Carpenter (1986-1987)

1986 - Big Trouble in Little China - This is 100% pure fun. One of the reasons this is so: the pacing. Bam-bam-bam-bam! You can count on something always going on in every scene. Hell, even the exposition is fun. When Margo rambles on about Lo Pan's evil in Gracie's apartment, a combination of funny line delivery and some Burton-isms make the scene hilarious. Watching the awkward deleted / un-shortened scenes on the second DVD only reinforces the fact that this film is edited excellently.

1987 - Prince of Darkness - Satan's son is a swirling volume of green pre-biotic fluid. Awesome. The script and ensemble cast are, unfortunately, not as tight as, for example, The Thing. Still, I love the premise. After this most recent viewing, I finally get the implication of the ending. Right after the screen goes black, we would've seen Brian's fingers bounce off the mirror. He'd then spend the next 12 years channeling his physicist knowledge into figuring out a way to open the gateway to the Anti-Universe so he could rescue his gal. In the year one-nine-nine-nine, he'd open it and she'd come out... but not quite as herself and probably not alone.

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