WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
One of the main things I want to talk about in these articles will be director trademarks, I’ll also reference ‘easter eggs’ at times. Something to be aware of with John Carpenter is that very often he will compose his own theme tunes. This is mainly the case with Halloween, The Fog and The Thing (the latter unfortunately will not be mentioned here as it didn’t feature in Carpenter’s top 5 films but is definitely worth a watch).
Vampires
I have a confession to make I think this may be the first James Woods film I’ve ever seen. A little like in Lost Boys only a select few people know that vampires exist and those are Jack Crown and his fellow vampire hunters. Also, Woods and Baldwin’s characters of Crow and Montoya slightly remind me of Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward in Tremors… just with less humour. The interesting thing is that Carpenter clearly plays on the more sexual side of vampires as the typical bite is at the neck whereas the first person we see the master turn is bitten on her inner thigh which quite clearly looks like he’s up to something else…. especially with the sounds she makes! He even takes a new twist on the creation of the vampire! I’m not going to say exactly what because I actually think it’s pretty clever and don’t want to spoil it for anyone.
Couple of side notes though; One – I have no idea why it was necessary for them to tie her down naked after she’s been bitten. Two – I do not feel James Woods has the voice for this style of film but this may be me associating it with Family Guy.
The Fog
I have discussed this film before when I talked about it and it’s remake but I wanted to focus on this film on its own now. This is actually the first time that Janet Leigh starred alongside her future scream-queen daughter Jamie Lee Curtis. I’ve seen this film a couple of times but this is the first time that I’ve noticed there’s a boat in the background of one of the scenes called Halloween. Horror directors do love their little ‘easter eggs’.
Prince of Darkness
I don’t know if it’s just the way my brain works but I was expecting another vampire story even though I know that ‘Prince of Darkness’ is another way of referencing the devil. Yes, it’s also a way of describing Dracula which is possibly why I had these thoughts but that’s by the by. What I love about this film is that, just like The Thing, Carpenter never truly shows his audience the antagonist of this film just the effect it had on the characters involved.
Halloween
This film is considered as one of the classic slasher films along with Nightmare on Elm Street and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The theme tune will send a chill down your spine before the film has even properly started (not as much as Tubular Bells from The Exorcist for me but close enough). It’s also the first slasher film that Carpenter made – as you can tell a lot of his films feature the supernatural. In a strange way, the film is actually about a small-town’s boogeyman. This is the first horror film that Jamie Lee-Curtis starred in, earning her the scream queen title (just like her mother). You know I mentioned ‘easter eggs’ before… the fact that Tommy and Lindsay are watching The Thing that came from Outer Space is another as he later remade this film. The one thing I don’t think I mentioned when I compared the ending of this and Rob Zombie’s Halloween is that even though it is a great closing line from Loomis – the better part is that you can still hear Myers breathing as the closing clips happen – a subtle hint towards a second film.
Christine
So this is not the only Stephen King adaptation that Carpenter was involved in as he was also involved in the soundtrack for the original Firestarter but this is his only directorial. This, like Carrie, is a coming of age horror film – albeit with a murderous car at the centre of the story. Actually, in a weird way, you can see Arnie is the typical geek character that everyone underestimates in a comic book that later turns into a super villain. For a moment I thought that Leigh was named such and spelt that way as a homage to the actress Janet Leigh who had previously starred in The Fog, but there were no character changes between the film and the book. There is also a couple of moments with the incidental music, namely on the college pitch and when Arnie repairs Christine for the second time that is unbelievably similar to Halloween. The final piece, when Christine attempts to kill Leigh sounds more like The Thing.
