John Carpenter Week: Contributions - Monday, October 4

Every day I will post links to contributions from bloggers participating in my John Carpenter Week. Please check them out and support all of their hard work. This page will be updated throughout the day so check back often.

"So there I was. . .DVRing Village of the Damned which, fatefully, had decided to be on HBO at 3:15 am one morning and deciding, against the power of the negative masses, that I would DEFEND IT and, above all else, LOVE IT! I mean, all of us usually go into movies with expectations and, at least in my black hearted, pessimistic world, go in expecting absolute suckitude. So why not flip the switch. Why not be a Positive, uh, Pete rather then a Debbie Downer, ya know? So, god damn it, I decided to watch god damn Village of the God Damned and god damn love it. Okay!?"
- John Carpenter's Village of the Damned - Secure Immaturity


"The great pleasure of the ghost story is the simple act of telling, or being told, one. Storytelling, around a glowing fire at night, is one of man’s oldest activities. Few movies convey that simple pleasure, and no movie has done a better job than The Fog. Dear old John Houseman, who would tell more ghost stories the following year in the aptly titled Ghost Story, has the kind of tranquil, seasoned voice that could make any story come alive. He certainly does this one justice, even going so far as to make us jump with his fob watch."
- Favourite Movie Scenes: The Fog - Blah! Movie Edition


"The greatest difference between the two Things is their monsters: Hawks has James Arness in pretty scary alien makeup; Carpenter has a series of icky, protean critters that turn into other critters. Here’s my proposal: the ’82 monster resembles Lovecraft’s “Shoggoths,” which also imitate other life forms. When the protagonist encounters one, he describes it as “a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of greenish light.” These same threateningly amorphous qualities are present in Carpenter’s thing."
- hawks/carpenter/lovecraft - Pussy Goes Grrr


"C’mon seriously. Do I really need to tell you? More so then any of his films aside from Halloween, to cross over. It’s one of those movies everyone knows, even those who haven’t seen it. And while that isn’t solely because of the film alone (Shepard Fairey owes John Carpenter a fucking Coke that’s all I’m saying) that doesn’t change the fact that They Live is a film that relentlessly, primally works."
- 31 Days of Horror: Day 3: They Live - Things That Don't Suck


"Still, I wasn't about to leave my seat. The vibe of us all watching Snake Plissken again, together in a darkened movie palace, overcame any projection shortcoming. For me, anyways.


Easily, the biggest draw for the evening was John Carpenter making his way to the front of the Egyptian Theatre after New York's end credits finished."
- Celebrating the Escape Artist - John Carpenter - Lazy Thoughts from a Boomer