Tag / john carpenter

by Jaime Rebanal

David Gordon Green’s Halloween Sequel is the Push the Franchise Needs Now: Review

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Retconning the previous sequels, David Gordon Green follows up John Carpenter’s original film forty years later with Jamie Lee Curtis returning to the role of Laurie Strode. If there’s anything to be said there, Jamie Lee Curtis certainly hasn’t lost a bit of what it is that we’ve loved about Laurie Strode over the years, but of course it only fits that so many years since the original Halloween we would have a radically different approach to her character after the trauma that she had endured after her friends were killed in cold blood by Michael Myers. Yet of all people who would be perfect enough to bring Laurie Strode a perfect return to the big screen, it had to be the people behind Eastbound & Down to allow it to be every bit as graceful as it should sound. As odd a combo as it may sound to have Green, Danny McBride, and John Carpenter working together, it strangely works.

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by Jaime Rebanal

John Carpenter’s Halloween Remains One of the Best Horror Films Ever Made: Review

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In the many years since John Carpenter’s Halloween has come out, many sequels may have come by under its name but it is with good reason why the original still finds itself standing strong even as the roots of its story may have been imitated by many. No matter how overly elaborate the imitators may present themselves to be, John Carpenter’s Halloween still reigns supreme because of how its simplicity even manages to set up something far more frightening underneath everything else. Even as an age of horror films defined by massive splatters of gore may have come along the way, it’s easy enough to see why John Carpenter’s film still overshadows many – for it didn’t only pave the way for many filmmakers to follow when working in the slasher subgenre. But it isn’t only the horror genre where Carpenter excels with Halloween, because what it accomplishes on a budget of only $300k is absolutely impressive because of how tightly woven it is from first frame to last.

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by Jaime Rebanal

The Thing – Review

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Mankind’s greatest fears put against itself, removing all sense of connection with the outside world. If that is not enough to describe John Carpenter’s The Thing, then another way of going about would be talking about how it is one of the greatest horror films to have ever been made. It would already be easy enough to commend the incredibly consistency to John Carpenter’s own body of work in comparison to many other great artists who have extensively left their touch on the horror genre, but if there were one that stood atop all, then The Thing is the clear frontrunner. Although it is easy to commend Halloween for the incredible influence that it left upon many slashers that followed, it was not until 1982 when he accomplished the very most of his capabilities; a stunning achievement to be remembered through all of time.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Prince of Darkness – Review

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Yet another one of John Carpenter’s most underappreciated films, but also one of his best experiments as I would say. Prince of Darkness, the second film in Carpenter’s Apocalypse trilogy, (first being The Thing and last being In the Mouth of Madness), was critically reviled upon its initial release but in more recent stature, a more positive response comes by, something which is all the more satisfying. With Prince of Darkness, John Carpenter is free to toy around with his many cinematic obsessions and he lets everything out just as he pleases. Prince of Darkness is not only a film that holds an honour for being Carpenter’s most underappreciated film in my eyes, but also one of his very best films at that. Continue reading →

by Jaime Rebanal

Vampires – Review

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John Carpenter is a rare sort of filmmaker, who is still interesting even during some of his weakest points. Vampires, while a lesser Carpenter as some would say, still provides an enjoyable enough time while it still lasts as it continues to show the consistency of a filmmaker like him even if he is at a much lower point of his career. In Vampires, John Carpenter crafts some sort of a modern B-movie and exploits all of the glory that forms them on the screen. It’s certainly very cheap and dusty, but in turn that’s also a part of where all the fun comes in when watching Vampires. If this is considered to be lower-tier John Carpenter by many, then it only peaks more interest in said area for this can easily go alongside Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness as some of Carpenter’s most underappreciated films. Continue reading →