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 :

News as of Jan 23rd John Carpenter In Porno Mag Yep, a true Sunday Sport type headline sent my way via Chris -"It's true!! J.C. is interviewed in the hardcore porno mag GALLERY. The ish just hit the stands today ..... it's a six page, full color article featuring lots of fab pics-- a couple I've never seen before, including J.C. directing VAMPIRE$. The interview is better than usual as well. No startling revelations, but good nonetheless. This is a must have." What a perfetc excuse to pop into your local skin joint and peruse the top shelf. Seriously though, as Chris says this sounds like a great interview so I urge everyone to try and get hold of it.
The Vampires Preview and Interview Tom Alaerts has managed to get hold of some fantastic info about the premiere of Vampires, which looks certian to be taking place in France. This long message from Tom also has some great interview snippets "Yesterday I found the new "Mad Movies" at the newsstand. It is a special about the sf,horror&fantasy film festival in Gerardmer (France). And guess what: Vampires will be shown in world-premiere. JC and gorgeous Sheryl Lee will attend. It will not be shown in the competition series I don't know the exact day, the festival takes place between 28/1 and 1/2. Anyway, there is a very cool 2-pages article about the movie. 3 pics are shown, one with an impaled vampire was already shown in a british SFX mag. A close-up of Sheryl with good old vampire fangs. And the coolest pic of all: James Woods with the magical crucifix that the vampires are looking for. I will now translate some of the highlights of the article (not very efficient: an interview in English was translated to French for the magazine and now I have to translate it back to English. Some subtleties will inevitably be lost, but you will get the idea).
John Carpenter: "I always wanted to make a vampire movie. When I was offered to adapt the book, I discovered some elements that weren't shown before in this kind of movie. It takes place in the south of the states and has many similarities with westerns. It gave me the possibility of making a vampire movie that would be a lot different from those we already know."
Mad Movies rightly remarks that "Near Dark" by Catherine Bigelow could be the exception.
James Woods: "Instead of good guys following criminals, the movie shows a bunch of hunters chasing the vampires. You will see a lot of setpieces which are in obvious homage to John Ford, Sam Peckinpah and Howard Hawks".
Sandy King: "If you make an abstraction about the context, the similarity is really obvious. Replace the vampires with criminals, think "Rio Bravo" by Howard Hawks, and you will see how JC marches in the footsteps of his idols".
(Mad Movies asks "And Sergio Leone? It seems that JC is also inspired by Leone's heroes which are neither really good nor bad?" JC: "Of course, you will find the same kind of duality, but it is even more ironic. So you will find humans hunting the creatures of the night, repressed sexuality that is liberated, the thirst for blood. All the stereotypes will be used. But I always loved westerns and I accepted to do Vampires because I could approach the western genre.". Mad Movies: ... which is evident from the first image on...

----- SPOILER ALERT: NEXT IS THE BEGINNING OF THE MOVIE ---- In excellently used cinemascope (my note: this is one of the techniques that JC can't be beat in) JC shows semi-desertlike plains with only a ruin in sight. Nobody could live there. Except a vampire. Jack Crow and his team show up, a very sarcastic Woods even says "a real wild bunch" (my note: probably for those with limited film culture). The team investigate the place and proceed by exterminating some ten vampires. In such a wild, raw, inhuman way that makes Van Helsing look like a choir boy. Big troubles demand big measures. At night, the hunters leave, behind them only some ashes remain. To celebrate their victory they go to a motel and order whores, whiskey and other substances. Until the understandably very pissed Valek comes along and kills almost all the people in the motel. Only Crow, his right hand Montaya and prostitute Katrina (Sheryl Lee) survive. But Katrina has some scars caused by Valek on her thigh... JC: "It takes 4 to 5 days for the virus to take over. Katrina is of special interest to Crow because now she sometimes is in some telepatic contact with Valek. Then she can see what he sees." ------- END OF SPOILER ALERT ------

Then Sheryl Lee gives a typical hollywoodlike account of the research she did for the role. Imagine, she's a vegetarian! I didn't bother to translate it. 2 nice other passages: JC: "A vampire movie without sex isn't a vampire movie." Mad Movies: The hunters have an excuse for their barbarian way of life, because a priest gives them absolution before every mission. Which JC films with obvious pleasure.
Strangely, Mad Movies doesn't give a real review. Perhaps they only saw the beginning at this moment. We'll have to wait but let's hope you get a review from one of the visitors at Gerardmer...Vampires will premiere in France on april 22 or may 13". I think everyone who reads these pages, and myself, really appreciate you typing this up for us Tom.
Update On Unfinished Projects Just a few extra things from Chris about some stuff I have reported recently "The Chickenhawk thing is interesting. I think I might've heard J.C. actually mention it at one point...saying that he'd love to do it, but thanks to typecasting, probably never would. The Bob Clark project was considered back in 1975. It predated HILLS HAVE EYES and was infact, about a family of murderous Apalachians. I don't think a finished script materialized. Also, according to a FANGORIA interview, Clark claimed to have planted the seed for HALLOWEEN in J.C.'s head. Clark had directed BLACK CHRISTMAS, and at one point, while working with Carpenter, said he'd like to do a BLACK sequel, this time setting it on....yep, HALLOWEEN. The similarities end there. He doesn't believe Carpenter stole anything from him. AT MIDNIGHT, the J.C. Tommy Lee Wallace script was supposedly very much "a comic book inspired" script. Whatever that means. Must've been a Tales from the Crypt concept. And oh yeah, I've been searching for the Coleman Luck screenplay for Escape From LA for years...with um, no luck. I do know that LA was massive insane asylum in that script, and it ended up with poor Snake finding out that he was a clone in the end! If anybody has access to the actual script, I'd love to get my hands on it." Anyone care to help Chris (and myself) out in locating a copy of this script?

News as of Jan 22nd John Carpenter En Francais Yep, my terribly rusty French gets a workout again. Here is the great news I recieved " I'have just finished a book, with L.Lagier, about John Carpenter movies (also included a large conversation with John). This book will issue in France next February (maybe the 18 th). His title is : "Mythes et masques : les fantômes de John Carpenter" (translation : Myths and masks: the ghosts of John Carpenter")", that news was from Jean-Baptiste Thoret.
More Unfinished Stuff Thanks to Chris the Unfinished Projects section now has a bundle of new info.

News as of Jan 19th Happy Birthday JC JC turned fifty last friday, on Jan 16th. Yep, as most of you noticed I missed the celebrations cos I was just too tied up with college work. Anyway, Patrick Kerr has outdone himself with what is the best JC birthday tribute I have seen, you have to see it.
More Projects I have added 3 more titles to the uncompleted projects section of this site, thanks to everyone for helping make it so comprehensive. That is all the news for today, things seem to have dried up at the moment. Everyone keep their ear to the ground and send me any JC news you get.

News as of Jan 8th More On Meltdown Chris has answered my plea for some info on Meltdown, this is what he had to say "Meltdown was a script that J.C. wrote years and years ago...before the China Syndrome was made. After that film came about, J.C. said that Meltdown was kinda pointless. Anyway, this was written when J.C. was still writing scripts as a gun for hire, so he no longer owns it and it's probably being done without any of his participation." So, will this be a Laura Mars style turkey or an El Diablo triumph? The Films Of John Carpenter page adds this "Over at The John Carpenter Web Page there's been some mumblings about this mystery project that came out of nowhere. Well, I thought I'd heard of it before, so I checked my back-issues of Cinescape and sure enough, there it was: Meltdown - The Plot: This action-adventure tale, scripted by John Carpenter, follows a terrorist group with unpredictable results. Not much, but it's something. It goes on to list Dolph Lungren as star and John Dahl as director, which is wrong, but hey - it's a three-and-a-half year old magazine!" John Dahl is credited as one of the screenwriters and it seems that Lundgren has been replaced by Van Dien.
Parlez Vous Francais? Do you speak French? Ever fancied an excuse to visit France? Well, now you have one, because it seems that Vampires will get it's first release there. David Fakrikian drops in this info "Get ready for this...If you haven't taken the Eurostar yet, the perfect opportunity will come up...French have always regarded Carpenter as an author... The distributors are always eager to get JC's next...Hence....VAMPIRES WILL BE DISTRIBUTED IN FRANCE THIS SPRING IN A WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE !!!! I think we are talking about a march/may issue at the worst !Saw the trailer on TV and making of and JC interview yesterday...JC says it's "The Wild Bunch with Vampires".Looks ass kicking and great ! " Great news and I am dying to see that trailer.
New Unfinished Project Chris also gave me a snippet of info on another unfinished JC project "Another unfinished project that I recently remembered comes from a story from director Bob Clark. According to Clark, he and a pre-Halloween J.C. briefly toiled on a thriller set in the Appalacian mountains. Don't know much else about it, other than it might've been a HILLS HAVE EYES thing. Carpenter eventually moved on to do HALLOWEEN. "

News as of Jan 6th A New Film? Ok, I have seen a spot on the web (this website), listing Meltdown as a JC project, possibly his next film. A quick search has yielded little extra, but there is this from an Italian web site "Meltdown, di John Carpenter, è il nuovo screenplay girato presso una centrale nucleare presso i dintorni di Vienna. Grossa attesa anche per il film di SF StarGate, con Kurt Russell, ispirato alla cultura egizia e per il serial TV TekWar di William Shatner.", but unfortunately I do not read Italian. It seems to mention a new screenplay by JC about a Nuclear Meltdown, maybe in Vienna? Does anyone have more info on this project? The Italian quote is from May '97, so it is pretty old news.
Meltdown Just after I put up the news above I find the page on the IMDB. It is a film based on a story written by John Carpenter, scheduled for a 1999 release (due to start filming in April 98). It stars Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers) and is directed by Ate De Jong, this is the IMDB page. Does anyone have any more info on this film?
Vampires Don't Get Around Still looks like no distributor set, this is the latest from a well placed source, the quotes have been changed to protect the source from deportation to the penal colony of the former LA,"there is NO UK or US distributor just yet but they a're very close" and "there was a screening for buyers right before Christmas, the film received a lot of interest." So, at least it seems certain that the final print has been cut.

News as of Jan 5th 1998 I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a suitably debauched New Year. Some of this news is a few weeks old, so this is a post-holidays update.
Vampires Distributor A few regular contributors have checked in with info on this, Kim August says "the Vampires publicist just left me a message, she said there is still no US distributor as of yet, but "we are getting close" and INTER says "I spoke with the publicist for Largo (the film's producer) today and was told that the film still did not have a set U.S. distributor. They did seem to think that negotiations were close and might be signed by the first of the year." So, that last piece suggests the distributor should be signed by now, anyone have any follow up on this?
Blade INTER has confirmed a rumour that "BLADE has been pushed back to August". This means that hopefully JC's Vampires will have the first bite at the vampire movie cherry in '98.
Vampires - First Look Ok, this is the news we have all been waiting for, David F says "... the french premiere mag.... said he have seen the vampire trailer... He says it's "assault" with vampires instead of outlaws assieging the precinct. The trailer is full of hard rock music, and James Wood nails a vampire with a cross bow... I haven't seen it, but if one tape is in circulation, it means more tapes will surface, and I will check and get back to you." Then our old friend The Man In The Black Suit, the undercover Vampires crew member, dropped this fantastic news "::::looking around the room with 2 chrome 9mm drawn and ready::::: I went to the premiere of Vampires the other day, if you have any questions feel free to write me, but beware: it takes a few days to answer my mail cause its hard to find time to sit down at a computer when you are being chased by the cops! ::::sirens:::: ::::running out of the warehouse, blasting my way to freedom::::::" I will have more on that as soon as he gets chance to contact me. So, when can WE see Vampires? This is from August 3 "Alos, rumor has it that Universal is set to begin audience test screenings sometime in January.", so keep a lookout. Of course, this rumour indirectly suggests that Universal are going to distribute Vampires. The same source also shares this info - "Found a long, detailed script review of the Carpenter draft at this address: http://www.writerswebsite.com/reviews/script/vampire/vampires.html", beware though, it contains SPOILERS, so read it at your own peril.
Vampires Magazine This is a bit old, but the Jan 98 issue of SFX magazine had a full page preview of Vampires with some cool pictures I have not seen anywhere else.

News as of Dec 11th Do You Want To Distribute Vampires? Ok, maybe the situation is not so bad we need a 'net appeal yet, but Mohammad Khan's news that Universal will be distributing does not seem to be the case, this is from Kim August "...stopping by the site, earlier today I read the latest blurb about Universal possibly distributing Vampires. So I took the liberty of ringing the Vampires Publicist and she said "Nothing is official, and that I am on the top of the list as far as information about the film goes." So folks, don't take out those crossbows and garlic wreathes yet." This seems like it is being left very late to secure that Feb 28th release date.
New Award Ok, because the news is pretty thin today I am going to massage my ego and present my new award, presented by the all-new Halloween Link Hub.
Vampires MPAA Rating! Thanks to Bruce Dierbeck for getting me this hot piece of news, literally turning up as I was doing today's news. This is what Bruce had to say " Just wanted to let you know that John Carpenter's VAMPIRES must have a final cut done. At least, a rough, final cut, because the MPAA has already seen it and given it the "R" rating, I hope nobody is surprised by this, otherwise, you're not a JC fan. So, maybe the rumors about Universal are true, maybe not. Not sure about that yet, but I'll be there could be some test screenings coming up in the near future." Cool, an 'R' rating is what interviews with JC have hinted at, he is going straight for the jugular with this one. Everyone, keep your eyes peeled for the test screenings.
JC and his DVD's Bruce also had this to say about some of the new JC DVD releases, and The Thing SE " Also, I have the ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 DVD. It's really cool. It's got commentary on it, but it's the same commentary from the LD because at one point he mentions being on the second side of the disc now. Obviously, DVD is all on one side, so he must have done it for the LD. I think he did the commentary back in 94 when he did the commentary for a bunch of his movies. But, it's still cool. Has some funny things he says about production. There's also a trailer that's not in mint condition, but it's a kick ass trailer none the less. It has 70's written all over it. The transfer is great, way better than Anchor Bay's shit job on HALLOWEEN on DVD. I hear everyone talking about THE THING on LD, that Signature Edition. Has everyone forgotten that Universal is now starting to release about 5 or 6 DVD's a month finally? This means that POSSIBLY (just my speculation, but it seems obvious, doesn't it?) THE THING could get released on DVD as well when it comes out on LD. " A huge thanks to Bruce for all this news.

News as of Dec 10th Rumble In The Laserdisc Jungle For the umpteenth time this year we have caught wind of the 'imminent' release of Universals special edition laserdisc of The Thing. This is from The Films Of John Carpenter site "I just thought youd like to know that the Signature collection of The Thing should be out next year some time. I have a close friend that talked to carpenter about that edition and he said carpender was please with the results on it so far. I also talked to a reporter of a french lazer disc magazine and he said that it should come out in 88. " As Patrick points out as his site, the '88' is probably a typo (I hope they mean '98). If you go back through the news over the last few months you will see quite a few bits of info on this special ED. (Jc voiceover, trailer, missing scenes, Kurt Russell, etc. are all expected though not all are confirmed). Does anyone have anything to add to this news?
Manic Miner No, not the classic Spectrum game, just a lame headline to announce that the director of Halloween 7 has been confirmed as Steve Miner. The official Halloween website has a profile of this director, his biggest claim to fame seems to be Friday The 13th Parts II and III. Some people are optimistic about this, but sorry, I think those films suck. Why do we have the director of a tired old Halloween rip-off making what was expected to be the long awaited return to form of the Halloween series?
Halloween on DVD The same website has a comparison of the Halloween special ed. laserdisc and the new DVD from Anchor Bay. To quote them, the LD has the edge, not just because of the special extras but because the Anchor Bay DVD does not have particularly excellent picture quality. This is a shame, as DVD does have the potential to have great picture quality. A few rumbles on the 'net seem to suggest this may be a common occurrence with all Anchor Bay DVD's, so you have been warned.

News as of Dec 9th Vampires Distributor This news is courtesy of the Carpenticized Side Of The Web "Hey-yo folks! Over at Marc Bright's site some time ago it was reported that Vampire$ did not have a studio to distribute the film. Well today, a little bird got caught in my mailbox and I managed to wring its neck long enuff to find out that the distributor is Universal. Well that sounds like good news, I mean they did release JC's remake of THE THING didn't they? " Does anyone have any extra info about this?
Vampires - some plot snippets. Some extra info on the plot of Vampires has come to light. Valick (Thomas Ian Griffith), the head vampire, is the result of a botched exorcism from over 600 years ago. So, in a sense, the Vatican church are responsible for creating him. This sounds really cool to me.

News as of Dec 8th John Steakley - His View John Steakley, as some of you will know, has been in contact with this page (amongst others) to share his thoughts on the upcoming adaptation of his novel -

Dear Sir,

It is extremely flattering that you take such interest. I must tell you, however, that I am only dissappointerd in John's script in the sense that...Well, If I'dve wanted to write that story...I would have written that story. Yet, I do, rather more than a little, like Carpenter's version of vampire hunters. And, while I'm at this, I like him. I showed up in Santa Fe unnanounced and uninvited and could NOT have been treated better. John - busy as Hell- and his wife, Sandy King Carpenter, and James (call me Jimmy) Woods and all the crew ...and everyone else I met, were wonderful. Generous, kind, considerate and, once they realized I wasn't there to complain about my "baby" being aborted, more fun than anyone deserves.

God bless,

Steakley

News as of Dec 3rd Just a quick update today to round up some of the news. First off I had an interesting note, attatched to a crossbow bolt none the less, narrowly miss me while I was hunched over this computer. The note turned out to be from John Steakley, clearing up a few points. First off, although Vampires (the movie) is very different to the book Steakley does not hate it, in fact he likes it. He also enjoyed meeting JC and the rest of the crew while they were filming down on Santa Fe.
Williamson and Halloween. As I am sure you have already seen, a small interview with Kevin Williamson (writer of Scream) is on-line. He discusses the next Halloween film and confirms that he did write a treatment and Jamie Lee Curtis is thrilled to be back as Laurie Strode. The plot titbits he gave away were very similar to the 7 page treatment that has been knocking around on the 'net recently. He also confirms that JC is not back to direct. That's all for today, the news has been pretty quiet recently.
Halloween or Halloween 7? The current word, from the Halloween Movies site, is that Halloween will not get a 20th anniversary re-release to the cinema because it will clash with the release of Halloween 7. That is bad news, I was too young the first time around and I really want to see this classic up on the widescreen. Imagine a remastered version, in a dark theatre, with JCs score coming at you in booming THX. I think they (yep, the eponymous THEY!) should realise that if they release both of them, it will encourage more people to go and and see number 7. Especially if, as we are led to believe, number 7 carries on from Number 2, sort of ditching 2-6.
The John Carpenter Web Page Web Page - This is a new JC page that is excellent. As well as some in depth analyses of JCs films it also analyses web sites that analyse JC. It's called Post-Modernism (what is post-modernism?). Anyway, the page is fantastic and if you look hard you will find some comments and quotes there from yours truly.

News as of Nov 25th Fantastic New Halloween Interview Take a look at the Interviews section for a special 20th anniversary interview with the cast and crew of Halloween.
They Live DVD, what about LD? This is from Bruce Dierbeck "HALLOWEEN was just released on DVD, and now THEY LIVE is being released on DVD and it's letterboxed at 2.35 and is in Dolby Digital 5.1! Definitely gonna be great to see this kick ass flick letterboxed and clear. Here's the information:
They Live (DVD/LBX/AC3) ID4234USDVD $29.99 Rated: R IED:Image DVD 1988 95 min. UPC#014381423426 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Prebook: 12/02/97 Street Date: 01/07/98 Features: 16X9/AC3/LBX Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George 'Buck' Flower, Peter Jason, Raymond St. Jacques They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. Horror master John Carpenter directs this action-packed sci-fi thriller about one man's battle against aliens who are systematically gaining control of the Earth. LBX 2.35:1/ English:5.1 Surround.
Also, the ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 Special Edition supposedly comes out on DVD on Wednesday, November 26th now. It was bumped closer instead of its December date. I haven't heard a confirmation on this, so on Wednesday I'll run out and see if it's out. If it is, I'll buy it and let you know what's all on it. Should be a cool disc, I've heard there's commentary on it, but we'll wait until we find out for sure. " Great news for DVD owners, Chris has this to say "Anymore news on the THEY LIVE laser yet? I was told there was no laser release planned, only DVD. This CAN'T be true. Any date slated??? " This may be the start of DVD only releases? I am really excited about that AOP13 special edition.

News as of Nov 19th Steakley Speaks Dave over at the John Steakley fan site has this to say " I chatted with John live on November 1, and among other things, we talked about the upcoming movie. I will have a slightly edited transcript up there in the next day or so, but I wanted to let you know a few things he said about it: He said that most of the book was gone. He said Carpenter kept some of the dialogue, but changed all of the rest. Also, he said one reason it had been changed so much was because almost a third of the budget was cut after Carpenter started filming, which forced Carpenter to radically change his plans. For instance, apparently, they were supposed to film in Rome, but had to cut that part. He said Carpenter was already looking for his next project before Vampire$ was even finished, and that he didn't blame him one bit. Anyhow, you'll be able to read all about it tomorrow or the day after, whenever I get the time to post the transcript on the page." I can't wait for that full transcript. Some interesting and unheard of news there, I wasn't aware of any budget slashing (something that seems to happen to JC quite a bit). Notice the quote about JC looking for his next project? That is the first thing we have heard to possibly dispel the 'JCs last film' rumour that has been going around.
Blade Delayed A big shout out to Bruce of the official Halloween Movies site for this " Just wanted to let you know that BLADE has "supposedly" been delayed until August 7th. Of course we'll have towait and see if they definitely have delayed it, but that's the word I've been hearing. That means that Carpenter can get the jump on them if he can get a distributor and get VAMPIRES out sometime in late winter or Spring before the BIG movies come out in late spring and summer.". That could be the best news we've had this week.
Vampires or Vampire$? Kolchak has got back in touch with me to clean up some of the film confusion. The production notes all refer to the film as John Carpenter's Vampires, the word Vampire$ is only used when referring to the source novel. Seems like Vampires is the current title.

News as of Nov 18th An Industry Insider Speaks I have just finished chatting with Renfield, who, through a mouth full of beetles, gave me a great view of the current state of Vampire$ - " Having just finished the John Steakley novel, Vampire$ ... was surprised to read today's excerpt from your site that no title had been definitively chosen. As far as I have been informed, the title still is Vampire$. Now the problem is when you hear something on E! or on the radio they certainly can not say Vampire Dollar Sign, They have to say Vampires. I also know that JC and Co. spent some pretty pennies to get the rights to Steakley's novel. But from what I hear as well is that Steakley is not pleased with JC's adaptation of his novel to the big screen (Reported here first - MB). Apparently not much has survived in the transfer which is not a surprise when considering the director. JC always has had a habit of making the projects his own. In terms of Vampire$ not having a U.S. Distributor yet ... would consider that a bad thing, but I think it's best for Carpenter. Look at all of his films, the best were always his years not working at or with a major studio, i.e. Halloween, The Fog, EFNY, etc. I think when JC is working with a small company, not a lot of money, but not a lot of suits breathing down his neck either, he works at his best. JC had originally wanted to get Vampire$ out before the Wesley Snipes vampire thriller Blade which is set for a February release. Most likely the distributors will want to see if Blade does well before bidding on Vampire$. Now this can work for or against Carpenter. If Blade tanks at the box office, no one is going to want to spend any decent amount buying the rights for, advertising, and releasing Vampire$. Bad for Carpenter. If Blade is a success then distributors will go into a buying frenzy over Vampire$, good for Carpenter. Worse case scenario and, unfortunately, the most likely. Blade sinks at the box office. Who wants to spend a lot on Vampire$? It's not like James Woods is the type of actor to draw in crowds. Either a small company picks it up and tries to release it next spring where it gets crushed amongst heavyweights like Godzilla. Or a larger company buys it and doesn't give it much of a release. Probably dumps it in August or October of 1998. Either way, if the film doesn't get released by April of 98 don't expect to see it until the end of the summer, earliest. The saving grace? Yes, one. Carpenter goes back to his old style of filming and pulls a trick or two out of his hat. He makes a film worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Halloween, The Fog, The Thing and EFNY. Can he? If I hear anything new..." About the title, that is a fair argument about why we have not heard the dollar sign title, but as of now the two advertising posters both state 'John Carpenter's Vampires', so I am going to stick with that title for now. This clash with Blade seems unfortunate, especially as a few advance previews have labelled it as a stinker. The postponing of the release date could be a reality as well, we shall just have to wait and see. On the subject of BLADE, here is a snippet from Ain't It Cool News - "I have managed to see a couple scenes from "Blade". One of which is an extended battle with an army of vampires in a subway station and it is quite simply one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The rest of the film would really have to be awful to merit such a bad review because that sequence is awesome. It's about ten minutes of the fastest moving, bloodiest, jaw-droppingest action you've ever seen. Definately in the Hong Kong mold, it out-John Woos the best John Woo. Plus there's Tracy Lords running around drenched head to toe in blood. Amazing. I hope the rest of the film holds up. The only problem is I don't know if it will ever get past the MPAA." So, Blade could be a decent movie, but it still might not hit box office gold.
Another Picture From Vampires Just a quickie, this is from the The Pulp Cult Horror Highway.

News as of Nov 17th Another Vampires Web Page - The Pulp Cult Horror Highway, in the Hall Of Horrors section, has a load of stuff on Vampires. Instead of me telling you all about it, go and check it out for yourselves.
But, I can't help myself so I am going to mention some of the juicier titbits in the real player interviews with the cast - Woods likens the film to a classic Western; namechecking Ford, Peckinpah, Hawks, esp. how similar the film is to The Wild Bunch. Sheryl Lee confirms what we know about her role; she is a hooker who has a psychic link with Valick the master vampire. Team Crow take her hostage in order to track down Valick. Baldwin plays Wood's right hand man Montoya, his buddy; thecharacter sounds like a bit of a joker. Griffith (Valick) gave us a fair bit of stuff, he is the original Vampire and the Vatican have been sending slayers after him for over 600 years, he has killed hundreds of them. Valick is trying to find the cross that will help him walk in the daylight. The page in question keeps referring to the film as Vampire$, which I actually prefer as a title. Anyone know what the actual title is yet? Mark Boone Jr (one of the slayers) talks about how Team Crow come across a nest that contains the master vampire.
Halloween 7 and JLC - Go the the official Halloween Movies website to check out the latest developments on Halloween 7. It looks like JLC is definitely in (JC is definitely not) and a director has been decided on.

News as of Nov 14th More Info On Vampires Kolchak, taking time out from his busy schedule of chasing spooks long before Mulder and Scully came on the scene, has sent me some info on Vampires, the latest update to hit the streets - " As of yet the film does not have a distribution company or date for the US, the film is finished and awaiting test reactions. ..12 colour transparencies, which are fantastic.... These will appear in a popular film magazine this December and will be the first exclusive in the country dealing with Vampires. ...rushes for the film and can say that there is a sequence dealing with Valick and a motel which is truly awesome.
Screenplay credits are to Carpenter, Don Jackoby and Dan Mazur.
Producer is Sandy King.
Cinematographer Gary B. Kibbe
Production designer Thomas A Walsh. TV's MGM, When The Lion Roared, The Kingfish.
Editor Edward A. Warschilka - Rambo III EFLA etc
Costume designer Robin Michael Bush - EFLA - They Live - etc
Special Make up effects Greg Nicotero
Music John Carpenter
Films location - New Mexico.

There are CG elements in the film...Merchandise? I have no idea the only press promotions....are a cap and T-shirt and aren't that much to write home about.
One exclusive you may not have heard about is a character called Bambi which is played by a stunt man named David Rowden. " Quite an extensive update there. So, the film is ready and awaiting test reactions. Keep those eyes peeled for any sightings of this movie.
Another Unfinished Project Chris has come up with some more info on another JC project that was bandied about - "Anyway, there was a sequel once announced for THEY LIVE: It was called HYPNO-WAR: THEY LIVE 2. I don't think it was ever considered for long, but the title was thrown out there."

News as of Nov 13th JC Interview on E! To go with the Vampires special on E! they also interviewed JC. Mohammed Khan has transcribed this interview and it can be read at his site - click here to read it. (He also has a complete transcript of 5 O'clock In The Morning, the story They Live was based on).
They Live On Widescreen Laserdisc I know this is going to make many people happy. This was culled from the alt.movies.john-carpenter newsgroup (which I know you all read anyway!) - " It appears that Image Entetainment has finally decided to put out a widescreen version of They Live on US laserdisc (maybe DVD as well!). According to what I have read it will be released in December or January.-- Thanks, James"
JC et al - The Creators Of Halloween Interviewed From the same alt.movies.john-carpenter newsgroup (you really should read this group) " There's a special issue of Entertainment Weekly just out on newstands this week (in the US anyway). It's called "The New Hollywood:Inside the World of Independent Films." In this issue there's a very good 5 page article on the making of the original HALLOWEEN. It's got some decent black and white pictures (some of which I've never seen), and interviews with JC, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dean Cundey, Nick Castle, and Debra Hill. If you're a JC fan (and aren't we all), I highly recommend picking a copy up. vicvega@execpc.com"
The Weapon Of Choice For Mr Plissken? A questions keeps cropping up on alt.movies.john-carpenter (yep, there it is again) - what are the guns that Snake uses in EFLA? Anyone have any idea?

News as of Nov 6th Pictures Of Vampires On E! I know that sounds like a Daily Sport headline, but it actually refers to the appearance of Vampires on E!, mentioned in the last news update. Bruce Dierbeck has come up trumps and sent me a load of fantastic pictures. Go and visit the all new official Halloween Movies website, it has some very interesting Halloween 7 news. The Pictures -

Who Will Distribute Vampires? Kim August, has delivered some interesting info. According to the Vampires publicist it still has no US distributor.

News as of Nov 4th Vampires On E! No, JC's films have not degenerated into drugs orgies, this is a note from Bruce Dierbeck, of the Official Halloween Movies Website, about an appearance of this film on E! "I was watching E! yesterday and they had a thing about vampire movies on. Yes, they showed some quick behind the scenes (and I mean quick, maybe a total of 10 seconds) of John Carpenter's VAMPIRES. One shot was of the main vampire (I believe) with steam coming from his head and his mouth, or something to that effect. Cool stuff. We also get a scene of Jimmy Woods shooting his gun and jumping past a camera as Sheryl Lee sits in the background trying to keep her head down. I take it she's scared shitless in that scene! Then, Woods talks about how this movie is like THE WILD BUNCH but with vampires. Lucky for all John Carpenter fans, I taped the segment. So, when things get less hectic, I'll scan some pics and maybe make some sounds and send them to you early next week for your web page." Thanks Bruce, I'll look forward to receieving those pictures. The Wild Bunch is one of my fave movies and Woods one of my fave actors, I cannot wait to see this film.
New Award This page has won another award, I know, you're all wondering "how?". Well, someone out there likes this site. Anyway, here it is - The Zombie Award.
A-Z Of Horror - Halloween Special I have made a Real Audio sample of the Halloween special section of Clive Barker's show on the BBC. This featured JC and Debra Hill discussing the show. It's a little complicated, but here is what you have to do - Download the file From the Interviews section. As it was a TV program I have included text file that tries to explain the on-screen visuals. Please, let me know how you get on with this. This is a bit of an experiment and if I don't get any feedback I will probably remove the file.
The Halloween Look For The Site I hope a few people saw and liked the special Halloween look the main pages of the site. Just a quick note to wish everyone had a scary Halloween. I shall be putting the main pages back to normal now.
Campaign To Get The Thing Special Edition On Video Release You have read all about the fantastic stuff that will be in the special edition laserdisc, I say this stuff is too good to only give to LD owners, I want a release of The Thing Special Edition on VHS as well, and I want you to help me. A Hollywood insider has kindly sent me this e-mail contact address "If you really want to press Universal for a wide rerelease of The Thing... Here's what you do: Explain to them how important it would be to see this film on cassette, tell them how cool it would be to see a special edition of The Thing, in wide screen, on your local video store shelf. EMAIL: Universal@blamld.com. You can check out the Special Edition yourself at http://www.blamld.com/Universal/SignatureCollection.htm" So you know what to do, get on the e-mail and lets see The Thing Special Edition available to all of us.