John Carpenter is a bone fide horror legend, who has brought us classics such as The Fog, The Thing, Christine and They Live. He also kickstarted the Halloween franchise, which is about to come to a hopefully satisfying conclusion with Halloween Ends. Carpenter has been involved in David Gordon Green’s new trilogy as a composer, but has stayed out of things beyond that.
In a new interview with The AV Club, Carpenter says; “Occasionally I’ll have an opinion. Sometimes I’ll share it with David, and sometimes I’ll just shut up. I’m a composer now. I’m supposed to make him happy. Forget me.”
The interviewer then asked Carpenter about “elevated horror” – an irritating term that has been invented so people can feel superior about enjoying ‘cerebral horror films’ instead of gnarly, gross-out body horror movies. Carpenter says; “I don’t know what that means. I mean, I can guess what it means, but I don’t really know.” The interviewer gives some examples, such as the A24 movies Hereditary and Midsommar and the 74-year-old Carpenter brilliantly responds; “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Carpenter did add; “I hear you, I hear you. There’s metaphorical horror. But all movies have … they don’t have messages. They have themes. Thematic material, and some horror films have thematic material. The good ones do.” Well said, Mr. Carpenter.
The debate about horror movies will continue to rage – but there’s room for films that are more psychological, and for grosser, funnier entertainments. Everyone is now highly anticipating exactly how Halloween – and presumably Michael Myers – will finally End on October 14.
If you’ve been enjoying a range of horror movies this October, we’ve got you covered here at The Digital Fix – check out our guide the best Netflix horror movies and the best Amazon Prime horror movies.