john carpenter

Review: THE THING EXPANDED Is The Final Word On John Carpenter’s Classic Sci-Fi Horror

I was probably far too young when I was introduced to John Carpenter’s The Thing. My dad let me watch it when I was around 10 years old (maybe a year or two on either side) – a huge Kurt Russell fan thanks to Big Trouble In Little China [...]

May 11, 2026

Review: Adam Wingard’s YOU’RE NEXT Is A Darkly Comedic Home Invasion Horror

There’s quite a lot to recommend in director Adam Wingard’s You’re Next, a darkly comedic home invasion film which takes the horror sub-genre and flips it on its head. It’s all very entertaining and as it builds, it becomes even funnier and [...]

July 28, 2024

Trailer: John Carpenter Returns To Directing With SUBURBAN SCREAMS

John Carpenter – the acclaimed Master Of Horror behind The Thing, Halloween and The Fog hasn’t directed since 2010’s The Ward – but that will change once Suburban Screams hits Peacock on October 13. There’s a catch [...]

September 16, 2023

Podcast – Episode 24: Director K. Asher Levin Talks About The Horror-Action-Comedy SLAYERS

Director K. Asher Levin joins the Movies In Focus podcast to talk with Niall Browne about his horror-action-comedy Slayers. A very modern take on the vampire film, Slayers stabs its stake into the heart of everything from online influencers to [...]

November 4, 2022

Trailer & Poster: It’s The Final Countdown For Laurie Strode & Michael Myers In HALLOWEEN ENDS

The great John Carpenter‘s 1978 horror film Halloween is a masterpiece. David Gordon Green‘s 2018 spiritual sequel/franchise reboot, Halloween was excellent but unfortunately Green’s 2021 follow-up, Halloween Kills was a huge [...]

July 20, 2022

Ennio Morricone – Remembering A Maestro

The great Ennio Morricone died on July 6 2020 at the age of 91 years old. The Italian film was probably best known for his work with Sergio Leone, the most famous being the 1966 Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly [...]

July 6, 2022

Review: Kurt Russell Is Snake Plissken In John Carpenter’s ESCAPE FROM L.A

Time is a great healer. John Carpenter’s Escape From L.A may not have set the world on fire when it was released back in 1996, but the film has aged incredibly well in the subsequent years. The follow-up to Carpenter’s 1981 classic, Escape From [...]

April 11, 2022

Behind The Scenes: John Wayne, James Caan & Robert Mitchum On The Set Of EL DORADO

The great Howard Hawks‘ 1966 western, El Dorado has one of the great tough guy casts of the 1960s. Starring John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and James Caan, the film is a well crafted western with great turns from the three lead actors. Wayne plays [...]

March 26, 2022

Behind The Scenes: Ice Cube & John Carpenter On The Set of GHOSTS OF MARS

The 2001 release, Ghosts Of Mars might not be one of John Carpenter‘s best films – but its definitely far from the worst. It’s still an enjoyable genre piece with a surprisingly old-fashioned vibe and its even more quaint now in [...]

January 16, 2022

Uncovering Curiosities: Joe Begos’ VFW

Over the last 10 or 15 years, much has been said and done about the Grindhouse aesthetic. Since Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez unleashed their double-bill feature of Death Proof and Planet Terror 2007, many directors have tried and (mostly) [...]

October 30, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: John Carpenter’s MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN

If ever there was a cinematic curiosity that needs to be uncovered, it’s John Carpenter‘s Memoirs Of An Invisible Man. The film sees Carpenter take a trip into Alfred Hitchcock territory, riffing on North By Northwest with Chevy Chase [...]

October 17, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: John Carpenter’s ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

When you look at how action cinema evolved in the 1980s, it’s very now clear that Escape From New York is one of the films which helped to establish the template for the muscular action hero. John Carpenter’s 1981 film (his second of many [...]

October 16, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: John Carpenter’s THE FOG

After taking a break from horror to make Elvis in 1979, John Carpenter returned to the genre with The Fog, an atmospheric ghost story set in the fictional Californian town of Antonio Bay. When The Fog starts rolling-in, so does the crew of [...]

October 15, 2021

How David Gordon Green Managed To Make Michael Myers & Halloween Relevant Again

In 2018, director David Gordon Green along with co-writers Jeff Fradley and Danny McBride managed to do the near imaginable – they managed to once again make the Halloween franchise – and Michael Myers – relevant again. The [...]

October 14, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN

From the panaglide-shot opening, John Carpenter‘s 1978 horror film, Halloween is all about atmosphere. Carpenter creates tension as we creep through a family home, seeing through the eyes of a young Michal Myers. It’s an iconic moment and [...]

October 14, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: Horror Anthology TALES OF HALLOWEEN

Tales Of Halloween is a 2015 horror anthology film which takes eleven of genre’s best filmmakers and offers them the chance to let their talent and imaginations run wild. Ten short films over the course of 90 minutes seems like a lot, but [...]

October 7, 2021

Behind The Scenes: John Carpenter, Victor Wong & Donald Pleasence On The Set Of PRINCE OF DARKNESS

Following the critical and commercial failure of 1986’s Big Trouble in Little China, John Carpenter returned to low budget filmmaking with Prince of Darkness. Carpenter made a deal with Alive Pictures, where he was given a budget of $3 [...]

September 12, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: Fred Dekker’s NIGHT OF THE CREEPS

Fred Dekker’s 1986 directorial debut, Night Of The Creeps is a gloriously bonkers horror-comedy which blends 1950s B-movie/sci-fi with 1980s frat-boy comedy. You’d think the whole thing would buckle under the silliness of it all, but Dekker [...]

September 5, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: Philip Kaufman’s INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS

Movie remakes have a bad name, but Philip Kaufman’s Invasion Of The Body Snatchers doesn’t try to replicate Don Siegel’s 1950s classic – this film is its own thing. Kaufman’s 1978 film uses Jack Finney’s novel in the same way that [...]

August 28, 2021

Notebook Reviews: BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

John Carpenter – 1986. It’s very likely that Big Trouble In Little China is one of the most entertaining films ever made. Kurt Russell and John Carpenter are at the peak of their powers delivering this martial [...]

August 25, 2021

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