It’s probably fair to say that John Carpenter has been rubbish for some time. Consensus on when exactly one of the finest horror directors of all time lost his mojo is difficult to come by – for us, it was with Village Of The Damned, which was then followed by Escape From LA, Vampires and his last film, 2001’s Ghosts Of Mars.
Now that’s a terrible run of Rob Reiner-esque proportions. But, like Reiner, it’s hard to write off a director whose CV also contains stone-cold classics. Dark Star. Assault On Precinct 13. Halloween. The Fog. The Thing. Big Trouble In Little China. Hell, we even like Prince Of Darkness.
So it’s fair to say that we’re excited by the news that – at long, long, long last – Carpenter is getting back in the game.
Casting has begun for his latest movie, a portmanteau piece called L.A. Gothic, which will tell five tales of LA-based terror, focusing on the efforts of a vengeful priest to rescue his daughter (so, clearly not a Catholic priest, then) from the supernatural evils of Tinseltown’s dark side. The only way this story could get any better is if Kurt Russell were to sign on to play the priest and renew his association with Carpenter.
The script has been written (pre-strike) by the team of Jim Agnew and Sean Keller, who are making a point of trying to resurrect old horror legends’ careers – they’re also writing Giallo for Dario Argento.
The aim with L.A. Gothic is to start shooting sometime in March, with Principal Entertainment stumping up the cash.
If you’re worried that Carpenter may be a little rusty after seven years away from film-making, he has been keeping busy with a couple of twisted episodes for the Masters Of Horror TV show. We wish him well for his comeback movie.