Yes, John looks pretty-old, but I think it's more his health folks, let's show some respect here. You'll look like a funnier-caricature of yourself than he does when you're 60. As you've already-suspected, I am a longtime-fan of John Carpenter's films, so a little background should help. The first film I ever saw of his was "Elvis" (1979), a made-for-TV movie that is pretty-damned-good. I was too-young to see "Halloween", but it did return between 1978-80 in our local-theater. The first theatrical-movie of his I ever saw was "Christine" (1983), an excellent film that gets overlooked, but is definitely a classic. After that, I saw "Starman" (1984), "Big Trouble in Little China" (1986), and "They Live" (1988), and the brilliant "Prince of Darkness" (1989). All were/are excellent-additions to his body-of-work. After-that, it gets sketchy, and I ascribe this to changes in the Hollywood system (for-the-worse, naturally) regarding-horror, and Carpenter simply became tired fighting producers. He didn't want to end-up being Sam Peckinpah.
I don't even like "In the Mouth of Madness" much, and consider it his worst film, especially plot-wise (it was written by Michael Deluca, then a line-producer for New Line, a bad-screenplay). "Village of the Damned" (1995) offered some hope, but I kept asking-myself, "Why THIS story?!""Vampires" (1998) is a great spoof, and should be viewed-as-such. I actually thought "Ghosts of Mars" (2001, what a lost-year) was pretty-good, and a lot like "Assault on Precinct 13", only updated. Anyway, it should be clear that I love his films, but am disappointed by some of them. He is too, apparently, but that's how life works. It isn't perfect, but at least he's taken-chances, which is a lot more than most so-called "horror-directors" can say these-days. In-fact, I'm STILL waiting for Hollywood to make an in-house horror movie, none of the new ones scare me in any way.
But this really scared me, I'm a cineaste (film-buff), so a lot of the film was familiar to me. Udo Kier absolutely steals every-scene he's in, and the whole cast, the makeup, Cody Carpenter's excellent score, and the writing and directing are high-grade horror. "Le Fin Absolue Du Monde" is a fictional-film, as "Videodrome" is a fictional snuff. Snuff is real, incidentally--generally being interrogation-videos shot in Central America by death-squads trained by the CIA. So, imagine if you watched a real snuff-film. You are directly-connected to a crime, and it changes you morally in ways you might not even detect or understand. In this sense, both "Cigarette Burns" and "Videodrome" have a thematic-link in that one can be changed by watching-imagery. The difference is that one is a supernatural-tale/allegory, while the other is implicitly-political.
Norman Reedus plays Kirby Sweetman (another interesting name!) to Kier's Ballinger, both searchers of esoteric-cinema, and rare-or-lost films. Ballinger is much like a shadow-world version of Kirby, who is basically a damaged, but happy-go-lucky film-buff. He is haunted by the death of his junkie-fiancée, a death he blames-on-himself. Through numerous "cigarette burn" flashbacks, we learn he's probably right, though he is a very sympathetic-character. Ballinger is not. The opening-scene with an otherworldly-being he has captured and mutilated is very chilling, and reveals his character early-on in the film.The journey to find "Le Fin Absolue Du Monde" is an interesting-one, and while it is dialog-heavy, it works. The story just builds-and-builds, increasing-in-intensity, until a jaw-dropping moment of "snuff" and the hysterical-ending that is a slice-of-hell. Douglas Arthurs also chews-scenery as the sadistic Dalibor, he's pretty frightening. Hell is regret, guilt.
So, not bad, Mr. Carpenter. Here's to more! The Masters of Horror series has a great-beginning, and subsequent-episodes look incredible from the trailers! Again, the transfer is near-perfect, though not shot in Carpenter's preferred Panavision-scope of 2.35:1, but he did a fine-job. The cinematography is noirish and natural, I liked it a lot. There wasn't a lot I didn't like here, just a couple moments where there could have been better locations, but otherwise, a great short-film. It appears John Carpenter is working on two-more projects: "Psychopath" (a giallo?), and "Pro-life" for Masters of Horror (sounds GOOD). I'll take age and experience over youth and inexperience any-day. BUT, is Alexandre Aja the new John Carpenter? Like Eli Roth (OLD, he's my age!), Aja loves the genre, and you cannot make great-horror without this. You gotta love this series, man, it's the real-deal.
I don't even like "In the Mouth of Madness" much, and consider it his worst film, especially plot-wise (it was written by Michael Deluca, then a line-producer for New Line, a bad-screenplay). "Village of the Damned" (1995) offered some hope, but I kept asking-myself, "Why THIS story?!""Vampires" (1998) is a great spoof, and should be viewed-as-such. I actually thought "Ghosts of Mars" (2001, what a lost-year) was pretty-good, and a lot like "Assault on Precinct 13", only updated. Anyway, it should be clear that I love his films, but am disappointed by some of them. He is too, apparently, but that's how life works. It isn't perfect, but at least he's taken-chances, which is a lot more than most so-called "horror-directors" can say these-days. In-fact, I'm STILL waiting for Hollywood to make an in-house horror movie, none of the new ones scare me in any way.
But this really scared me, I'm a cineaste (film-buff), so a lot of the film was familiar to me. Udo Kier absolutely steals every-scene he's in, and the whole cast, the makeup, Cody Carpenter's excellent score, and the writing and directing are high-grade horror. "Le Fin Absolue Du Monde" is a fictional-film, as "Videodrome" is a fictional snuff. Snuff is real, incidentally--generally being interrogation-videos shot in Central America by death-squads trained by the CIA. So, imagine if you watched a real snuff-film. You are directly-connected to a crime, and it changes you morally in ways you might not even detect or understand. In this sense, both "Cigarette Burns" and "Videodrome" have a thematic-link in that one can be changed by watching-imagery. The difference is that one is a supernatural-tale/allegory, while the other is implicitly-political.
Norman Reedus plays Kirby Sweetman (another interesting name!) to Kier's Ballinger, both searchers of esoteric-cinema, and rare-or-lost films. Ballinger is much like a shadow-world version of Kirby, who is basically a damaged, but happy-go-lucky film-buff. He is haunted by the death of his junkie-fiancée, a death he blames-on-himself. Through numerous "cigarette burn" flashbacks, we learn he's probably right, though he is a very sympathetic-character. Ballinger is not. The opening-scene with an otherworldly-being he has captured and mutilated is very chilling, and reveals his character early-on in the film.The journey to find "Le Fin Absolue Du Monde" is an interesting-one, and while it is dialog-heavy, it works. The story just builds-and-builds, increasing-in-intensity, until a jaw-dropping moment of "snuff" and the hysterical-ending that is a slice-of-hell. Douglas Arthurs also chews-scenery as the sadistic Dalibor, he's pretty frightening. Hell is regret, guilt.
So, not bad, Mr. Carpenter. Here's to more! The Masters of Horror series has a great-beginning, and subsequent-episodes look incredible from the trailers! Again, the transfer is near-perfect, though not shot in Carpenter's preferred Panavision-scope of 2.35:1, but he did a fine-job. The cinematography is noirish and natural, I liked it a lot. There wasn't a lot I didn't like here, just a couple moments where there could have been better locations, but otherwise, a great short-film. It appears John Carpenter is working on two-more projects: "Psychopath" (a giallo?), and "Pro-life" for Masters of Horror (sounds GOOD). I'll take age and experience over youth and inexperience any-day. BUT, is Alexandre Aja the new John Carpenter? Like Eli Roth (OLD, he's my age!), Aja loves the genre, and you cannot make great-horror without this. You gotta love this series, man, it's the real-deal.