Category Archives: Jamie Lee Curtis

John Carpenter Thrills Me! – Horror Movie Month

Posted on by

Okay yesterday I covered two disappointing movies from John Carpenter so today I’m going to cover why I love him.

The Thing (1982) – Rated R

Scientists working in Antarctica are forced to abandon their research after a helicopter crashes near their camp, bringing a lone dog into their midst. But the plot thickens when the otherworldly canine changes form in the middle of the night. As it turns out, the dog is a shape-shifting alien that can attack animals — and unsuspecting humans. Kurt Russell stars in this creepy John Carpenter-directed remake of the 1950s classic.

John Carpenter’s The Thing was released in 1982 against Spielberg’s E.T. juggernaut. The Thing bombed at the box office but is now regarded (rightfully) as a modern classic.

Rob Bottin’s effects are simply amazing and may represent the height of physical effects. I’m not looking forward to what I imagine will be lazy CGI in The Thing prequel currently at theaters. Having said that, Bottin’s effects also detract a bit from the tense nature of the story.

Carpenter assembled an excellent ensemble cast with Kurt Russell being the only big name. All of the characters have individual personalities and it is actually a huge boon that the cast is all male. This allows there to be no romantic lead or love story getting in the way (although Ridley Scott was able to pull the same trick off with a mixed cast in Alien). None of the cast is glamorous – they all appear to be people on a station doing a job (hmm also done in Ridley Scott’s Alien).

I mentioned that some of Bottin’s work undercuts the tension. This is because The Thing is one of the best film examples of paranoia ever – the characters even go so far as to question whether they would know if they were an alien. The special effects are showy and heighten the weirdness of an alien encounter but detract from the marvelous atmosphere of paranoia.

My other favorite ‘thing’ is the ending. I won’t spoil it of course but in my mind the final scene of The Thing is one of the best movie endings ever.

The Fog (1980) – Rated R

While an old, weather-beaten fisherman tells a ghost story to fascinated children huddled by a campfire, a piece of driftwood in a child’s hands begins to glow, and an eerie fog envelops the seaside community of Antonio Bay. From its midst emerges demonic victims of a century-old shipwreck seeking revenge on the small town. Director John Carpenter’s follow-up to his breakout film, Halloween, stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh.

The Fog is certainly not the classic that Halloween or The Thing are but is an excellent film. The first half of the film is uneven but the last half, with the town besieged by the fog and the creatures therein is very atmospheric and quite thrilling.

The ensemble cast is great. John Houseman opens the film by telling a spooky story around a campfire. Hal Holbrook is fabulous as a tortured priest. Carpenter’s then wife Adrienne Barbeau plays the lead and Jamie Lee Curtis and her mom Janet Leigh are reunited in film. Carpenter regulars Tom Atkins, Charles Cyphers, and Nancy Loomis round out the cast and Carpenter himself has a cameo.

In the Mouth of Madness (1994) – Rated R

When popular horror writer Sutter Cane (Jürgen Prochnow) goes missing, his publisher hires investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) to find him. Trent tracks Cane to a small New England town, which is filled with nightmare scenes right out of the author’s books. Encountering one gruesome scene after another, Trent wonders if Cane’s fans have gone psychotic and begun imitating his writings, or his “novels” are really nonfiction. John Carpenter directs.

Okay clearly putting all of these together makes me realize that one of the things the wonderful Carpenter films share is atmosphere. In the Mouth of Madness has that in spades along with a nifty mobius strip of a story. I did find that the movie went on just a smidge too long – the final scene could easily have been cut.

This movie does not fit the standard Hollywood mold or even the standard horror mold. In the Mouth is not a Lovecraft adaptation but it captures the mood of H.P. better than any of the movie adaptations of his work. The slowly creeping madness is palpable here as is the gloom and desperation.

Terror Train – Do Not Get on That Train week

Posted on by

Sorry for the late post ending Do Not Get on That Train week. Terror Train is currently available on instant Netflix.

WATCH: Terror Train (1980) – Rated R.

“A fraternity prank goes wrong and lands one student in a mental institution. Four years later, when his frat brothers host a costume party on a train to celebrate their graduation, the student sees this as his opportunity to exact revenge. He sneaks on the train and begins killing the partygoers one at a time, masking himself in the costumes of his victims. Will anyone make it off the train alive?”

Hrrrm. While the slasher genre is not known for originality, Terror Train is overly formulaic.

The most important facet of a slasher is to have a strong female heroine. The quintessential final girl is Laurie Strode in Halloween. Naturally they hired Jamie Lee Curtis to play our heroine here. Jamie Lee filmed this back-to-back with Prom Night and just before she reprised her role of Laurie Strode in Halloween II.

Over a four-year period Jamie defined the phrase Scream Queen. She does have a great scream by the way and it is on display here. From 1978 to 1981 she played the strong female lead in Halloween, The Fog (with her mother Psycho victim Janet Leigh), Prom Night, Terror Train, and Halloween II. Other than coming back as Laurie Strode for the surprisingly entertaining Halloween H20 and the why oh why Halloween Resurrection, she pretty much retired from horror after 1981.

Next you need to have a recognizable actor – usually in a wise do-gooder role. Again our quintessential role model is from Halloween – Donald Pleasance portraying Dr. Loomis. Here we have the venerable Ben Johnson as the train conductor. In the aforementioned Prom Night you have Leslie Nielsen.

An interesting setting helps. Halloween starts with babysitting and segues into a hospital setting for Halloween II. Friday the 13th and The Burning have summer camp, Prom Night has umm well prom night, and Terror Train has a train.

The train setting really helps Terror Train and is well used from private cars to sleeping berths. Writer Daniel Grodnik claims to have gotten the setting from a dream after viewing both Halloween and Silver Streak. My favorite train horror would have to be Horror Express with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

Normally slasher films have to hide who the killer is. This can be done by awkward angles and obscured views but is more often done through a mask. Friday the 13th ends up several ways – the original laboriously obscures the killer, part 2 has potato sack Jason and finally in part 3 we get hockey mask Jason. In Terror Train, we have a big masquerade party so the killer is able to assume more than one identity.

During the draggy midsection, Terror Train helps divert us with a magic performance by Ken the Magician. Ken is played by none other than uber performer David Copperfield.

The last necessary staple of a slasher is that we have to have a character that we hate and want to die. Hart Bochner (Zach McNeill on The Starter Wife) plays Doc Manley who not only plays the terrible practical joke that starts our movie but also learns no lesson from the tragic outcome. He continually harasses and plays jokes on the other characters.

This is the directorial debut for Roger Spottiswoode. He does a good job of keeping things moving briskly and filming in the confined quarters of a train. He would go on to make Tomorrow Never Dies and The 6th Day.

While extremely formulaic, the formula works. This is an entertaining early 80s slasher. It is not even remotely as good as Halloween but Jamie Lee Curtis and Ben Johnson are both quite good. I recommend this to anyone wanting to see Jamie Lee in her prime or to see a fun 80s slasher. It is by no means a “good” or “important” film but it is enjoyable on its own merits.

People Watch: D.D. Winters has a brief role here as Merry. What is that you say? Who is D.D. Winters? Oh well maybe you know her better as Vanity, the Prince protege.