My Brush With Horror Greatness: Interviewing John Carpenter 6 Years After Release of the Original 1978 Halloween Film
Do you remember your first “slasher” film?
I do. It was Halloween. I was a teen and probably sneaked out with my friends to see it. It’s not the type of film my mother would have willingly let me see. Teens, sex, murder, mayhem. Although I could only identify with the teen babysitter at the time, that was enough to get me into the theater.
And it was soooo worth it.
The tension, the red herrings that turns into a slasher fest; scary stuff in 1978. Michael Myers was the ultimate Boogyman.
Carpenter worked the shadowed scenes with pace and ratched-up terror; just as the grisly scenes. The scenes where we “imagine” what is happening and see the after-effects are even more terrifying.
Because of the mastery of John Carpenter, it has held up to the test of time. In fact, the original is being released this month, just before the 2018 reboot.
Premise: On a cold Halloween night in 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being transferred for a court date, a 21-year-old Michael Myers steals a car and escapes Smith’s Grove. He returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, where he looks for his next victims. (Wikipedia)
Our favorite babysitter, Laurie Strode (played by actress Jamie Lee Curtis), is back to kick some slasher ass. And who can forget the music from the movie. Just thinking about it gives me the chills. (Feel free to download the music sheets from Halloween and listen to it here as well.)
Six years later, I’ve moved to Los Angeles and was attending college. I’d joined the campus TV station as a news reporter. I was able to interview quite a few famous people at the time, including Kirk Cameron and Will Smith (while he was a rapper). But, John Carpenter came on campus one evening discussing his body of work (so far) and I was lucky to be in the room, as a reporter.
Everyone listened intently as he spoke about his fascination for horror, why he decided to make the original film (sorry, I don’t remember his response to this question) and if he thought the franchise would continue. Of course he did, and it has… for 40 years!
I then asked a question which I thought I knew the answer to, but didn’t. I was so thrown off that I didn’t think to ask the obvious follow up question.
I asked Carpenter when the last time he watched his film in a theater and what he thought from the audience reaction. His response? “I never watch my films in theaters.”
What? Really? That is what my mind said, but my mouth stayed shut. I so wish I would have asked WHY. Perhaps another reporter, given the opportunity to interview John Carpenter will ask this basic question. I still want to know.
In the meantime, I’ve already bought my ticket for the original Halloween, and plan on being at the theaters the first weekend the reboot is released. I hope it pays homage to the original, while giving me some new nightmares.
What is your favorite slasher film? Let me know in the comments below. Friday the 13th runs a close second to Halloween for me. In fact, when I was looking for a new place to live, there was a townhouse that looked like it fit the bill. But unfortunately, it was on a street called Voorhees. No thanks!
Patrice Williams Marks is an author, Sensitivity Reader, founder of courses that teach Sensitivity Reading, founder of a non-profit charity, founder of several film festivals with diverse entries from filmmakers and writers. She also has a background in public relations, marketing, and journalism with an emphasis on research.