John Carpenter Has Violent Wish For Critics Of His Overlooked Masterpiece: “I just want to spend five minutes with each one in a room”
Chad Collins
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While John Carpenter has been coasting along under the radar in recent years, playing video games and composing new riffs on his famous Halloween theme for Blumhouse’s new trilogy, his recent work on Suburban Screams has seen him hit the late-night circuit to promote the true crime series and his first directorial effort in over a decade.
Just last week, John Carpenter was on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert where the pair talked Suburban Screams, The Thing, and curiously, Carpenter’s attitude toward movie critics. Watch the clip below:
Here, Carpenter is principally remarking on the contemporaneous reception to The Thing. Horror fans know that Carpenter’s classic was famously derided upon release, only hitting the classic status it yields today years later. While some of his features such as Halloween were met with critical acclaim at the time, Carpenter (like Stanley Kubrick and several others) knows all too well that horror is uniquely poised to age over time. While the flavor of the scares might not work at first, shifting audiences and shifting perspectives are often all it takes for a masterpiece to be heralded as such.
When asked if there was anything John Carpenter might like to say to his critics, he replied, “Yes, I do. I just want to spend five minutes with each one in a room. A locked room. Just the two of us. Five minutes is all I ask, and then I’ll be happy” before confirming that, yes, he’d like the door to be soundproof. Does John Carpenter want to beat up his critics? Maybe, but that doesn’t sound so bad. I’d welcome it, even if I probably didn’t deserve it. I am one of maybe three fans of The Ward, his last feature directorial effort, after all.
What do you think? Which movie among John Carpenter’s storied filmography is your favorite? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins! But definitely don’t let Carpenter know himself. He’ll find you.
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