John Carpenter is back behind the camera with the series “Suburban Screams”, thirteen years after the feature film “The Ward”. But what has the master of horror been doing all this time?
John Carpenter is back! The master of horror, to whom we owe classics such as Halloween, Fog, The Thing and New York 1997, is finally back behind the camera with an anthology series entitled Suburban Screams. Quite an event, since Carpenter had not directed anything since 2010 and the feature film The Ward, which saw him direct Amber Heard.
But what has the man who recently teased a possible sequel to one of his greatest films been doing for more than a decade? How did the great John Carpenter, one of the most influential filmmakers of his time, spend his time away from the sets? This is what we reveal to you here!
In 2010, John Carpenter directed The Ward. The horror film, which tells the story of a woman interned in a psychiatric hospital and trapped by an evil spirit, is a bitter failure for the filmmaker with only $5.3 million in revenue for a budget estimated at 10 million greenbacks. No doubt marked, Carpenter, who experienced a heart problem before filming, lends his voice to the video game FEAR 3on which he also served as a consultant, then disappeared from the radar for four years.
We will have to wait until the beginning of 2015 to hear from the American. And surprise: it is not with a cinema project that Carpenter returns but in music, with the release of his first solo album, entitled Lost Themes. Ultimately not very surprising coming from the man who revolutionized film music by composing his own soundtrack.
On the program of Lost Themes by John Carpenter: nine original tracks with lots of synthesizers and an 80’s atmosphere reminiscent of his cinematic opuses.
The cult theme of “Halloween” by John Carpenter:
“I was used to illustrating images, which can be both positive and negative”he declared in comments reported by our colleagues from Les Inrockuptibles. “This time, there was no pressure, neither the untimely requests from the actors, nor the wait from the staff, nor the imminent deadlines. (…) The initial idea was to produce something quite comprehensive , quite generous, given the lack of restrictions. It’s a new world open to me.”
In 2016 and 2017, John Carpenter persisted and signed in the musical field with the release of Lost Themes IIa new solo album, andAnthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998, a disc which compiles themes from his filmography composed and re-recorded with his son Cody and his godson Daniel Davis. The icing on the cake: Carpenter takes his songs on the road with two tours that honor France three times (two concerts in Paris and one in La Rochelle).
John Carpenter on stage at the Grand Rex in Paris, in 2018:
It should be noted that to accompany the release of the album Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998, John Carpenter returns behind the camera seven years after The Ward. It is in fact he who signed the clip illustrating the revisited theme of his feature film Christine. A short film to discover below:
What finally brings John Carpenter out of his cinematic retirement is… a new film in the horror Halloween franchise that he himself initiated! He is the executive producer of Halloween in 2018, for which he also wrote the music. But for producer Jason Blum, Carpenter’s role is much broader. “Every time we make a big decision creatively, he’s involved, and we don’t do anything without his blessing.”he declares at the microphone of ComingSoon.
Launched, John Carpenter will occupy the same functions of producer and composer on the last two opuses of the saga, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, released respectively in theaters in 2021 and 2022. A period during which, particularly active, he released a fourth disc titled Lost Themes III: Alive After Death.
Now aged 75, John Carpenter is back to directing with the Suburban Screams series. A first step before a new feature film for the American master? Wait and see…
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