A new section (started July 8th 2003) to help you spend all your hard earned money on John Carpenter stuff. This isn't an exhaustive list and the page will take some time to fill up but I intend to put stuff I think is cool up, like the new Snake Plissken comic, the new JC interview book, new dvds, etc. With each thing will be a short review/synopsis and some sources to buy it. I should say right off that I am not linked in any way with any of the companies I suggest.

Assault on Precinct 13 Soundtrack

Finally we can get our hands on an official AOP13 release thanks the French label Record Makers. There are some soundtracks out there calling themselves AOP13 but these are either bootlegs (some even are the music of AOP13 played by other people) or the official release calling itself AOP13 which is actually a best of whith 4 or 5 AOP13 tracks on it. A must get item.

Suggested places to buy:
Amazon UK
Movie Grooves

EFNY Special Edition Two Disc DVD

Finally, we get the special edition of this classic JC movie and it has more than enough special stuff on there - the original 10minute opening sequence, the classic JC and Kurt Russel commentary, trailers and an excellent remastered picture and soundtrack. The whole thing comes in a lovely 2-disc gatefold with a bonus DVD sized edition of the Snake Plissken Chronicles comic.

Suggested places to buy:
www.play.com EFNY R1 page
DVDFile.com review

John Carpenter: Prince of Darkness by Gilles Boulenger

This excellent book takes the form of a looong interview with JC, written in a Q&A format which gives a fascinating insight into what JC thinks. I like the idea of each of his films getting a seperate chapter together with additional chapters on more general aspects of filmaking and the movies. This is a must read, the most up-to-date book on JC out there as it includes Ghosts of Mars. I've got the paperback which is one of those larger format trade paperbacks with nice glossy pictures. Get hold of this one.

Suggested places to buy:
Amazon.com - I used these as amazon.co.uk were out of stock. Even with US postage costs it still worked out cost effective and was delivered in about 7 days.

Pocket Essentials : John Carpenter by Michelle Le Blanc, Colin Odell

Pocket Essentials are a series of small books intended to deliver all the starting info you need on any subject. They are small format books handy as quick references or primers. This one has sections on all of JCs movies (including his TV movies and screenplays e.g. Dark Moon Rising is covered) as well as pointers for further resources (including mentioning this particular website). A great book full of facts and info about JC and his films.

Suggested places to buy:
amazon.co.uk The ever dependable amazon stock it and have it nice and cheap, before you add the postage.

Director's Cuts : John Carpenter

The French love JC. To them he is a genre artist right up there with Ridley Scott and pre-Titanic James Cameron. He is discussed in the same circles as Scorsese, Spielbeg and Lucas. I have just returned from a week in Brittany and was amazed at the availability of JC stuff over there, including finding this JC film score compilation, which I believe was only released in France. I prefer this to a lot of the other compilations as instead of selecting the signature piece from a movie they have selected pieces that they think are the best. It also comes in a lovely gatefold sleeve with pretty extensive liner notes (in French). It has the main theme from Memoirs of an Invisible Man on it as well, which is hard to track down. It also includes a great little pull out of an AOP13 poster advertising the release (in France only I expect) of the soundtrack in August. Essential I reckon

Suggested places to buy:
amazon.fr I was lucky enough to be in France and see it in a record shop so hopefully the French amazon will be able to deliver it mail order. You'll have to navigate the French pages but its all fairly straightforward. Strangely I haven't seen this one come up on Ebay.

Ebay: Find amazing John Carpenter stuff

There are many, many cool items of John Carpenter stuff out there and Ebay is the best place to get them on the web. It is the largest online auction site on the world. The basic premise is that people all over the world are selling their unwanted stuff and Ebay gives you the link to tap into that stuff. I have got countless JC items off Ebay - DVDs, comics, posters, action figures, novelisations, fridge magnets, etc. It is particularly good for finding rare stuff like when I managed to get the out of print R1 versions of the They Live and Prince of Darkness DVDs. Click on the link below to see a list of the John Carpenter stuff up on Ebay.