John Carpenter's Halloween: It's a Kentucky Thing

While it may be set in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois (not to mention actually shot in California), John Carpenter's Halloween is to a lot of fans very much a Kentucky film.

I was only five years old when Halloween first hit theaters in October of 1978, so I was too young to see the film in its first run. I ended up seeing it for the first time around the age of ten courtesy of a TV broadcast and it had a huge impact on me. Never before had I felt so much glorious terror and it made horror my favorite genre, a fact that continues to this day. I have watched Halloween at least once every year since, making it one of the films I have seen the most, and those initial viewings still haunt my dreams and memories like no other.

It wasn't just the thrills the film supplied that had such a huge impact on me but it was the regional references that struck an emotional chord. Locations mentioned like Smiths Grove, Hardin County and Russellville were instantly recognizable to me, as they are to any native Kentuckian, and I was thrilled to find out that my Mom had actually attended school (they had one college class together) with John Carpenter in the late sixties. Halloween became not only one of my favorite films just before my teenage years, but also my favorite Kentucky film...and Carpenter became the living embodiment of someone who had got out but hadn't forgotten his roots.

The Kentucky references are scattered all over Carpenter films, especially The Fog, and they appear numerous times in the Carpenter scripted Halloween II. In fact there are two particular moments in the first Halloween sequel that really hit me location wise as one names an area I lived at as a child, and another pinpoints the street and corner where I lived at between 2006 and 2008. The obvious impact the state had on Carpenter (something he made clear last year when I saw him in person) is extremely resonate and quite haunting for someone like myself who knows this area so well and loves these films so much.

As a child and now I often daydream at school about Carpenter's film and the characters who occupied it, especially Laurie Strode. I would often wish to step back into the past and run into the very people who inspired these iconic characters, who know doubt Carpenter knew back in his days as a young man walking down the streets I walk down now everyday.

For those interested in some of the Kentucky locations mentioned in several of John Carpenter's films, please visit this Bowling Green, Kentucky site that offers up a 'driving' tour you can take.

-Jeremy Richey, 2008-

This is How it's Done: John Carpenter's The Ward

While I am one the biggest Ghosts of Mars fan on the planet, I think that John Carpenter’s latest film The Ward may very well be his best work in more than twenty years. Carpenter’s first feature-length film since Ghosts of Mars a decade ago might not be as ambitious as his In the Mouth of Madness (1993) or as exciting as his Vampires (1996) but he hasn’t delivered a work directed quite as beautifully directed since They Live, his sadly undervalued masterpiece from 1988.

Set in the mid-sixties and starring the fascinating young actress Amber Heard (finally an ‘it’ girl with some real chops) as Kristen, a troubled girl who ends up in an all-female wing of a mental hospital after burning down a farm house for no apparent reason, The Ward is a smart and sneaky fright-film from the pen of Michael and Shawn Rasmussen, a young writing and directing team responsible for 2005’s Long Distance. While there isn't anything particularly original about the script and the film's ending is perhaps a little too transparent, The Ward is a real filmmaker's film as Carpenter's skill behind the camera easily makes up for any pedestrian moments the plot suffers from.

While Carpenter's direction controls the film, The Ward is a production overflowing with talent in fron of and behind the camera. With its splendid supporting cast, including Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Laura-Leigh, Lyndsay Fonseca and the always great Jared Harris, lively score courtesy of Mark Kilian (sitting in for Carpenter who opted out of providing the music for this one), and eerie photography by talented cinematographer Yaron Orbach (a man not usually associated with horror films), The Ward is an extremely well-rendered film that is so much more successful as a true fright-film than any other released in 2011.

Even though Amber Heard is absolutely terrific as the lead, the real star of The Ward is indeed Carpenter’s direction, which is at its confident and controlled best. When I met John Carpenter a few years back, around the time he had finished up working on his Masters of Horror episodes, about the last thing he seemed interested in was directing another feature so to see him come back with a work so polished, muscular and beautifully finessed is a really fabulous. The Ward is also incredibly contemporary feeling and outside of a marvelous visual and musical cue inspired by Halloween this is not at all Carpenter in summation mode…this is the man firing on all cylinders again and the news that he is preppy another film is extremely welcome.

Like most of John Carpenter’s great films, The Ward was released to a mostly hostile critical reception earlier this year and sadly it didn’t even have a chance to become a popular success as its time in theaters was limited at best. Pity, as this is a wonderfully elegant and well-made horror film overflowing with style. Watching this I kept saying to myself, 'This is how you do it…this is how its done', and I felt truly privileged to watch a new film by of our great American masters, who has been out of sight far too long.

The Ward looks fabulous on both DVD and Blu-ray but sadly it has arrived with only extra, an enjoyable audio commentary track from Carpenter and Jared Harris. While many have gone out of their way to trash The Ward, I found this to be quite a return to form for the great Carpenter even if it finally doesn't rank among his very best, as it doesn't have the transformative power of Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog, The Thing, Escape From New York or Christine. I am confident that time will catch up with The Ward though and it will eventually be viewed as quite a special little-film from one of our great American auteurs.

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The Art of the Movie Poster: Halloween III: Season of the Witch

Growing Up With Fangoria: Issue 15

Operation Screenshot (Films of the Eighties): John Carpenter's Escape From New York

I was hoping to write an impassioned defense of John Carpenter's The Ghosts of Mars for Radiator Heaven's J.C. week but I am afraid my upcoming wedding has me a bit creatively shot. I didn't want to miss the opportunity on submitting something to one of my favorite directors and heroes though, so here is a tribute in stills to one of Carpenter's most legendary films (which I saw in the theaters at the ripe age of nine back in the day).

Radiator Heaven's John Carpenter Week Begins

Here's a quick reminder that Radiator Heaven's sure to be awesome John Carpenter week begins today. Head over throughout the week and be sure to vote in the poll going on as well.

Cronenberg and Carpenter Blogathon Reminders

I've had the banners at the bottom of the page here awhile but just in case anyone had missed them don't forget the upcoming Blogathons honoring David Cronenberg and John Carpenter. I plan on submitting to both and I can't wait to read the contributions. For info on Cinema Viewfinder's Cronenberg week please click here, and for Radiator Heaven's Carpenter blow-out click here.
On a related note...I have an announcement coming up soon regarding something special I am doing for September..stay tuned.

Behind the Scenes With My Favorite Actors: Kurt Russell in The Thing

***Captured from the Special Edition DVD***

Growing Up With Fangoria (Issue 15)

Behind the Scenes With My Favorite Actors: Austin Stoker in John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

***Stills Captured fron the Assault on Precinct 13 DVD.***

Artist and Muse #32

How's this for resurrecting a series that I haven't done anything with in over two years? I couldn't resist though after finding these two terrific stills of John Carpenter and Adrienne Barbeau in a couple of the old back issues of Fango that I have been obsessing over lately...

Into the Restricted Zone

Ah, that first R-Rated film in a theater. It’s kind of a defining moment in every kids life…sort of like some early introduction to adulthood or, at the very least, something to brag about to the other kids at school. My memories of my first venture into the restricted zone have been on mind after a conversation I had with my mom recently, so I thought I would share a few memories here.

It’s always been my memory that my first R on the big screen was none other than John Carpenter’s Escape from New York back in 81. Yep, I was kicking it with Snake Plissken just a month after my eighth birthday. The memory is forever cemented in my brain, as is the bragging I did to any kid I could get to listen to me for months after.

My mom alerted me to the fact recently that I actually saw The Exorcist as an infant with her and my father, so technically my first R in a theater was Friedkin’s classic shocker. The Exorcist, can you imagine? The news thrilled me, but I just wish I had known it sooner. Imagine the bragging I could have been doing all these years…



A few other early R memories are seeing Sudden Impact with my Aunt Kathy just past the age of ten in 83. Outside of being my introduction to Dirty Harry, the trip also marked the first time I had ever had what would eventually become my movie candy of choice, the mighty Milk Dud.

The first R rated film I ever snuck into alone was 1985’s terrific Creator, a film that remains among my all time favorites. My parents had dropped me off to see something else (a dreaded PG film no doubt) and while I can’t recall what that was, I can most definitely recall the impact Virginia Madsen had on my twelve year old eyes that day…I have still yet to fully recover from it.



Growing up in a very liberal house had its benefits, so by 13 or so there wasn’t much off limits (although I do remember getting in trouble for a late night viewing of De Palma’s Body Double in 86 or so). I always get a kick out of hearing recollections from folks about their first ventures into R rated features on the big screen, and still never tire of bragging of my time with Snake and The Duke back in the day.

***Partially inspired by Roger Ebert's reprinting of a moving article he wrote on Virgina Madsen and her family a year or so after Creator came out***

Down Those Deserted Hallways Again.

Rick Rosenthal’s Halloween II commits the cardinal sin for a suspense film, in that it just attempts to explain too damn much. This mistake is one of the main problems that have plagued so many sequels and remakes throughout screen history. Why is ambiguity such a problem for mainstream American filmgoers? Why do so many feel like unanswered questions are such a bad thing?



Despite it’s many faults and failings, and there are plenty of them, Halloween II has survived and has had an effect. Michael Myers’ role as not only Laurie Strode’s lost brother but also as some sort of ‘lord of the dead’ comes directly from Rosenthal’s frustrating follow up to John Carpenter’s delightfully minimal and mysterious first film. Of course, one can’t blame Rosenthal completely as Halloween II was indeed penned by both Carpenter and producer Debra Hill. One can see the effect of the film in not only its sequels (particularly 4, 5 and 6 that took the ‘Samhain’ idea to finally ridiculous extremes) but also in Rob Zombie’s remake that unfortunately embraced the whole ‘Laurie as a lost sister’ concept.



The many missteps in the film’s script are especially unfortunate when one considers the fact that there are moments in Halloween II that are actually quite effective. Why more horror films haven’t been shot in seemingly abandoned hospitals in the dead of night is a mystery, because Rosenthal uses its empty and long hallways to great effect. At its best, Halloween II manages to build not a small amount of suspense, despite its script that seems to want to spoil all the mysteries the first film had created so terrifyingly.




Rosenthal’s film also benefits greatly from the work of returning cinematographer Dean Cundey, who lights and photographs the film with an eerie clarity. The film is indeed the only one of the sequels that manages to recreate at least partially the look of the stunning original, even though the larger budget actually seems to take away much of the freshness Carpenter and Cundey had come up with originally.



It is, of course, unfair to hold Halloween II up to its legendary predecessor. Perhaps it is more fitting to compare it to the other dozens upon dozens of slasher flicks that were populating American screens in the early eighties. In this respect it carries itself quite well. With Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasance and a couple of other key players back on board, Halloween II is one of the best cast slashers of the period. The new additions redeem themselves quite nicely as well, especially Pamela Susan Shoop and Gloria Gifford. Compared to many of the Slasher films of the period, Halloween II is actually pretty top notch, although finally it cannot be considered among the best.



Personally speaking, I have a lot of memories tied up in Rick Rosenthal’s Halloween II, and despite its problems I find myself watching it each year. I’m especially drawn towards the television version, with the alternate ending, that seemed to play endlessly throughout my teenage years. While it is mostly just nostalgia that keeps pulling me towards it, I have always suspected that somewhere down those stretched and shadowy hospital hallways that a great film could have emerged. When asked my opinion on the film, I typically just reply, “It has its moments” and perhaps that is all that should have been expected from it…but I have the feeling it could have been so much more.

Images From My All Time Favorite Films: John Carpenter's Halloween (1978)