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cobaltnine"Using your chosen film as a starting point, discuss Lovecraft’s influence on Carpenter’s
oeuvre in 300 words or less."
Well, given that whatever I watch for this assignment is going to be the extent of my John Carpenter film viewing. I haven't seen Halloween, and we did own a copy of Christine for a while, but I haven't seen it recently.
I do own several more-independent Lovecraft films, including the first compilation from the Film Festival. Lovecraft's work is appealing to film-makers with its potential, but translates poorly. Short films, such as Bryan Moore's 'Cool Air', seem to work better than stretching out and/or padding the short story to feature length. 'Nyarlathotep,' on the same disc, doesn't try to follow a character, but slides deeper into the artistic side of filmmaking - fitting for a story that is a few steps above a fever dream.
After several technical problems, I did get 'Cigarette Burns', the shorter film by Carpenter, to load. Madness transmissible by a film - an unspeakable film, that corrupts all who touch it, which compels victims to it - these are Lovecraftian echos. The unseen adds to tension; the gore takes away. The religious themes (definitely shades of 'The Ninth Gate' or 'The Club Dumas') and the Electra themes don't quite work in a film this short, and I feel like the conclusion seems a bit incongruous. I'm bothered by the amount of blood - not by the blood itself, and I feel that the scene with the French 'filmmaker' does work, because he is not just committing one act, but has been compelled by the film's madness over a longer period of time and is working to further its viral transmission. The scenes near the end, including the part with the projector, are self-limiting.
oeuvre in 300 words or less."
Well, given that whatever I watch for this assignment is going to be the extent of my John Carpenter film viewing. I haven't seen Halloween, and we did own a copy of Christine for a while, but I haven't seen it recently.
I do own several more-independent Lovecraft films, including the first compilation from the Film Festival. Lovecraft's work is appealing to film-makers with its potential, but translates poorly. Short films, such as Bryan Moore's 'Cool Air', seem to work better than stretching out and/or padding the short story to feature length. 'Nyarlathotep,' on the same disc, doesn't try to follow a character, but slides deeper into the artistic side of filmmaking - fitting for a story that is a few steps above a fever dream.
After several technical problems, I did get 'Cigarette Burns', the shorter film by Carpenter, to load. Madness transmissible by a film - an unspeakable film, that corrupts all who touch it, which compels victims to it - these are Lovecraftian echos. The unseen adds to tension; the gore takes away. The religious themes (definitely shades of 'The Ninth Gate' or 'The Club Dumas') and the Electra themes don't quite work in a film this short, and I feel like the conclusion seems a bit incongruous. I'm bothered by the amount of blood - not by the blood itself, and I feel that the scene with the French 'filmmaker' does work, because he is not just committing one act, but has been compelled by the film's madness over a longer period of time and is working to further its viral transmission. The scenes near the end, including the part with the projector, are self-limiting.
