islandclaws

This link:

http://theoriginalfan.blogspot.co.uk/

Producer Stuart Cohen gives a first-hand account of how John Carpenter - finding himself with 6 weeks of downtime before location shooting - shaped The Thing into a modern masterpiece of cinema.

I want to see all of this footage he cut.

Why So Blu?

I hear the footage that was cut was more graphic, but turned the film into a generic hack and slash, which is why JC cut it. Hell, JC invented the slasher. Love that extra stuff, but JC knows what's up. He's a great editor.

Brack

It's just a shame John Carpenter hasn't made anything decent since the 80's.

JumpCutz

In the Mouth of Madness (1995) was pretty decent.

Solid Snake

He's not a good director anymore. Such a shame.

islandclaws

I think he's still got a good film in him, but these days he'd rather get stoned, play video games, and watch basketball. And collect checks for his film remakes.

Dr. DVD

Last movie he made that seemed like he put any actual effort into it. Though I will admit to liking Vampires as well.

Solid Snake

I like that one too. ITMOM is a film I've yet to see.

Brack

Its started out well, but I remember the ending was a mess. Granted, I haven't seen it since it was first available for rental, don't remember too much about it, so I might give it a shot if it ever pops up on streaming or cable.

inri222

I wanted to like The Ward but it was such a let down.

Have not seen Ghosts of Mars

2010 The Ward

2001 Ghosts of Mars n/a

1998 Vampires

1996 Escape from L.A.

1995 Village of the Damned

1994 In the Mouth of Madness

islandclaws

I've always liked Village of the Damned.

Rex Power Colt-Robot Man

To be fair, I think most of the charm that flick has was James Woods being James Woods, rather than what Carpenter brought to the table.

Dr. DVD

^ I'll give you that one.

I guess the reason I'm partial to Carpenter is he's the only filmmaker I've ever actually met and bothered to talk to me about the business.

Rex Power Colt-Robot Man

Dudes down to earth, Ill give you that. I just wish he'd make more stuff like "Cigarette Burns" rather than "Pro-Life"

Why So Blu?

John Carpenter rules. All of his films are great, with exception to Memoirs of an Invisible Man.

Rockmjd23

Ghosts of Mars was an atrocity.

Sonic

"That's like pouring perfume on a pig." -Roddy Piper

The Thing 1982 is very creepy and scary to watch after midnight, lonely in the living room. Love that movie!

Supermallet

In The Mouth of Madness isn't just Carpenter's last good film, it's one of his best films, and one of the best evocations of both Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft yet put on film. And the ending is 100% perfect.

RocShemp

+1000

Brack

Having read Wikipedia just to refresh my memory, the ending takes too many twists and turns that make no sense. Maybe it's not supposed to, but simply didn't leave a lasting impression. It was more like, "That was it? That's the ending?"

It's not Minight Meat Train ending bad, but I still don't think it's an effective thriller.

Supermallet

It makes total sense with the film's themes of reality, unreality, unreliable recall, and madness.

Brack

Exactly. It makes everything that happens on the screen ultimately meaningless. It's a nice exercise of these themes, but doesn't have much of a payoff.

Supermallet

This is our Beauty and the Beast argument in reverse, isn't it?

gmanca

Memoirs of an Invisible Man was good, it was Carpenter playing an effects-laden story as straight as possible and he succeeded IMO.

Drop

The humorous thing about that blogpost chronicling the production is, if it that happened today, people would think the movie was in serious trouble. A 6 week hiatus, the director wasn't happy with what was shot, he's severely reworking the movie, upping the pace, reshooting a lot of footage, etc.

It's also goes to show you why all these script reviews for films that aren't even in production mean next to nothing.