Starman is a whimsical tale of an inquisitive alien who adopts a human identity. Of course, he chooses the form of a grieving widow’s dead husband. This is one of the rare contributions of Carpenter that is about hope.
At first widow Jenny is horrified and frightened by the naked man in her home. But she cautiously trusts him. As they run, Jenny starts to help the Starman understand what he is experiencing. He is perplexed by our human insecurities. He is full of kindness, but finds our unkindness to be senseless. Starman is trying to show a better path, but mankind rejects this, seeing him as a threat.
Starman is remarkably upbeat for a guy who has an Apocalyptic Trilogy.
And yet, in spite of this…it is like this little bit of hopefulness slipped out. And I like it. Carpenter is a lot more thoughtful of a storyteller than some might think, but he often often slips it in beneath buckets of blood and goo.
It is a heartwarming film, much because of Jeff Bridges’ performance. He plays the Starman in a kind way, as a child just discovering that life is not fair. Allen is terrific in a potentially thankless role. She brings heart to Starman’s goodness. More than one film since has aped Starman’s inspiring behavior. Starman is not one of Carpenter’s more talked about films, and that is a shame. It is not a common film for him, but it is touching and a good little film.
Based on a short story by Clive Barker called the Forbidden, Candyman is a film about urban legends. Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) is a grad student who is doing a thesis on urban legends. She discovers a legend within the tenements of Cabrini-Green of the Candyman. Borrowing from the famous Bloody Mary, the belief is that if you look in a mirror and say his name five times, Candyman appears behind you and guts you with his hook.
After the Thing, Carpenter went with a different type of terror. In some ways, it is a return to the ghostly tale of the Fog. But instead of Leper Pirates, Christine is the tale of an obsessive car.
When it was announced that they were making a movie connected to John Carpenter’s the Thing, the internet seemed unsure how to describe it. Is it a Sequel? No. Is it a reboot? No. Is it a remake? No. But boy, I saw it constantly referred to as a remake and a reboot, even after it came out. Here is the thing, there is literally no doubt that this is a prequel. It is set shortly before Carpenter’s film at the Norwegian camp that discovers the alien thing.
Hot on the heels of Escape From New York, Carpenter and Russell worked together on the Thing. A film based on the short story “Who Goes There” (which had been adapted previously as The Thing From Another World).
This month, Shout!Factory has released an all new Blu-Ray of the film. The Two disc Special Edition has a very nice 2K scan, resulting in an excellent picture. The packaging has lush new cover art. It also has the Drew Struzan original on the reverse side.
1981’s Escape from New York was a large change from the Fog and Halloween. There were no supernatural elements and it was not a slasher. Instead, it was a straight up action film set in the distant future of 1997. Reagan married Thatcher and they had a kid who became President. Or something. Anyways, the president gets stuck in the worlds largest maximum penitentiary. Also known as New York.
This was filmed back to back with Necropolis and feature much of the same cast and crew. The kids from Necropolis are in college and getting their learn on or whatever. Uncle Charles is in Russia trying to see the Trioxin gas to Russian mobsters or something. The deal goes bad, and eventually, a canister of Trioxin ends up in the hands of his nephew Julian and his friends. They start experimenting with it, resulting in a potent hallucinogenic drug creatively called “Z”. Of course, the drug has a side effect…it turns you into a zombie. I am sure there is a subtle metaphor there. The finale plays out against a big rave with Russian mobsters blowing stuff up.
It took twelve years before this franchise lurched from the grave. Interestingly, it ties itself loosely to the first three films, introducing us to a company Hybra-Tech. They are the go to guys for stopping zombie outbreaks. According to the opening commercial, the last zombie outbreak was twelve years ago, suggesting this is the same universe as the previous films.
After two TV movies, John Carpenter returned to the screen with an old fashioned ghost story. Telling the tale of small seaside town Antonio Bay, the Fog follows events leading up to their Centennial. The town is planning to celebrate the near mythic four founders of the town. In the days leading up, there are mysterious events. Add a dense, unnatural fog. The Fog is not the scary part…there is something in the fog. Something cruel and angry.
The third sequel in the franchise departs from the previous two films. It is more horror and less comedic. It has some macabre humor, but it is primarily about the gore this time around.
Tripping Through Gateways 