John Carpenter was educated at Western Kentucky university. He began making short films in 1962. He won an academy award for Best Live-Action Short Subject in 1970, for The Resurrection of Broncho Billy (1970). Carpenter formed a band in the mid-1970s called The Coupe de Villes. Since the 1970s, he has had numerous roles in the film industry including writer, actor, composer, producer, and director.

Source: Funny or Die

“Each of these movies you’re about to see tonight are about the end of things.”

John Carpenter introduced his “Apocalypse Trilogy” last night to an enthusiastic sold-out crowd at Santa Monica’s classic Aero Theatre. The triple bill of all 35mm prints kicked off with his 1982 classic The Thing. This atmospheric tale follows a group of men at an isolated Antarctic research station as an extraterrestrial steals the appearance of each researcher it kills, sparking violent paranoia in the group. Having never seen The Thing, it was a thrill for me to be seeing it first on the big screen!

The other two films also deal with this similar apocalyptic theme. 1995’s In The Mouth of Madness follows an insurance investigator (played by Sam Neill) as he descends into the surreal world of the mysterious author he is investigating. Halloween’s own Donald Pleasence, starred in Prince of Darkness, the evening’s final film, about a group researchers trying to stop the coming of Satan in an abandoned church. Watching all three of these movies made me nostalgic for the magic of prosthetics, animatronics, and the other tangible practical effects we don’t see as much of these days.

Before leaving us, Carpenter gave a heartfelt insight to the creative birth of these movies when he was just a child growing up in the 1950’s. Not only did the Book of Revelations plant the seeds of these films’ creation, but also the advent of the atomic bomb in 1945.

“You could see it in movies, these giant insects crawling around: they were all created by radiation,” Carpenter explained. “ And I didn’t quite know what that meant. But I found out that we had the capacity to destroy ourselves. We did. Human beings did. Somebody would push a button and these missiles would rain down on us. And that got me really upset and I started thinking about apocalypse, the general idea of apocalypse…So, I hope you enjoy my films. They’re old movies. Thanks for coming to see these three old films!”

Thank YOU, Mr. Carpenter!

*Killer Film would like to thank cromeyellow.com for allowing us to use their video from the screening!*

The Night He Came…Home.

There’s no embedded code, so click here if you’re 18+.

Spoof porn! It was on Halloween night that a young Michael Myers inexplicably slaughtered his slutty older sister (RAVEN ALEXIS). Fifteen later, he escapes a mental hospital and returns home. Spotting a scholarly looking teenager, Laurie (LILY LABEAU), the deranged psychopath Michael lusts after her and stalks her. Finding her trampy friends, Annie (ANDY SAN DIMAS) and Lynda (LEXI BELLE) engaging in carnal acts with their boyfriends on Halloween eve, just as his sister did years ago, sets Michael off. While her friends are off engaging in sex acts and getting killed, the responsible Laurie is at home babysitting. Unable to reach her friends by phone, Laurie becomes suspicious and walks across the street to Annie’s darkened house and comes face to face with Michael Myers himself.

Source: Bloody Disgusting

The quality of fan-made stuff is impressive, and while I personally still love the original one-sheet from Universal, this is a clever minimalistic art piece. Amazingly, there’s more bad-ass fan-made posters for The Thing, courtesy of The Shortlist. Check them out below!

For those of you who can’t make it, you can read my retrospective on Prince of Darkness with John Carpenter here.

Director John Carpenter took the 1951 sci-fi classic THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, produced by Howard Hawks, and turned it into something darker, fiercer and altogether more disturbing, pitting sombrero-wearing helicopter pilot Kurt Russell and a crew of Arctic scientists (Wilford Brimley, Donald Moffat, Richard Dysart) against a ravenous, shape-shifting alien being. From the haunting opening shots of a sled dog fleeing across the snow, to the apocalyptic, fire-and-ice ending, this ranks with Ridley Scott’s ALIEN as one of the finest (and most beautifully crafted) sci-fi films of the past 30 years. The film was terribly underrated by critics on its initial release, but its stock has constantly risen in the ensuing decades as one of the most intelligent, scary and uncompromising horror films of the 1980s. Also starring Keith David and David Clennon.

Hired investigator Sam Neill discovers reclusive horror writer Jurgen Prochnow (DAS BOOT) in a tiny New England town, but isn’t prepared for the terrifying reality warp that follows, in this wild, H.P. Lovecraft inspired romp through the demonic looking glass. With a terrific supporting cast that includes David Warner and Charlton Heston.

When a group of physics graduate students are contacted by a priest to investigate a vat seemingly abandoned in the basement of a dilapidated Los Angeles church, they have little idea of the true evil inhabiting the vat’s phosphorescent green liquid. As the Satan-possessed liquid comes to life and wreaks lethal havoc, the students – the surviving ones, that is – must confront and somehow surmount the work of the Devil himself. With Donald Pleasance, Lisa Blount and Jameson Parker.

Source: Aero Theatre

A professional thief is hired by the FBI to steal a data tape from a company under investigation. The analysis of this tape, will prove the criminal activities of this company. As this thief is discovered in his attempt, he hides the tape inside a prototype car, but unfortunately there is someone else interested in this vehicle.

Based on an “actual event” that took place in 1943. About a US Navy Destroyer Escort that disappeared from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and sent two men 40 years into the future to 1984.

Source: Amazon

The Film:

Other than teaming with Mick Garris and directing a pair of episodes (Cigarette Burns, Pro-Life) for the short-lived Showtime series Masters of Horror, John Carpenter has not been behind the camera since the 2001 box-office flop Ghost of Mars. Piss-poor marketing by Screen Gems and the real life horrors of 9/11 crushed any chance it had to be a hit. While it is not Carpenter’s strongest work, it is still better than the other red planet inspired flicks released at the time, and could best be described as Assault on Precinct 13 on Mars. Fast forward to a decade later and John is finally back with The Ward.

After torching a farmhouse for reasons unknown, Kristen (Amber Heard) is whisked away by the police to the North Bend Psychiatric Hospital in North Bend, Oregon. A bitchy nurse leads her to her new home, a ward with four other young women with issues of their own. Kristen starts seeing a ghostly figure who is haunting the halls and who has already killed a former resident. From day one, she believes she is sane and tries her best to break out of the looney bin. As the appearance of the rotting ghoul becomes more frequent and deadly, Kristen grows more desperate to escape before she becomes the next victim. Her appointed doctor (Jared Harris) tries everything from therapy to shock treatment to help her fragile psyche, but the horrific visions continue and one by one the girls are murdered by Alice Hudson, a former patient who has revenge on her mind.

A central location where a group of characters have to escape evil has been a hallmark of every great John Carpenter film, and that comes in to play here as he turns this infirmary into the spookiest sick bay this side of The Exorcist III and Jacob’s Ladder. Come to think of it, The Ward owes a lot to the 1990 nail-biter, as the macabre moments seem like an homage to Adrian Lyne’s film. You never know what is going to be behind the next corner as the maestro’s widescreen ratio impacts every frame, which is astonishing considering some of the confined spaces he has to shoot in. There are some jolt scares that you come to expect, and Carpenter makes the wise decision not to show the monster too much. All of the acting is above average, and while Amber Heard is competent as the lead, it is Danielle Panabaker as Sarah who shows great range in a secondary role.

What The Ward could have used more of is a less monotonous pace as there never is a sense of urgency, which causes scenes to lag. That could have been alleviated if Carpenter had scored the film, but unfortunately he gave that assignment to Mark Kilian, who drops the ball by not bringing a sense of uneasiness when it’s needed. There is also a “hook” in the film that may or may not rub fans the wrong way.

It is great to have John Carpenter back in the saddle again, and although The Ward is no Halloween or The Thing, it is his best movie since the Lovecraftian tale In the Mouth of Madness.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The drab and murky cinematography offer up an average SD transfer fro Arc Entertainment that doesn’t look bad, but doesn’t wow either. Details are consistent and fine. The audio is okay too, allowing the score to swell and other typical horror movie sound mix cliches to pop and boom.

Commentary: John Carpenter is here, along with Harris and both deliver a low-key chat, that is sometimes good, other times a little boring.

The only other extra is a trailer.

The Film: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Badassdigest scored the scoop:

“Debuting around Halloween, the series will initially be web-only, and volume 1 (of a planned 12 volume series) will actually be scored by Carpenter himself! Each volume will also have a video intro by Carpenter. You’ll be able to check out a teaser at graphicly.com later today. That site is where John Carpenter’s Asylum will be initially published, although it could end up in print sooner rather than later.

Sandy King and Thomas Ian Griffiths, the creators of John Carpenter’s Asylum, will be at Comic Con this week handing out rosaries that have flash drives in ‘em. They’ll be at the Graphicly booth, so stop by and say hi!”

Now, MSN has the trailer for The Thing 2011.

Antarctica: an extraordinary continent of awesome beauty. It is also home to an isolated outpost where a discovery full of scientific possibility becomes a mission of survival when an alien is unearthed by a crew of international scientists.

Thoughts?

Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 compilation documentary of various movie clips, and hasn’t been available since its VHS release years ago. And as a nice cherry on top of this excellent release, the audio mix will be in DTS 5.1.

Halloween II was always one of my favorite sequels in the series, sorry Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Look for this release on September 13th.

Source: TheDigitalBits

After torching a farmhouse for reasons unknown, Kristen (Amber Heard) is whisked away by the police to the North Bend Psychiatric Hospital in North Bend, Oregon. A bitchy nurse leads her to her new home, a ward with four other young women with issues of their own. Kristen starts seeing a ghostly figure who is haunting the halls and who has already killed a former resident. From day one, she believes she is sane and tries her best to break out of the looney bin. As the appearance of the rotting ghoul becomes more frequent and deadly, Kristen grows more desperate to escape before she becomes the next victim. Her appointed doctor (Jared Harris) tries everything from therapy to shock treatment to help her fragile psyche, but the horrific visions continue and one by one the girls are murdered by Alice Hudson, a former patient who has revenge on her mind.

A central location where a group of characters have to escape evil has been a hallmark of every great John Carpenter film, and that comes in to play here as he turns this infirmary into the spookiest sick bay this side of The Exorcist III and Jacob’s Ladder. Come to think of it, The Ward owes a lot to the 1990 nail-biter, as the macabre moments seem like an homage to Adrian Lyne’s film. You never know what is going to be behind the next corner as the maestro’s widescreen ratio impacts every frame, which is astonishing considering some of the confined spaces he has to shoot in. There are some jolt scares that you come to expect, and Carpenter makes the wise decision not to show the monster too much. All of the acting is above average, and while Amber Heard is competent as the lead, it is Danielle Panabaker as Sarah who shows great range in a secondary role.

What The Ward could have used more of is a less monotonous pace as there never is a sense of urgency, which causes scenes to lag. That could have been alleviated if Carpenter had scored the film, but unfortunately he gave that assignment to Mark Kilian, who drops the ball by not bringing a sense of uneasiness when it’s needed. There is also a “hook” in the film that may or may not rub fans the wrong way.

It is great to have John Carpenter back in the saddle again, and although The Ward is no Halloween or The Thing, it is his best movie since the Lovecraftian tale In the Mouth of Madness.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Jason Bene: The Ward is your first feature film since Ghosts of Mars. Why haven’t we seen you directing besides your two episodes of Masters of Horror (Cigarette Burns, Pro-Life)?  

John Carpenter: I just had to stop for a while. I just had to take a break. I found myself burnt out a little. I was tired of the business and I was tired of working. It didn’t help that Ghosts of Mars didn’t do very well at the box-office. I decided it’s time to sit down and relax for a while. I had a lot of basketball to watch.

Jason Bene: The timing was bad for Ghost of Mars because 9/11 happened a few weeks after its release. Fans need to remember that from Halloween to Ghosts of Mars, you didn’t take that much time off in between movies.

John Carpenter: You got it, my friend. You got it. It was just a necessity for my own life. I had to just stop for a while. I really had to stop.

Jason Bene: I have a two-month old daughter and it has put my future in perspective. What I do for a living is not my life.

John Carpenter: (Laughs) That’s true. That’s true. How is your two-month old daughter doing?

Jason Bene: She is doing great! She is almost twelve pounds. She is starting to sleep a little longer during the night. For a while she was getting up every two hours to eat and it was killing us. But you look at that face and it’s all worth it.

John Carpenter: I know. I know. They are cuties. Just wait until she gets to be a teenager. Just you wait. Your time is coming.

Jason Bene: Is it true that The Ward is the first film you haven’t shot in Panavision since Dark Star?

John Carpenter: I shot it widescreen and not Panavision. You are right. You are absolutely right. It was budget. I wasn’t really in control of that stuff. I had to meet a budget and had to do it. We shot widescreen, but it was not Panavision. It was interesting. It was real interesting to do opposed to Panavision, which I dearly love. Nothing looks as good as Panavision. Nothing does. No film looks any better. But that was not the way it was done in this film. So I just accepted it, like I accept everything else about life.

Jason Bene: You didn’t write or score the film. Did that give you breathing room so you could concentrate on your directorial duties?

John Carpenter: It’s all too hard. Man, oh, man. Mark Kilian is a very talented composer. He is really really talented guy. I thought we’ll make this guy do the work. He just did a tremendous job for me. I’ve kind of slowed down now. The Ward was a perfect movie to come back and do movies with. What I mean by that is, it was a low budget film with a small cast. It all took place in one area. It was confined spaces. And it had a small cast. It was right up my alley. I didn’t want to do anything bigger than that. Masters of Horror was a lot of fun to do. But they were a week’s work, where this is thirty days. It was a deal and a great time. I love my cast! I love each of them. What can I say? I’m in a mental institution with beautiful Hollywood actresses. Nothing is better. Nothing. It’s awesome! It was great. I had a great time.

Jason Bene: A lot of naysayers think Amber Heard is a pretty face and can’t act. Maybe this type of meaty role will prove them wrong.

John Carpenter: She’s got a lot of talent. She’s got a whole lot of talent. I think her time will come. You never know. Sometimes fate plays tricks on you, but I think she’s going to be fine. I really loved working with her.

Jason Bene: Getting back to the score. Did you consider having your son, Cody, do the composing?

John Carpenter: He was in Japan at the time. He was in Japan teaching. He’s back now, thank God. I thought, well, okay, I’ll work with somebody I haven’t worked with before. That will be interesting to do.

Jason Bene: I haven’t seen The Ward yet, but from the theatrical trailer the music had a very Argento feel to it.

John Carpenter: We discussed it. The director kind of guides the music like he does everything else. I did a little guidance here and there. Mark brought it. He was just fabulous. I loved working with him.

Jason Bene: This is your first period film since Christine. How did it feel to do a horror film set in the 60′s?

John Carpenter: It’s not that hard. I was there. I remember what it was like. It takes place in ’66. The reason we did that was because we had to choose a period of time when there was still involuntary incarceration in a mental institution. In other words, by 1966 you still could be put away for an extended period of time. But that all changed in the 70′s. It all changed. So that was the reason to do it then. It was great. We had a great time doing it. It was fun. The girls did a little dance for me one night. It was great fun, just great fun.

Jason Bene: For The Thing, the creatures were out in the open to be seen, whereas with In The Mouth of Madness, you kept them in the shadows. How did you approach them in The Ward?

John Carpenter: Just very briefly seen. Very briefly. Hidden is the wrong word. It was done not out in the open so much.

Jason Bene: Monster nerds like myself really love seeing the creatures.

John Carpenter: Me too! But it wasn’t that kind of film.

Jason Bene: The movie to me looks like Jacob’s Ladder meets One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. How would you describe it?

John Carpenter: (Laughs) It really is Shutter Island. That’s what it is. You’ll see. It’s an old school horror film, because I’m an old school kind of guy.

Jason Bene: How hard is it to scare audiences today when you have terrible events happening all around the world? Can they be scared?

John Carpenter: They can be scared, but real life is scarier. My God! What’s been going on is unbelievable. I’ve had several people come to me and say, “What’s going on with our world? Is it the end of the world?” I don’t think so.

Jason Bene: I think people have been watching films like Roland Emmerich’s 2012 too much.

John Carpenter: I didn’t see that. I don’t think so. Not yet. It’s crazy times.

Jason Bene: The Ward has already been released in the UK. Is there a domestic release date yet?

John Carpenter: Yes, it is coming out in three months. Very soon.

Kristen, a beautiful but troubled young woman, who finds herself bruised, cut, drugged, and held against her will in a remote ward of a Psychiatric Hospital. She is completely disoriented, with no idea why she was brought to this place and no memory of her life before being admitted. All she knows is that she isn’t safe.

The other patients in the ward, four equally disturbed young women, offer no answers, and Kristen quickly realizes things are not as they seem. The air is heavy with secrets, and at night, when the hospital is dark and foreboding, she hears strange and frightening sounds. It appears they are not alone.

One-by-one the other girls begin to disappear and Kristen must find a way out of this hellish place before she, too, becomes a victim. As she struggles to escape, she will uncover a truth far more dangerous and horrifying than anyone could have imagined.

Source: Arrow

If the name of the artist doesn’t ring a bell, I’m sure you’ve seen his wonderful work before, especially for President Obama in the famed “Hope” poster after his election.

Here’s what Fairey said of Carpenter’s They Live: “The This is Your God show in 2003 at the Six Space gallery in downtown L.A. was an opportunity to showcase the sociopolitical message of the OBey campaign by paying homage to John Carpenter’s They Live, which was a major source of inspiration and the basis for my use of the word “obey.” The movie has a very strong message about the power of commercialism and the way that people are manipulated by advertising. One of my main concepts with the show (and the campaign as a whole) was that obedience is the most valuable currency. People rarely consider how much power they sacrifice by blindly following a self-serving corporation’s marketing agenda, and how their spending habits reflect the direction in which they choose to transfer power. In They Live, the protagonist discovers hidden messages lurking behind billboards and anything commercial, and the money says “THIS IS YOUR GOD” on plain white paper. I designed a graphic that looked somewhat like real money but with that slogan, which we used for the invitations and a billboard I rented on the corner of Sunset and Hollywood to promote the show.”

Follow Mondo for a chance to win this poster on Twitter. And feel free to re-read our own retrospective on They Live in a special Late Night Classics here.

Amber Heard stars as a young woman held in a psychiatric hospital who experiences strange visions that convince her the residents are being hunted by a ghost. Of course, don’t forget to re-read our exclusive interview with John Carpenter about The Ward here, while you wait.

Source: Bloody-Disgusting