More Live Carpenter + some extra gravy

Following on from this post, here's another glacially cool video of Carpenter performing with his new band, this time the main title theme from Escape from New York. This live version has a much harder, more muscular edge than the original, and it is absolutely badass. A friend of a friend of mine just saw Carpenter perform in Berlin and said it was incredible. The Southern Hemisphere awaits you Mr. Carpenter.

Now check out that killer tribute to the master at top, art courtesy of Kid Eternity. It's nice to see In the Mouth of Madness get thrown in with some of Carpenter's more conventionally appreciated films for once, as it's too often ignored. Madness is one of my personal faves, and is long overdue a stacked blu-ray release.

The good news on the blu-ray front is that Shout! Factory is releasing a new SE of The Thing this September, featuring a ton of new special features and a new 2K transfer approved by Dean Cundey. The old Universal SE is still great (in terms of its special features), but a spiffy new transfer is long overdue. That Universal release was one of the first dvds to hit the market (I think it was the first dvd I ever bought, back in '99 or 2000!).

The big, BIG news is that there's a new Halloween movie on the way, a Miramax/Blumhouse co-production. Rumoured directors are The Guest's Adam Wingard and Oculus' Mike Flanagan, both of whom are excellent choices. Carpenter would be executive producing in  a "hands on" capacity (unlike his producing credit on the woeful The Fog remake, for which he accepted a cheque and simply walked away), but perhaps the most exciting bit of news is that he's in talks to come on board to write and perform the score.

THE HATEFUL EIGHT: Minnie's is the Warmest Place to Hide

Not only is it a considerably more satisfying Western than Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight is undeniable top-tier Tarantino, right up there with the Kill Bill movies and Inglourious Basterds*. I don't dislike Django, but for my tastes the odds are heavily stacked in The Hateful Eight's favour. I'm a sucker for tense, confined chamber pieces with strong ensemble casts, but my real bias towards QT's latest is that I'm an inveterate fan of John Carpenter's The Thing.

Going in, I was fully aware that Tarantino had infused his new film with the spirit of the sci-fi horror classic. He's gone on record as saying “The Thing is the one movie that is the most influential on this movie". I was expecting the obvious superficial connections: Kurt Russell in a lead role; an Ennio Morricone score; an almost entirely male ensemble trapped in a confined space during a blizzard. What I wasn't prepared for is the revelation that The Hateful Eight hews so closely and faithfully to Carpenter's film, that for all intents and purposes it has to be considered a spiritual remake. I say "spiritual" because of course there's no DNA assimilating alien monster here. However, make no mistake, in every other sense this is a far more effective remake of the 1982 film than the dismal prequel that came out five years ago.

"Somebody in this camp ain't what he appears to be"

- Kurt Russell, The Thing

"One of them fellas is not what he says he is"

- Kurt Russell, The Hateful Eight

Those echoing lines, deliberately calculated to jog the viewer's memory, are just the tip of the iceberg. For starters, passages are lifted wholesale from Morricone's score for The Thing, most noticeably "Despair" (as well as some unused material that can be found on The Thing's OST). Entire scenes and sequences from the '82 film are blatantly referenced, if not straight up copied. The blood testing sequence is reinterpreted as a scene in which Samuel Jackson's Major Marquis Warren holds the surviving lodgers of Minnie's Haberdashery at gunpoint. Also faithfully recreated are the tense exchanges between characters, as they test the true nature of each other's identities and attempt to form fragile alliances. Several instances of characters struggling off into the blizzard, their isolation from the group making them instant red herrings, are also the most obvious visual references. The final exchange, in the aftermath of the violence, between an exhausted MacReady and Childs is also cribbed. It's all there.

Just to leave you in absolutely no doubt that what you're watching is actually nihilistic horror in the guise of a Western, Tarantino throws in a cue from Last House on the Left - David Hess' "Now You're All Alone". Further confirmation of that comes in the form of exploding heads, vomited innards and splattering squibs. This is far and away Tarantino's goriest film since Kill Bill.

Watching The Hateful Eight was a blast for me. On top of the usual qualities that you expect from one of Tarantino's best - great dialogue, characters, score, visuals and action - this was the closest I've ever gotten to reliving the thrill of seeing Carpenter's masterpiece for the first time thirty-four years ago. Countless filmmakers have tried to emulate The Thing by one-upping Rob Bottin's fx (a lost cause from the get go), but Tarantino wisely approaches the material from the human angle, which is plenty alienating enough. As with The Thing, the result is riveting - a tangled web of paranoia, hidden identities and shifting allegiances that keeps you guessing until the final scene.

I couldn't be happier with the new breed of high quality, ultra violent Western that we're seeing (and I'm including the lesser, but still very enjoyable The Revenant). It's like an exploitation fan's dream come true to have a pair of Kurt Russell starring oaters that are as indebted to Deodato and Carpenter as they are to Corbucci, Peckinpah and Leone. Next up, following his strongest film to date (The Sacrament), I have high hopes for Ti West's In a Valley of Violence.

*I'm aware that this is a very subjective statement, and I admit that my appreciation of Tarantino's movies is largely driven by my preference for certain genres over others. Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are objectively better movies than Death Proof any day of the week, but I'm more likely to want to revisit a violent horror/exploitation hybrid (starring Kurt Russell) than a straight up crime film.

Harbinger Down

I love The Thing, and I have no problem with filmmakers assimilating the DNA of Carpenter's classic to bring us more gooey, Thingy goodness. In recent years movies that are heavily inspired by The Thing have started popping up more and more frequently, to the point where it's starting to become a little sub-genre in its own right. As is to be expected, the results have ranged from mediocre (The Thaw), to excellent (The Last Winter, Splinter). Just as I still love Alien rip-offs, I'll never tire of seeing people attempt to emulate the tension and creature effects of that seminal Arctic monster movie.

As such I'm stoked that we've got not one, but two The Thing clones headed our way. The first is Marvin Kren's Blood Glacier (the follow up to his excellent Rammbock), which has already been out for a while, and despite receiving a lot of negative reviews looks like it could provide a few icky thrills. The movie that has me more excited however, is special effects veterans Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr's upcoming Harbinger Down.

Gillis and Woodruff's Amalgamated Dynamics has turned in some great creature effects over the last 25 years in the likes of Tremors, Starship Troopers and this year's Godzilla. They've also provided terrific effects work for a number of not so stellar movies, and one of those is the woeful 2011 remake/prequel of The Thing. During production of that film, much was made of the practical effects that ADI were utilising to bring the Thing to life, but by the time the movie was finished most of their work was hidden under layers of CGI. Honestly, that was the least of that movie's problems, but the disappointment at seeing all of that great practical work obscured by not-so-great CG was the last straw (just to clarify my position on CG, I'm not completely averse to it and love it when it's done well. See District 9, Elysium, Godzilla '14 etc).

So is Harbinger Down, written and directed by Gillis himself, ADI's response to that fiasco? Is this them going "well that was a disaster, so why don't we unofficially remake it ourselves with no studio interference"? If the frenetic trailer is anything to go by, then perhaps. Said trailer features a number of  glimpses at effects that are very reminiscent of Rob Bottin's famous work, and it's kind of endearing to see how unabashedly they're ripping-off Carpenter's movie. You've got your arctic locale; big chunk of ice containing monster remains; glimpsing the creature through a chain link fence; killing it by burning; charred remains seen in the snow. The trailer is full of imagery that fans of the '82 masterpiece will instantly recognise.

It's also kind of charming that they are being so unpretentious with the film's marketing. Look at the taglines on the poster above: from the creature creators of and a practical effects film. It's seems obvious to me that Harbinger Down was driven purely by an enduring love for Bottin's work, as well as a desire to make a buck from the effects legend's legion of fans, many of whom were likely disappointed by Matthijs van Heijningen's 2011 failure.

Bob and Dennis Skotak are also part of the Harbinger team, making the effects pedigree of this movie truly amazing. Of course it has to be noted that there's a long history of features directed by effects gurus that are just plain awful. Whether Harbinger's screenplay, cast and myriad other crucial elements of filmmaking are any good remains to be seen, but despite those reservations I feel optimistic about this one! I mean, there's going to be some stop-motion fucking animation in this! How can you not love that?

Oh, and did I mention the icing on this gory cake? Lance Henrickson is in it!

Read more about it here, and check out the trailer below.

SEE Jed As A Puppy!

"Se til helvete og kom dere vekk. Det er ikke en bikkje, det er en slags ting! Det imiterer en bikkje, det er ikke virkelig! Kom dere vekk, idioter!"

So, here it is, the trailer for this year's prequel to The Thing. I don't mind that the film appears to be an obvious hybrid of remake and prequel, as I anticipated that from the outset. My main problem with this trailer is that everything feels a bit "flat". The Thing is essentially an intimate little story about an alien and a small group of humans, and as such it demands amazing creature FX and a strong, charismatic ensemble cast. At this stage I have grave doubts about both. I will say without reservation that Mary Elizabeth Winstead definitely looks like the warmest place to hide. Ahem.

Not Human

A mere three months (almost to the day) before The Thing 2011 hits theatres, and Universal has finally seen fit to release the film's first promotional material. I like the logo's simplicity, and that it's so similar to the '82 poster logo. It's also interesting to note that they've opted for a painted image, obviously reminiscent of Drew Struzan's iconic artwork for Carpenter's film (right). The image also recalls the transformation and demise of poor Bennings (below).

That's right, I'm still actually holding out hope for this...

Keep Watching The Skies!

Just a few short months before the third adaptation of John W. Campbell's seminal SF horror story hits theatres, let's take a moment to acknowledge the passing of the man who first donned that monster makeup, back in 1951's The Thing From Another World. At an imposing 6' 6" James Arness was an obvious choice for the role of rampaging extraterrestrial, although unlike some of his Famous Monster brethren, he apparently wasn't very fond of the character. Genre fans will also remember him for his role in another iconic creature feature, 1954's atomic cautionary tale Them (right).

The Thing From Another World

My last post prompted reader Steven to ask about some of the Thing From Another World books, published by Dark Horse Comics back in the early '90s. They released a few mini-series', this short two-parter being the first (and probably best) of the bunch. The first issue's lurid cover art appears to be based on the demonic visage of the Norris monster from the movie.

This pseudo-sequel to Carpenter's film picks up immediately after the movie's conclusion: Mac and Childs suspiciously eyeing each other off amongst the burning ruins of Outpost 31, resigned to the inevitability of their fates - hypothermia or assimilation. The action in this story plays out entirely in Antarctica, a locale that the comic's writers would unwisely leave behind for future miniseries'... discouraging me from bothering to read any further. I'm not interested in seeing this ancient extraterrestrial depart the frozen wastes that it has haunted down the lonely aeons - entombed in primordial ice, patiently sleeping alongside it's literary brethren, the Elder Things. Hit the link to get weird and pissed off.

ASSIMILATION COMPLETE

"They're not Swedish Mac, they're Norwegian"

Full disclosure: one of my most keenly anticipated movies of next year is the prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing.

As I recently said of Alien, The Thing is another of my top-five "Mount Rushmore of Celluloid" films. A movie so influential on me, so close to my black, festering heart that it's position upon that gory edifice is assured until the day I die. So how can I condone this new abomination... this prequel? Quite simply, I just can't help it.

Although I've decried the practice of remaking recent movies, I've made my peace now with the remaking of older films. We've already seen so many of our sacred cows slaughtered (with varying results), it's become obvious that a new version of an old favourite doesn't really damage the original film's legacy. The original still remains - unsullied, unharmed and ready to be discovered by new generations of genre fans.

When it was announced that Dawn Of The Dead was being remade, I was among the hordes of righteously angry Romero fans. It was unthinkable to me that this cinematic sacrilege could possibly result in a good horror movie. But in spite of all my naysaying, James Gunn wrote a good screenplay (intelligent, nuanced, lacking Romero's social commentary but packed with solid characters and genuine pathos), and Zack Snyder directed a gory, scary movie that paid tribute to Romero where appropriate, while treading enough new ground to make it interesting.

Dawn '04 was brought to us by the same production company that is behind next year's The Thing - Strike Entertainment. With only eight films yet released (to my knowledge), Strike already has a very impressive genre pedigree: the aforementioned Romero remake; James Gunn's excellent but criminally overlooked Slither; Alfonso Cuarón's superb SF masterpiece Children Of Men; and this year's critically acclaimed The Last Exorcism (haven't seen it yet). As far as production companies go, The Thing appears to have found a good home (host?).

Who goes there? Not Mac and Childs.

But what of all the little creative details that are so crucially important for this movie, and without which it simply won't work? Well, things aren't looking too bad:

- first time director Matthijs van Heijningen has always maintained that he has a huge amount of respect for Carpenter's film, and wants his prequel to dovetail with it, not "update it" or "make it fresh and hip" (ugh). The tone of the new film is said to be serious, grim and R-rated.

- This attitude is reflected in his casting choices. An interesting ensemble made up of more or less unknown Norwegian actors and a respectable group of english language thesps. The inclusion of an attractive young woman (i.e. the threat of an unnecessary love interest) isn't a worry - Mary Elizabeth Winstead has real acting chops, and van Heijningen is said to have made a point of "plaining her up", as befits her role of archaeologist. I also appreciate the "pseudo remake" casting of Joel Edgerton as a grizzled helicopter pilot and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (excellent in HBO's Oz) as his tough co-pilot. The two are obvious stand-ins for Kurt Russell's MacReady and Keith David's Childs, and I don't mind the homage. Sure, Edgerton is no Russell (who is?), but he's no air-headed pretty boy either.

- In line with the original's theme of isolation (not only in the hostile, remote environment, but within each person, as they come to distrust their colleagues), the word is that a major plot point involves the language barrier contributing to a rift between the inhabitants of the Norwegian base and their invited foreign guests. An interesting idea.

- As reported by various sources, an exhaustive amount of research went into replicating the Norwegian base as seen in the '82 film. Sets like the room that holds the "ice block" have apparently been slavishly recreated down to the finest details. It's also said that the Norwegian base sequence from Carpenter's film was religiously used as the primary source of reference for the screenplay and production design. All of MacReady and Copper's grim discoveries in the original will be included and explained in the prequel.

- The film was shot in the super-wide scope format favoured by Carpenter and frequently collaborating cinematographer Dean Cundey.

- Most importantly the creature FX are said to be mostly practical, generally only utilising CG to enhance details. This process was used extensively in del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy II, and the results there were impressive and sometimes astonishingly good. Also, the company providing the visual FX are the talented folks who worked on District 9, so what CG there is should be top notch. As far as the actual design of the creature, there's a vivid description of one of it's incarnations here, and it sounds pretty much in line with Rob Bottin's work. Although reports of the budget seem to vary at between 35 and 70 million (depending on where you look), Twitchfilm recently quoted an article in Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, which claimed that 15 million was spent on the creature FX alone. That's a fuckload of writhing, tentacled, DNA assimilating, weird and pissed off... THING.

So. Do I think it'll live up to Carpenter's movie... or come even close to it's awesomeness? No way. I'm not a complete chump. But if any of the above is to be believed, then there is some potential here. Like I said, I'm such a fan of J.C.'s flick that I just can't help but be enthusiastic about revisiting the ultimate in alien terror.

Artwork by Tyler Stout.