All quotes and info from other sources are in Italics, all other text is my own reflection on the news. The John Carpenter News Archive :

"From:             Leonard Scott
                    Available from amazon priced 20.99 dollars
                    Release Information:
                     Studio: Columbia Tristar Hom
                     DVD Release Date: February 9, 1999
                     Run Time: 108 minutes
                     Package Type: Keep Case

                     Aspect Ratio(s):
                     Widescreen Anamorphic - 2.35:1
                     Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1

                     Discographic Information:
                     DVD Encoding: Region 1
                     Layers: Single
                     Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital
                     5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0), French, (Dolby
                     Digital 1.0) Available subtitles: English, French

                     Edition Details:
                     o Region 1 encoding (for use in US and Canada
                     only) o Color, Closed-captioned o Commentary by
                     Director John Carpenter o Theatrical trailer o
                     Photo gallery o Full-screen and widescreen
                     anamorphic formats o Number of discs: 1 o
                     ASIN: 6305258287
"
The Dead Shall Reclaim The Earth This is great news for all us net-surfing JC fans. Jesper's site was (and will be) a fantastic addition to the JC websites "Hi Marc, Just wanted to let you know, that my site (A Tribute To John Carpenter) will be back online on the 1st of March! The URL is www.johncarpenter.net! It will feature the usual 50 mb of multimedia PLUS a lot of new stuff - and of course a completely new design! Keep up the good work with your site! Jesper Bjerg" Welcom back Jesper, can't wait to see the new site.

JC in Film Comment "John Carpenter fans will not want to miss this month's issue of "Film Comment" (you'll know it by the still from Terence Malick's "The Thin Red Line" on the cover). I was flabbergasted, and delighted, to see that this ordinarily snooty, Godard-worshipping magazine dared to print a lovely little article praising the importance of none other than the man himself.

Running for a healthy 6 pages, the article by Kent Jones is entitled "John Carpenter: American
Movie Classic", and is illustrated with stills from the filmmaker on the set of "Vampires" with
James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, and Thomas Ian Griffith, as well as various shots from "Prince Of
Darkness", "The Fog", The Thing", "In The Mouth Of Madness", "They Live", "Assault On Precinct
13", and of course, "Halloween".

Jones is certainly enthusiastic, but eloquent, in his praise of Carpenter's filmography:
""America doesn't have so many great directors that it can afford to let John Carpenter fall
through the cracks", he begins.

He later asserts, "Examine his oeuvre carefully (this IS Film Comment after all, where they just
love to use critical-wank-off terms like "oeuvre") and you'll realize that he has one of the most
consistent and coherent bodies of work in modern cinema in which the triumphs--the two early
slams dunks, "The Fog", "Escape From New York", "The Thing", "Prince Of Darkness", "They Live",
and "In The Mouth Of Madness"--far outnumber the minor of problematic films. Even his Universal-y
ignored remake of "Village Of The Damned" is beautifully crafted, with a brilliant opening 20
minutes in the bargain".

Finally, a voice of reason to be found in the mire of current critical opinion! Jones describes
Carpenter as "an analog man in a digital world, who measures his own work according to criteria
of value that few pay attention to anymore".

I won't ruin any more of the joys of this intelligent and refreshing article with any more
quotes. Could we at last be seeing a major Carpenter re-evaluation in our lifetime?! As the
millenium approaches, stranger things could happen... -RobertL"

and from Chris:

"Marc: The latest ish (Jan/Feb) of FILM COMMENT has an incredible feature written by Kent Jones on our main man J.C. I'm not kidding when I say this could be THE BEST & MOST IMPORTANT article written about Carpenter EVER!! It begins with: "America doesn't have so many great directors to spare that it can afford to let John Carpenter fall throught the cracks." It ends on this note, discribing J.C. as "another American solitary, falling out of fashion but carefully guarding his intergrity like a dusty old treasure."
Beautiful, and oh-so true words, no? DO NOT miss this aritcle!!! CBS "

Plea from UK Citizens Sheesh, we must be one of the only countries that still doesn't have a Vampires release date sorted. Here is a plea from a fellow UK-based JC fan that I wholeheartedly endorse "Hello Marc, I've just looked at your web site and I'm interested to know when is this film coming to the UK shores? Any idea if it's going to be shown in the Cinema? I live in Edinburgh (film capital of Scotland) and so far I've not seen it listed anywhere! It all appear to be very strange...I mean this is a JOHN CARPENTER film! Thanks for the web site. I appreciated reading the news, etc. P.S. On your raw news page you talk about 'sight', surely you mean 'site'? :-)-- Stuart Halliday" Ok, so I mess up my words a little bit now and again, I can handle it, it doesn't make me a bad person....

The Thing Widescreen"Hey Marc, Here's some good news for the DVD impaired out there.  Universal is releasing a widescreen edition of THE THING on VHS on Feb 9.  Just thought some of your readers might like to know. Bryan Hurley "

New JC Film (sort-of) Chris drops in this interesting news " A long while ago, I think I mentioned an "uncompleted" project called Diamondback. It was a screenplay written by J.C. many years ago about killer snakes running amuck.  Anyway, the script was recently purchased by TBS cable network and is now in production as, alas, a made for cable tv movie. J.C.'s script has also been re-written. CBS "

Q&A Ok, I have now got a pretty good list of questions so entry is closed. The list will go onto JC for him to answer in his own good time.

News as of 22nd January The JC QA Response to this has been pretty good, a few people have submitted some very interesting questions. To summarise the deal, a person close to JC has agreed to pass on a list of questions from this sight. The answers will be posted on this sight. If you want to ask JC a thoughtful question (please, let's leave out 'when are you doing escape from earth?' type questions) then e-mail me. I shall give it another week or two then pass on the list to JC.
JC Article - Excellent Info and Possible New Project Rumour? From Matt G:

"If you are a fan at all of Carpenter and (in my opinion) his masterpiece,
The Thing, then you will need to rush out and buy the newest issue of
Creative Screenwriting. Right there on the cover is The Thing and the issue
includes the article, In Defense of John Carpenter's The Thing. The article
is very good, although it paraphrases Anne Billson's fabulous book and
critical essay on The Thing (a BFI Modern Classic), it's great to see more
people stand up and shout out what we all have known since 1982. The issue
also contains a great interview with Carpenter. Here is just a teaser as
Carpenter talks about what he would do with a sequel to The Thing and what
he is thinking about doing next. Run, don't walk."

And from Brian Peterson:

"... in the new issue of creative screenwriting there is a cover page
story called, in defense of john carpenters the thing.  it is very good
article and pretty in depth. there also is an interview with carpenter.
carpenter says at the end that he may be interested in doing a thriller
next???"

A straight thriller sounds like a FANTASTIC idea, I think that get's me excited more than any other project news could have. Imagine something with the tautness of AOP13 and the scares of Someone's Watching Me.

JC DVD and VHS Info A variety of stuff, including the release dates, supplementals and stuff on Vampires. First off, here is Brian Peterson again:

"the escape from ny dvd has been postponed because polygram, who was
putting it out, got bought out.  so who knows when it is going to come
out.  vampires is still due out on feb 9th, and i think dark star is due
out soon as well"

This from Nate:

"  I've got some info/news for you dealing with the American DVD release
(Region 1.) I don't know about the rest of the world but Vampires in
America will indeed have commentary by the man himself. He stated as
mush in an interview online awhile back and I have had it confirmed by
Peter at www.dvdfile.com before e-mailing you. Peter gets his info from
Cloumbia Tristar themselves. Also the slated release date is February 9,
and although it could be delayed, it is highly unlikely that it would be
released any earlier than that "

From Len:

"Just a little news for your site, you may not have heard but vampires
as now available on order in the USA. Amazon have the tape (release
date Feb. 9, 1999) at the price of 89.24 dollars. Priced as it will
be classed as a rental tape for the first three months (the price
should then drop by 30%).  The tape will be NTSC however (unless you
have an NTSC player)"

Matt G with info on The Fog

"As far as a widescreen The Fog goes, there has been one in circulation for
quite a while. A new print of it was struck for laserdisk about two years
ago and the special edition also included audio commentary by D.Hill and
JC, extra scenes, bloopers and out takes, and many, many trailers to the
film. Unfortunately this rare disk (I got my copy!) is no longer available
through conventional means and as far as I could find there is no immediate
plan to release it on DVD. That does not mean never as the film popped up
this past year in a few movie theaters here in New Jersey on Halloween
weekend."

Add to that is some info from Bryan Hurley

"First of all, you asked about THE FOG being released widescreen.  It was
originally going to be released by Polygram way back in August IIRC.  At
the last minute it was "delayed due to a conlict over the rights".  No
other details were given and no new release date has been set.  Polygram
did promise that they would release it as soon as possible.  However,
most of Polygram's film library was recently bought out by MGM.  I'm not
sure if THE FOG was included, but it probably was.  So there's really no
telling if a widescreen edition will be showing up in the forseeable
future."

Lots of great info there, maybe the great minds on the net can answer Dave Joerg's question?:

"could you find out for me if the US DVD release of Vampires will contain a
Dolby Digital Soundtrack?"

JC On The Web A few interesting JC web stuff that I think people might find interesting. First up is from Robert L

" Just wanted to let you know that John Carpenter fans will find much to appreciate at the cult film
website www.tapehead.com this month!  Reviews of the ultra-rare
"Someone's Watching Me", an appreciative look back at "Big Trouble In
Little China", another lengthy review of "Vampires" just in time for its
home video release, and a John Carpenter profile with a cool (if creepy)
still of the writer-director-composer from the French "Premiere".
Coming up: a look at The Coup De Villes' "Big Trouble In Little China"
music video, and Carpenter's 1982 appearance on "Late Night With David
Letterman"

Check out this review of my site from http://www.film.com/reviews/rev_coming/previews/1998/10747/links.html

           " The real Thing. Packed — I mean packed — with articles,
            interviews, news galore, pages dedicated to every film, and an
            amazing collection of links. Not very pretty but obviously the
            work of a madman (and I mean that as a compliment). This is
            your Escape to John Carpenter."

A pretty cool review I think. Nice to see people are still reading the page almost 4 years on from its inception.

Vampires for the Oscar's Ok, it'll never happen, never ever ever. But, it still makes a nice dream. Here's Matt G to tell you what the hell I am talking about:

"... those two lovable movie critics, Siskle & Ebert did a special show in which
they recommend certain actors/actresses/movies to the Academy Awards for
whom they feel should be nominated for an Oscar. And much to my surprise,
who did Gene Siskel ask the Academy to nominate? None other than James
Woods for his "electrifying performance" in JC's Vampires. Of course Ebert
completely disagreed and they got into an argument."

News as of 4th January 1999 Happy New Year Hope everyone had a great Christmas and all that. Mine was uplifted by the good result of my PhD exam, meaning I am now a fully fledged and qualified waffler. As you can guess, the partying and Christmas holidays have meant no updates for a while, but hopefully things will get back to some sort of regular schedule
Halloween Theme Tune Twoslats helps us out this this old query "Finding the sheet music to something like the theme to "Halloween" is probably the second hardest thing to do (the first being finding a film critic whi isn't a total freakin egomaniacal piece of cowshit). Honestly, the theme is incredibly simple (although effective), and can probably be learned by ear very easily.  Get yourself a copy of the JC themes, and play it over and over. The main thematic riff is 3 notes, played with the root note on the lower scale. Simple, and cool as hell." and Brian over at www.halloweenmovies.com says "Sheet music for Halloween has never been released in any way, "shape," or form."
Vampires Location Little snippet from NoFear35 "Some of the movie was filmed at the Bobcat Bite, Santa Fe New Mexico."
Vampires French DVD"Vampires will be release on DVD at the End of January in France. The Disc will be english
soundrack and French Dub in Dolby Digital 5.1. But in english, you wouldn't be able to remove the subtitles. also 16/9 and Cinémascope. Jérôme Wybon from the French magazine DVD Mag "
Halloween 35mm Print Info Brian from www.halloweenmovies.com "As for the "remastered" Halloween...the story around Hollywood was always that Halloween's negative had deteriorated so bad that it could never be re-issued to theaters (thus why only a few prints exist today). However, when Compass sold the theatrical rights to Miramax, the film was remastered thanks to some new special machine, and was all ready to go (one of my sources said it had never looked better - it was just pure PERFECT). Alan Howarth supervised the digital remastering of the soundtrack and added some slight augmentations to the sound design (you can hear that in the 20th Anniv. soundtrack). And then *kaboom* Miramax decides not to do the re-issue because after their market reasearch, they decided it wouldn't make money. Anyways, Alan Howarth says that this exact remastered 35mm print will be making its way to DVD (he said in Jan, but Anchor Bay says next August).So, there you have it. " That should be a really cool DVD. In way of return, Brian wants to know the street date of the widescreen Fog in the US, anyone help him (and me) out?
Vampires US Vid Release This from Daryl "I saw in my video store update today that Columbia Tri-Star will be
releasing Vampires on Feb.2. " and from Mike " I work at a Suncoast video store and I noticed in our book today that Vampires will be released on DVD, Feb 9 1999.  There weren't any extra features listed but it was only a short synopsis of the plot.  I would love to hear JC doing commentary, though."
JC News Well, some bonafide JC news, dropped in by Tom Alaerts " I read in Wired that the horrible Dean Devlin (yes, Emmerich's buddy) who also seems to produce some game software, is considering together with JC to do a game. I don't know what JC's contribution would be: only the music, or also some video? Anyways, games really look behind the times in only a few years time so I would prefer that JC concentrates his massive talent on something more durable like a feature film! Also, a collaboration with, of all people, one half of the responsability for Independence yawn? 3. It seems that in "the faculty", Rodrigues' new flick about students suspecting that their teachers are aliens, the director really shows his admiration to JC, by simply ripping off the "blood test" scene from the thing!"
JC Update Sandy King Carpenter has kindly dropped in this info. It gives us the latest update on what JC is up to and.... "We feel really good about the reception Vampires has received thus far.  Not many films get to be number one each year...max. 52, I guess.  So being number one was fantastic.  It was also great to hold the spot all week until we got squashed by Adam Sandler...oh well...Obviously, the film's in profit and it hasn't been released yet in most of its foreign markets.  It has a long life ahead of it.  We have no idea whaqaat we're doing next.  This last one was so labor-intensive, that we have just been savoring a little time off for the moment. Really, my first time at leisure was after the opening in November.  We'll start looking at things after the New Year and make a decision when the right thing turns up.  In the meantime, I'm trying to place a TV series and we have an online video game we're developing with Centropolis that should be announced sometime soon when the lawyers finish with their part of the deal. (see the Tom Alaerts scoop above) Send  your list of JC questions to me and I'll see how John feels about answering them.  I think he'll do it." List of JC questions? Well, you see I asked SKC if JC might be interested in a fan based Q&A through the net, and the answer seems to be positive. I think this is a great opportunity for fans to get to ask JC some questions. So, e-mail them to me and lets hope something comes of it. So, the info - email questions to brightms1@cf.ac.uk with JC QA in the subject line. Suggestions - try and hold off the 'sequel to The Thing/They Live/etc?" type questions cos JC has been asked these a million times and the answer is always the same. I shall be editing questions purely to remove duplications, etc. Also, JC and SKC will have the final selection on which questions they answer, so I guess the most interesting ones have more chance of being answered.

News as of 1st December Ok, the updates have been really slow lately. Personal factors have entered the equation, I am no longer a free-wheeling student, I actually have a job and a PhD viva exam to worry about. Still, the main reason for lack of updates is the lack of news, things are REALLY slow at the moment as Vampires has been released (and faded away worryingly easily) and JC doesn't have any public projects in the pipeline. So for the time being the news will be pretty mucn confined to reader contributions and queries.
Vampires Analysis The Vampires box-office trend continued, with it losing a steady 60% almost every weekend since its release. The US gross is standing around the 20 million dollars mark, pitiful considering the huge amount Blade made. Of course, when you compare budgets then Vampires doesn't seem so bad. As everyone seems to be saying, the marketing push for Vampires was practically non-existent. Mohammd Khan of The Carpenticized Side of The Web noted that it had stopped showing in his local theatre by the second week of release.
Halloween Sheet Music? "Hi,I'm having quite a time trying to locate the sheet music for the original Halloween movie.  Has it been released?  If so, could you please direct me to someone who might be able to furnish a copy? Thanks for your consideration, Jeff Wells" If anyone can help Jeff out please reply through me.
Jaxstor on Vampires " Sunday afternoon i got a chance to see my second viewing of vamps again...I wanted to see if the film was as good as I thought it was or was I just caught up in Toronto...I loved it even more...I paid more attention to the detail and the story between  W oods and Baldwin as buddies who have to make hard decisions works in every way...good news Vampires was # 1 AT US box office taking in 10 million....this is Carps best opening and is excellent considering I saw no push from Sony...very little marketing..very little on tv..small ads in the papers...also the US critics once again show their lack of intelligence by skewering this film...I do not understand that...critics over seas praised Vampires universally...here in the states it is being attacked for being homophobic and for bashing women which is bullshit... I still feel it is Carps best since Halloween and The Thing...the critic in my hometown paper said something I found interesting...he felt the film had stunning visuals yet could not recommend it because he felt the film was beneath Carpenters abilities...someone of his talent should do more dignified work...there you have it...I have always felt Carpenter gets negative U S reviews because he does not make the films critics think he should make....thank God he does not - jax"
Vampires Jeep? "In the VAMPIRES movie, what kind of jeep was that.....make and model? thanx, Aaron Silver "
Don M. on Vampires Another Vampires review from a longtime contrib. to these pages " Hey Marc,  Just wanted to mail you with my review of Vampires and to sum it up in one word, Excellent.  J.C. has made a movie that gives you everything you could hope for from the master.  The camerawork, the music, the story and just the air that is always produced when you watch a Carpenter film are all there in full impact.  James Woods portrays his character with perfection.  You wouldn't expect someone like Jack Crow to act any other way.  Daniel Baldwin as well plays his character very straightforward and with great effect.  However, the highest praise should be given to Thomas Ian Griffith who as Valek, brought an incredible sense of power to his role.  His portayal was magnificent, by far the best vampire character I've ever seen.  Yes there was gore, but I didn't feel that it was as excessive as many critics have stated.  On that subject, it's a shame that critics can't judge a film for what it is rather than what their personal views dictate.  Many reviews have fallen under what these people feel is morally correct.  Just because the movie isn't your run of the mill Hollywood commercial popcorn production doesn't mean it isn't good.  Well, I'm sure all of the J.C. fans and even some mainstream critics have provided enough positive feedback to give the film credit.  Vampires was number 1 at the box office on the slowest weekend of the year and that's saying something.  J.C. deserves the credit he has always been due.  And hopefully, this will be the film that brings that credit.  We all know the fans will always be there to make sure J.C. knows that his films are appreciated for what they are: Masterpieces.-  Don M. " Don later dropped in with some more info "    Just wanted to update you on the progress of the Vampires release in the states. Currently, Vampire's is #12 with a take of approx 19million (as of Thurs. 19th Nov).  Not a phenominal amount,  but not too bad either, considering that In the Mouth of Madness and Village of the Damned did not fair near as well when they came out in 95.  Vampires should clear over $20 million before it's through and as you stated, the foreign box office, DVD and video rights should prove Vampires an impressive success.  Something interesting happened today.  When asking someone if they had seen the movie, this person replied, not yet, but I heard the reviews weren't good at all.  I almost smacked the person upside the head, but this just goes to show how gullible some people are. Unfortunately, critics, as self involved as they are, can some how still leave an impression on the masses.  The sad thing was that this guy was a JC fan.  Another sickening fact is that after Vampires opened, I didn't see one trailer promoting the film.  This to a T is reminissent of Village and In the Mouth of Madness.  What is the problem, to keep interest in the public and to further advertise a film, trailers after a movie opens is a must and it was sad to see that Vampires didn't get the  treatment it deserved.  Well, I know the fans will do as much as they can to make the movie successful from a box office stand point.  I've seen the movie 4-times now and will try to see it again before it leaves the mainstream theatres.  Despite what critics print, I consider myself a normal adult in my twenties.  I have good morals, but this in no way alters my view of a film that was made with great expertise.  I've been a JC fan for years and this will never change.  I hope JC scans the internet and reads your page, if so, I'd like to tell him that there are people out there who do appreciate great film making and that he'll always have a fan in me.  He is simply the master. Take care,- Don M."
Missed Debra Hill On-Line Sorry I was slow on this one, maybe someone got hold of a transcript? " FYI This just came in, Debra Hill will be in the E!Online Chat room tonight, November 4, at 6pm Eastern Standard discussing John Carpenter and Halloween.- Matthew Giaquinto"
Halloween Widescreen Show A report on what sounded like a fantastic event "I went to the showing of the original "Halloween" on Halloween night at the widescreen film festival in Long Beach.  Charles Cyphers and Brian Andrews (Tommy Doyle) were there to share some memories of working on this classic with JC. Brian Andrews said he only worked on the film for 4 days and he mostly remembers being told to run and scream.  He said JC was nice to the children on the set and that he was easy to work with because he knew what he wanted.  He also spoke of seeing the film when it came out and not being able to sleep that night. He said everyone recognized him for a while after that and he got a bit of the child star ego, which soon faded.  Charles Cyphers said that he worked on the film for 5 days and most of his scenes were with Donald Pleasance, whom he described as a very nice man and a great actor, but a little strange and scary.  He said of his scenes with Jamie Lee Curtis that she had all the makings of a star.  Looks, energy, and ability.  Then Charles and Brian judged a screaming contest with the finalists from the audience that were picked earlier in the evening.  The gave away money, and "Halloween" special edition videos and "Vampires" posters signed by JC from the weekend before.  One thing that I found very interesting was when the organizer of the festival took the stage to discuss the particular print of the film we were about to see.  Apparently no 35mm prints exist outside of those owned by private collectors who probably purchased them following the initial release of the film.  The print they showed was borrowed from a collector and it was pretty scratched up and faded.  The colors were turning red on the film.  Apparently JC owns a 35mm print, but when he opened the can to check it, it turned out to be damaged so he was unable to let the festival borrow it.  Earlier this year I heard rumors that Miramax was going to strike new prints from the original negative and re-release the film in selected cities.  For whatever, it never happened, but it was still great seeing this masterpiece on a big screen despite the quality of the print.  --Maggie" I really wish someone would see the obvsious potential in re-releasing Halloween in a pristine new print.
UK Vampires Date "Last I heard from Columbia UK was, Press previews Feb 99, this would suggest a  release of about March/April 99.- Simon Caleb."
New Zealand Vampires " I work at Village Cinemas Auckland and I found out the New Zealand Release
date of Vampires: It is 02 February 1998 and will be distibuted by Village Roadshow Distributors for Australia/ New Zealand. Keep up the good work. Oggy Doggy. :) "
Australia Vampires Date " the release date for VAMPIRES here is December 10, a mere 9 days from now!!! PS: You gonna update some time this year? - A O'Connor " Ok, I have been slow updating, so less of the sarcasm.
Leather Jacket? Some strange ID requests coming in for Vampirs props, but I guess they must be interesting to some people "From:  Kip T Melton - Do you have any idea of the make and style of leather jacket worn by James Woods in JC's Vampires.  I hope I haven't bothered you but this is driving me crazy. "
Vampires Video Release Tom Alaerts drops this in " just this: I saw an advertisement in a French magazine that Vampires will be out on video from november 20 on. Keep in mind that their videos are encoded in secam.." So it should be out there by now.
Nutters Of The World, Stand Up and Take a Bow I can't make my mind up about this one, either this is one disturbed person or they are seriously extracting the urine. Whatever, it had to be shared cos it made me laugh " To whom ever this email is going to, i saw john carpenter's vampire movie and was displeased. vampires are real and nothing like that.  we are more like anne rice show us to be.  we're not mean blood suckers.  we don't have master.  we don't just feed.  when someone gives their live to us it's a beautiful ritual.  and most times they don't even die.  i am one of many.  and most of us believes the person must be willing to do it.  please, we're not out to hurt, or kill the human race.  we're like the tigers of the jungle.  just a little high up the food chain.Lady E D " Yeah, higher up the food chain but way down the queue when brains were handed out. I personally am sick to death of the Anne Rice vampires. I was excited by Vampires cos it promised to drop that whole thing, and it has.

News as of 9th November Vampires is now standing at 8th place in the US box office, a 60% drop in box office since last weekend. The gross receipts are now over 15 million dollars, covering the budget of the film. Ok, this isn't good news. Following this trend Vampires will drop out of the top ten next week and maybe scrape 20-25 million on its US release. Still, add this to the enthusiastic French release, the upcoming world release and the large video/DVD and even TV revenue that JC always attracts and Vampires should make a tidy profit. Not enough to be a blockbuster, or even be termed much of a 'hit' but enough to get JC some more independent projects. So can we pinpoint the reason for this lack of success? The US critics, especially the mainstream ones, have been mostly unanimous in their slating of the movie, Totally failing to 'get it', comparing it to films like Interview.... and Bram Stoker's..., berating it for its 'western' feel without appreciating the whole point was to create a 'western' with vampires rather than a straightforward 'horror' film that is just intended to deliver the scares. The criticisms of the 'uberviolence' are just lame, imposing their own moral standards on what should be in the movie rather than judging it in its own context. Fan word of mouth has been pretty ecstatic, but this is never enough to give JC that mainstream hit. One surprising thing seems to have been the lack of promotional push. Despite official word of a 'large' advertising budget most people claim to have not seen much in the way of trailers and even less in terms of posters, adverts, etc. I think that the combination of bad press and weak marketing seems to have killed the movie. In a similar way to the X-Files movie (though obviously not the on the same scale) the initial box office rush was the fans, the very steep drop off pretty much indicates that now we have seen it the general public is not interested.

On a technical note, the server is playing up hence the recent difficulties in accessing the page. Sorry 'bout this, the technical bods assure me they are working hard on it.

Recent rumours have the UK release of Vampires for next May/June, a looong time to wait.

News as of 2nd November Ok, not only did I miss Halloween, I missed one of the most important events of the year, the Vampires release in the US. Sorry for the lack of coverage, but I took some time off after my thesis. I have also managed to secure a job, ensuring that bread and water will still be in abundance so I can pay the upkeep on this page. Of course, being a UK dweller the impact of the Vampires release was somewhat subdued, so I consoled myself with a trip to see Halloween : H20. Now, I have not been backwards in being a critic of this lame series of sequels but I was delighted with this film. All that Thorn and Man In Black crap was ditched, sequels 4-6 are completely ignored, to focus again on the simple fact that Michael Myers is one extremely scary creation. They have done it right this time; the first time Myers appears, in the obligatory pre-credits sequence, my heart just stopped. Being a young sort I missed the chance to see the film on the big screen the first time around, so this was my first sight of Myers standing 30ft tall in front of me. The film gets better from there, despite almost slipping into a Scream-esque teenagers in peril movie. It is Jamie Lee Curtis who is the real revelation, the character of Strode is completely believable as a woman dealing with the 20 year legacy of that night in Haddonfield. When she finally decides enough is enough and goes after Michael, it is so right. A great film, elevated by a wholly believable and sympathetic central performance.
The Vampires Release A summary of the various early responses and box-office rumblings

" Just wanted to fill you in on the upcoming Vampire's release here in the States. Today is 10-27-98, 3 days and counting and so far, the trailers for Vampire's has been pretty stagnant. Haven't seen many of them and the movie is too close for this kind of lacklustre advertising. If I see one more preview or postview for Apt Pupil, Sony/Tri-Star ( THE SAME STUDIO RELEASING VAMPIRES) is going to receive a unibomb in the mail. The recent news of James Woods appearing on Jay Leno and Daniel Baldwin appearing on David Letterman will hopefully provide the type of advertising push that's usually given to even the most insignificant of films. Anyway, don't mean to complain but it gets pretty frustrating when you see a highly anticipated film by die-hard Carpenter fans that deserves the exposure get lukewarm attention right before release. Shades of the disgusting advertising for In The Mouth of Madness and Village of the Damned are unfortunately evident. Regardless, I'm confident that the fan base and good word of mouth (for once by commercial critics) will be enough. It's just disappointing to see this time and again. Well, I'll mail you back after the opening. Will try to see if a sneak preview is showing and if so, will let you know the inside story. Anyway, have to go turn the channel, another Bride of Chucky trailer just came on. That makes it about 15 so far today. Take Care and a late congratulations on completion of the thesis Don M. "

"From: Tztolls@aol.com Dear Marc;Could you please find out through your connections the brand name and style # of the sunglasses James Woods wears in "Vampires"? Thanks,John. "

"Hey Marc, I also went to that Long Beach film festival and I got a report for you. The place was packed and JC of course was really cool and laid back. He told us VAMPIRES was really politically incorrect which everyone applauded. He then said he put alot of violence and sex into it which got even more applause. In the Q&A when someone asked if there would be a sequel to THE THING, he said that a producer came to him with the idea of teenagers being dropped into the Antarctic and he killed it right there. That got alot of laughs. Another questioner told him that PRINCE OF DARKNESS was the scariest movie ever and that got a big applause. He was also asked if he thought that the young filmmakers who are doing all the Scream-ripoffs are just interested in making money and not doing quality stuff and JC answered that he thought that was being too cynical and that they are trying their best with the scripts and the casts that the studios give them. And when Harry Dean Stanton gave Carpenter the award, Carp said that it had Robert Wise's name on it, and he and Wise exchanged awards. That got more laughs. All in all it was a good night. The audience was obviously full of JC fanatics and they all really liked VAMPIRES. It had great cinematography, great gore and some hilarious one-liners. Later, Doug Graves "

"I WENT TO THE OPENING TONIGHT OF JOHN CARPENTER'S VAMPIRES AND I AM HERE TO TELL YOU THAT IT IS THE BEST FILM HE HAS EVER DONE!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE SEEN EVERYTHING HE HAS DONE AND THIS MOVIE IS NOT ONLY HIS BEST WORK TO DATE IT IS ALSO ONE OF THE COOLEST MOVIES EVER PUT ON FILM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RUSS BOGGS SIOUX CITY, IOWA. "

"From: Twoslats: Dude-- I saw Vampires last night, and I can only say ---HO LY SHIT!!!!! That's what we're talking about when we talk about a good freakin movie... "

"From: (Frances Westerfield) According to tonight's news, "Vampires" is the top grossing film this week. Good weekend to open seeing as how it was Halloween. I really enjoyed this movie! "

"From www.imdb.com - Joining a raft of scary movies already installed in theaters this Halloween weekend is Vampires (1998), from the Halloween movie creator John Carpenter. For the most part, the film is receiving frightful reviews. "Vampires never manages to be either frightening or suspenseful," writes Lawrence Van Gelder in the New York Times, adding, "By its end, a world that should be saved from movies like this has, at least, been saved from a new breed of evildoer." Many critics agree that Carpenter's usual restraint is largely absent from his latest effort. Tom Maurstad in the Dallas Morning News observes, "Enough severed heads roll around this movie to open a bowling alley for the damned." Eleanor Ringel in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution comments that Vampires "starts out great and ends up limp." Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun Times allows that the movie "has a certain mordant humor" but, he adds, "the movie is not scary." "What you've really got is a bore," says Susan Wloszczyna in USA Today. But Bob Strauss, in the Los Angeles Daily News comments that the film succeeds on its own terms. "It's hardly a great film," Strauss writes, "but taken in the properly twisted spirit, it's smart and nasty Halloween fun." And Jami Bernard in the New York Daily News concludes, "Vampires is a guilty pleasure, a Halloween horror howler."

"some state side reviews of vamps is coming in and they are positive..the rolling stone review was by peter traves who gave a negative review for the thing way back when but liked vamps a lot detour magazine had a lengthy article and gave vamps 3 stars out of 4...cinefantastique called it carps best in ten years ....so maybe carp will hit paydirt..i know friday night i will be there with a group of buds for my second viewing and their first... jaxstor "

No real surprise that some of the straight critics didn't like it. The fans word of mouth is almost uniformly positive, and Vampires is sitting at No. 1 in the box office, a welcome return to the top slot for JC. It took 9.2 million dollars on its opening weekend. Lets hope it has the legs for the long haul.

New Unfinished Projects Chris drops in with a whole slew of info, which will hopefully find its way over the the unfinished projects section eventually "FANGS: A script J.C. wrote as a gun for hire. Although it was strictly an exploitation pic (that was never made), Carpenter took it seriously...and had a lot of fun with it. He claimed there where scares and jumps all over the place. It dealt with a horde of nasty rattlesnakes which are inadvertantly unearthed when a housing project begins building in some desert lot. I guess the homeless snakes then sought revenge. Typical scenes included a man who hears a rattle...thinks it's his infant...and finds a rattlesnake in the crib! Yeah, we're talking about rattlesnakes under beds, in sofas...everywhere! Wonder if there were any in the john!

GREY WOLF EXPRESS is a script that Debra Hill mentioned in a post HALLOWEEN pre-FOG interview. It was being written by Carpenter and herself for television. What it was about, or whatever became of it is anybody's guess. In the same interview, Ms. Hill claims there will NEVER be any sequels to Halloween....

I did previously mention that Carpenter was offered STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE several years before it was eventually made, didn't I? - J.C. always wanted to remake Howard Hawks' ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS orginally starring Cary Grant. Well, Carpenter recently admitted that this would be his dream project with Kurt Russell in the CG role and Sam Neil and Jeff Bridges as his co-stars. I think it'd be terrific myself....of course, Carpenter could remake OCTOMAN and I'd be thrilled.... "

JC on The Tube This in from Jaxstor "greetings marc....on monday october 26...i watched mastes of fantasy on sci fi channel and they spotlighted jc...real nice tribute from director robert rodriques(?) and james woods...woods declares he has been a long time carpenter fan who always wanted to work with the master...he felt jc was one of the most gifted directors he has worked with...rodriques commented on how carp is one of the few directors who has a unique style....they showed behind the scenes of the making of vampires and the thing...there was a nice interview with jc...and a retrospective of his career including footage of the short the resurrection of bronco billy...all in all it was very good...."

JC in Starlog Chris also drops this in "Chris here again, just letting you know that the new Starlog has a decent J.C. interview in it. Here's a couple of choice snippets: CARPENTER: "I've been begging Quentin Tarintino and Frank Darabont to cast me in their movies as a killer, but they won't do it. They want me to play truck drivers, and I refuse to do that." And J.C. on wheather or not Mr. Plissken will ever return to the screen: "Never! Last time he came back, none of you went!" That's it for now.... " That might explian the rumours of JC appearing in Jackie Brown. I hope they give him a meaty part sometime.