In the Mouth of Madness, 1995

Assault on Precinct Thirteen, Halloween, The Fog, Escape From New York, The Thing, Christine, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China, Prince of Darkness, They Live... these films, for me, depicted the best of Carpenter. They were written, directed, composed with such style and badassedness (not a real word, but you get the picture).

Then he came out with Memoirs of an Invisible Man... which was his stretch into mainstream films, still with that twist of his. It was not a great movie, by any stretch of the imagination, and I don't think ILM did such a fantastic job with the effects... but keep in mind, it was 1992.

Then he co-directed some work with Tobe Hooper in Body Bags, 1993. A neat little combination of stories, but not the Carpenter I remembered and loved.

He then did something that directors were toying around with, at the time... and for a long time in the past. He directed two films at once.

Village of the Damned, his second remake, starring Christopher Reeve and Kirstie Alley. This had some trademark Carpenter work in it, but it was far from suspenseful or gory, stuff I was looking for. There was some good acting, some good moments, but, again, it was a remake. Carpenter's best film, and the best remake of all time, was The Thing. It's still incredible, and outbeats most of the horror films made, since.

The second film was In the Mouth of Madness. This film was trademark Carpenter, through and through.

This would be Carpenter's (and writer Michael De Luca's) tribute to horror master H.P. Lovecraft. The film, especially the creatures depicted, are pure Lovecraft.

This would also be a film using Stephen King as a template for the main character, Sutter Cane (played by Jurgen Prochnow). Carpenter, almost ten years earlier, would shoot Christine, based on the S. King novel.

Madness was written by one of those Hollywood guys who got his hands in incredible movies, and didn't let go. Michael De Luca, who also wrote the Judge Dredd film and Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (part 6). He's not a great writer... but Madness came off smart, scary and well crafted. De Luca is a producing machine. He's helmed some of Hollywood's biggest blockbuster films: Deep Cover, Loaded Weapon 1, The Mask, Don Juan DeMarco, Last Man Standing, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Boogie Nights, Wag the Dog, Dark City, Lost in Space, Pleasantville, American History X, Austing Powers 2, Detroit Rock City, Magnolia, Lost Souls, Little Nicky, Thirteen Days, Blow, and soon to be released, Town and Country, Knockaround Guys, Highway and Blade 2.

This guy can't lose. Granted, there are some less than stellar films in that resume, but others make up for it, especially the P.T. Anderson films and Thirteen Days, which might win him the oscar for Best Picture next year.

I like Sam Neill. I think he's an incredible actor with a great range... especially with injecting comedy into his straight characters. I would have to say his two big breaks were in The Omen III and Dead Calm. From there he went on to The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, The Piano, Jurassic Park, Event Horizon, Merlin (TV), Bicentennial Man, and soon to star in Jurassic Park 3, as Dr. Alan Grant, again. I look forward to watching him, especially in this role, again.

I also dig Jurgen Prochnow, who played Sutter Cane. He's got such a creepy presence about him, ever since Das Boot and Lynch's Dune. He's got a fantastic screen presence and has an effect on other actors around him, almost dwarfing them, especially in The Seventh Sign with Demi Moore.

I can't say much about Julie Carmen, except that she's still getting work. Her performance was great at times and mediocre at other times. I've not heard of much she's been in, but as an actress, I'm glad she's still working, and not one of those one movie gig people that drop off the face of the earth. Good for her.

I like John Carpenter's music. So shoot me. I think it's fun, and I think he's the only director in the business who has the balls to not only put his name in front of every title, but also to produce the films soundtrack. I hope he keeps it up, I think a lot of it is great.

Gary B. Kibbe has been a DP for some of my favorite movies, all of them Carpenter. Carpenter started using Kibbe with Prince of Darkness, They Live, Body Bags, Village of the Damned, Madness, Escape From L.A., Vampires and the soon to be released Ghosts of Mars, which will rock the house. Kibbe has also worked on some other features, but nothing too stellar. Robocop 3, which was a horrible movie thanks to Frank Miller, and Double Dragon, which was a disgrace.

Overall, the film is incredible. But, again, I'm a Carpenter fan. Huge. I see and re-see everything he's ever made, and never get bored. Ask me how long ago I pre-ordered the Big Trouble in Little China DVD. No, really, ask me.

J.P.

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