should retail at $19.94. As well as a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and both English and French Dolby Surround tracks, the disc will include an audio commentary with director John Carpenter and actor Keith Gordon, twenty deleted and alternate scenes, a total of three exclusive new featurettes, filmographies and previews for other Columbia releases. We've attached the official region one package artwork below, along with our first look at the discs menu system:

New The Thing DVD Cover

Thanks to john.amos for that.

July 7th 2004

Excellent new JC DVDs on the way

Thanks to everyone who pointed this out to me and special Kudos to Leon Russel for providing the image and succint summary about the only JC news happening at the moment. Christine was one of my first JC films and remains one of my faves, so this is fantastic news.

Obviously there is very little going on that you can report on at present, so here's a couple of pieces of DVD news so that you can at least update the site.
The Thing Special Edition (Region 1) hits the stores on 19th October. The special features are the same as the disc that is currently in stores, but the transfer of the film itself is in anamorphic widescreen for the first time on DVD.
Christine Special Edition (Region 1) is released on October 5th. The disc features a commentary by John Carpenter and Keith Gordon as well as cast interviews and more.

Get your own JC Inspired Art

I have finally answered Matts persistent request to mention (and add to the Links pages) his excellent Horror Art Website. I really like the The Fog inspired pictures and recommend you check them out.

What is going on?

Not a lot. JC has still not officially retired (the odd interview mentions him still looking for something cool) but there is still no offical word. If I do hear anything I will report it here. Keep enjoying your JC DVDs.

April 15th 2004

JC Wants You

Jason Schoonover pointed out this link to a pretty amazing story on Joblo. Joe Gayeski also pointed me to the info on CHUD

My first thoughts are wow, but closely followed with a tinge of dissapointment. This could seem like the last gasp of a man who has given up and is happy to just retire now and cash in on his name. While I think the "brandisation" of Plissken was a great thing (check out the comics, new DVDs, upcoming new games, etc.) I am more worried about this. JC is a classic director and this seems like a cheap Pop Idol type publicity stunt. On the other hand, I could be less cynical and see this as JC reconnecting with his low-budget underground roots and seeing what talent is out there to help him bring a new Assault on Precinct 13 style classic to the screen. Who knows? Ironically I was watching the new JC DVD documentary last night and it ends with Stacey Keach telling us he thinks the best is yet to come from JC. I hope so.

Snake Game Moves on

Man, I am so excited about this. Getting the chance to be Snake has to be the ultimate idea for a game. I am assuming it'll be some sort of first/third person shooter (perhaps with some Metal Gear stealth action?). I just wish I knew what platforms it was going to be on, 2005 is a long way away. JB Fichera posted a link to an interview/update on the Mouth of Madness mailing list. He also pointed out that you can now see the game trailer (sadly no graphics yet) on the official escape game site.