Earlier this year, I completed my Carpenter DVD collection. Now, I'm gonna watch all of his films in chronological order. I only allow myself to watch Halloween on the night of Oct 31st, so I'm just starting my project tonight with his first two films. I'll be posting mini-reviews as I go. Should be good for a couple months of fun.
1974 - Dark Star - I feel like this is more Dan O'Bannon than John Carpenter. Certainly, the director's cut (AKA the 68-minute "Special Edition") is a much better movie than the tedious theatrical cut (with 16 minutes of added scenes), but neither version really worked for me. The humor didn't tickle my funny bone at all. However, the frozen Commander Powell was very cool and quite disturbing.
1976 - Assault on Precinct 13 - Excellent action movie. I love the faceless, silent gang. They were essentially a Michael Myers split into dozens of bodies, or like a swarm of animals, or just a force of nature; distilled film-evil. I loved the silenced gun battle. I loved the characters, from the cheeky Napoleon to the cool-as-ice Leigh. A thoroughly entertaining film.
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