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Author Topic: Carpenter To Retire  (Read 4484 times)
Squishy
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« on: August 12, 2002, 05:12:23 AM »

Quoted from my local paper without alteration. (For my part, I wish JC had 'retired' after "Starman." I hate every one of his films after that. If they had been crapped out by anyone else, I probably wouldn't loathe them as much, but Carpenter's prior stuff was SO much better, they're that much harder to take.)  
 
The fright-meister is taking a hike
CREATOR OF `HALLOWEEN' SAYS HE'S READY TO `JUST HANG OUT' FOR A WHILE
By Glenn Lovell
Mercury News

You movie snobs may not have John Carpenter to kick around much anymore -- at least not for the next year or so.

At age 54, the horror/sci-fi ace -- best known for the original ``Halloween'' and an ambitious remake of ``The Thing'' -- appears to be sliding quietly into semi-retirement. He says the break in what should be his prime movie-making years is to ``just hang out'' and play rock music, his first love, and to help son John Cody prepare for life at the University of California-Santa Barbara.

``Yeah, I've been working on a nice long vacation,'' he tells us from his Los Angeles office. ``I've had a couple of deaths in the family, and my teenage son is going to college. So, it's going to be an interesting time.''

Pressed, Carpenter sighs and acknowledges that, yes, he's been feeling worn out and unappreciated for his stock in trade, such campy, grade-B classics as ``Escape from New York,'' ``They Live'' and ``The Fog,'' his now-quaint-seeming ghost story from 1980 with Jamie Lee Curtis and ex-wife Adrienne Barbeau. The latter arrives on special-edition DVD later this month.

``Ghosts of Mars,'' Carpenter's 2001 release, blended zombies, Wild West allusions and blaxploitation queen Pam Grier in a leather duster. Like the director's earlier ``Village of the Damned'' and ``In the Mouth of Madness,'' it tanked at the box office. In Europe, where Carpenter remains a cult figure, it fared better.

``In France, I'm an auteur . . . in Germany, a filmmaker . . . in England, a genre-film director. Here, in the U.S., I'm a bum,'' he once cracked.

``I suppose it's because I'm just a `B' moviemaker and I don't know that that's taken all that seriously here,'' he says in reference to the old quote. `` `Ghosts of Mars' got some pretty bad reviews in this country. But when you go across the Atlantic, it all changes. We took `Ghosts' to the Venice Film Festival, and I was received like a master. So go figure.''

These career ups and downs, and the long location shoots, have taken their toil. ``When you get to be my age, you've got to take it easy,'' he says.

When you get to be his age? He's kidding, right?

``Nah, I have road years on me, man,'' replies the fright-meister. ``I've been up on glaciers shooting movies. I've flown helicopters. I've been in explosions. It's not your usual 54 years.''

Which is why he's now taking stock, hanging out with director buddies (such as Tobe Hooper of ``Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' fame) and quietly looking for a comeback vehicle, which could be a remake of the Jacques Tourneau classic ``Curse of the Demon.'' Carpenter loves the original Montague R. James story, ``Casting the Runes.'' ``It's a great story -- a very weird story.''

Carpenter's much-anticipated remake of ``Creature From the Black Lagoon'' fell through years ago. It was nixed, he says, because of his Gill-man concept. ``We went further into the monster's background . . . where it came from. We suggested the civilization from whence it came.''

Carpenter seems almost cavalier about his recent career woes. ``Look, it's OK that people don't like my movies -- I'm fine with that.''

Besides, when you're name is as synonymous with fright as Carpenter's is, you can get paid for not working. He gets a nice check every time someone makes a ``Halloween'' sequel (he received original concept and musical theme credits on the current ``Halloween: Resurrection''). And his name is all over ``Vampires: Los Muertos,'' the sequel to his ``Vampires'' (1998) with James Woods. ``Los Muertos,'' which stars Jon Bon Jovi as a modern-day vampire hunter, premieres on tape and DVD Sept. 24.

Where else do low-budget shockers have to go but the home-entertainment market? Since Ridley Scott's ``Alien'' in the late '70s, the major studios been throwing ``A'' budgets at ``B'' chillers. The cult movies Carpenter grew up watching, such as Howard Hawks' ``The Thing (From Another World)'' and ``Them!,'' are now ``event'' movies, and anything that looks cheap and campy is panned out-of-hand by the media, the director says.

``It's a shame, but it's just part of the beast. If you earn your living and put food on the table by being a genre director, you're going to have to face that. . . . Horror movies, like the old `B' Westerns, have sort of disappeared. Now they're all parodies, like `Scream' and those jokey `Scary Movie' movies.''

Or, high-concept studio projects that replace old-fashioned chills with newfangled digital effects. ``The Haunting'' is probably the most infamous example. And there's the upcoming ``Texas Chainsaw Massacre,'' which began life as a grainy 16mm fright film by Hooper and now is being redone by New Line Cinema for millions, with Michael (``Pearl Harbor'') Bay attached as producer.

``The original `Chainsaw' is dark and funny and in-your-face,'' Carpenter says. ``It's guerrilla filmmaking. But nobody understands that. It's a different era today. The audience is different. They're into digital effects, man. Which are all so fake. They don't scare you at all.''

Carpenter's new favorite shocker: ``Battle Royale'' from Japan. It's about high school students forced to hunt each other to stay alive on an uninhabited island. ``Oh, my God, is it great! It's kind of a `Lord of the Flies' with Japanese school kids.''
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Cullen
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« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2002, 06:49:47 AM »

After Prince of Darkness, Carpenter slumped in terms of quality, but, for my money, a bad Carpenter film is still better than most of the bad crap out there.  

His last two are the only exceptions.   Ghosts of Mars needed a lot more thought, and I'm not sure anything could have saved Vampires.    But beyond that, I think the man's had a fairly good run.  I'm pulling for the Curse of the Demon remake.

My thoughts on his semi-retirement, however, run into mild speculation.  The man hasn't looked well for years.  I'm wondering if there aren’t some health problems behind this decision...

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Neville
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« Reply #2 on: August 12, 2002, 09:54:07 AM »

Cullen said: "My thoughts on his semi-retirement, however, run into mild speculation. The man hasn't looked well for years. I'm wondering if there aren’t some health problems behind this decision..."

Carpenter really looks much older than he actually is. Heard he had skin cancer years ago and some alcoholism related problems as well, but all this seems a thing of the past.

About Carpenter's career, it has had many ups and downs in the last decade, but I still think he did well on quitting A movies and returning to his origins. His career is still one of the most attractives in the B Movie arena after all this time.

Hope Carpenter makes a good use of this vacation and returns with renewed energy and ideas, because in "Ghosts of Mars" he looked really tired of everything. Ten years ago he wouldn't have ignored the political and fantastic posibilities of the story.

BTW, What's so wrong with "Vampires"? Everybody seems to hate it while I think it is one of his best movies ever. Even it has what all the rest of his movies lack: energy, humour and viscerality. Are you sure you are not taking it too seriously?
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Fearless Freep
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« Reply #3 on: August 12, 2002, 11:46:51 AM »

FWIW, I liked "Vampires" as well
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Gerry
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« Reply #4 on: August 12, 2002, 12:39:27 PM »

Cullen wrote:
>
> I'm pulling for the
> Curse of the Demon remake.
>

Not me.  Why wouldn't anyone want to even try to remake one of the greatest horror movies every made?  It's doomed to failure.  That's not the way to make a comback, JC.
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Chadzilla
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« Reply #5 on: August 12, 2002, 01:20:20 PM »

Way the dude smokes, maybe he's got lung cancer.  Well, he's earned it (retirement that is, NOT lung cancer), but I always look forward to a new Carpenter movie (I even love the ones that are a little less than successful, i.e. Ghosts of Mars).  What's saddening is there seem fewer and fewer genre focused individuals to fill in the shoes of the departing icons (either via retirement or death) I grew up watching in the movies, on television, and on video.  That is a far greater sadness.

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Chadzilla
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Squishy
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« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2002, 01:44:08 PM »

Re the possible "Curse of the Demon" remake: I'd have to ask "why?" and the only answer I can see coming is "money money money and a lack of ideas." If something genuinely fresh could be brought to the concept--real ideas, not spiffy new special effects and overblown latex gorespew--then okay, but if it's just going to be another "Village of the Damned," forget it. Along those lines, I think "Creature From The Black Lagoon" has greater potential than "Curse." Remaking "Curse" would be like remaking "Night of the Living Dead." (Whoops.)
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Drezzy
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« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2002, 05:30:36 PM »

Throw me into the handful of people that liked Vampires. James Woods is your daddy, and it had a Baldwin getting killed. What else does it need? Had a plot, had tits, had gore, had decent acting...

As for the remake of Curse Of The Demon, I've never seen the original, nor have I seen the original The Thing. But we all know how Carpenter's remake of The Thing turned out, so if Carpenter decides to remake a classic, I'd say let him go for it.

As for genre-dedicated directors, I agree that we need more of them. Sad to say that Troma is the only company still making b-movies that most people can enjoy (I left out Full Moon because many of their movies are awful; don't get me started on Brain Damage)...

I vote Dave Parker for the next b-grade horror hero. I'm eagerly awaiting House Of The Dead, and seeing as how The Dead Hate The Living! is one of my favorite zombie movies ever...=)

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Fearless Freep
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« Reply #8 on: August 12, 2002, 05:33:34 PM »

> Baldwin getting killed.

Technically he was turned, not killed.

For some reason I saw "Vampires" and "Truth Or Consequences, NM" pretty close to each other, and at a time I was not at home, so the scenery hit me as very familiar and made me a bit homesick, so both movies have a specialness for me

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Andrew
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« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2002, 05:46:09 PM »

Carpenter has not done anything that impressed me in several years.  Sad, considering how many of his older films are among my favorites.  "Ghosts of Mars" just put the nails in the coffin, plus some screws, and banded the whole deal shut.

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Andrew Borntreger
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Cullen
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« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2002, 06:32:51 PM »

Neville writes:

“BTW, What's so wrong with "Vampires"? Everybody seems to hate it while I think it is one of his best movies ever. Even it has what all the rest of his movies lack: energy, humour and viscerality. Are you sure you are not taking it too seriously?”

I’m sure I’m not taking it too seriously.  It does nothing for me.  Now I liked it while I was watching it.  Just afterwards, it sort of soured for me.  I’m not sure I can tell you why – I’d probably have to watch it again to do that – but that’s the way I feel.

God, I hate being vague like that.

On a different note, I feel that The Thing is his best film to date.  Out of the lot of them, it’s the one I watch the most.   The Fog and Escape From New York come in second.
________________________________________________________________
Gerry writes:

“Why wouldn't anyone want to even try to remake one of the greatest horror movies every made? It's doomed to failure. That's not the way to make a comback, JC.”

You might ask why would anyone want to even try to remake one of the greatest science fiction movies every made?   The Thing from Another World certainly didn’t need to be remade, and yet The Thing is an excellent movie.  (Others disagree, of course, but let’s not talk about that for a bit, shall we?)

Better point: why would anyone want to even try to remake one of the greatest Westerns movies every made?  After all, isn’t Assault on Precinct 13 just another version of Rio Bravo? (And El Dorado and…)

I think Carpenter could pull off Curse of the Demon with a good script.  I would like to see it happen.

But you’re probably right.

(By the way, I agree that the original Curse of the Demon is one of the best horror movies ever.  The short story it’s based on, “Casting the Runes,” is pretty good, too.)
___________________________________________________________________
Squishy writes:

“I'd have to ask ‘why?’ and the only answer I can see coming is "money money money and a lack of ideas." If something genuinely fresh could be brought to the concept--real ideas, not spiffy new special effects and overblown latex gorespew--then okay, but if it's just going to be another "Village of the Damned," forget it.”

I agree with the last part of this quote, and disagree with the first.  

If Curse of the Demon happens, I’m hoping for more like The Fog than The Thing.    Probably too much to expect, but still…

Now to me, it doesn’t sound like "money money money and a lack of ideas," any more than Assault on Precinct 13 was.

The anime Escape from New York and the Vampires sequel on the other hand…

(Got my fingers crossed still on the anime.  It could be good.)
_____________________________________________________________________
To the other Vampires fans out there: My not liking the flick could well be an age thing.  My younger brother likes it and he’s 11 years younger than me.

Of course, I like From Dusk till Dawn and that’s a really bad movie.

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Gerry
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« Reply #11 on: August 13, 2002, 12:04:34 PM »

Cullen wrote:
>
> You might ask why would anyone want to even try to remake one
> of the greatest science fiction movies every made?   The
> Thing from Another World
certainly didn’t need to be
> remade, and yet The Thing is an excellent movie.
> (Others disagree, of course, but let’s not talk about that
> for a bit, shall we?)

I love JC's THE THING, but I don't consider it to be a remake of THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD.  Actually it is more an original adaptation of the John Campbell short story "Who Goes There" than a remake--and a more faithful adaptation at that.  In fact, I believe there was some debate about calling it WHO GOES THERE instead of THE THING.

If JC decides to "remake" CURSE OF THE DEMON, I hope he goes back to the original story as the primary source material and calls the thing CASTING THE RUNES.  There's nothing wrong with a new take on an original work. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, THE OMEGA MAN, and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD all harken back to Matheson's I Am Legend and they are all fine films in their own right.  I wouldn't describe one of them as a "remake."

> Better point: why would anyone want to even try to remake one
> of the greatest Westerns movies every made?  After all, isn’t
> Assault on Precinct 13 just another version of
> Rio Bravo?
(And El Dorado and…)

I wouldn't call that a remake either.   Just a fresh take on a similar concept.   Especially since the similarities of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 to RIO BRAVO and EL DORADO are thin at best.
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Lee
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« Reply #12 on: August 15, 2002, 05:57:49 PM »

Don't get me wrong I like Carpenter, but Ghosts Of Mars was bad. This was not the same Carpenter that gave us They Live, Big Trouble In Little China, The Thing, with several other great movies. I think Vampires is a little under-appreciated. But it seems like taking some time off to get things together would be a good idea. That way afterwards if/when he decides to make a comeback he will be ready and his heart and mind will be in the right place. Get well John.
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Cullen
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« Reply #13 on: August 30, 2002, 06:00:58 PM »

I don't know if this is deserves a fresh thread, so I've posted it here.  New word on Carpenter at Fangoria.com.  Take it as you will.
_____________________________________________________________________
And here is a (very) late response to Gerry's post, a reply to my comment that Assault on Precinct 13 is a remake of Rio Bravo :

"I wouldn't call that a remake either. Just a fresh take on a similar concept. Especially since the similarities of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 to RIO BRAVO and EL DORADO are thin at best."

I think I might of been quoting something Carpenter said in an interview I read once.  Either way, you're right.. or wrong... or something.  

I've been on-line too long and have been infected with the "This-is- a -rip-off/remake-of-such-and-such" virus, I guess.

Or I'm an idiot.

Or both.

Who knows?

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raj
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« Reply #14 on: August 30, 2002, 09:20:41 PM »

I'd love to see a redo of Creature, preferably from the creature's point of view.  Poor guy was the last of his species, and down to a single lagoon, and now these air breathers enter into his refuge, and try to capture or kill him.  Hell, if I were in his position, I'd grab the woman and run too.

John should take the next 18 months off, lie on a beach, and lift nothing heavier than 12 ounces.
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