News as of Oct 29th The Word On The Thing II and The Thing Special Ed A mysterious spy has dropped in to give the definitive word on this rumour - "John Carpenter and Kurt Russell are prepared to do a Thing 2, so is Universal. The rerelease of Escape From NY spawned EFLA and Universal has been planning a Special Edition of The Thing. I've seen some of the extra footage and footage cut out from the original film and it is awesome. Anyway, Universal is scared because the rerelease of EFNY made a lot of money, but EFLA did not, and Universal took a big bath on The Thing back in 82. Remember, The Thing cost $13mill, peanuts by today's standards, but back then, Universal felt it lost a lot of money. Universal wants to go ahead with the project, but will probably wait to see what the rerelease does first. Working against Carpenter in all of this besides his health (2 packs of smokes a day could kill anyone) and working in the cold is his auteur notion that he must have complete control over the project. Remember that Debra Hill said that she knew of several projects that could have put Carpenter on the same level as Spielberg if he would only learn to work with others. Unfortunately, she states, she saw him turn down one to many projects that would have really helped his career. This is another notion that seems to worry Universal. The two people who won't be back for The Thing 2 are Ennio Morricone and Rob Bottin. I hear Ennio was really unhappy with how his music was handled and mixed into the film and Rob Bottin is of course making his directorial debut with Freddy vs Jason movie. So what does this all boil down to? The buzz around the biz is The Thing, while once regarded a flop, many consider it to be JC's best and while everyone including JC is interesting in doing it, everbody seems to be a little hesitant. It would seem the enitre community is waiting for the rerelease to see how the public feels about it." I can't really add anything to that, it is a great clarification of the Thing II rumour and more besides. This news also points out JC's health problems and the suspected rift with Morricone over the original music. The same source has some interesting things to say about The Thing Special Ed. as well, basically there is quite a bit of FX footage cut from the final version, it is unclear who owns the rights to this and whether it will go into the Special Ed. I say that all of this stuff is too good to just be available to LD owners, lets call for a full scale re-release of the movie right now. It has become a classic since '82 and horror films are in the public eye at the moment.
That JC Book Chris has given us some more info on that book that JC wrote and intro to "The book, BEHIND THE MASK, THE SECRETS OF HOLLYWOOD'S MONSTER MAKERS was written by Mark Salisbury & Alan Hedgcock. It was published by Titan books in August of 1994 and is still available thru MAKE-UP ARTIST magazine. J.C.'s superb foreward begins: THE MASK HAS ALWAYS BEEN WITH US... Humans gathered around fires to ward off evil, death, and the unknown--- and at the firelight, the mask was there. In the literature of man, his poetry, painting, on the stage, the screen, the walls of caves, the mask hovers like a dream, a phantom... The mask swims with our projected fantasies, our darkest personal records of dread...J.C. then goes on to recall his first encounter with the mask. There are two other books you may be interested in, SHOCKMASTERS OF THE CINEMA by Loris Curci (Fantasma books) featuring a chapter on John Carpenter, along with a lame pic from HALLOWEEN FIVE. The other, FEARMAKERS by Stanely Waiter features a nice J.C. section as well. " Plenty of Christmas presents on that list!
Vampires - The Word From The Horses Mouth This plot summary was sent to me by Kim August "just spoke with the publicist for Vampire$ and am seeing if I can get any kind of interviews w/Carpenter and/or cast/crew. I can tell you that she told me there is still no US distributor and that Carpenter is still toiling away in post-production. Got a short synopsis of the film too.... 'A squad of vampire slayers is organized by the Vatican to exterminate vampires unleashed by the Church years prior. In their efforts the squad takes a prostitute hostage, because after being bitten by the Lord of the vampires she has a telepathic link to him.' "
The New Section Of The Site There is a new section on this site devoted to projects that JC has been involved in. It has already been updated since its first incarnation so make sure you check it out. Thanks to all the contributors of this new site.
Jamie Lee Curtis In Halloween 7 This is from the Haddonfield On-Line site News Page - "... I see they're talking about I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. I enjoyed the movie, so of course I wanted to watch this thing. Then, they show part of their interview with the writer, Kevin Williamson. ... they talked to him about his movies and then he mentioned that he wrote the STORY for HALLOWEEN 7 which he says will be the FINAL one. He said they have Jamie Lee Curtis coming back and filming starts at the beginning of the year and it will come out next fall. He made it sound like it was definite that JLC was coming back! Here's the exact quote: "I just wrote the story for HALLOWEEN part 7 which will be the final one. And Jamie Lee Curtis is back to reprise her role as Laurie Strode. And, they start filming at the beginning of the year and it will be out...scheduled...for next Halloween." I say it's time to celebrate! I'm excited that the Scream Queen will be back to scream again, one last time. Let's hope she can attract a good director and hopefully a good writer to write from Kevin's story. It's a step in the right direction, that's for sure. I hope Jamie Lee realizes what she's getting herself into -- her working under Paul Freeman as Producer? I hope to god she was smart enough to at least get co-Producer credit or something." This seems like a finally clears up that rumour. The Williamson draft for Halloween 7 is ok, I am sure with a decent director and Jamie Lee on board this could be a decent film.

News as of Oct 28th More On JCs Lost Films The response to my news item on JCs uncompleted projects has been fantastic, thanks to everyone for sending me the info. This is from TL "I thought I'd fill in a bit of info on "SHADOW COMPANY". I believe this is a script by Shane Black, writer of LETHAL WEAPON, THE LAST BOY SCOUT, LONG KISS GOODNIGHT, etc. It was written around the time of LETHAL WEAPON (there is even mention of "Shadow Company" in LW) and concerned a group of soldiers that had been rendered virtually immortal though some sort of biological tampering. It was loaded with black humor (an example: a poker game where body parts take the place of chips) and was a very hot script for a while here in the Land of Odds. I didn't realize JC had been attached. That would have been fantastic. I wonder what happened?". Sounds a lot like Universal Soldier, the cheesy Van Damme action flick (written by Devlin and directed by Emmerich). Good premise though, bringing together horror and Vietnam movies sounds like a great idea. The next lot is from Chris " THEY BITE is something he was working on with Dan O'Bannon years ago. It has been hinted that Dan lifted some of these ideas (as well as the plot of IT: THE TERROR FROM SPACE) for ALIEN. VICTORY OUT OF TIME was a script J.C. wrote with his wife, Sandy King. It is the film he wanted to do after THEY LIVE, but ALIVE FILMS didn't want to put up enough $$$. Thus, Carpenter sued, and the falling out with the Alive deal. J.C. also co-wrote and planned to direct a script by Tommy Lee Wallace entitled AT MIDNIGHT. Little is known about it. PINCUSHION...I actually have the script...but never read it. Cher reportedly made Carpenter walk from the gig. Also, J.C. was intially going to direct William Peter Blatty's EXORCIST III (Legion), but when it became clear that Blatty really wanted to be directing it himself, J.C. stepped aside and Blatty did infact, make the movie." Again, loads of great info there. I wonder (if it is true) why Cher made JC walk from the directing job of Pin Cushion? Imagine a JC version of Exorcist III! Man, that could have been fantastic, though the Blatty directed version scared the crap out of me anyway. It sounds like Victory Out Of Time is the elusive lost film that people talk about as the missing link in the "low budget trilogy", They Live and Prince Of Darkness are the first two. Does anyone have any more info on these uncompleted JC projects? I am particularly interested in the current progress of them, did any ever get made as something else?
JC and Ramsey Campbell This info was sent to me by Tom Alaerts, a huge JC fan and a regular contributor to these pages. This project sounds like a dream, Campbell is one of my fave writers (check him out), not only because of his fantastic imagination but also because he sets a lot of his novels in Wales. Anyway, here is what Tom has to say " years ago (not long after They Live) there was an excellent one-off talkshow on the BBC, it was called "Horror Cafe", members were JC, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, and a woman writer I forgot. This was followed by a screening of Romero's horrormasterpiece "Martin" . ... it would be interesting if someone on the net still had it on tape for a transcript for your site. The talk was, if i remember correctly, first about horror movies in general. Then Clive Barker started to say how bad he thought The Thing was. JC, always the gentleman, didn't enter this discussion. Also, JC started raving about Campbell's book "The Hungry Moon" (I read it and in my not so humble opinion it is average even by pulp horror book standards - I have also read it and I love it :MB). Barker immediately suggested JC would film this book. JC got real quiet at this moment. Campbell has never been adapted to the screen and he didn't forget this flattering situation. Later I read an interview where he repeated that he would really like JC to direct one of his books. Then again, which horror author wouldn't want this? At the end of the program all the guests brainstormed about ideas for a new horror movie. Basically one said a few lines of a story and then the next one would continue. JC had some great ideas about druid chanting sounds, if i remember correctly...so, see if you can find this, it might be an interesting addition to the site, " I really like The Hungry Moon, a JC/Campbell collaboration could have been great. As Tom says, if anyone has any more info from this program then please send it to me.
The Thing 2 Just a little teaser until I get a little more confirmation, but I have had some news on this sequel, and it seems the Buzz is that the project is wanted. The 'men' are a little hesitant because of the lack of success of EFLA. There you have it, more updates on this very soon.

News as of Oct 27th Late Update - JCs Unfinished Movies Thanks to Tom Alaerts for this speedy respones to my question about JCs projects that never quite saw the light of day "I don't think any of these movies got further than concepts. Carpenter signed for 4 or 5 low-budget movies after Big trouble but the contract ended after the first 2.
- after They Live, Carpenter was going to do "Shadow Company" , a horror film set in Vietnam. "And this time it is going to be REALLY sordid" he said about it. It was someone else's script, I forgot who but I think the writer's last name was Black.
- another low-budget project from this time was: Victory out of time. That's all I know about it.
- Later on Carpenter's name was connect for a while to Pin Cushion, a post-apocalyptic thriller starring Cher. This movie has been trailing hollywood for some years now and i once read that John Woo was also involved at one point.
- In the beginning of his career, around the time of escape from ny i think, he was going to do El Diablo with Kurt Russel but it was cancelled because of problems with the studio. You all know it turned into rather good tvmovie later on.
- another project from his younger years was a movie with a title that sounded like They Live (perhaps they exist) about gigantic insects that have been living for millenia under the earth and now want to reclaim it. Sounds like Lovecraft to me.
- and there's the Creature from the black lagoon remake too." Fantastic stuff, thanks again Tom.
Blade It was pointed out to me that JC's Vampires is going to be released at around the same time as Blade, another Vampire movie. Of course, having two Vamp movies in the cinema at the same time may harm Vampires' profites. Now, I think JC's film will walk all over Blade, this test screening review from Harry Knowles' Ain't It Cool News site seems to support that idea - "It was "Blade", starring Wesley Snipes. "Blade" sucks. It's as bad as "Kull The Conquerer." The script is shit, the dialogue is insulting, the cinematography is awful, and omigod, is the acting bad. Well, okay, Wesley Snipes is passable. But Stephen Dorff turns in maybe the worst perfomance I've seen in a big-budget motion picture since Juliette Lewis in "Strange Days." He plays the head vampire, and all he does is bare his teeth, bulge out his eyeballs, and talk fast and loud. You have to see this to believe it. There hasn't been overacting like this since--shit, I don't know. I really don't know what to compare it too." Of course, that is one persons opinion of the movie but it is pretty string stuff.
The Thing Comic Some kind folks have answered my plea for a summary of the comic strip which is rumoured to be the storyline for a rumoured sequel to The Thing. "The THING 2: I have the Dark Horse comic....well the first ish anyway...and it was only a two part mini-series. I know Carpenter liked the comic; he stated that in an interview last year. It was successful enough to spawn two or three more limited series. The scenario for the direct sequel, it picks up with MacCready trudging across the frozen landscape, and encountering somekind of military group. They tag him a murderer at first, but they've already found Childs, and he sets things (no pun) straight. Unfortunately, the meat of the story must begin in the second part. I have it on order at my local comic shop and will keep you posted. - Chris". Thanks for that Chris, the next summary is from Don "Thing II comic series from Dark Horse when it first came out some years ago. The series was called, "The Thing From Another World". Anyway, the story picks up where the movie left off with McCready and Childs sitting together after the camp has been trashed. As the stroy goes, they begin walking and we soon find out that Childs is an immitation. (This of course was one of the debated points by many fans after the movie began to get the notoriety and praise it should have gotten when it first came out in 1982) ..., the story continues when McCready gets picked up or rescued by a shipping crew (not sure) of some kind. From there, we move to the ship and some how a small part of the thing makes its way onto the ship and all Hell breaks loose. These facts are sketchy however, this is the basic premise that I can remember from the first issue. .... you can see that a follow up to JC's best film has incredible promise."
JC Halloween Documentary This was pretty dissapointing as it only lasted about 5 minutes. It included some quotes from Debra Hill and JC himself, with lots of shots of Haddonfield today. I shall have a full transcript soon, but for now JC's most interesting quote was something like (I can't remember the exact words) - The time for a story like Halloween has passed. It is time to move on and tell new stories - Basically he was saying that suburbia is frightening enough in reality so Mike Myers is not scary and shocking enough any more. Sounds to me like JC directing Halloween 7 is definitely not on the cards.
JC News That I Missed This was sent to me by Chris, proof that I don't always know what is going on "One other bit of "news"...you probably posted this years ago, but there's a book out called BEHIND THE MASK....it's all about special effects makeup. J.C. Wrote a fabulous intro to the book. I thought I let you know just incase it was missed in the past."
JC's Lost Film? Does anyone have any more info on this, sent to me by TL "Anyway, the real reason I'm writing to you is to see if you know anything about rumours I heard years ago that John started a film and didn't finish it? I think it was in the dry spell between THEY LIVE and MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN. I had heard he started one of the smaller budgeted films and couldn't or didn't want to finish it. Is this true, or just Hollywood B.S.? I haven't seen anything on the net about it, so it's probably nonsense. Anything you can tell me about this would be greatly appreciated." I want to reiterate that last question, someone somewhere must have more info on this.
Vampire$ - Steakley's Characters - This is background info sent to me by a super cool anonymous vampire hunter "I met John Steakly several years ago at a party ... I learnt that night that I knew most of the people that John writes about--
Jack Crow---Jack Crain --the best man at my wedding!---Jack is a knife and sword maker and lives in Weatherford TX
Davette--Davette Shands---Gorgeous lady that John has known for years--She and her husband--David Cherry [an excellent painter]live in Kansas City --I think, I haven't seen Davette in over a year.
David Cherry and Cat Conrad, another local writer, gave their names to Cherry Cat. I am not sure of the spelling of David's last name, his sister {C.J. Cherryh} spells hers differently.
There are other people that are In the book but I do not know them or am not able to give any info."

News as of Oct 23rd Halloween 7 - The Williamson Treatment I have just read Kevin Williamson's treatment for Halloween 7 and wanted to share my thoughts on it. Contrary to popular belief it does not pretend 3-6 never happened (in one scene a schoolgirl is giving a presentation on all the serial killings that have plagued Haddonfield, a note in the treatment points out how this explains away parts 3-6 - I know, it has nothing to do with part 3 but that is what it says in the treatment). I can see where the remake idea comes from as there are some similar ideas, intentionally put there for the audience to recognise (Williamson did a lot of this in Hall... sorry, I mean Scream). The basic idea is that Laurie Strode is not dead, she has assumed a new identity and has been living somewhere else in new England. Of course, her past catches up with her and...... so, that is all I am going to give away. It has some nice ideas, though it does not feel very fresh. I think this would make a pretty good conclusion to the series, bringing it back to its roots. One thing though, as Bruce points out at the Haddonfield On-Line site, Williamson is not in line to do the full script, he has just done this treatment which may not be anything like the final product.
The Thing 2 - Rumour Yep, this is completely unsubstantiated. But, I recieved this interesting e-mail and wanted to share it "I came looking for information on The Thing2 that I found out is getting ready to go into pre production upon conclusion of Vampires. My friend delivers software to CG houses in hollywood. He talked to someone from Vampires and thats where the scoop was hooked up. It is loosely based on the Dark Horse comic." That info was from Farron, so cheers for that. It certainly gets my adrenalin flowing. Let's keep our fingers crossed and see if it is true. Just in case, does anyone have a brief synopsis of the Dark Horse "The Thing" comic series, just so we can see where this might go?
Ok, the 'net is infamous for fanning the flames of its own rumours, a rumour on one site gets mentioned on a few nesgroups, before you know it the original site is using the newsgroup messages as proof of the rumour they originally posted, and so on it goes. Anyway, after that little rant, here are some more comments on The Thing II I found on the net "Poster: Big Mike Mercado Date: Mon Sep 29 22:45:02 US/Pacific 1997 Me and the boys back at Chi-town are hearing that there's going to be a sequel to "The Thing" that was made by John Carpenter." Don't know what use my quoting that is, but it just goes to show how rife (and for how long it has been going on) this rumour is.
JC On The TV - Just to reiterate that BBC2 are showing Halloween on Sat night, before that is a documentary on it (Clive Barker's A-Z of Horror) which features old JC himself. Also, the following weekend, Channel 4 are premiering Bodybags on British TV.
Those Vampires Pictures - Hello to all the new viewers who have come here via my plug on the Dark Horizons and Ain't It Cool News sites, thanks Garth and Harry. The pictures are in the Oct 21st update.

News as of Oct 21st More Vampires Pictures I have the rest of those pictures scanned from the Mad Movies magazine, (so they are copyrighted by them ). Thanks to Etienne Barillier for scanning in these for me. Any reproduction of these images on other sites should give credit to Mad Movies, Etienne Barillier and lastly myself (with a link to this website).

JC On The TV This Saturday night coming BBC2 are showing Halloween (an excellent widescreen print according to the adverts). Before this is Clive Barker's A-Z of horror. Clive is chatting with JC about Halloween, so it should be a good interview/discussion. That is at 10:30, BBC2, Sat 25th October, UK.

News as of Oct 16th More Halloween 7 Rumours This one was reported at the Buzzstation. It seems a bit dubious to me, especially considering the other information I have heard on this film. "Superspy Tim, has some interesting info here on Halloween 7. This is what he had to say, "someone who claims to works at Miramax sent me this info. "Halloween 7" will be a loose remake of the original, and will show the entire story of how Michael turned evil, and how he dies. It is also supposed to contain the complete story lines of "Halloween" and "Halloween 2". Sort of an extended remake I guess. Of course I can't prove this, I don't really believe it myself, but you never know." Very true you do never know. If anyone can prove or disprove the validity of these statements, please email us. The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Kevin Williamson, who wrote the box office hit "Scream" and its upcoming sequel, has signed an eight-figure film and TV production deal with Miramax Films. The deal -- which extends and restructures his existing film deal with the company -- has the potential, through fees, bonuses and profit participation, to be worth $20 million. As part of the new deal, the North Carolina native will write "Scream 3," as well as write and produce two features, directing at least the first. His first project on the film side will be the previously announced "Killing Mrs. Tingle," a dark comedy thriller which he wrote and will make his directorial debut on. This ties in with the Halloween 7 info in the sense that he also wrote the story for the seventh installment of the "Halloween" franchise." As I said, the plot details sound very dubious to me.
Escape From LA Video Release This film has now been released on VHS in the UK. It is going for about 15 quid for the widescreem version (anyone who buys the pan&scan version risks the wrath of JC).
Halloween DVD Release The US release of the Halloween DVD has been postponed until October 27th
More Usual Suspects The Usual Suspects section of this site has been updated with quite a few new members. This is pretty much all the ones I am adding so I am now looking for people to send me their own mini-biographies of their favourite Usual Suspects that I have not included already.
No More JC Films? No more real news to report on this, just something to think about. A few people have commented on the fact that this rumour may have something to do with the 'ill health' rumours that have been floating around about JC for a while. Around the time of EFLA it was rumoured (how many times can I say that word?) that he was too ill too attend most of the post production work. Anyway, something to think about while News is pretty scarce. Anyone have any info on the current progress of Vampires?
Vampire$ 2? No, not a sequel to JCs film but a possible sequel to the novel by Steakley. An anonymous source tells me that Steakley did in fact write a first draft of it, but he disliked it and ended up shelving it.

News as of Oct 13th Halloween Update and a JC rumour Some interestin stuff from Bruce Dierbeck "Just to add something to your update. You're right, John Carpenter will not do HALLOWEEN 7. He hasn't even seen H4-6 and has NO ambition whatsoever to do anymore Halloween's. Money isn't even an issue." OK, I can live with that, but then Bruce drops a bombshell "Now, I got an e-mail from someone last month (who knows someone who worked on the set) and this person said that John Carpenter didn't even want to do anymore movies after VAMPIRES. Take this with a grain of salt, but I just figured I'd tell you what I've heard. Just so people aren't totally surprised if John Carpenter (for some odd reason) makes this his final movie." Hell, that is a really amazing piece of news. Now let me reiterate something that Bruce says, this is a rumour! But, let me add to it - That interview I did with a crew member of Vampires a while ago commented on a possible sequel to The Thing, he stated that he thought it would never happen because of something Carpenter said. Many interviews with JC quote him as saying he would love to do a sequel to The Thing, so if one possible interpretation of that crew members comments are that JC no longer wants to make his favourite project, then maybe (maybe!) there is something to Bruce's rumour. Well, anyone got any comments? Maybe we could discuss this in alt.movies.john-carpenter?
Jamie Lee Curtis Again, this is from Bruce, "Also, something else to add to your update, JLC is STILL very interested in being in H7 even though Carpenter will not be around. As far as I know, she's not asking for an astronomical amount of money. So, the chances of her coming aboard are actually pretty good still, nonetheless. I'm getting this from some pretty good authority, too. But, as things go in Hollywood, we have to wait and see what happens."
The New Section Of The Site Thanks for all the encouraging comments on the new section, and for the suggestions for more people. I am working on it right now.

News as of Oct 10th Kevin Williamson -" Dodgy Halloween Idea" Shocker This is from Dark Horizon's news page- Halloween 7: ... I've just read Kevin Williamson's treatment (no I won't post it, Miramax will get pissed), and to put it simply it's on the same level as the last three films (ie. I didn't mind it, but most will hate it). I won't give away too much detail (In case Williamson comes along and throttles me), but I'll tell you enough to answer the most burning questions fans have. Yes it does focus on Laurie Strode (Jaime Lee Curtis) who didn't die in a car wreck after all, actually the 'Witness Protection Program' succeeded for once and she is living the high life as a school teacher (if only all teachers looked as good as her, I probably would've stayed after the bell). The main storyline is interesting as she begins seeing 'the shape' everywhere, while there are sub-plots including a crappy "Muriel's Wedding" style 'ugly duckling' one. The second film spent most of it's time in a hospital, the fifth one at a house party, this one at a high school dance. Throw in the trademark Williamson red herring, a bunch of weak characters (none anywhere near as good as the ones in "Scream"), a large body count, and a very weak way to kill off a cult-slashing murderer, and you've got this film wrapped up in a bunch. If they do make a script from this, I hope the dialogue is good because the synopsis ain't that impressive (this film installment MUST be good, at all costs). Thanks to my 'Anonymous' source for giving me a look at the treatment. Sounds like the JLC and JC return might well be off, unless Miramax can come up with $20 million for JC (and lord knows how much for JLC) to direct what sounds like a real turkey (and no snide remarks about EFLA, I liked it!).

News as of Oct 6th A Large Update Of Stuff I have been on holidays for a while, so I am catching up.
Vampires Pictures! Yes, I have some piccies from the Vampires movie (scanned from the Mad Movies magazine, so they are copyrighted by them I suppose). Thanks to Etienne Barillier for scanning in these for me. Any reproduction of these images on other sites should give credit to Mad Movies, Etienne Barillier and lastly myself (hopefully with a link to this website).

JC Is Scoring Vampires Thanks to Bruce Dierbeck for this news "John Carpenter is doing the score for VAMPIRES. He started working on it on September 16th. So, he's got a good start on it right now. Hope that info comes in handy. " It sure does, thanks Bruce.
Night Of The Scarecrow As reported in this news section the Vampires script also credits Dan Mazur as a screenwriter, he previously worked on Night Of The Scarecrow, vitoria krug has sent me a mini-review of this movie "Night of the Scarecrow is a 70's or 80's made for t.v. movie with Charles Durning in it. A somewhat handicapped adult (whose intelligence and actions can be linked to that of a 7-year old) is pretty much hated by all the local guys in the town. The handicapped guy lives on a farm with his mother in a country type setting with a little town attached to it. Anyway, a little girl from the town likes to hang out with the handicapped (let's call him cap) guy due to he is very kind and harmless as we the audience finds out. Well, as you probably guessed, something happens to the little girl and cap is blamed and a small group of men from the town (led by Charles Durning) take matters into their own hands and surround cap out on his farm in the middle of the field or corn field. Cap has hid inside the scarecrow outfit that was out in the field and what happens is the men end up shooting and killing cap while he is in the scarecrow outfit. No words are exchanged between cap or the men, however, they figure out that he is hiding in the suit due to the camera shows a close up of the eyes of the scarecrow and you can see human eyes behind the mask. Pretty Eerrie. Anyway, what starts to happen is all the men involved with the killing of cap end up disappearing one by one and you never see who takes them out." Sounds interesting, thanks for the info.
Stuff from the Films Of John Carpenter Page Go and check out the page to see the full story, I am just going to attempt to summarise it here. Basically it seems that people who have seen Kevi Williamson's treatment for Hallowen 7 are saying it is rubbish and may be a prime factor in frightening JLC off joining the project (I emphasie that this is a "may be"). But, Miramax are apparently still going ahead with it because Williamson is a big name after the success of Scream.

News as of Sept 23rd C'mon Myers, Sort Yer Life Out! This is from the Dark Horizon's news page. Halloween 1/7: A very odd thing has been spotted by one of the nation's many cinema employees. Seems that "Halloween 7" is supposedly coming out this Winter according to the release schedules, and both of us have no clue what's going on. I can only think of three possibilities: They are further along with this film than already thought (very unlikely), or it's a mistake (very likely), or this could be the supposed re-release of the first film that has been rumoured for several months. I'll have more for you soon. Thanks to 'Ray' for the info. How many rumours, counter rumours and downright lies are we going to hear about Halloween 7? The CIA should watch the Miramax setup very carefully, they are true masters of the art of confusing the enemy (or in this case their paying customers) with misinformation and little teasers. I say go for the Halloween re-release. It is the 20th Anniv soon, imagine seeing the original back on the widescreen again, awesome. To add to that bit of info, this is another little teaser from The Haddonfield Times "I have heard that it's pretty much confirmed that Kevin Williamson's treatment will NOT be used for HALLOWEEN 7." Summary - Halloween 7 is being made at some time, with a director directing (may/may not be JC), it could possible star Jamie Leigh (though other sources say unlikely) and it may/may not be written by the writer of Scream. It could be based on discarding all the plot lines after II and may be shot on the original locations (though both of these have been disputed by many sources). So, I guess the only thing we can be sure of is that Micheal Myers is in it. What's that? Ok then, we know nothing at all about Halloween 7, there, finally, a solid piece of info to report.
More Reflections Of A VampireTom Alaerts has got in touch with me to give some of his impressions of that Mad Movies article : .... you will drool over the photo of vampires coming majestically out of the ground. A typical JC atmosphere, a bit like the nameless killers of Assault or Prince of Darkness. Another pic shows James Woods with an elaborate cross-bow And the gorgeous Sheryl Lee is shown too. And of course a few (classical looking) vampire pics, including a "dissolved" one (the light!). From the article: it will NOT be like interview with a vampire, from dusk till dawn or coppola's dracula (jc doesn't even really like these), but a typical "wayward" JC approach: a cross between a spaghetti western and a vampire movie. This is probably the closest he has come to a real western (many of his movies are constructed as westerns). There will be some gore that is designed NOT to look funny (thus unlike dusk-dawn) but shocking. The fx will look very direct (make-up, fake blood, but no computer fx). The most powerful scenes will probably only make it on laserdisc. Also a mini interview with Woods about differences between Cronenberg and JC. He also said that the budget was really low. Should be no problem as most low-budget JC movies are superior to his bigger but slicker movies...Just one hope: that JC composes the soundtrack himself... Thanks for all that info Tom, does anyone have any info on who is doing the soundtrack for this movie? I also hope it is JC, it seems likely it will be if it is a low budget movie (JC has always says he uses his own material cos he is 'cheap').
Who is the biggest badass of them all? This months Total Film mag has an interesting pull-out on nutters in the movies, those real sickos that like nothing more than carving up youngsters while making us all squirm in our cinema seats. It is rated as a top 100, where do our heroes stand? Number 22 : Micheal Myers/The Shape. Micheal Myers is not much of a character; depspite the briefly sketched in explanation (sexual jealousy when he was a kid) for his relentless multi-movie killing spree - just a masked, knife wielding teen-killer. But he's one of the best, as veteran horror director John Carpenter racks up the tension in the first film, with scenes of normal suburban life suddenly punctuated with moments of horrifying violence. The movie comes across as Psycho's brash kid brother, with extended Steadicam shots from the killer's point of view sticking in memory. Number 86 : White Warlord (AOP13). It's a fair cop, but society is to blame. He's an oily, poker-faced universal foot soldier for the disaffected ghetto youth of the wicked world. He derives his kick cruising bad neighbourhoods, harassing the local ice-cream van vendors and sizing up shuffling bag ladies through the telescopic sights of high-calibre weaponry. Honoured here for selfless service in the field of casual evil - his mildly irate shooting of an ice-cream brandishing child is surely one of the highest ranking cold-blooded screen murders. Later, having been chased and popped by the childs father, he performs a wonderfully stiff comedy death topple; blank, mute and impassive to the end. Good to see Myers rating highly (rightly above Freddy Kreuger 46 and Jason Vorhess 31). Ok yeah, it is not exactly news, but it is a bit of fun.
Error Correction! A long while back I credited Geekmania as supplying the release date of Vampires, this should actually have read Geekmedia, which also has its own website. Sorry, both to the Geekmedia site and all those people who spent a while trying to find a Geekmania site.

News as of Sept 22nd Halloween 7, The Rumours Go On And On And On...... This is all cribbed straight from the Films Of John Carpenter page "First things first... Okay, The John Carpenter Web Page has updated a ton in the last few days, and this piece is actually a follow-up to one of Marc's stories, and it comes to us from Dark Horizon's news page: Halloween 7: Further details have popped up from another source high-up in the 'Dimension Films' food chain. A script is ALREADY attached to this project, being co-written by two writers and based on Kevin Williamson's ideas. Jamie Lee Curtis looks VERY likely to return, and it seems the script may undergo revisions when she officially comes onboard. No word about Carpenter, but the film has a target 'production-start' date of February. Thanks to 'Coolguy' for the info. Then there's this tidbit, courtesy of Corona's Halloween 7 Page: September 14, 1997... Kevin Williamson told Entertainment Weekly that his treatment does indeed involve Laurie Strode and that Miramax does intend to ask John Carpenter back to the director's chair. But this scooper says that Jamie Lee Curtis was 'intrigued' by his ideas and is awaiting a complete screenplay before making a decision about whether or not to return to the franchise. [Scoop sent in anonymously.]. Okay, now I'm intrigued again. With JC back in the hot seat, things could be looking up for the series... but I'm not getting my hopes up. Either way, I'm interested to see what happens to the franchise (as we industry insiders refer to it, ha ha). Hopefully the forthcoming Official Halloween site will be able to clear all this up soon."

News as of Sept 19th Vampires Script I am just providing this information.. The script can be bought online, from the Video Junkie website, as pointed out to me by Dave "The script is available for sale online at http://www.vidjunkie.com/, Check it out (if you want to find it directly, go to http://www.vidjunkie.com/update.htm". On a related note, Video Junkie is a cool magazine that I recommend to everyone. It is so cool that the special Halloween Horror Edition (coming out at about the end of October) will have a Vampires article in it written by yours truly, Marc Bright.
Jamie Leigh and Myers Up For Another Waltz? This is from Garth's excellent Dark Horizons movie news page, rapidly approaching Harry Knowles Ain't It Cool News site as the best place for movie info - Halloween 7: Michel Myers may have suffered from box-office death in recent years, but that white-masked nutball looks set to make a comeback. A contact of mine within Dimension Films ('The Slasher' who provided the "Scream: The Sequel" intro details a few weeks back) has learned that far from being frozen, this project is moving ahead better than ever. Firstly, it was claimed back in June that Jaime Lee Curtis heard the offer to return as Laurie Strode for this film and thought it was a joke. This was only partially correct, it seems scribe Kevin Williamson talked with Curtis about it and she was interested with his ideas but wouldn't make any commitment until the script had been completed. Now, several months later it seems that quite a few Hollywood heavyweights have been discussing the issue of Curtis returning to the role that made her famous, and it's getting more & more likely every day. The only real concern for 'Dimension Films' now is the cost. Thanks to 'The Slasher' for the info.

News as of Sept 18th That Mad Movies Magazine - A Fresh Plea Long time contributor to these pages David Fakrikian has kindly got in touch with me about the New Mad Movies interview (I think the mag is called Mad Movies) that JC did "Due to lack of time, I cannot translate the mad movies interview, but it is a good read, and features many pics looking good. John says it is a western vampire movie! Here's the mag url http://dual.net/mad/, But there is nothing on the new issue yet." Thanks for the URL and the info Dave. So, I ask again, does anyone have a copy of this interview that they can transcribe and send to me?
And There's More.... The excellent Dave Fakrikian (go and visit his entertainment 'zine Looker) has got in touch with me to give me more info on that interview "I take a few minutes to give you more about JC interview : He says he filmed a lot of gore stuff, expecting it to be cut for the R theater release, but reinstated in the laserdisc. It will be totally unlike other recent vampire movie like From Dusk Till Dawn (Rodriguez) much more serious in terms of characters. The hero, Wood, was almost a priest, whereas the main baddie, (Ian Griffith) is a priest that went wrong. The pics shows James Wood holding an awesome futuristic bow, made of steel. Ian Griffith and Sheryl Lee are also featured (Sheryl Lee interview)... also a great shot of vampires walking... in plain daylight ! You got it ! The plot revolves along a crucifix than can give the vampires protection from daylight. One of the shots is that of a crucifix drowned in a pool of blood... this issue is HOT for all Carpenters fans." The plot lines mentioned here differ a great deal from the novel, so we do have some huge differences between Steakley's Vampire$ and John Carpenter's Vampires. This thing sounds cooler all the time.

News as of Sept 17th Late Update More DVD Release News This was cribbed from Bruce Dierbeck's Haddonfield On-Line News page Here's a follow-up to the last update. It's OFFICIAL. As reported minutes ago on the LaserViews Web Site minutes ago, here is the info for the HALLOWEEN DVD release.Halloween 1 (DVD/LBX/P&S), DV10324 $24.98 Rated: R, ABED:Anchor Bay Ent. DVD 1978 93 min., UPC#013131032499 Horror, Prebook: 9/23/97 Street Date: 10/21/97, Features: LBX/P&S, Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Nancy Loomis, P.J. Soles, Michael Myers has been in an institution since he was a young boy, for murdering his sister. Now he's escaped and he's heading back home to terrorize the quiet community which still remembers him. Directed by John Carpenter. Transferred from the Criterion laserdisc master. LBX 2.35:1. It's not a bad deal at all, but I think there's no extra goodies. It's just going to be crystal clear on DVD. Based on this, there will be no trailer or commentary or anything
JC on the DVD Some releases info kindly sent to me by Bruce Dierbeck (go and check out his cool Halloween site) The first one on the list is ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13: SPECIAL EDITION! The good thing is that you get this movie letterboxed at 2.35 like it's supposed to be, you get Carpenter Commentary, and you only pay $29.99 ($24.99 if you buy it at Ken Cranes when it comes out). The laserdisc version of this Special Edition costs 2 or 3 times that price. I'm sure more Carpenter titles will follow, and believe me on this one (since I own both an LD player and DVD), DVD is So much clearer than LD that it's scary. I never thought it was possible till I saw it with my own two eyes. HALLOWEEN on DVD comes out from Anchor Bay this October 21st, and I'll be first in line buying that one. NEXT IS THE INFO AS SHOWN ON THE PAGE: Assault On Precinct 13:Spec.Ed (DVD/LBX) ID4161CKDVD $29.99 Rated: R IED:Image DVD 1976 91 min. UPC#014381416121 Action/Adventure Prebook: 10/07/97 Street Date: 12/10/97 Features: LBX/MONO Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, Martin West. John Carpenter (Escape from New York, Halloween) wrote and directed this unrelenting thriller about a police station under attack by a gang of thugs. Inspired by the classic Western "Rio Bravo," don't miss this cult film. LBX 2.35:1. Audio commentary by John Carpenter.
The JC Official Site Just thought I had better clear some things up. At the moment the official site (www.johncarpenter.com) only has one page inviting you to submit your e-mail address, so you can be kept up to date. I have done this, nothing recieved yet. So, the page is not fully open yet. Also, a few people have commented on the fact that this new official site will probaly be the best place to get official, up to date JC news. I am looking forward to that, but it probably means the demise of this section of my site.
Something Scary This is an old piece of news that fellow JC van vicvega posted to the alt.movies.john-carpenter newsgroup (what do you mean you don't read it, why not?). Anyway - Date: 1997/07/13 In the new issue of SCI-FI Universe, there's a listing for JC's VAMPIRES. It says that Steven Seagal could possibly star. Thank God this never came to be. - I couldn't have put it better myself.

News as of Sept 15th Major John Carpenter Internet News : Ok, I have heard rumblings about this before, but it is here now. Check out http://www.johncarpenter.com/, yes, that is correct. It seems like there is now an official JC page. This is excellent news, if a little frightening. What will happen to all us unofficial fans? Will there be a big cleanout of unofficial sites a la Oasis and Disney, or will the big men realise how much we contribute to JCs popularity and let us continue to pay homage to our favourite director? Only time will tell, this is an uncertain period for us all. Does anyone have any information on what the aims, launch times, site managers, etc. will be? Any information at all will be greatfully recieved. One thing, the pictures on the sites animated banner have all been seen on various net sources, most of them on the Page Of The Damned site, the official though dormant JC fan club site. Maybe this new site is a revival of that page? Just a thought. New info : The Page Of The Damned page is no longer there, increasing the possibility that this new site is a rebirth of that old fanclub site. Furthermore, the e-mail address for the fanclub president, tenebrae@mbay.net, no longer works either.

Les Interview De John Carpenter I got this excellent piece of news in my mailbox "In the New Mad Movies (french mag devoting fantastci movies), there is an interview (4 pages) of John Carpenter about the shooting of Vampires Jérôme WYBON". Thanks Jerome, and sorry about my terrible French headline. I am begging everyone who reads these pages to send me a transcript of this interview, please.
The Thing SE : A bit of a followup on the last news entry (12th Sept), I culled this from Usenet "I just e-mailed the Universal web site that features the Signature Editions: I inquired about THE THING..... According to Universal, THE THING should be released sometime end of the year." And this intriguing Usenet message in the same thread "((And we don't even hear anything at all about it. Is it a "dead" project?)) Nope, some of the materials are on the way to my office right now for some computer work." Hmm, so people are working on it as we speak.
Dark Star soundtrack A few people have asked me about getting hold of soundtracks, with Dark Star being a very difficult one to get. This message is also from Usenet (yes, I spend way too much time on this thing) "The Dark Star soundtrack LP (Citadel 7022) lists for Benson AZ - Lyrics: Bill Taylor Vocal: John Yager Backup Musicians: John Carpenter, Terry Winkless, Tom Wallace, Justice O'Neil Engineering: Craig Portman...so Carpenter is twangin' away in the song, but he didn't write it." So, we now have the Catalogue number, but I do not know how available it is. Isn't Benson Arizona a great song?
The Thing BFI Modern Classics Book Mohammed Khan, who has a new excellent JC page, has found a site for this book. Cheers Mohammad.

News as of Sept 12th The Thing Laserdisc Creeps Closer From the Films Of John Carpenter page : The above "new" logo was snatched from Universal's The Thing Laserdisc Page, which was updated yesterday for the first time since January. Still no release date as yet, but Universal has finally given some more techinical info on the release: it will be a THX laserdisc (you know, Lucas' company), utilizing Dolby Digital's AC-3 encoding (the reciever needed to hear this still costs a couple grand - needless to say, I don't have one). Just tidbits, really, but it shows that the disc is still in production and will be released soon (just as MONO said awhile back). Keep your fingers crossed, we'll get it yet!

News as of Sept 5th More Halloween 7 Rumours I have been away for a week, so sorry for the lack of updates. Check out the links section for a few excellent new JC pages, anyway .... The man in the mask, excited about the prospect of returning to kill Laurie Strode, keen to get back on track, has sent me this message from a secret source. The names have been snipped to protect me from litigation : I've recently been in contact with SNIP! and he has told me that a draft for HALLOWEEN 7 already exists and Mirimax hopes to have the film in production by February. Here's the cool part: At this point, he told me it is extremely likely that Jamie Lee Curtis will be the star. Not a done deal just yet, but she IS interested. No mention of Carpenter though. I'll try to ask him next time I speak with him. So, the rumour chases it's tale again. Let's hope we get some clarification on this soon. Maybe the new official Halloween site (congrats to the guys for working so hard) will be able to fill us in?
The Thing : A Modern Classic The British Film Institute have a series of books which analyse modern movies and justify assigning them the tag of classic. Anne Billson has written one for The Thing, A well deserved accolade. I shall be getting that one and reviewing it soon.