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 26th October JC Script Info Ok, this isn't really a 'on the go' JC project but it was a script that JC was offered "Wanna let you know--- "Bone Orchard", that script I mentioned earlier, has been presented to Goat Key Productions (Sigourney Weaver's company), and looks fairly prominsing..."
Another On-Line Interview This from Greg Adkins "Marc -- Just thought you might like to know that there's another interview with J.C. on the net, this time at LA Times On-Line. It's basically about his fantasy for a perfect Halloween, and it can be accessed at

http://www.latimes.com/sbin/iawrapper?NS-search-set=/3629a/aaaa004MB29a038&NS-doc-offset=0 &NS-adv-search=0&http://www.latimes.com/sbin/iawrapper?NS-search-set=/3629a/aaaa004MB29a03 8&NS-doc-offset=0&NS-adv-search=0& "

JC Docu on TV This dropped in by Chris " Just a quick note here. On the 23rd of October, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing an episode of MASTERS OF FANTASY that focuses on none other than John Carpenter. " Sorry I missed the boat again, did anyone catch it? Well John Nada has this info which looks like there could be a repeat of this show "Those of us with access to the Jay Leno Tonight Show or David Letterman's show may want to checkout Leno on 10/27 when his guest is James Woods and Letterman on 10/28 when his guest is Danie Baldwin. Any guesses as to what film oening 10/30 they are on to plug? The Sci Fi channel, which I don't have access to, is doing a look at Carpenter 10/28 on their Masters of Sci Fi series."
JC and Ray Bradbury Both of those names mentioned together creates huge waves of anticipation, but unfortunately it doesn't look like JC is teaming up with the god of the short story. What Lukas has sent is an analysis of Dark Start and an early Bradbury story that certainly seems interesting. I would welcome any more well-informed comments on this one "A while ago I mailed you a question about this subject and although you didn't return the mail I did some research of my own and I thought I'd send you the results, as I've seen you referred to variously as the "Godfather" of Carpenter stuff on the net. I went out and bought another copy of "The Illustrated Man" and I'm pretty sure I'm right about the connection between "Dark Star" and a particular story in the book.
It's the second story and it's called "Kaleidoscope". According to the book it appeared first in one of Standard Magazines Inc. in 1949. As I remembered it concerns several men who are floating away from each other in space after their ship has exploded. At the end of the story only two men remain in contact. One of them encounters an enchanting meteor swarm which carries him off and the other hits the atmosphere and is seen as a falling star by a little boy on the ground. Some bits of dialogue indeed seem to be taken straight from Bradbury, such as where Talby says: "I think it's the Phoenix asteroids.. .", Stone in the book says: "I think it's the Myrmidone cluster...", and where Talby says "They're taking me with them", Stone says "They're taking me off with them".
None of this, of course, is to accuse Carpenter or Dan O'Bannon of plagiarism. Rather I find it a fascinating idea that this Bradbury story might in some way have been the germ for the whole conception of Dark Star (notwithstanding the fact that the film was probably conceived of as a youthful corrective to the portentiousness of Kubricks "2001, A Space Odyssey"). Although the episode happens at the end of Carpenter's film, the Bradbury story is so memorable that it seems a plausible starting point for the filmmakers' imaginations. In fact Bradbury's most powerful conceit is to get the whole blowing-up-of-the-ship out of the way in the first three sentences:
"The first concussion cut the rocket ship up the side with a giant can opener. The men were thrown into space like a dozen wriggling silverfish. They were scattered into a dark sea; and the ship, in a million pieces, went on, a meteor swarm seeking a lost sun"
From the subsequent conversations and bickering between the men in Bradbury's story we can see that they were as mundane and as unidealised as Doolittle, Talby, Pinback and the others.
Anyway, I've never seen this referred to in anything I've read about "Dark Star", so I thought you might be interested as you seem to be such a committed commentator on Carpenter's work. I'd still be interested to know if anyone else has spotted this connection or if Carpenter or O'Bannon have ever gone on record about this influence.
Thanks again for the site, and I look forward to hearing from you about this or any other interesting Carpenter stuff,
Lukas " It does seem similar, but a lot of those sorts of concepts are very popular in sci-fi, and have been for a while, largely due to Bradbury's own popularity.
A Tribute to John Carpenter? A few people have asked about this website, and I must admit I was also dissapointed to see it go. Anyone know why it went, and what is happening with it? Jesper? - "hi. there used to be this web page by the name of: Tribute to John Carpenter http://www.danbbs.dk/~shifter/ run by i believe his name was Jesper Bjerg. the site is down, do you have any idea how to reach him? thanks for your assistance. shyam "
Sherrif Bracket's DVD Update In what is becoming a regular slot, the Sherriff of Haddonfield, glad to see that Myers has moved onto other locales, drops in this JC related info "Hello! The Sheriff here with another DVD update. Paramount will be releasing Escape From LA on DVD in late December or January depending on production capacity issues (DVD replicators are pretty maxed out right now and there have been many Christmas deadlines missed). It will not contain any extras, aside from a great widescreen transfer, Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2 theatrical trailers.
Also, Polygram has set a January 25th 1999 release for an Escape From New York DVD. However, it was reported just today in all the trade papers that MGM has bought the Polygram film library (which includes Escape From New York and The Fog), so depending on how the deal is finalized, MGM may elect to alter these release plans.
Also, if you listened to the end of The Thing commentary track with JC, he states he'd love to do "another one of these" for Big Trouble In Little China "if the studio was interested" (i.e., 20th Century Fox). Also, as I'm sure you are aware, The Cinema Laser has started a In The Mouth Of Madness email drive to convince New Line to release it on DVD.
In response to petitions such as those above, and a desire of the readers at my humble DVD site, The DVD File (www.dvdfile.com), I have started an extensive feature called the Request Infoline. It contains poll pages for all the studios where you can vote on titles you want to see on DVD, and the software tabulates the votes. This information IS passed to many of the studios, and I will be talking with MGM about the Polygram acquisition. I also hope to get Fox and New LIne's attention in regards to the JC titles (which are very popular, I might add).
The URL is http://www.dvdfile.com/request_infoline/
Well, this is the Sheriff signing off...I will check in when I get more great DVD info. And don't forget to pick up Village Of The Damned and Dark Star on DVD, which are both due by this Christmas! http://www.dvdfile.com "
JC Widescreen Festival Here is the first of what I hope are a few reports on the recent widescreen festival "I attended the Widescreen Film Festival in Long Beach, California last night. Here's the run down. At 7:30 the auditorium was filled to copacity and they stopped letting people in. They even turned away some ticket holders. JC, Robert Wise, the organizer of the festival, and a moderator took the stage. They spoke for a few minutes about widescreen films and JC said that using Panavision lenses has become so much a part of the filmmaking process for him that he would never have it any other way. Then they took a few lame questions from the audience. More questions about sequels to "The Thing" and "Big Trouble in Little China." He gave the same answers he gave at Dragon Con so I won't rehash them for you. Then surprise guest Russ Tamblyn took the stage and presented Robert Wise with a widescreen filmmaking award. JC riled up the crowd and motioned to give Mr. Wise a standing ovation. Then, surprise guest Harry Dean Stanton took the stage and presented the same award to JC. This time the audience didn't have to be motivated and gave JC a standing ovation also. He said "This award also belongs to Robert Wise." Then they left the stage and screened "Vampires." I really liked this film. Although I still think "The Thing" is his finest work. The crowd was very enthusiasitc and broke into spontaneous cheers whenever a vampire got staked or burned up in the sunlight. All in all, it was a fun evening except for the rude ushers who wouldn't let anyone use the restrooms! Maggie "
New JC and KR Info Get over to the Pharr Out site for some great stuff

Vampires in Rolling stone"Hey just thought you might want to know that Rolling Stone magazine reviewed Vampires & gave it a mostly positive review, complimenting James Woods' perfomance, Carpenter's direction & the bad-ass nature of the film. His only snipe was that Don Jakoby's script was a bit too postmodern, but overall "Carpenter's first foray into the vampire world...is well worth the wait" From: ThundrGod1"

News as of 16th October Two updates in a week, cos I have finally finished my thesis!!! Ok, not JC news but I am shouting that one out to everyone, and thanks for all the e-mails of congrats and support. Anyway, on with the reason we are here
Sony Vampires Site This site is now fully open, with various things to download such as screensavers and the like -

JC Interview On-Line As pointed out to by Mohammad Khan's Carpenticized Side of The Web, soundtrack.net have an online interview with JC up on their site.

German Vampires Delayed This sorry news came in from Tobias "Dear Marc, unfortunately Arthaus has changed the release date for "Vampires" - July 9th 1999."
Quatermass and The Pit This is one of JCs 'formative' films and there have been rumours of him desiring to remake it. Whatever, it is a fantastic film that should be watched to see what helped shaped the brain that gave us The Thing. It is on ITV in the UK, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

News as of 15th October Random Ramblings Here we go again with excuses for the lack of updates. The usual reason, my PhD thesis. You'll be totally uninterested to know that I have now almost finished it. On a UK note, I urge you all to watch Ultraviolet on Channel 4, Tuesday nights. This excellent chiller is about a band of Vatican-sponsored vampire hunters, sounds familiar? On with the real news - (mostly just copies of e-mails as I am too busy to add much editorial)
Vampires in Vienna "Huber Christoph - The VIENNALE, Viennas international film festival has scheduled three Carpenter films this year. On Oct 17th they´ll play Vampires. At the same time they´ll also play Starman, due to a Jeff Bridges tribute. And one week later, Oct 24th they are going to screen Halloween right before H2O. Big chance, as Vampires still has no distributor in Austria and the other two can be rarely seen in cinemas un-dubbed ´round here."
The JC and James Woods Appearances "hey. first the date for the james wood la shrine aud. deal is oct. 11. 2nd. john will be signing copies of the vampires soundtrack at the virgin megastore in los angeles on sunset blvd. on oct 16. no time listed so they'll have to call the store at: Virgin Megastore(323) 650-8666 music press #141 - 144" Sorry about missing the boat on that one, did anyone go? Still time to get down for the JC soundtrack signing though.
JC Trivia Game "Hi! RJL from Toronto here. Just thought I'd drop you a line to let Carpenter-fans know that if they have access to the NTN Trivia game that's broadcast via satellite in bars and restaurants across North America, they will want to find a table for the 7 PM "Topix" game to be held on Friday, October 30. 1998. The featured topic for the 30 minute game is none other than director John Carpenter! Expect questions on his filmography, personal life (and ten bucks says they ask a question about Adrienne Barbeau), side projects ("Elvis"? I wonder?), and his various cast members (probably Jamie Lee Curtis and Kurt Russell). And since it IS the night before Halloween, I'd expect the entire evening's games to be devoted to the topic of horror films, as was the case with NTN last year at this time.I'll be playing under my handle "Spumco". Who's up to the challenge? "
CompuPaz on The Sentinel "I just tracked down THE SENTINEL RETURNS Playstation game. It ain't easy to come by. No one seems to carry it. The one store I finally found it in only had one copy. The clerk said something to the effect of "nobody wants this came for the game. They want it for some other reason." I think we all know the reason. Needless to say. J.C.'s score is superb. The best part is, all you have to do is pop the game CD into a regular CD music player to access the score. I have it pumping thru my stereo right now. I urge all J.C. fans to hunt down the game. The music is worth it! Until next time"
New Line MOTM DVD Policy I actually followed up one of my own suggestions and joined the MOTM DVD campaign, this is the response I got from their DVD Team " Thanks for your comments.As for now In the Mouth of Madness is not scheduled to be released on DVD. However, anything is possible in the future. Please keep an eye and ear out for Upcoming release info on our future titles! DVD TEAM - NLHV " Maybe if they get anough e-mails it will get added to the schedule?
More on that Widescreen Festival I have been reporting on this droolsome night out for a while now, and I thought I would refresh memories. "If anyone is hanging around sunny Southern California on Friday, October 23rd...JC will be live in person with legendary director Robert Wise on stage at the Fourth Annual WIDESCREEN FILM FESTIVAL at Cal State University Long Beach. Both directors will be on stage comparing notes on the tricks and joys of widescreen filmmaking from 7:oo - 8:00. They'll also take questions from the audience.Then at 8:00, a special advance screening of John Carpenter's Vampires will take place.I was there last year seeing Blade Runner, introduced by it's production designer, and it was great. All you have to do is show up early and you'll can get as close as you want to be. The 1000+ capacity performing arts center screen is BIG and WIDE. Excellent sound as well. The Screening is $7.00 for adults, $5.00 for students, and get this -- the JC/Robert Wise discussion is FREE. There's also a gallery that opens at 6:00 that will feature pictorial tributes to JC and Robert Wise.Tickets +information + credit card ticket sales call (562) 985-7000. Address is 6200 Atherton Street, Long Beach CA 90815. " I am totally envious, the only thing soothing my temper is that I am off to see one of Bob Mould's last ever 'loud' gigs that night. Thanks to Robert Brenneman for that info.
Vampires NY Screening?"XJohnDeth - Any more Vampires Screenings? I heard there'd be one more in the New York area in the next week or so, any info on that?"
Tons of Vampires Videoclips!! This excellent info was sent in "http://www.hollywood.com/movieguide/movies/vampires/video/index.html thought you would ike to see this if you hadnt already,.... great page... thanks! Magick " Excellent stuff.
Vampires Soundtrack Don M. drops in what we have all been waiting to hear "Hey Marc,If this hasn't already been mentioned, the soundtrack to John Carpenter's Vampires is out. Just picked it up from Best Buy in Boca Fl. The soundtrack is (as you would expect) great, with some emphasis on a group formed for the soundtrack including J.C. himself and other musicians. The group is called the Texas Toad Lickers and this type of music has more of a rock sound to it. Really good however. There is of course the classical Carpenter composed music that we all love with a bit of a different touch added (via more percussion). To sum this one up, another masterpiece for Carpenter. Pick this one up as soon as possible. There are 16-tracks in all and the soundtrack was released by Milan records.Take Care, Don M. "

News as of 5th October Mouth of Madness DVD Campaign I'll definitely be adding my support to this "A guy at Laser Collector has started a little page to get fans to right to NewLine about getting ITMOM on DVD. I think you should print the url which is: http://www.thecinemalaser.com/dvd-campaign-in-the-mouth-of-madness.htm so everyone who visits the site can join in and get it release!- Jamie "
Vampires Italian Release Date Ok, I am late with this one ".. Vampires will be released in Italy the 2th of October. Luigi De Angelis" as it indeed was released on that date. Seems like everyone is getting it before the UK. - "Yesterday i didn't believe my eyes: on October 2th, VAMPIRES was released in Italy. There are two pages (in italian) about the movie: **THE ITALIAN DISTRIBUTOR www.cecchigori.com/cinema/VAMPIRES/home.htm, **TEMPIMODERNI, contains a review www.mix.it/tempimoderni/ Andrea Micelli "
Halloween's on DVD This from James Micheal Roddy "Hey, Just to let you know - Halloween 2 and Halloween 3 have just been released here on DVD format. The transfers are incredible. No extras like the trailers or deleted footage, but they are widescreen."
JC and The Sentinel One of the games developers drops in some comments on JCs involvement "I think you've noted before that JC has done the music for my game, Sentinel Returns. (My company is called NoName Games - we licensed the game on PC and Sony Playstation to Psygnosis worldwide). For reasons too tedious to go into, although we got the computer game equivalent to an Oscar at the E3 show in Atlanta this year and several magazine awards, SR has been given something of a 'stealth' release in Europe by Psygnosis. Oh well.........it's just been release in the US and thanks to a great review in the NYT its profile is a little bit higher...... I should say that almost all of the reviews say what great music JC has produced for the game. It's classic stuff. Anyone with a Web connection can sample it by going to the Psygnosis Web Site (www.psygnosis.com) and going into the Sentinel Returns section. I don't think there are any plans to release it on CD - but the tracks are on the game as CD Audio for any 'must have' JC fanatics! I should add that JC was great to work with - not at all 'Hollywood'. Most of the original work was done over a week-end *during* the Vampires shoot. The hardest thing was finding a studio near the shoot which allowed smoking!! John Cook - NoName Games "
Fantastic JC and Vampires Articles I have just been working ym way through the new Cinefantastique (with the X-Files on the cover) and Femme Fatales magazines. Both have a ton of Vampires interviews and features, with CFQ adding a bonus retrospective on JCs whole career that is just a joy to read. These articles are a must for any JC fan.
New On-Line JC Interview"I thought you might be interested in adding a new John Carpenter link to your page. Eon magazine has an exclusive in-depth interview with the director about his new movie VAMPIRES and his thoughts on retirement. There are also exclusive photos. Check out the interview at http://www.eonmagazine.com " Excellent interview, interesting to note that JC was on the verge of retirement before Vampires and is committed to a long vacation.
James Woods and JC PA This is interesting, but the info came without a date, can anyone supply one? "JAMES WOODS and DANIEL BALDWIN, the stars of JOHN CARPENTER'S VAMPIRES, will appear on stage at 2:00 p.m. to preview scenes and speak on the movie at the Shrine Auditorium Expo Center-700 West 32nd Street, in Los Angeles. The VAMPIRES event takes place as part of the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. Show hours are 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Admission is only $5.00. Free VAMPIRES movie buttons will be given away. For more information call (818) 954-8432. "

News as of 25th September JC Q&A at Dragoncon The great ginger one has posted a pretty complete transcript of the John Carpenter Q&A section on the cool news website. I have put it up in my interviews section for your access. Thanks to James Micheal-Roddy we have a photo of JC at DragonCon

Jamie Lee and The Real Micheal Myers George Stark gratefully drops in this interesting info " .. new Fangoria has an article with Jamie Lee Curtis where she talks about Halloween 2 "Quite frankly, Halloween 2 stinks. It's a terrible movie. I should have never done it. The only reason I did it was out of loyality to John and Debra. But it was mistake." Well in my opinion H2 was no masterpiece but it looks like one compared to the awful Halloween imitations she appeared in like Terror Train and Prom Night. I also came upon interesting tidbit in British horror mag called The Dark Side where it mentions the unfortunate death of the real Micheal Myers. He was a veteran of the British film distribution scene and also picked up a small-budget American film by a then virtually unknown American director which was having difficulty getting distribution anywhere- John Carpenter's Assualt on Precinct 13. His handling of the film got it into the prestigious Endinburgh and London film festivals, led the movie to be picked up by other territories around the world, becoming a major cult hit. Carpenter was so grateful that he payed hommage to Mr.Myers by naming the masked killer in Halloween after him. Micheal Myers died on Feb 22, and his obituary was written by JC himself which appeared in a paper called the Guardian a few days later. "
Vampires in Germany Tobias Kessler keeps the central Europeans up to date " "Vampires" has a german release date: 28th January 1999 "
JC DVD Signing Sherrif Brackett has a full report with pictures " .. John Carpenter DVD signing report w/pictures. You can find it at http://www.dvdfile.com/news/archives/special_report/John_Carpenter/index.html "
US Vampires Poster Thanks to Bjorn from the great Movie Page.

Unseen 'The Thing' Images Wow, RJ has surpassed the utter coolness of the unseen EFNY pages with this set of stuff over at the increasingly essential Russell Muscle Site - http://www.oocities.org/Hollywood/Theater/1633/thingunearthgate.html
US Vampires Viewers These things sound interesting, I hope US readers know what Tempus Fugit it talking about cos we don't have these sorts of things overe here " .. in the US there are these viewers (usually located in theaters, malls, shopping centers, etc.) where a person can flip through about 20 previews of movies coming out. The name of what these things are escapes me, but the point is that the one in the mall where I work now has Vampires in it's roster. Once a person has viewed the preview, he can vote on how interested he/she would be in seeing it. I'd be curious to know what tallies they were coming up with. I'm sure you can find these things in many places around the US, so people should keep their eyes open. " Anyone in the know have any 'tallies'?
New Award The Mining Co. are having a series on directors and JC is one of the first and this site has won an award.
Halloween 20th Anniverary CD This is from Mark Hammon - " I just picked up the new Varese Sarabande CD for the 20th Anniversary of HALLOWEEN. Check out my webpage for the info: http://www.ccnet.com/~p166/jc/jccd.htm "
The New Surveys You've probably all seen them by now and the response seems pretty decent, so they are going to stay. Check out the 'Surveys Page' for the results of previous surveys. Any suggestions for new surveys are welcome.

News as of 18th September JC in Fangoria Chris gives us the info on this new article " In an interview in the new Fango, J.C. says that he is still very happy with ESCAPE FROM L.A. Personally, I've never understood why people were so hostile about this flick. I thought it was pretty damn funny once you got the joke. Anyway, J.C. says it coulda been a little better if he had more time in the editing room....the schedule was tight and he only got to do one cut. He also says he appreciates all the cult stuff surrounding Snake Plissken and that more Snake adventures are possible. He still has an idea in mind, but doubts that it would ever happen.
He also notes that he bowed out of MUTANT CHRONICLES because Ed Pressman would not give up final cut on the picture. He says it's too bad, as it could be a real cool flick.
J.C. also doesn't rule out more VAMPIRES adventures with Mr. Jack Crow. " George Stark also gives us info on this ".. the new Fangoria with a new JC article where he gives his views on some of his films including Escape from L.A. , The Thing, and of course he discusses Vampires. Here's an exerpt where he offers his view on ressurecting Snake Plissken: "There are plenty of adventures for him, and I don't know whether we'll ever learn who he is. I have an idea for a third film. I've already thought it out, and Kurt [Russell] and I have talked about it. I doubt that it will to fruition because you have to spend a whole lot of money on these films, but you never know." He also explains that he backed out of The Mutant Chronicles because producer Edward Pressman would not give him the final cut of the film. The article also mentions JC's futer plans in which he says he looking at a couple of things he's looking at but he's not committed to anything. It mentions, however, that one possibility he would consider is a Vampires sequel if it is successful at the box office. Here is another exerpt : "There's good story there, and there's always room for doing another. We'll have to see what happens."
JC Public Signing Appearance I have had very favourable response about JCs recent appearance in an LA video store, Sherriff Brackett has the first say " BTW, I attended the JC signing last night... I will be putting a brief report up with a picture or two. Mr. Carpenter was incredibly nice, and stayed 3 hours just to sign everyone's stuff. Best of all, I have put up a contest, with the prize being a JC-signed copy of the The Thing. You can get to it at http://www.dvdfile.com/contest/. BTW, Village OF the Damned is due out on DVD from Universal in December....I will have more info on this soon."
JC in DragonCon Don M. drops in this comprehensive report of JCs appearance " .. I was able to attend the Dragoncon in Atlanta and meet my idle John Carpenter. He was there to promote Vampires and yes there was a special screening that I wasn't aware of .... we were treated to some segments of the Vampire's soundtrack before Carpenter came on stage and the tracks sounded very impressive. When Carpenter did come out (You'll be happy to hear this) the place errupted into loud cheers and a standing ovation for Carpenter who I think was taken back by this. He put his fist in the air in response to this. Also, let me just say that this place where the seminar was was huge and there wasn't a seat available (there were even many standing). After seeing this, there's no doubt that Carpenter has a tremendous devoted following here in the States and I deffinitely believe Carpenter felt this and appreciated it. The previous comments on the webpage are correct. Carpenter just opened up the floor for questions and they were some of the worst questions you could hope for. Let me just say that I was mesmerized just to be there and felt like a kid in the candy store. The comment about The Thing 2 is not correct. Carpenter did mention that the idea had been mentioned at Universal, however, there were no plans to bring this into production at this time. Carpenter also held an autograph session after the seminar and I waited in line eagerly just to meet the man. If anyone would like to know what John Carpenter is like in person, let me just say that he was fantastic. Extremely polite and upbeat. I exchanged some words with him and requested a picture that he was more than willing to oblige. He must have signed over 400 autographs and even had a stack of pictures for those who didn't have memorabilia for him to sign. Throughout the session, Carpenter was exactly what anyone could hope for (and I'm not just saying this as a fan) Not once here did he seem bored or felt like time was being wasted. He was simply, the man. "
The Thing 2 Patrick Kerr (good to see his page being updated again) has cleared up the Thing 2 rumour that started on his page. Nip over to his news section for the full info and check out his great JC page (especially Kirk Hazen's fanfic) while you are there.
The Thing DVD Extras Mark Hammon (who has the awesome CDs of JC site) posted this to the JC mailing list ">Apart from all the materials officially on this Special Edition, Universal have also placed some >unannounced feature on this spectacular disc. Go to the Bonus Materials form the main menu >and there select the Terror Takes Shape documentary. Then go to Language Selection and >you will find an entry that Apart from all the materials officially on this Special Edition, Universal >have also placed some unannounced feature on this spectacular disc. Go to the Bonus >Materials form the main menu and there select the Terror Takes Shape documentary. Then go >to Language Selection and you will find an entry that says Music Score. Yep, thats right. The >disc contains the films complete music score under this menu entry. "
Vampires Trailer Does The Rounds Tempus Fugit drops this in " I went to see the new Matt Damon movie, Rounders, this weekend it had the Vampires trailer attatched to it! True, it was the one allready available on the Sony site, but it was still great to see on the big screen. Anyways, it's out there and that's what counts!! "
JC Websites Article Yep, I have finally got it thanks to a very generous contact who scanned it in for me. I would like to thank John Thonen, the author, for the excellent coverage and balanced review. Click on the thumbnail to get a full size scan so you can read the article -

Vampires Soundtrack Release Date This excellent info from Aaron Morgan "I emailed Milan about when the Vampires soundtrack will be released,and they said it will be out October 13th,at least here in the US. "

News as of 11th September New Vampires Pictures These were posted up on Dark Horizons -

That JC Script Info A while back I mentioned that JC had been given a script to read. Although there have not been any more reported developments I thought you might like to know some more info from an anonymous source " That script I mentioned, the one presented recently to D Hill--the name is "Bone Orchard," and is basically about a small deserted town in S California. The reason the town is deserted? Why, it's been overrun with demons, of course! It's a "Tales From the Crypt" -type of story, which I guess means it's a mix of horror, action, and comedy. If I hear anything else, I'll pass it along. " I can imagine people are going to start hunting that one down right now.
Fog and Demons Double Bill" Just to let you know you should head over to http://www.voicenet.com/~jnelson1/october.html Scroll down half way or so and you'll discover that one of their double features is THE FOG and DEMONS! Please spread the word to your web page, if you can find time. Anthony "
Dark Star DVD News " Hey there! Sheriff Brackett here with some more groovy DVD news. - VCI and The Roan Group Create DVD Partnership Magic Lantern Entertainment -

Robert A. Blair, president of VCI Home Video, and Cary Roan, president of The Roan Group, announced today the two companies had joined forces to produce and distribute DVD programming. The new DVD releasing company will be named Magic Lantern Entertainment. The first titles .. DARK STAR, the cult science-fiction classic. .. DARK STAR will have a pre-order cut-off October 8, 1998 and street date of November 3, 1998 at a suggested retail price of $29.99 each. John Carpenter ("Halloween") and Dan O'Bannon ("Alien") combined their incredible writing, creative and technical talents to produce DARK STAR, an extraordinary science fiction parody, which began modestly as a student film project at USC, but has grown into a true cult- classic. The new DVD version will be replicated on a two-sided disc also and will contain both a digitally re-mastered theatrical release version and a special director's cut edition, presented as originally intended by the filmmakers. The film transfer was in 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio, and with a new Dolby Digital Stereo AC-3 track.

Also, I have received sample copies of Starman and The Thing, and have posted complete reviews of both titles to my site, The DVD File. The addresses are: http://www.dvdfile.com/reviews/dvd-video/thing(1982).htm - http://www.dvdfile.com/reviews/dvd-video/starman.htm"
POD German Soundtrack Rerelease"Evidentally,the Prince of Darkness soundtrack has been rereleased on Aug 14 by Colosseum Records,which distributes Varese Sarabande soundtracks in Germany. -Aaron Morgan "
Jaxstor's Vampires Review Another regular contributor drops in with his throughts on Vampires "......to answer mr birk...i know there will be other opinions....the reason no one mentioned the so called sloppiness is there isn't any...as in all of jc low budget projects the movie looks like it actually cost more....kibbe is a terrific cinematographer who make carps films look beautiful again...as to second run theaters this film has played in France since what- April may on only less then 120 theaters fact it is still playing shows the legs...the film does have a low budget independent feel about it yet so does Halloween and assault and night of the living dead and pulp fiction and evil dead...that is what gives it its charm... also as i told Mohammed i checked out blade...no comparison....blade cost 3 times to make yet does not come close to the style...tension....and love of film making vampires does...blade starts strong then gets embarrassingly bad keep up the good work.....jax " Another positive. The buzz on this film is huge. A friend of mine reckoned the film passed the ultimate test, his girlfriend stayed awake during the whole movie and later said it was fantastic! We are talking about a woman who would fall asleep in Evil Dead, so I think that is a pretty high recommendation.
Vampires Review from DragonCon".. this week is Dragon-Con, the largest Southwestern Sci-Fi/Fantasy convention, and who'se here but John Carpenter; promoting the film 'Vampires'. Now, here's the kicker...Friday night at midnight, John released a special by invitation only screening of the show. Having stole an invitation, I can tell you a couple of things...whatever talk about the ending being stupid is wrong...it may be a bit Hollywood, but it does not ruin the movie! In my opinion. Second, only fifty people showed up...now this can be contributed to poor promotional skills, or the distance away from other Con events, but the attendance was low. People were pissed later, when they found out they could have gone if they had heard about it (An invite was pretty easy to obtain...besides stealing one) Third, no one mentioned how badly Vmapires bashes the Catholic church...it is brutal! Literally, it will have Christian groups in an uproar! Crazy. Carpenter was scheduled to talk about Vampires on Saturday, but he opened the floor to questions, and everyone asked about the stupidest possible things and if he was sequeling every movie he had ever done (will you Sequel In the Mouth of Madness? Will you sequel Big Trouble? the answer was NO every time, but it got monotonous...and John got visibly bored quick too!) Anyway, I wanted to let you know what is happening here on the Vampire front... Cucumber Alpha" Jeepers, when will people get of the sequelitis case? I want them too but I will gladly pass them up from some new JC stuff.
Awesome EFNY Unseen Scenes RJ dropped in this fantastic info, get over the Russell Muscle site right now! " here they are the Unseen EFNY pages at my Kurt site. to access em either go to the Kontents page or the Site Updates pages. http://www.oocities.org/Hollywood/Theater/1633/index.html " You just have to see these pictures, they are amazing.
The Thing DVD Reviews It is hard to say whether this new release was more eagerly anticipated than Vampires, but it certainly is the most buzz I have ever see around a JC DVD or video, and the buzz is extremely positive. Here are a collection of reviews -
Kenneth Souza " THE DIGITAL DOMAIN By Kenneth J. Souza

[Originally published in the FREE weekly e-zine, ORGANIZED CHAOS. To subscribe, write to: local@ultranet.com.]

QUITE A THING

In 1981, immediately after finishing his cult-classic "Escape from New York," director John Carpenter went to work on his first film for a major Hollywood studio. It would take him close to a year to complete "The Thing" for Universal Pictures, a loose remake of Howard Hawks' 1951 "The Thing from Another World," and the result was an amazing collaboration of talent -- from top-notch special effects to an outstanding all-male ensemble cast.
It is befitting, then, that MCA/Universal Home Video has given the film a special Collector's Edition treatment that clearly took the same amount of time and effort. Not only is Universal's "The Thing" ($34.95 retail) one of the best packages in their-already impressive Collector's Edition series, but also one of the best special edition DVD releases to date. Brimming with an amazing amount of extras and supplemental material, it already has my vote for DVD Release of the Year.
Released theatrically in 1982, "The Thing" stars frequent Carpenter leading man Kurt Russell as a rag-tag helicopter pilot stationed at a scientific research facility in Antarctica. The superb cast also includes, among others, Wilford Brimley, Richard Dysart, Richard Masur, Keith David, and Donald Moffat. The terror begins when a runaway dog from another camp shows up at their outpost with a helicopter full of angry Norwegians trailing closely behind trying to kill it.
Taking the animal in, the group doesn't realize they've now exposed themselves to an alien creature that somehow seeks to duplicate other lifeforms to survive on Earth. The creature needs to assimilate with a human or animal and thereby hide its true identity. This classic sci-fi scenario rivals Don Siegel's great "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (which has also been since remade twice) as a study in both fear and mistrust.
Returning to John Campbell's original short story "Who Goes There?" which was the basis for the 1951 film, Carpenter and screenwriter Bill Lancaster focus their attention on the building paranoia of the isolated research team as they each begin to suspect others of being "The Thing." "I don't know who to trust," admits one character during the film ... and this simple premise is what makes the film so frightening and so effective. It's not necessarily the big, growling deformity with tentacles you should fear (although there are plenty of them here, too), but the normal-looking guy standing next to you.
The long-awaited special edition of John Carpenter's "The Thing" began life nearly two years ago as a scheduled MCA/Universal Signature Collection laserdisc package. Universal has also released a laserdisc in conjunction with this DVD, but considering the many side-breaks and higher price, the DVD is clearly the version to get. The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 scope aspect ratio (Carpenter's preferred framing) in an astonishingly gorgeous transfer. I thought Universal's previous movie-only laserdisc version looked great ... but this DVD transfer is an eye-opener.
The sharp and high-contrast image brings out all of the subtle lighting work which make cinematographer Dean Cundey one of the best in his field. From the soft blue light of the exterior night scenes to the muted yellow and orange of interior scenes (often lit by flashlights or flares), this movie has never looked better. And the wide, snow-covered landscapes of Antarctica (actually shot in British Columbia) are simply stunning.
The letterboxed film is also presented for the first time with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround soundtrack which offers a terrific sound stage for both music and effects -- from the swirling helicopters which go whizzing by at the beginning to the horrible rear-channel echo of the alien creature when it bursts from a character's chest, the soundtrack adds a whole new dimension to the viewing experience.
And that's just the 109-minute feature film! The DVD also includes an engrossing 84-minute documentary titled "The Thing: Terror Takes Shape," which features new interviews with cast and crew members, behind-the-scenes location footage, and never-before-seen stop-motion animation which was cut from the final film. Though not listed on the DVD package, the film's complete musical score is also accessible on a separate audio track during the documentary segment (you have to select it from the languages menu).
There's also a feature-length running commentary with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell which was recorded in 1996 during the duo's re-teaming on "Escape from L.A." Both relaxed and amusing, the commentary track is like eavesdropping on Carpenter and Russell as they watch the movie at home. Highlights include Russell's reluctant agreement to wear the "bandito" hat in the film (for which Carpenter thanks him), their difficulty in getting beer to the desolate location during filming, and the revelation that the "goo" used in most of the creature effects was, in fact, the same substance used in Twinkies.
In addition, the single-sided dual-layer (RSDL) disc includes separate chapters featuring outtakes from the film, a behind-the-scenes photo gallery, storyboards and conceptual art, original creature designs, annotated production notes, a biography/filmography of Kurt Russell and John Carpenter, and the original theatrical trailer. Whew! Taking all this into account, plan on setting aside at least five hours to navigate your way through the multiple menus and supplemental material on this disc -- depending on how fast you can read the production notes, that is.
Listening to Carpenter, Russell, and various cast and crew members discuss the project in the accompanying documentary, "The Thing" was in many ways a labor of love; and although the film didn't find its audience when first released in theaters, it has since become a cult classic thanks to home video and cable television. But don't settle for those often cropped and poorly-transferred versions -- MCA/Universal's DVD finally presents the film the way it was meant to be seen in all its gory detail with ample bonus material.
I don't doubt this package is destined to raise the bar for all future DVD special editions as it uses the format's capabilities like no title ever before; and despite my complaints and impatience, let me go on record as saying this much-anticipated release was certainly worth the wait. "
Kim August (Pharr Out editor) -"Kim here, reporting on the spe. edition THING laser disc. Well, it's amazing, totally worth the money but...there were some supplements NOT on the set, that I would have loved to have seen included which I will list now:
The scenes with the blow up doll Esperanza More footage/interviews shot at the time of the production Mick Garris' original Making of the Thing Documentary, the one on the disc may be (don't quote me on this) snipets from that, I don't know. An extensive still collection (there are a few scattered amongst the documentary footage but not a lot) Footage of Bottin at work The alternate ending where Mac survives
But now here's the really good news on what you can expect on the supplemental disc first and then the film itself.
The Making of the Thing separated into 8 chapters on sides 3 and 4.
There are some fascinating memories from actors Joel Polis (Fuchs), the late Charlie Hallahan (Norris) and Richard Masur (Clark) in the Making of the THING documentary (this was shot in early to mid 95-Kurt was looking very EXECUTIVE DECISIONish). The chapter with the saucer optical effects was really cool and for the most part the entire documentary was really interesting. We do see some footage in between the cast and crew talking that was cut, such as MacReady and someone else (sorry guys too busy starring at Mac) straightening out either the storage room or some room in the camp, it looked like Mac was almost making a bed. Some behind the scenes footage of T.K. Carter getting the most of the guys in the cast to sing along with him, and one or two other little snipets of Carpenter on location.
However the shining jewel of this are the Addtional Outtakes Chapter. These scenes were used when the THING aired on syndicated tv back in 1986 to kind of help the plot along (and I'm sure to add film time when the gore sequences were cut). Some of the acting is pretty poor surprisingly enough, but one of the scenes really hit me. When Mac throws down shredded long johns on the pool table and says "Nauls found this yesterday. Ripped just like the clothes on the Norweigan we brought back. Size Large. What size are you Clark?" This scene may have been cut from the theatrical release because Clark laughs at the end, and it's a very guilty laugh...
Other scenes in this chapter are:
Garry finding the wallet, and telling everyone eles the identity of the Norweigan gun man: Jan Bolen. More footage from Blair's speech on the burnt dog thing, how he isn't sure what the cell structure is. The long johns sequence mentioned above Bennings snopping around the dog kennel alone. And the wolf-dog 'Jed' running from the burning Norweigan compound.
There is one bit of commentary from Editor Todd Ramsay that really made me sit up and take notice. He completely describes an alternate ending in which MacReady is the only survivor and is rescued. From there he has a blood test and is found to be clean, sadly said scene is nowhere to be found.
Another supplemental chapter that is very cool is the reconstructed footage of the Blair monster stop motion animation this is left intact and respliced with the footage when the Blair monster comes through the floor and goes for MacReady. It's really well done.
We do see some of Rob Bottin's sketches for the THING and he had some really funny tales to tell regarding the effects.
But a wasted chapter was 14 a repeat of the making of the THING's ship that was extensively discussedin Chapter 4. I would have liked to have seen something else besides that again.
And now for the film:
the most beautiful, clear print you will ever see of the film, with THX sound. The commentary by John and Kurt is just as much fun if not more than their hilarious banter on the EFNY Director's Edition laser.
all in all a very worth while purchase and an absolute must for any THING fan.
The addition of the supplementals and scenes I mentioned in the beginning of this review would have made this the ultimate laser/dvd package ever released. It sure comes close and I defnitely rank this as the best Carpenter spe. ed. and my favorite laser set , along with Criteron Collections incredible SE7EN set."
Chris (Compupaz) "I just finished watching THE THING DVD with J.C.'s and Kurt's running commentary. In a word: FABULOUS! Better still, they both made the statement that love sitting down and doing the commentary for the discs....and they hope they get the chance to do it for BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA!!!
Personally, I think it's time to start a crusade and assault both Fox and Paramount (for ESCAPE FROM LA on DVD) to make this happen. "
Dan Mazur on Vampires Yep, one of the original screenwriters drops in with some comments after seeing his name mentioned on the pages " As well as writing, I was also the original "executive" on the movie. Back in '90 I was a creative executive at Largo, and I "found" Steakley's book and bought it for the company. We hired Don Jakoby and worked with him on two drafts. While he was working on draft two, I left the job to pursue writing. When Jakoby finished his draft, my former employers hired me to rewrite him. About the time I finished my draft, there was a shake-up at Largo. Larry Gordon, who founded the company, left, taking all the creative staff with him. The project languished for some years, almost got off the ground with Russel Mulcahey directing, and finally got going with Carpenter.
.. I'm grateful to Carpenter (whom I've never met) for saying nice things about my draft in the Hollywood Reporter last week. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've read the final shooting script and it looks like it could be great. I'm a big Carpenter fan, especially of underrated masterpieces: THE THING and PRINCE OF DARKNESS. Since VAMPIRES I've sold a couple of unproduced spec scripts and co-wrote an adaptation of BRAVE NEW WORLD for NBC."
New Cinefantastique This new magazine not only has a fantastic JC article but also a piece on JC websites, including mine. Now, I cannot find this mag anywhere so I would really appreciate a photocopy or high-quality scan of this article, if anyone would be so kind then e-mail me and we can sort something out - "hey just got the new cinefantastique the other day. it is great, it has a great article on vampires and also a big article on jcs whole career and the themes of his films, i urge you to check it out. there is also an article on carpenter web sites, and your site gets high marks!!!! oh yeah and i saw blade, i did like the movie, but i think it was a little too slick. one of the weirdest shots was when blade shoots the lead vampire and it shows a closeup of the vampires face and the bullets hes dogding, a little too high tech i think coz it looks fake. but it was an entertaining film and i am a wesley snipes fan too so im happy, but i think vampires is going to be better with more interesting characters, plus james wooods,i cant wait for it - Brian Peterson (it is the october issue volume 30 number7/8 a double issue, with the x files on the cover, one of the best articles on carpenter ive ever seen )"
The Thing 2 Yeah right, I will believe it when I see it - "hey marc go on over to patrick kerrs website under his message board someone posted on there that they interviewed jc at that dragoncom thing and he said that they are going to be starting the thing2:Polaris in feb????????/ have you heard anything about this?????????????????? - Brian Peterson" I have checked out the info and really think this shoudl be taken with a dose of salt. I just cannot see it happening, and definitely notright now, but, I hope I am wrong!

News as of 4th September Info on Updates As you may have noticed the updates have been pretty infrequent recently. Basically, without boring you all too much, I am a few weeks away from the end of my PhD, so I thought I had better devote my time to that from now on. For all fellow thesis writers (past and present) my heart goes out to you. Anyway, the upshot is that updates will be at most once a week for a while, I really think I should try and actually pass my PhD after all the hard work. Sorry if I have not replied to e-mails, keep them coming in, you will get a response eventually.
The Thing DVD Anthony John Thorne (a long time ago contributor to these pages, good to see him back) posted this to the JC mailing list " VIDEO WATCHDOG critic Tim Lucas reviewed the Special Edition DVD of THE THING on his Tv Guide site a few days ago, (courtesy of an early preview DVD sent to him by Universal) and gave it an unqualified rave. The bulk of his remarks were as follows...

"I spent some time last night sampling Universal's new DVD's of John Carpenter's THE THING and thought I'd post some comments. This is some exciting stuff. If you're going to sit down with THE THING on DVD, make sure you've set about six hours aside because you're going to need them! This "Special Edition" disc contains a new letterboxed transfer of the film (superior looking and sounding to the previous LD), an audio commentary by Carpenter and actor Kurt Russell, an 83m Making Of documentary, numerous outtakes (including unused stop motion animation of the ultimate configuration of the Thing), production stills, production art files, special chapters on the spaceship and Blair monster, production notes, cast profiles, a theatrical trailer...and the proverbial much, much more. In addition to being the ultimate presentation of one of the best horror films of the 1980's, this is without a doubt THE special effects DVD of the year."

This sounds like terrific stuff - for anyone interested you can find the original post at http://bbs.tvgen.com/movies/hvideo/msg_index.html

I also just heard that FLESH AND BLOOD editor Harvey Fenton interviewed Carpenter just over a fortnight ago. With any luck, JC's comments will hopefully appear in the latest issue of Fenton's mag, due shortly. FLESH AND BLOOD has a website at http://www.fabpress.demon.co.uk for anyone who wants to investigate further. (I think issue #11 is the next one). " I want a DVD player!!!
The Fog Today Mark L sent in this really cool picture " ... a photo I recently took of the lighthouse at Point Reyes, California where Carpenter shot The Fog. Still pretty creepy and this was at 1:00 in the afternoon."

JC DVD Signing "2. John Carpenter will be signing the DVD version of The Thing at Dave's Video in Studio City, California on Thursday, September 10th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. " - "That JC signing of THE THING special edition DVD & special edition laserdisc is locked into Thursday, September 10th between 6 & 8 PM. Both formats will be released on Tuesday the 8th. To repeat, Mr. Carpenter will only be signing two items, one of which must be a purchased copy of THE THING special edition (in either format). No mail order customers, only customers present at the signing are eligible. No exceptions. DAVE'S VIDEO-THE LASER PLACE, 12144 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, California 91604. "
JC Widescreen Festival"Here's a link about the widescreen festival in L.A. featuring John Carpenter.http://www.csulb.edu/~cpac/brochure/widescreen.html " Thanks to Mark L for that info.
JC Magazine Articles"..... article on VAMPIRES and on the Carpenter oeuvre, Lesson In Isolation, are in the next Cinefantastique. It's a double issue, X FILES cover ..... There is also some coverage of mine on the film in the new Femme Fatales for any who read it .....The film is on the cover, most of it is about the females in the film, but there is a nice article on Sandy King. The issue hits U.S. newstands in about two weeks." Looks like I had better get a get myself down to the newsagent.
Halloween Soundtrack Re-Release Now this is cool news (to paraphrase a large beardy bloke), Halloween is a fantastic soundtrack, up there in tersm of instant recognition with Jaws and Psycho "VSD5970 HALLOWEEN, Special Edition Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Music Composed by John Carpenter Starring Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis and Nancy Kyes, Directed by John Carpenter

1998 marks the 20th anniversary for this classic horror film! To celebrate this event, the original soundtrack recording has been newly remixed from the original 24 track elements. In addition, the CD features for the first time special sound effects and dialogue from the film.

Selling Points: The current HALLOWEEN sequel, HALLOWEEN H20, featuring the star of the original film, Jamie Lee Curtis, is very successful at the US box office. The original HALLOWEEN film is being released for the first time on DVD and VHS in true stereo. The CD package features art and photos from the film, not found on the first soundtrack release. The CD includes a remixed version of the classic theme.

Newly Remastered 20TH Anniversary Edition! US and European release date: September 22, 1998 " That was originally posted on the JC mailing list by MRH, so cheers.
Vampires Soundtrack Details Sorry, still no catalogue number but this track listing info was posted to the JC mailing list " 01. Teaser* (03:59) 02. Slavers (02:34) 03. New Mexico (02:21) 04. Headless Priest (02:48) 05. Motel Sex (04:27) 06. Night Attack (03:19) 07. Santiago (02:18) 08. Stake And Burn (03:42) 09. Valek's Portrait (01:16) 10. Sunrise Death (02:03) 11. Valek Attacks (03:32) 12. Vampire Vision (01:46) 13. Farewell slaver (02:08) 14. Cruel Highway (02:58) 15. Katrina Bites (01:47) 16. Padre's Wood (05:35)

Total Time: 46:24

*Written by: Brad Wilson - Performed by: Stone

Music Composed and performed by: John Carpenter Album Produced by: Bruce Robb & Joe Robb Milan Records. " That was from MRH, who has an awesome CDs of JC webpage that concentrates on JCs excellent soundtracks. I think Slavers might be a typo fro Slayers, and I am interested in checking out this 'Teaser' track.
Negative Vampires Review This one is from David Birke, I thought a negative review might give a little perspective. "I saw it in Paris last week (where it was already relegated to a second run house with a shitty print.) It was pretty good, but a little disappointing considering how long I was looking forward to it. What I haven't heard anybody comment on is how cheap and sloppily thrown together it looked. A lot of the confrontations with the vampires including the extremely anti-climactic one at the end are presented through cheesy montages as if Carpenter hadn't really gotten all the coverage he needed to make the scenes work. .... Generally, a lot of potentially interesting avenues remain completely unexplored. On the plus side Sheryl Lee is good (and sexy when she turns into a vampire.) Also, the quiet final ..... is quite effective. "
That Terry Funk Rumour Again This one has now cropped up quite a few times but I am positive it is not true " Anyway I read on a webpage called Paul's WCW/WWF Wrestling page that Terry Funk was finishing an acting gig on the latest JC movie. I recall originally hearing about this on your site but who knows how accurate this rumour is. Keep up the great work and hopefully I'll write to you again soon. " Thanks to George Stark for that info.
Kneale Throws a Wobbly Chris has dropped in this interesting info "The new VIDEO WATCHDOG magazine features an interview with the ever pompus Nigel Kneale. Here's a transcript from it:

How do you feel the Quatermass name being used on the PRINCE OF DARKNESS script credit, where Carpenter signed himself Martin Quatermass, allegedly the brother of your character?

That's Carpenter isn't it? I'm very leery of hommage...especially from Mr. Carpenter. I'll have to write something in which the villian is called Carpenter...but he's past hurting. A pal, Jon Davidson, the producer, sent me a cutting from the Los Angeles Times with all the Quatermass stuff in it, so I was forewarned. I just hoped he wouldn't trot all this rubbish out when the film opened here, which of course, he did. He's a talented creature and he's done all this cheap stuff. A funny man, very good director, but like all of these fellows, a less good writer than he thinks he is. All these fellows think they can write dialogue, which of course they can't.

He also trashes Halloween III. No surprise there. " So, Kneale moaning again. Sheesh, that guy has a real primadonna problem (even if Quatermass and The Pit is one of the scariest bits of TV ever made).