News Up To End Of May 2002
May 31st 2002
More Fog DVD Info
Thanks to Dave we have more info on The Fog. First up you can now pre-order from www.dvdplanet.com the region 1 edition. The page I have linked to also lists the special features and confirms the film will be anamorphic with a 5.1 sound mix. Fantastic (though still no region 2 news, which bothers me as PAL is a much better picture). Over at www.dvdtown.com you can also see a little about the disc. Getting closer to release all the time.
May 23rd 2002
Pocket Essentials on John Carpenter
I have finally got hold of the newish pocket essentials book on John Carpenter. This is a great book that manages to compress pretty much everything you want to know about JC into its pages. As well as sections on each film (comprehensive enough to even have a short section on GOM) it has a good bibliography and very good overview essays on JC and his work. I can't believe it costs less than a fiver myself, especially considering the 40quid plus costs of the more academic flavoured JC tomes. I would definitely recommend it to any JC fan who wants a good read about their director.
If you want it you can easily order it by clicking on the link above. I guess I'd better add the legalese and point out that I am not endorsing/promoting this book for any kickbacks, and therefore will not be a target for you to moan at if you don't like the book or have any trouble with ordering it from the site above. I just like the book and think other JC fans will like it as well.
May 22nd 2002
Fog DVD Available on Pre-Order
You can now pre-order The Fog, region1 special edition DVD from amazon.
Amazon.com fog pre-order pageNot much info there other than a confirmation of the release date of August 27th 2002, the first vaguely concrete look at that date.
May 20th 2002
They Live - the Ultimate Fight
There is a mad new DVD out called Flix Mix - Ultimate Fights. This DVD is just a big collection of fights from movies and I think the sheer wierdness of the idea is generating a lot of press. Not sure if I would buy it but it does have, of course, one of the greatest fist fights ever in it. Roddy Piper sizing up to Keith David for what seems like half the film in They Live. Classic fight scene and rightfully included on this disc. There are a few extras on this disc but sadly it doesn't seem like any relate directly to They Live so it's more of a curiosity than a must-have for JC fans.
May 15th 2002
Fog DVD Cover
Do you read Sutter Cane? If not, why not, as the Mouth of Madness mailing list (details in my links section) is the best place to get new JC news like the cover of the upcoming Fog special edition DVD:
Looks very cool to me, mean and moody, a good looking modern update on the original images.
May 10th 2002
Thing Fest and PS2 Game News
You have to check out the coolest Thing site on the web:
They have an upcoming screening of The Thing for it's 20th anniversary, a chance to see the film shown on the big screen and hang out with fellow fans (dinner and lots of drink I'll bet). The live showing will be in London, Ontario, Canada - too far for me to travel but I hope some of you will make the effort for this coolest of nights out. They have all the info on their website.
I also learned from the friendly owners of this site that The Thing PS2 game is still due for an August 2002 release, with PC and XBetamax versions due out later in the year, about Autumn time. Check out their page on the game for all the info there is.
New Interviews
Some interviews that I have not posted links to yet:
Killing His Contemporaries:Dissecting The Musical Worlds Of John Carpenter. A very good article discussing JCs scores, which are a fundamental part of a JC film (imagine Halloween without that haunting title score).
An Interview with Sandy King John Carpenter's producer and wife
May 9th 2002
Fog DVD
Just a small update on yesterdays Fog DVD news, I found the following on the imdb:
Tales From the Mist: Inside the Fog (2002) (V)
Which sounds like a nice 30 minute docu on the making of The Fog.
Existing French Fog DVD
I think I mentioned a while back that The Fog does have a region 2 release and pointed out that the German version only has German audio. I have since found it has been released in France as well, and this time with an English audio soundtrack. There is a good review of it here http://www.splatterhouse.net/reviews/e-f/fogfr.htm. The reviewer points out that the audio is not remastered, and we are expecting the new release (due Aug 27th) to be remastered so you might want to wait. Mind you, this is a remastered picture so there is something cool there, I might just get it as a stopgap till August. If you can't wait you can May 8th 2002
New DVD News
This has been a real slow year for JC news, there is not even much in the way of new film rumours, seems that JC is sticking to his time off watching the baseball plan. I was pleasantly surprised the other day to find a new Region 2 Starman disc in my local MVC, complete with JC and Jeff Bridges commentary (excellent) and some behind the scens type of stuff. Well worth getting, though only available in region 2, you can get it from www.play.com amongst other places.
The real exciting dvd news ended up in my mailbox from the ever excellent John Carpenter mailing list (mouth_of_madness@yahoogroups.com). This has me (and all those people who keep e-mailing me for updates on this as well I expect) salivating:
I just visited DVD Drive In: http://www.dvddrive-in.com/ and here is what was there along with some other cool announcements: THE FOG: SPECIAL EDITION (16x9, 2.35:1) $19.98. Includes new documentary, original featurette, commentary by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, outtakes, trailers and TV spots.
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (16x9, 1.85:1) $14.95. New transfer utilizing pristine interpositive struck from the original negative; new sound mix supervised and approved by director Dan O'Bannon; commentary by O'Bannon and William Stout; featurette "Designing the Dead" featuring O'Bannon and Stout; trailer.Mark Hammon
Fantastic news, cannot wait for what I know will be a great Fog DVD. Also good to hear about Return... (cool film, tenous JC link, written by Dan O'Bannon who co-wrote and starred in Dark Star as Pinback). We finally get The Fog on DVD, hopefully sometime this year!.
In other news, The Thing PS2 (or XBox if you bought Betamax) game has (as expected) slipped its expected release date, though still hopeful to see something before the end of the year. The video snippets I have seen look gorgeous, if the gameplay matches it should be awesome.
Then to top it all off we have the upcoming Region 2 (we are spoiled in Region 2 at the moment) Special Edition DVDs of They Live and Prince of Darkness (no list of extra's yet, though both will have commentary, They Live includes Roddy Piper on the commentary!). Chandler updated me on these
The Prince Of Darkness is supposed to street the same day as They Live and it will have commentary with John Carpenter and Peter Jason. I read this on a German John Carpenter fan site.
So great news there, I am working on getting the actual date so it doesn't just creep out on me like Starman did. No word on Region 1 or other region releases as the licenses are all seperate, so unlikely these will turn up in Region 1 anytime soon.
So that's about it, no new project news, even though this page is not updated as much (I only update when I get something worth saying) I do read ALL the e-mails that come into this site so please keep in touch and keep on letting me know about anything related to JC.
Feb 28th 2002
Slow News Day
As it's a slow news day (really, it's a slow news year) I thought I'd share this intereting piece of info on possible JC projects from an interview with Cinescape.
CINESCAPE: What’s the status of your Lovecraft movie?CARPENTER: I have been trying to do that for years. Nobody gets it. That is something that an acquaintance of mine wrote. It’s a great idea, it’s just not ready to be a movie yet. It’s going to be a graphic novel – we’re drawing pictures of it. It’s just not ready to go. They won’t make it. Nobody knows who Lovecraft is. The general public doesn’t know and they probably won’t get why he’s scared. It’s a made-up story about Lovecraft where everything he wrote about was real. That’s what it’s about.
CINESCAPE: Are there other projects offered to you by studios or do you just do your own stuff?
CARPENTER: I’ve read some stuff. Some of it is oddball. Some of the stuff I wouldn’t do. The most recent project that was pitched by somebody was a zombie western type situation where confederate soldiers are brought back to life. It could be great, I don’t know. I haven’t seen the final script yet.
Feb 25th 2002
The Fog and EFNY DVDs
I have got some great news about the upcoming Fog and EFNY DVDs that is getting me really wound up for their release:
The supplementary section for the DVD of The Fog is almost completed. The materials from the Laserdisc will be included on the new DVD. (includes the trailer and 3 TV Spots from the LD). The isolated score will not be on the new DVD. they have items such as lobby cards, stills, posters etc. ... some of this made it into the documentary, maybe the items will be in a gallery ... there have been items submitted by fans and Debra Hill. The Escape DVD supplementary is being prepped at this time. I'm particularly excited about the Escape materials. ... different people working with MGM say that when the supplement sections are completed the DVDs come out approximately 5 months later. I would guess that The Fog will come out about July and Escape about August. Since they are both Carpenter films, they may choose to hold them until both are ready and are put out for sale at the same time. These DVDs are going to be worth the wait. Do you happen to know anyone who has any John Carpenter trailers or TV spots on 16mm or 35mm film for sale? They are also looking for radio spots. I was going to try to make it to the Carpenter film festival but I just couldn't make it. I did hear from a friend of mine who went to the festival that Carpenter has recently recorded commentary tracks for They Live and Prince Of Darkness for release on DVD outside of America.
Mouthwatering news I am sure you will agree. Those They Live and POD Region 2 DVDs with commentary should be available soon, as will a Region 2 Starman with Commentary. I can't wait for all of these releases.
Sandy King Interview
El Gato has an interview with Sandy King on-line at http://www.amateurhometheater.com/El%20Gatos%20Corner/Sandy%20King%20Interview.htm. It's especially interesting as it mentions the DVDs discussed above. Apparently MGM have recently had financial troubles and "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. announcing it has put itself up for sale and hired an investment banking firm to solicit bids - it will be interesting to see what will become of its vast catalog". I don't know what, if any, effect this will have on the content or release dates of the EFNY and FOG DVDs. Also, it points out that "In December (2001), John and Roddy Piper recorded a commentary track for “They Live”, and the next day John did one with Peter Jason for “Prince of Darkness.” Both are for German distribution." I did not realise these were intended for German distribution - this could be really annoying as some French/German DVDs have the subtitles burnt into them i.e. you cannot turn off the German subtitles. I thought these disc's would be general region 2 releases and I still hope they are. Anyone out there know anything about them?
Vampires 2
Looks like this has a touch of Halloween-III-itis. Poor Tommy Wallace must think he is cursed: (note the guy rubbishing the JC version of Vampires - Bon Jovi did not "correct" JCs version of the characters at all.)
'Vampires - Los Muertos' is apparently delayed. An anonymous source who worked on the film posted this on Moviehole today to update us what's going on with this much-delayed sequel. "The film is done. It was finished just before Christmas. But the last thing I heard is that it is going direct to video. I don't know when it is being released, however", our tipster says. "It is a shame, because I think it is a really good movie. I've read the book by John Steakley. It has a horrible prose style and the characters are pretty bland. I had problems with the original film (which retains none of the book besides the basic concept)", he adds. Of the film and it's mythology he says "Carpenter's idea of the "Vampires" anthology is that the films are westerns. Only instead of Cowboys and Indians, it is Slayers and Vampires. However in the first film, the "heroes" aren't "movie" cowboys. They are what "real" cowboys in the west must have been like: Unsympathetic, trash-talking, misogynistic ass-holes. Tommy corrected that in the second film with his creation of Derek Bliss (Jon Bon Jovi). You actually like this guy. And JBJ gives a good performance. It also added new information about the vampires and expanded upon the Cross of Berzier - which is the only thing from the original that returns." "The idea for this film was to successfully do what they failed at with the Halloween movies. Rather than make it a series of sequels that re-hash the same plot. They wanted to do what they call an "Anthology Series" where each film is not tied by the continuing adventures of the same character(s), but each film is it's own story about Vampires and Slayers with its own characters that builds on the ideas from the films before it. That was the plan for the Halloween movies was that each year it would be a new film with a new story and by a new director (but produced by Carpenter), and each film would be a horror film that centered around the themes of Halloween - sort of like the TV Series of "The Twilight Zone" or "The Outer Limits." They felt the reason it did not work with "Halloween 3" was because it was advertised as a sequel - so people came to the theatre expecting to see Michael Myers & Laurie Strode and were angry that it was another story altogether. I think it is funny that they tried to do something original - and the fans rebelled. They basically said they want the same thing recycled over and over again. The problems with the film are that it has a slightly low budget feel to it. I think that came from shooting in Mexico, and the film was a bit under budgeted from the start. Another minor problem was that the Studio did not see the film as a western. They expected it to be a scary horror film (why this discrepancy of point of view never came up during script development - I have no idea!). The sad thing is that while it was a work in progress, there were a lot of great plans we had with some cool optical and subliminal cuts. But due to financial restraints - they were all removed. I don't even think that there are any VHS tapes floating around of the early versions that could surface as bootlegs. But the final version is still pretty good." he confirms. "Also, because Screen Gems are planning to release it directly to video, the odds of it being a "hit" to warrant another film are slight. So I think Carpenter's Hopes that this film starts another Anthology Series are dashed. No one who worked on the film expects there to be a Vampires III." he confirms. Source: Moviehole.net
The Thing on PS2
This game is going to be responsible for me buying a PS2 - it looks like the best bet we have for seeing anything like a Thing sequel.
href="http://gamespot.com/gamespot/filters/products/media/0,11100,457774,00.html ... its the trailer for the THING video game coming soon ... its amazing!
JC Film Festivale Reports
Jennifer Marley:
Hello Marc,I attended Saturday and Sunday's screenings of The Thing, Halloween, The Fog and Escape from NY at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, CA and thought I'd give you an update of how it went. First off, the only print out of all four films that was new was Halloween. I've seen this print before about a year and a half ago and it's beautiful. The prints for The Thing and The Fog were passable but were definitely old. The color leaned toward the red side and there were quite a few scratches and speckles. Still, what struck me most about seeing these movies on the big screen was JC's use of composition and how effective the sound was. I heard things in The Fog that I never noticed before. In the scene where Janet Leigh goes into the church looking for Hal Holbrook and he's hiding in the dark corner, you can hear him whispering prayers as she's walking through through the church. It was creepy! The print for Escape from NY was an original print(!) and was also very scratched and red. There was a film break during the first half and then another interruption later on due to projection problems. Still, a great time was had by seemingly everyone in the packed auditorium on both days. As far as the discussions with JC went, he retread a lot of info that is present on the audio commentaries for Halloween, The Fog, Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from NY and The Thing (here's a link to a web page who gives details on his discussion following The Thing) http://www.Aint-It-Cool-News.com/display.cgi?id=11352 There was one thing that might interest you in particular. JC said that he recently recorded audio commentary for DVD releases of They Live and Prince of Darkness but that if anyone here in the U.S. wants to hear them, they'll have to write Universal because they will NOT be released here. They are being sent overseas. Yet another reason for me to get a region-free DVD player! Hopefully you will be able to get these titles in the U.K. JC also said that he currently has no films in the works right now. He is officially on vacation but he would work again if something came his way that interested him. He seemed to be in great spirits, frequently making jokes and using foul language. He seems like a real good down to earth fellow. Thanks, Jennifer Marley
Sounds like a great festival, it is a pity there is no solid news on future plans but at least he didn't rule anything out. I have actually heard a rumour (and it is just a rumour) of a HP Lovecraft film....
Here is a another report:
I just finished attending the third (of five) days at American Cinematheque tribute to John Carpenter where he sat down for Q and A with fans. Some of comments made were in regard to film making, DVD commentaries and extended footage from his films. I'll be paraphrasing so these aren't exact quotes. First up: Sequels: If anyone was thinking that he might do a Halloween sequel I's have to say that they answer appeared to be NO. He commented briefly about the not knowing that his former partners would make "Sequel after F^#@ing Sequel and Apologized" the crowd laughed and applauded. The Thing 2 he said is already written in a 80s Dark Horse comic. Any other attempt to try a sequel, he said that the studios would more than likely place young hot actresses and actors at the beach" (God, that sounds like something the studios would do). Escape from New York: the series: The Networks found the pilot script "too dark" "They wanted it happy" He said and the idea was scrubbed. Second: They Live and Prince of Darkness DVD commentary! Good news for oversees, JC has finished both and they will be available soon! Bad News for the US "Unless Universal (and Why am I not surprised) releases it, we'll never see it." He recommended writing to Universal and requesting that the new DVDs be released (I attend on doing that after I finish writing this). Starman (already oversees) and A Christine Commentary could happen "if they ask me to," he said. Third: extended footage: There is no added or additional footage to THE THING. "Everything in the script is on the screen," he said. Why was the fight scene in THEY LIVE so long? he responded, "Why not. It starred Roddy Piper and he wanted to kick some ass!" The saddest news was hearing that the alternate opening scene from Escape From New York (Snake's arrest) is gone forever. "It's lost and no one knows what happen to it" he said. Plans to update EFNY in regard to Sept. 11th: I sat almost waiting for some asshole to bring up the 11th simularities in EFNY. JC looked a little taken back by a "fans" question on the responsibility he might feel regarding the 9-11 and in his famous quick no-nonsense attitude he said "No" he doesn't believe that films influence violence. "Its a movie, man." (on a personal note I found that "fans" question to be almost a spoiler to the festival. JC seemed pleased to be there among the fans that respected his work. Luckily the screening afterward of "Big Trouble in Little China" brought the fun back to the evening" The saddest news came after questions about a "next project". "I am on vacation" "my next project is to watch the NBA playoffs" Does this mean retirement or a break? I wanted to ask this but unfortunately wasn't giving the opportunity. Other surprises that I was aware of included long time Carpenter actor Peter Jenson, Assault On Precinct 13 star Austin Stroker and Dark Star's (I believe it was anyway) Joe Sauders making an appearance during the first night. Jenson even asked when we'd see another film from him. JC joked "I don't know but what ever it is You won't be in it" and the two laughed. All and all it was a fantastic three days seeing JC and experiencing his work on the big screen (although some of the prints were very old and it showed. EFNY actually broke near the middle). The audience included film students, fans, former crew members (and as I just stated... cast members)... oh yeah and that one asshole that asked the EFNY 9-11 question. I didn't get any autographs, pictures or even get to talk to him (I was close however, so damn close that I may never forgive myself for not interrupting the want-to-be-actor that was talking to him (talking hell he was hinting for a job) to just say Thanks John. Thanks for all the years of excitement, tears, thrills, laughs and for just plain scaring the hell out of me. You are an impression to me and many others in that theater. Enjoy your vacation but please no stay away to long. RubyINK
It is a real pity about that opening EFNY sequence being lost - from what I have heard it won't be on the new Special Ed DVD that is coming out.
I second that thanks
January 4th 2002
Confirmation of JC film festival
Happy new year to everyone. As I mentioned before Christmas the Egyptian Theatre in Hollyqwood is holding a JC film festival; David Winning and Marco have provided us with the full info:
American Cinematheque Presents... Escape Artist: A Tribute to John Carpenter In-Person!January. 25-31, 2002 Click here for more information: http://www.egyptiantheatre.com/archive1999/2002/jcarpenter.htm
As I said before, I hope some of you are going to go and aks JC about his current status, try and get the gen on some new projects.
UK JC Film Festival
For the majority of us (un)lucky enough not to live near Hollywood we have a UK-based alternative from McCready:
I`m a huge Carpenter fan and a filmmaker. There is a huge Sci-Fi Convention in London taking place from February 2002 where they will be doing a Carpenter tribute. I spoke to JC`s assistant and he won`t be attending unfortunately! Something wonderful happens 02-02-02 when we show our all-nighter programme. Come and watch movies 'til dawn. The programme at the Curzon includes all 4 ALIENS movies shown back-to-back. We also show, in tribute to John Carpenter, The Thing, Escape From New York, They Live and Big Trouble in Little China. Click on this link if your interested. http://www.sci-fi-london.com/movie.htm
Sounds cool, I might even be able to make it myself
December 14th 2001
Merry Christmas
This is probably my last day near a terminal before Christmas, so merry Christmas to everyone and have great holidays. I must admit I am really surprised by the lack of JC information coming out - Ghosts of Mars was finished in 2000 (even though it was released in 2001) and I have seen no mention anywhere of some solid facts on a new JC project. It's not just me, the other main JC sites (I always check out The Carpenticized Side of The Web and Assault on Webpage 13 - see the links section for these sites) and the main movie news sites (Aint it Cool, Dark Horizons, etc.) have also reported very little or even nothing about JC. I hope he isn't just sliding into retirement - my new year's wish is to get some solid info on JC for 2002, and maybe, just maybe, even another JC movie to watch in 2002 - but that really is wishful thinking. Maybe the following bit of news might lead to some more news ...
JC Film Festival
This sounds very cool, Jennifer Marley gives us the full info:
Just an FYI for those readers who live in Southern California. The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood will be having a John Carpenter Film Retrospect at the end of January. It is not posted on their web page yet, but I attended the Wes Craven retrospect last week and the head of the theater told the audience they were getting Escape from NY, The Fog, Assault on Precinct 13, The Thing, Halloween and maybe more. JC will be speaking at some of the screenings. To keep track of this, keep checking http://www.egyptiantheatre.com - Thanks, Jennifer
If anyone ends up going to this PLEASE try and ask JC what his future plans are and let me know. And if you do go, know that I am green with envy, so enjoy.
December 7th 2001
The Fog and EFNY Special Edition DVDs
I am so glad I put up that info yesterday on The Fog DVD as it prompted someone in the know to send me the following cool info:
... materials to the company that is producing the supplement for The Fog on DVD. I can tell you that they have recently kicked the production of this title into high gear and a Special Edition DVD is definately going to be released this year (note from Marc, probably means 2002 now) from MGM. The producer of the supplement wants this to be a really good Special Edition ....materials that will be included on the Escape From New York DVD as well. There is a different company producing the Escape DVD supplement.
That is such great news, keep coming back here for all the info I can get on these eagerly anticipated titles.
They Live Special Edition DVD
While we are at it, here is some old news (a couple of months old anyway) I found on They Live over at www.dvdtimes.co.uk:
Although a release date and full details of the upcoming Universal special edition of John Carpenter’s They Live are yet to be announced, fans of the movie can expect the disc to contain a commentary. Carpenter (The Thing) confirmed in a recent Q&A session for his upcoming Ghosts of Mars that he will be recording one with the movie’s star, former wrestler Roddy Piper, in the near future. More details about the DVD will be posted here when they become available.
That is definitely good, if expensive (I already have the now discontinued R1 disc), news.
JCs Future Direction? (incorporates Vampires 2 News)
This bit of news about Vampires 2 also hints at a possible future direction for JC to add mucho fuel to the recent debate and downright rumour-mongering about his career from this point on:
As to JC retiring. It could be, but he talked a lot ... about the value of his name as a "brand" and about how he would like to have ownership of some projects, not just make them, but own them from start to finish. I think JC is tired of the hassles of the business, but I don't get that impression from Sandy King, who still has real passion for filmmaking. I expect to see them producing, under the Storm King banner, some low budget films with JC's names attached - rather like Wes Craven has done - as "presenting" them, but directed by others. I think VAMPIRES 2 is the first of these and that they may make some of them at production facilities Tommy Lee Wallace ... now has in Kentucky (or some southern state where he lives). The rumored 50s remakes would be ideal for this kind of product, with much of it going to cable TV and video. I think if JC keeps his hand in through production like this and keeps his name out there with the public, he'll eventually make another film. I mean, he can only sit around watching TV, smoking and drinking beer so much.... as far as VAMPIRES 2's status - Natasha Gregson Wagner and Arley Jover and Bon Jovi are in the cast ... the Father Adam character is not in the film. Wallace said that was an early idea but was dropped. His character is also presented as being dead in the new film. The idea is that all the vampire hunting teams are gone and there's only Bon Jovi's character left, who had been in training to become a slayer. He has to assemble a new team and go after the female master played by Arley Jover.
This idea of JC using his name as a brand (though this obsession with brands is something that sickens me) could tie in with other stuff going on, like The Thing game on PS2, JC scoring The Sentinel for PS1, etc. As a side note on The Thing, I think it is really cool that the game is setup as a sequel to the film - like having a sequel, the closest we are ever going to get to one I think. Hopefully we will have more info on JC in the future.
December 6th 2001
New Vampires Special Edition DVD
Marco, a member of The Mouth of Madness mailing list, pointed out this new special edition Vampires DVD, which can be viewed in French at
http://www.dvdrama.net/fiche.php3?1867
If, like me, you are hopelessy uni-lingual (a smattering of Welsh doesn't really count) then the google language tools might help.
This disc is region 2 and does seem to come with an English audio track with no mention of burned in subtitles. However, the review points out that the region 2 disc really suffers in picture quality, something I was not aware of (I have the R1 disc). This special ed. is a 2-disc package, the main extra stuff seems to be some neat looking new menu's (but the reviewer claims they are animated badly) and what initially looks like the main bonus, a JC documentary (nearly had me reaching for my wallet). However, the review points out that this docu is "drawn" from the US series The Directors. It's a 60 minuted documentary that is basically a run-down of JCs career through a series of talking heads interviews. I know so much about it because it was shown on UK cable TV only the other week and is often repeated, hence my change of mind about buying the DVD (I'll stick to my R1, especially now I know the disc is superior). The docu itself is pretty good, if a little light on detail (JC fans won't find anything they didn't already know) but stops at In The Mouth of Madness, which is very strange for a docu that is included with Vampires. The extra's also included some interviews with JC and Woods (though not very long ones I think) and the trailer for Ghosts of Mars, which might be nice as it is stupidly not on the Ghosts of Mars Special Ed DVD.
The Fog DVD
Don't get too excited, still no solid news, but there is now a listing for this DVD on amazon, perhaps indicating a release in the next 12 months is probable. Anyway, you can go to the page and enter your e-mail address to get updated when the disc is available
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JKG7/qid=1007650541/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_10_2/107-8793673-6998130
December 5th 2001
A look at The Thing on PS2
Matt G, from the Mouth of Madness mailing list, dig up this excellent and detailed article on this truly exciting sounding game:
Universal Interactive has unveiled The Thing for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox. At its Gamers' Day yesterday, Universal Interactive unveiled The Thing for the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Microsoft Xbox. The media was treated to a trailer for the game and a question and answer session with the game's developers, Computer Artworks. The Thing's story line serves as sequel to John Carpenter's feature-length motion picture of the same name and begins shortly after the movie ends. You play as Blake, a captain of a reconnaissance team who is sent to investigate a loss of communication with a scientific team stationed in a military base in the Antarctic. When Blake and his crew arrive, they discover the fallen, frozen scientists and attempt to unravel the mystery.
Outwardly, The Thing may seem like a typical survival-horror game. But its gameplay goes far beyond the traditional boundaries of the genre. The biggest change is that Blake has command over 3-5 non-playable characters (NPCs). The NPCs come in three forms: engineers who open doors, hack computers, and save the game; soldiers who are adept at fighting; and medics who will heal Blake and the other NPCs. When certain NPCs are killed the game is effectively over, because it's impossible to open new doors unless there is at least one engineer remaining alive.
Blake may instruct the NPCs to investigate specific areas, attack enemies, or stand guard. But controlling the NPCs requires more than navigating a menu system. Each one has a fear/trust meter that regulates how they react to Blake's actions and commands. Because The Thing can infest a human without any telltale signs, paranoia runs rampant in the scientific outpost. If Blake spends too much time away from the group they will become suspicious that he has been infested and will refuse to follow his command. Trust may be regained, however, by allowing Blake to become vulnerable. One example the developers divulged was handing an NPC a gun. Fear also plays heavily into The Thing's gameplay. NPCs are designed with specific characteristics that factor into how they react in pressure situations. Some NPCs are more easily spooked than others and once their fear meter peaks they will perform poorly in combat. Similarly, NPCs that are easily scared will begin to lose trust in Blake if he unexpectedly turns out the lights or performs some other erratic action. If any of the NPCs refuse to obey your commands, coercion tactics such as placing a gun to an NPC's head are in order. According to Computer Artworks, the fear/trust meter will ensure that playing through the game is different each time because there is never a single correct way to accomplish an objective.
There are four different variations of The Thing that you will come into contact throughout the game. Infected NPCs are the most common enemies, but they also present the biggest challenge because Blake is never aware of which NPCs have become hosts. This makes it scary to turn your back on teammates for fear of attack. Infested NPCs eventually turn into walkers; the strongest enemies in the game save for the bosses. Therefore, it's important to pick out the infected NPCs before they have a chance to transform. Scuttlers are the most common form of enemy included in The Thing. They're basically the head of a host that has sprouted legs. They will attack in groups and it's not uncommon to come under siege by more than a dozen Scuttlers at once. Ruptures are the bosses of the game and they will include body parts from your infested comrades and any other creature they come into contact with. Because their form is ever-changing, no two ruptures look alike and they're formidable enough to take on up to five of your NPCs at once. The clips of The Thing that the press was shown looked to be running on a PlayStation 2 development kit, but neither the developers nor Universal Interactive are willing to commit to which version was shown at this time. Regardless of the platform, The Thing is a gory game that will most certainly receive a mature rating when it's released next year. The game has a variety of camera angles to be played from including a behind-the-back camera that is used for the majority of gameplay. You may also go into a free look mode and examine Blake's surroundings more closely. Dynamic camera angles are used during cinemas or when no interactivity is possible. The screenshots attached to this story have not been confirmed by Universal Interactive to be from any specific platform, but they look remarkably better than the video clips shown so it's safe to assume that they're either from the Xbox or PC versions of the game.
The Thing's control scheme was the least discussed aspect of the game, but Computer Artworks did offer up a few clues. You will be able to run and shoot at the same time and targeting will primarily be accomplished with an auto-lock function. Once locked onto an enemy, you may cycle through other targets with the press of a button. Shooting is the first-person free look mode is also possible and you may move while in this perspective as well. The interface that will be used to control NPCs has yet to be ironed out, but the preliminary specs require that you look at them and then give orders with a pop-up menu. NPCs may be controlled singly or in groups.
While no hands-on time was given to journalists with The Thing, the brief trailer and the enthusiasm of its developers was more than enough to show that this is a game to keep an eye on. The Thing is currently scheduled for release on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in spring 2002 and will be co-published by Universal Interactive and Konami. We'll have more information as it becomes available. By Shane Satterfield
Matt also adds:
This link is to the company creating The Thing video game. Tons of info, links and screen shots.
http://www.artworks.co.uk/
Also, on the first main index page is a link to (I believe) an IFILM short movie. Someone did a short film version of The Thing using only Lego building blocks for sets and characters. Very creative and worth checking out.
November 28th 2001
Ghosts of Mars Review
One of the joys of the dvd format is that the fan can circumvent the annoying tendency of Hollywood to stagger its release dates across the world. With a little remote control hack and some friendly dvd websites you can be watching a region 1 disc of that blockbuster that just opened in your local multiplex. I was in this fantastic situation yesterday when Ghosts of Mars dropped on my mat a full 3 days before it's UK release (this Friday).
Ghosts has probably been the least anticipated JC film I can remember. It was first described to me as a remake of AOP13 on Mars, a rumour that was actually confused with a genuine French remake of AOP13. Later developments included the controversial casting of Courtney Love and her even more controversial departure. The real feelings of unease started to develop when the pictures started coming out - the martian ghosts looked like bad eighties rejects from Mad Max IV and the overall look of the film appeared very dated. The reviews on it's release were almost uniformly terrible - JC had lost it, it didn't even seem like he was trying any more, just regurgitating scenes from his past classics. Still, despite all of this negativity it was impossible to stifle the excitement I felt when faced with watching a JC film I had never seen. That's something JC has got, like a once legendary rugby team or boxer, you never quite know if he'll pull something magic out of the bag once again.
Ghosts is a pretty straight forward concept for a movie that seems to draw heavily on JCs oft quoted influences (western's, 50's b-movies, martial arts, etc.) and also offer strong signature echoes of his previous films. Mars in the future is in the middle of being terraformed - it has a low pressure oxygen atmosphere and is being heavily mined for its precious minerals. Overseeing all of this is a matriarchal council of elders. Just finding this little twist from norm at the beginning made me smile and feel like I was back in JC territory again. JC has long been wrongly criticised as a misogynist for the treatment of women in his films and this seemed like a nice little dig at that to me.
The film opens with a classic JC (think Big Trouble In Little China) and western movie plot device - a lone survivor from a team (in this case, a martian police squad) is found unconscious and brought before the council of elders to explain the situation. The surivor is Melanie Ballard, played by Natasha Henstridge of Species fame. Straight away we can see that Snake Plissken distrust of authority in her demeanour, and again we know we are in a JC film.
The survivor plot device gives JC the opportunity to inform us straight away that something bad is going to happen to this team as we watch the plot unfold in flashbacks told from Ballard's point of view. The original script was apparently more linear, JC decided to cut it up in this way to make it more interesting. It does succeed in sparking interest from the beginning and also reinforces the fact we are watching JCs own style in action.
Everyone knows the general gist of the rest of the plot - miners on Mars have uncovered an ancient evil force that posesses them and turns them into blood crazy demons. This sets us up for a classic JC siege and escape movie - throw in a dangerous criminal named Desperation Williams and you have a movie that echoes AOP13, EFNY, The Fog, etc. In fact, the entire movie is like a series of JC riffs with enough of a twist to make it seem an intentional exercise in homage rather than just JC pilfering from his past.
Sometimes the sheer directness of these references is a little startling - at one point in particular a conversation between Ballard and Williams brings back direct comparisons with a scene between Stoker and Napoleon Wilson in AOP13. The AOP13 comparisons have been mentioned a few times, and this is the JC film that Ghosts most resembles. JC seems to have taken the rough outline of AOP13, itself directly influenced by Rio Bravo, and turned it into a more overt tribute to that great western. The fact that Mars is the new frontier gives JC a great chance to show us dusty old miner towns and hard bitten frontier heroes walking in the boots of John Wayne.
Stylistically the film looks better than I was expecting after those pretty awful early publicity pics. The set may be a little cheap and the ghosts a bit tawdry but JC photgraphs them well enough to avoid the direct glare of the camera - it still has that 80s look and feel but it is more the look and feel of EFNY or even closer to Big Trouble... that hyper-real look again influenced by classic westerns (or limited budgets). A lot of the tricks JC tried out in Vampires are present - slight slow motion on the action scenes, wipes and fades instead of direct cuts; these contributing to both the suspense in the film and the overall experience of knowing you are watching a JC film.
The characters are also classic JC in style - we again have the law and the criminals, and again the line between them is blurred before we even get into the battles. The heroes are classic anti-heroes; spurning the rule of authority and going with their gut instincts, but always with a strong moral foundation of helping themselves and their colleagues. An interesting side line in the characterisation is that Pam Grier plays a lesbian police sergeant - homosexuality is hinted at as being the norm in this society and you can just imagine JC chuckling at the thought of getting this idea into a fairly large Hollywood film distributed by Sony. However, the characterisation in Ghosts is one of it's weak points - the actors are either not given enough dialogue (sometimes too much, there is some very clunky exposition) or are just not good enough to pull some of it off. The interesting little side plots all seem quickly sacrificed in the effort to get to the main action.
The action is, as always with JC, well shot but left me curiously unmoved. In these days of movies like Pitch Black and The Matrix we expect the outrageous - with JC we get real fights (apart from some great shots of circular saw blades being used like boomerangs). JC might be right to stick to this level of reality but I can see why it didn't get people too excited. The oddest part of all this is that the action never seems to build into a crescendo - it always feels like a series of small battles culminating in another small battle. This again left me feeling dissapointed but I think a lot of this is related to the media coverage of the movie where it was indicated that the head martian ghost (Richard Cetrone) would have a much more central role - I was expecting The Duke of New York and a big final showdown but didn't get it.
I did enjoy the film and found enough of JC in it to make me want to watch it again. It is not a great film and I can easily see why people might think I only like it because it is JC and they would be right - but not just because it has his name on it. Like all of JCs films it has elements to treasure, but this time the overall experience is a little dissapointing.
I'll just add some thoughts on the region 1 DVD as well - the picture transfer is fantastic and the sound is also great. As always, the widescreen composition is he only way to watch JC and this disc does it justice. For those stunted wierdo's who prefer pan&scan that is also on the same disc. I havn't watched the extra's yet but the essential JC commentary is on there and this one is with Natasha Henstridge who overcame my expectations in the film (she comes across like a Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween) so I'm looking forward to listening to that. There are a few sfx and behind the scenes docu's as well, so pretty decent extras. I'd buy it, but then I run the JC web page.
November 7th 2001
More JC Rumours - What is he up to?
So just what is JC really up to? Nobody knows, and the man himself is chucking around loads of hints in interviews and appearances, so I thought I'd amuse myself with a rundown of some of the juiciest rumours:
50s Monster Movie : A great rumour that started on Usenet about JC remaking a classic creature feature of the atomic age, such as Them (giant killer spiders) or The Crawling Eye. At first seems creditable given JCs love of such movies and his long drawn out involvement with the aborted Creature From The Black Lagoon remake (see the Unfinished Projects section of the site). However, given JCs recent lack of success it's hard to imagine a movie studio chucking dollars at such a risky project, especially with the whole Scream/Summer teen horror film explosion blowing out completely. There is basically no hard substantiation to this rumour, just a few internet based conversations between fans.
DV (Digital Video) Movie : After Vampires JC did comment on the Blair Witch type phenomenon of home video camera's being used to make hits. He did express that he might do it as his next project but did GOM instead. Nothing new on this one, so seems unlikely.
Writing Novels : Mark noted the following -
By the way, in a very recent interview (can't remember the mag) Carpenter further hinted of retirement and his desire to finally write a novel. Supposedly, he has several excellent stories waiting to get written.
JC has written some short stories (check out the interviews and articles section for a transcript or two) so this does not seem very unlikely. However, in interviews JC has said he hates the writing part of making movies so I cannnot imagine him sitting in front of the old typewriter for 6 months with no movie making at the end of it.
Halloween 9,50,...1000 : Any Halloween fans out there who think the series has anything left to offer us after Jamie Lee Curtis tried to do the decent thing and end it with H20? Really? Listen up.... NO NO NO, Halloweens 4,5 and 6 are abominable movies that try and make something with depth out of JCs perfect "nutter on the loose" formula. There is no way JC is going to do another one unless someone offers him 20 million bucks. Stop saying he should do it as the sequels are crap and I would hate to see him wasting his time on them.
Screenplay Writing : As I mentioned a few days ago, he may be just writing a few screenplays at the moment. This seems the most likely to me at the moment, and you never know, he might just end up filming one of them.
Western : God, as much as I want this to happen it is not going to unless we really luck out and westerns make it back bigtime and the suits take off their Horror Director tag and let JC have a go.
A "balls out horror film" : Mark has the rumour:
The thing that gets me is that Carpenter mentioned at the New York premier of GOM that he had nothing ready for a new movie but that if he did do another movie he would like to do a "balls out horror movie like Halloween" It would be a shame if henever gets the opportunity and that his last movie was GOM.
Now that one sounds very cool to me and could be seen as very feasible.
A Sequel : You name them, the fans want them. The Thing 2 is the most requested; Big Trouble 2 was rumoured for a while, as was The Fog 2 and They Live 2 (Hypno Wars). I can't see it myself as they just were not big enough hits. Escape From Space? It sounds so far out there as a script idea I cannot imagine the suits going for it at all. So I don't reckon we will see a sequel.
Retire : as nasty as it sounds, this is the most likely option to me. JC is cracking on a bit now (he is 53) and has a family and plenty of money to live comfortably. Does he need the hassle of getting funding, fighting for creative control, reading bad reviews, etc? I hope the pleasure he gets from making films will outweigh these but I dunno.
So did I miss anything in that summary? There is the EFNY/LA TV series (JC is involved in some capacity with his wife Sandy King and Storm King Productions) but news of that has gone very quiet. There is the multimedia stuff (like The Thing for PS2 but I do not know what involvement there is); composing, but JC reckons he just does music for movies and nothing else. So have I managed to come to any conclusions? Not really, I reckon retirement is on the cards but hope he drifts into writing something and then gets the bug to direct it. Hopefully the many fans and people in the know on the internet will mean we find out soon.
November 5th 2001
JC to Retire? (Again?)
As sort of expected, JC has started talking about retiring again. We did hear a lot of this after Vampires, even some after EFLA. This time I really do think JC means it. Vampires was such an indie success that I guess it fired JC up to make another - but let's face it, GOM bombed and JC is going to find it hard to raise a big wodge of cash (and enthusiasm) for another sci-fi/horror/fantasy film (even though GOM is bound to make a return on the money invested). I do think it'll be a shame, but we have had over twenty years and a few absolute classics in that time. Hopefully if it does happen we'll get some official info and not just be hanging around waiting for the next movie. Cheers to Snake for the following info:
I had the extreme honor to interview John Carpenter last month ... for the french release of GOM (which I loved, despite the bad reviews). When I asked him what was his next project, he just answered that he really had NOTHING in his mind, and also that it might be time for him now to retire. Though he looked in great shape while the interview, his words were those of a man a bit tired with the harshness of his business, plus he thought that the kind of movies he makes don't fit anymore with the new context brought by the tragedy of sept 11. Quote : "GOM were two years of work and I'm tired, man ! I think it's time for me now to go back home, relax, watching Michael Jordan and basket ball on TV (...) If I found something better to do than movies, I would do it". SO, not a very good news, but I still remain convinced we can trust big John to go for it one more time someday, I don't believe he really meant what he said. But if there were a new JC movie, it would certainly take much more time than it took to make GOM after Vampires.
PS : maybe it would interest you to know that we have a french director, Jean François Richet, that plans to shoot a remake of "Assault on precinct 13" that could take place in Alaska. The script is being written, but there is no production dates yet. John Carpenter himself aknowledged the project ("this will be fun !")
PS bis : I prefer to stay anonymous, but you can call me snake
Marco let me in on the following snippet which could either back up the above (script writing is sort of retiring from directing) or totally contradict it:
I read in some interviews that JC was writting a new script, but had no plannings for when to start the production; in the words of JC "I'm in the process of starting to write another thriller, but don't know when i'll actually get into production"
JC interviews, behind the scenes vids, etc.
Also, thanks to Marco for using the In The Mouth of Madness mailing list to let us know about this.
http://www.hollywood.com/multimedia/detail/media/769868 and then there is this other interview at the Venice Film Festival: http://www.labiennaledivenezia.net/all_video.cfm
A decent review of GOM: http://movieweb.com/columns/orange/rev_ghostsmars.html
Interviews with GOM participants: http://www.blackfilm.com/20010824/features/i-johncarpenter.shtml http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/305159p1.html http://www.postindustry.com/article/mainv/0,2108,29708,00.html check thisone! http://www.postindustry.com/article/mainv/0,2108,29652,00.html EXCELLENT!,it's about the visual effects http://movieweb.com/columns/orange/orange.html
October 31st 2001
Happy Halloween
We are back and you should notice a much better presentation thanks to Julian (though it's ongoing; the older pages will eventually feel the changes, but in the meantime the old index is here).
I know I havn't updated for a very long time but I do intend to keep it going now (if Geocities will stop turning the tap off for 5 minutes). It appears that even though I am not updating, the site is so popular that I am exceeding my data transfer quota. Not sure if I believe that but thanks for keeping on coming back to the site. There has been a fair bit of news since I last reported so I'll kick off the new site with some general news summaries - I'll start putting all the great info I have received via e-mail up on the site over the next few weeks. Thanks to all the people who have kept me up to date and please keep the info coming now we are back online in a big way.
Current Status
I guess the main thing people want to know is 'what is JC up to?' Well, not much if anything at the moment judging by the news that is out. There are a few JC related items (that PS2 game of The Thing is coming up real soon and looks fantastic - six screenshots here:
Ghosts of Mars
It came and it flopped, big style. Reviews were pretty much harsh and uniformly negative, except for one memorable positive from Roger Ebert who also loved Vampires so I'm still pretty much looking forward to it. It didn't set the box officel alight but it made a profit and overseas/video sales should see JC do his usual strong home business. I haven't seen it yet, so can't offer much comment on it. For those others who haven't seen it, it gets a UK cinema release on 30th November and the trailer is currently showing before Jeepers Creepers.
The R1 DVD is released in the week Dec 4th-10th. Judging by all the promos, images, etc. of behind the scenes stuff at the official JC site www.theofficialjohncarpenter.com, this disc should have a stack of cool extras. It definitely has a JC commentary as well, always worth the cash. DVD specs: "2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and full screen transfers, English 5.1 and English and French 2.0 surround tracks, audio commentary with both Carpenter and actor Natasha Henstridge, 'Video Diary: Red Desert Nights' and 'Scoring Ghosts Of Mars' featurettes, special effects deconstructions, filmographies, trailers."
The soundtrack is also available, a collaboration between JC and Anthrax, which is hopefully in Mr. Postie's bag for me as we speak.
The Fog DVD
I am getting very, very pissed off with waiting for this one. So many JC films are out now (I even manged to snag The Philadelphia Experiment; JC exec prduced this film after prepping and nearly directing it) that it seems criminal that one of his best is not available (and I am not talking about Memoirs of an Invisible Man). The latest info has a remastered, special edition of the The Fog due for the end of 2002, which seems far too long to wait. The existing region 2 version, though a great transfer, has annoying burnt in subtitles for the French and German markets so I am waiting for the special ed.
Escape From New York DVD
This DVD has stoked a fair bit of controversy since Sept 11th. For those who don't know, this film starts off with terrorists hijacking Airforce 1 and crashing it into the Twin Towers, leaving the President stranded in New York. MGM had bowed to pressure and agreed to sort out their recent relatively poor EFNY DVD and release a Special Ed with commentary (already recorded for the old laserdisc) and rumoured to include the deleted Bank Robbery scene only ever seen on a special ed VHS with JC talking over the top. Since Sept 11th there is obviously some sensitivity to the opening scenes so a rumour started that MGM were cutting all references to the terrorists and employing some CGI lip-syncing to make it seem like the president just crashed into NY. There were even quotes from JC saying how he wanted them to let him recut it (he was pretty much resigned to the fact that it would be done) and record some new commentary to explain it. This bit seemed the weirdest to me, as JC is a staunch libertarian who I would have expected to take the attitude that this was just pandering to the moral christian majority. It now seems that all of this was just a rumour and that no cuts have been introduced. BUT it is still unclear whether this will effect the release schedule of this disc. The following was quoted from www.dvdfile.com:
'Escape' Redux - 12:01am
Yesterday, we reported on an alleged news item quickly spreading around the Internet regarding possible digital alterations to the upcoming DVD special edition of John Carpenter's Escape From New York, due sometime next year, MGM has responded to the story and stated that it is not true. Reportedly director John Carpenter was quoted as telling Fangoria magazine that the DVD would be reedited following last month's terrorist attacks on 9-11. But according to an MGM spokesperson, "We have no plans nor did we ever have any plans" to alter or change Escape From New York in any form. Neither John carpenter's office nor Fangoria magazine confirmed this alleged story, so we can chalk this one up to just another Internet rumor. Stay tuned for any further word.
Victor Wong RIP
The great star of Prince of Darkness and Big Trouble... passed away on September 10th:
HELLO MARC, I AM A FRIEND OF VICTOR WONGS AND I NEED FOR YOU TO PASS THE WORD TO MR. CARPENTER THAT VICTOR HAD PASSED AWAY IN HIS DELTA HOME OF WALNUT GROVE. HE ALMOST MADE IT TO HIS 74TH BIRTHDAY SEPT 31... HE WILL BE MISSED DEEPLY.. HE USE TO TALK ABOUT THE FILMS HE WAS IN. BUT ALWAYS TALKED ABOUT HOW MUCH HE ENJOYED WORKING WITH MR. CARPENTER. WE HERE IN SACRAMENTO AND SAN FRANCISO WILL BE TRYING TO GET CITY WIDE ATTENTION TO GET A DAY OF REMEMBERENCE FOR VIC. HE BROUGHT ALOT OF JOY TO HIS FANS AND HE MADE THEM LAUGH .... HE HAD A HEART ATTACK. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND IF YOU WOULD PASS THIS INFORMATION OFF TO MR. CARPENTER AND ANY OTHERS WHO ARE IN THE BUSSINESS... AGAIN THANKS, BOBBY HORIUCHI
Vampires 2
This movie is being directed by Tommy Wallace (who directed Halloween III), a longtime mate of JCs. JC has exec producer credit and approved the script. Current info is that despite the b-movie sequelitis of the thing a theatrical release (rather than straight to vid) is expected. The only character returning is Father Adam - the film follows the exploits of a seperate hunter/killer crew. The main thing annoying fans is that Jack Crow's absence is explained in the film by him dying in the gap between Vampires and Vampires 2. Don't see why that would annoy anyone myself, but some fans feel "cheated". Bon Jovi is also in, as the lead vampire. I know, the god of spandex, bouffant hairstyles and excruciating falsettos as a vampire - typecasting.
March 16th
A look at some 'might-have-been' JC projects.
A while ago I received a huge list of projects that JC was attached to at one point or another from the great Mighty McT. I have finally got around to processing them and thought it would be interesting to give people the chance to read them on the news pages, so here they are.
Here are some titles to add to your "Unfinished Symphonies" section: AMERICAN PSYCHO, CONGO, SANJURO (remake of the Kurosawa movie), SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES;
Wow! I love Bradbury, JC adapting this amazingly poetic and creepy book would have been something to see! Can't imagine his American Psycho, though I bet it woud have been full of black, black humour.
SO HELP ME GOD (november 1992 : television series inspired by THE FOG, with the collaboration of Larry Cohen, announced to be "very gory");
Cohen directed horror classics like 'It's Alive', 'Q' and 'The Stuff' - a FOG series is a cool enough idea, but with Cohen? Could have been fantastic.
LIGHTNING (after THE EYES OF LAURA MARS, Universal proposed Carpenter writing this project of screenplay, with an option on the directing)...
Also, from the French magazine L'ECRAN FANTASTIQUE (october 1982 issue) : "Universal recently announced that the shooting of FIRESTARTER, which was due to begin this month in Tennessee, helmed by John Carpenter, was postponed to an undetermined date. It seems that the studio worried too much about the size of the budget ($18 000 000) and didn't want to take any more financial risks right after the failure of THE THING. Carpenter's projects are now reduced to two low-budget movies, to be produced by his wife, Adrienne Barbeau, and him, under the aegis of their small company 'Hye White Bread' : DARE THE DEVIL, an adventure movie with romance, from an original idea by Carpenter, and MALL RATS, a comedy."
We knew about the Firestarter problems but I have never heard of this DARE THE DEVIL. By the way, the MALLRATS is NOT the one that Kevin Smith later did.
In another issue (august 1985) of the same magazine, I read "ARMED AND DANGEROUS, which was slated to be directed by John Carpenter for Columbia, is being abandoned as a result of the resignation of both the director and his two stars, John Candy and Dan Aykroyd."
Phew, lucky escape for JC I think there. He didn't get mixed up with the SNL crew until Memoirs... and look what happened there!
In the french book "Mythes et Masques : les fantômes de John Carpenter" (Myths and Masks : the Ghosts of John Carpenter), from Luc Lagier and Jean-Baptiste Thoret, among the unfinished projects are listed :
- BLOOD RIVER (a western, played by John WWayne and Elvis Prestley! Abandoned because of the bad health of Wayne. Directed in 1991 by Mel Damski for CBS, from an original screenplay by Carpenter);
Not a bad TV movie if you are ever lucky enough to see it.
- THE BEAST (Carpenter wanted to do it after VILLAGEOF THE DAMNED);
- TOP GUN (!);
- BRAM STOCKER'S DRACULA (finally directed by Coppola).
Top Gun! I cannot even begin to imagine that. I also glad JC didn't do Dracula - he is too unconventional for a straight Vampire story - that's why Vampires is such a great film.
The book also list in Carpenter's film credits BETTER LATE THAN NEVER (aka NEVER TOO YOUNG, aka DARN YOU, HARRY LANDERS), a TV movie directed by Richard Crenna, from a screenplay by John Crapenter and Greg Strangis.
In the book, Carpenter has this to say (in an interview with the two authors) about THE NINJA : "It was a great book, sliced in three distinct acts. At the beginning, I was involved in the project with Zanuck and Brown, the two producers of JAWS. We intended to make it for Twentieth Century Fox but the studio executives finally get afraid and never wanted to hear about it again."
About SOMEONE'S WATCHING ME, you may be interested to know that it occasionally appears on french TV under the title "Meurtre au 43eme etage" (Murder on the43rd floor).
... translated, from another issue of the French magazine "L'Ecran Fantastique" (April 1989): John Carpenter is now thinking about his next feature project. Allowed to make one film outside his contract at Alive Films, he is being offered two prestige big-budget productions. The first one is SHADOW COMPANY, to be produced by Walter Hill for Universal Pictures, from an already finished screenplay by Fred Dekker and Shane Black, a subject combining military actions and horror, in the vein of ALIENS (the dead bodies of some mercenaries, killed during Vietnam in 1972, are found nowadays and brought back to US in order to be buried. For mysterious reasons, the dead leave their graves and decide to follow their last orders). The second project is actually a sequel, the inevitable EXORCIST III (aka THE EXORCIST: 1990), written by William Peter Blatty, in development at the new Weintraub Entertainment Group. "It's a very good script", Carpenter told us. "Blatty is an excellent writer. He has a gift for geting you into the story. The new film will start right when the last one ended: the Devil has taken father Karras, the character played by Jason Miller, but, in this script, he doesn't die. I'm very interested in this project, but I don't know for sure whether I will make it or not. But I am honored they thought about me."
Exorcist III was eventually directed by Blatty himself and turned out to be a pretty good film. I think JC did the devil thing best with Prince of Darkness anyway.
I found a Spanish article at this URL http://www.pasadizo.com/articulos/inexistentes.shtml about "movies that will never be". Among others, some Carpenter's unproduced projects are listed, including the remake of CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, FIRESTARTER (screenplay by Bill Lancaster), THE THING 2, THE FOG 2, a THE FOG television series, adaptations of Ramsey Campbell's THE HUNGRY MOON and Alfred Bester's THE STARS MY DESTINATION and a remake of QUATERMASS AND THE PIT. The article also lists FATAL ATTRACTION, BRAM'S STOKER DRACULA, THE EXORCIST III, FLASHDANCE (!!!), THE UNTOUCHABLES, THE MUMMY, ROBOCOP and TOP GUN as films that Carpenter could have directed.
Now we are seeing mad things - Flashdance? Robocop could have been oh so good, same black humour but I bet JC would have been a lot more creepy with it than Verhoeven (though Verhoeven's is a great film).
PS : And about that remake of Kurosawa's YOJIMBO Carpenter was attached to direct, I found that it finally became Walter Hill's LAST MAN STANDING with Bruce Willis.
And that about wraps up that. Thanks again to the Mighty McT for that brilliant list. It will get onto the Unfinished Symphonies page eventually!
Halloween TV Version
I apologize if you already received this information, but I don't see it anywhere else on your site. According to Anchor Bay Entertainment's upcoming titles page, they will be releasing the TV version of Halloween in Mid 2001. The page doesn't specify if it will be a DVD or VHS release. http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com/future/ - Brian Krummerich.
The Halloween version is already on DVD as part of Anchor Bay's amazing Halloween Special Ed DVD so I guess they are going to release it soon as a separate disc.
GOM Magazines
I saw the US film magazine Wicked, which had a short article on GOM. Except for the picture with the spiked heads, there were 2 other photos: one was a group shot of the main actors, and more interestingly, a dusty view on the Mars base. Can the readers of your site submit scans? The article contained no extra info, except maybe that it will have the feel of a war movie. Oh, and JC wrote the foreword for Fangoria #200. Maybe someone wants to scan it for your site. It's a short piece on the state of horror - Tom
AICN visit GOM
An interesting, if rather sophomoric 2-part article about a visit to the GOMset is posted at: http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=8327 - Tom
Special Edition of EFNY on DVD!
Hi Marc,Last night my jaw dropped at the Home Theatre Forum - MGM chat, They mentioned Escape from New York will get a new SE release on R1 dvd nextyear, the transfer will be remastered, a new 5:1 sound & extras!.Now all we need to do is get MGM to get the LD extras for The Fog.Regards, Simon Caleb.
Wow, sounds brilliant (even if I did buy the oridinary R2 version before Christmas).
March 13th
Anthrax to score GOM with JC
Thanks to all the people who pointed out that www.anthrax.com reports that they are to assist JC with scoring GOM. I have mixed feelings on this one - I'm not a huge metal fan but I can imagine it would really fit the tone of the film. I was excited by recent reports of JC scoring it by himself on his keyboard - a return to classic days of The Fog, Prince of Darkness, etc. I just hope it is a great score as we all know half of JCs movies are his music. Cheers to Pepioth, Adam Bodnar, Forrest Gabitsch and Chris Cordoca for that news.
Fog European DVD
Holger gives us a tantalising glimpse of this disc:
Hallo my Name is Holger, i'm from Germany. In my local Videostore i rent the dvd of "The Fog". The disc are only in German but he had Outtakes, Trailers and an interview with John Capenter about The Fog and other Movie. The Picture of the DVD is fantastic i never seen it in this quality.
I am trying to find out more info on this disc, specifically does it have an English audio track?
If you have any John Carpenter news (DVD and video releases, sightings, actors he has worked with, etc.), please let me know.