CARPENTER IS BACK AND HERE’S A LIST OF FILMMAKERS WHO WOULD SERVE HIM WELL!
Article by Adam Mast
John Carpenter isn’t just a great horror filmmaker. He’s a great filmmaker, period! Through the years, this feisty talent has never hidden the fact that he sees no sense in holding on to some deep-rooted emotional attachment to a movie he made years earlier. This would explain why we’ve seen a plethora of his films remade through the years. But said remakes/revisits (which include THE FOG, THE THING, and HALLOWEEN) also prove that it takes more than a reputable title to sell tickets. It also takes a master at the helm and Carpenter is a master in every sense of the word.
Yesterday, some mighty intriguing news dropped. It seems that Blumhouse (the production company behind low-budget gems like SINISTER and THE VISIT), producer Malek Akkad, and Miramax and Trancas International Films are teaming up to bring a new version of HALLOWEEN to theaters. This news in of itself isn’t all that intriguing. In fact, by itself, there’s nothing surprising about this news at all. What makes this story more compelling than it might have been otherwise is the fact that John Carpenter himself will be involved as an executive producer, creative consultant, and composer! You can read the Blumhouse story HERE.
Now, you might be thinking, “Really? Another damn Halloween movie?!” Normally, I would agree, but the very idea that the guy who gave us Michael Myers in the first place will be back to shepherd a brand new HALLOWEEN flick is enough to generate excitement in the soul of even the biggest and most skeptical of purists. While I’m certainly burned out on the whole tired reboot craze, I can get behind this one.
With the exception of the little seen, THE WARD, Carpenter hasn’t been involved in the making of a feature in the last 15 years so it’ll be really exciting to see him back in the game. Having said that, he’s still very much at the forefront of the creative process having released two albums in the last couple of years. In fact, he’s about to go on tour with a show that will see him playing selections from both “Lost Themes” records as well as select tracks from his many legendary soundtracks. For tour dates, CLICK HERE.
What direction this new HALLOWEEN film might be headed, is anyone’s guess. At this point, Blumhouse, Carpenter, and crew haven’t even brought a director into the fold. With that, here’s 5 filmmakers who we believe would be a great fit for HALLOWEEN:
(5) A NEWBIE
Rather than giving HALLOWEEN to an established talent, why not pluck someone from obscurity to helm the project. True, when Carpenter made the original film, he had DARK STAR and ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 under his belt, but it was really HALLOWEEN that made him a household name. A no-name might be the best route to take, especially given that Blumhouse will, no doubt, want to make this a low-budget affair.
(4) JENNIFER KENT
For my money, THE BABADOOK is the best horror film of the last decade. It’s just an opinion folks and like all opinions, it’s debatable, but that flick hit me like a thunderbolt! True, Jennifer Kent used an outer horror shell to delve into what THE BABADOOK is really about (a single mother dealing with grief and trying to provide for her troubled child), and some might fear that she would bring emotional complexity to a movie that doesn’t really call for it, but at the end of the day, this woman knows how to generate real tension.
(3) DAVID ROBERT MITCHELL
David Robert Mitchell seems like an obvious contender for this gig. His 2014 breakout hit, IT FOLLOWS, had John Carpenter written all over it! From the quietly effective terror, to the atmospheric chills, to the moody synth score, IT FOLLOWS was all about tone. The question is, is Mitchell too obvious a choice to take on a remake of a movie that clearly inspired his aesthetic in the first place? Also, he’s hard at work on a new film called UNDER THE SILVER LAKE so he might not even be available.
(2) MIKE FLANAGAN
Mike Flanagan might be one of the best under-the radar filmmakers out there. His OCULUS is an underappreciated gem. A movie that trades in gore for tone and psychological terror. Flanagan also made a thrifty little home invasion flick called HUSH. That film too, seemed more interested in tension building than shock tactics. He also has two other movies, ABSENTIA and BEFORE I WAKE, under his belt. Both have garnered positive buzz. What’s more, Flanagan is attached to a big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s GERALD’S GAME. Given his resourcefulness and his tone-trumps-shock sensibility, he’d be a perfect fit for HALLOWEEN.
(1) JOHN CARPENTER
As good as any of these choices would be, they are all a distant second to Carpenter, himself. Since Carpenter is already on board as a creative consultant, why not just give him an extra nudge and talk him in to directing the damn thing?! Sure, he might be a little rusty, but the man is an icon! You put him in this environment and surround him by a crew who show respect and actually give a shit, and he’ll thrive! There’s no better directing choice for HALLOWEEN than the man who started it all. Better still, time the release of this bad boy to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the original! 2018…The night he came home!
Watch for more HALLOWEEN news as it becomes available.
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