Stephen King's brilliant novel about a possessed Plymouth Fury named Christine, a nerdy teenager and how he changes after the car seemingly takes over his life. John Carpenter directs one of King's novels for the first time (he was due to direct Firestarter but lost the gig as The Thing had tanked at the box …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 9- Christine (1983)
In 1982, American audiences wanted only one alien. He wasn’t the shape-shifting evil alien in John Carpenter’s The Thing; he was the cute alien who wanted to ‘phone home’ in Steven Spielberg’s E.T. A dog who is being shot at by the crew of a helicopter flying overhead is taken in by an American compound …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 8- The Thing (1982)
It’s 1997 (!) Air Force One has gone down in New York which is now a maximum security prison. But the powers that be have a man who may be able to get the President out in one piece- war hero turned convict, Snake Plissken. There’s plenty to love about Escape From New York, whether …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 7- Escape From New York (1981)
Whilst Elvis was made by Carpenter for TV in 1979, it was actually later granted a UK cinema release the next year. With the running being nearly three hours long, that made for many aching buttocks in cinemas up and down the country. But, fortunately, Elvis is anything but a chore. Yes, some of Carpenter’s …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 6- Elvis (1980)
I remember being traumatised by the poster for The Fog before I actually saw the film. We had driven past The Odeon in York and I briefly glanced at it. As this was just a glance I thought I saw a woman lying in bed with a ghostly hand reaching out to grab her. I …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 5- The Fog (1980)
‘Pleasantly plump’ teenager Tracy Turnblad auditions for a spot on the local Baltimore dance show, The Corny Collins Show. But she’s horrified to see that the show is racially segregated and plans to remedy this. There’s a reason for the gap of 7 years since 1981’s Polyester- Waters was trying (and failing) to secure funding …
Continue reading John Waters Reviewed- Day 7- Hairspray (1988)
Francine Fishpaw just wants to live a ‘normal’ life but finds this impossible because of her p*rno cinema owning husband, her son who may or may not be a notorious Baltimore criminal, her lewd daughter and her delinquent boyfriend. Thank God she has her friend, Cuddles who used to be her cleaner but is now …
Continue reading John Waters Reviewed- Day 6- Polyester (1981)
The first time I found out that there was a sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was when I was going through the racks of records in Track Records in York, where I grew up (York, not the record store, although I spent a lot of time there). I pored over the artwork and …
In this entry, a lamp from the original house causes mayhem in its new home after it's bought at a yard sale. This made-for-TV movie sounds camp as hell, and, quelle surprise, IS camp as hell! There are seriously 80’s daytime soap vibes here (which I quite enjoyed). But it's pretty solid, even if the …
Continue reading Amityville Reviewed- Day 4- Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes (1989)
You have a horror franchise about a haunted house. The first film is pretty well made, has a great cast and occasionally dips its toe into exploitation territory. It does well at the box office. The sequel goes FULL exploitation and even has a taboo subplot that will make even the most seasoned horror fan …
Continue reading Amityville Reviewed- Day 3- Amityville 3D (1983)
