John Carpenter, as we all know (mostly because he keeps telling us), is one of the most misunderstood genre directors in history. His work ranges from absolutely astounding and important (Halloween) to simply astounding (The Thing) to surreal and challenging (Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness) to downright awful (Ghosts of Mars, Village of the Damned, etc). Because of these huge career fluctuations, Carpenter is one of those directors, perhaps even more than contemporaries Wes Craven and George Romero, whose work polarizes audiences and genre fans alike. There is often precious little middle-ground when it comes to Carpenter, but Gilles Boulenger, former publisher of the French cult movie magazine "Le Cinephage", puts in an admirable and almost Herculean attempt to even the playing field by giving us Carpenter's true feelings on his own work in the new book "John Carpenter: The Prince of Darkness".
When I first heard about this book, I thought it was going to be a straight-up biography; with, perhaps, the cooperation of the subject. I was surprised, then, to find that this book is made up almost exclusively of interviews, nay, discussions between Boulenger and Carpenter, with almost no expository sections by the author. Interestingly, the book is laid out chronologically, starting with Carpenter discussing his childhood and his education, and touching on each of his films in order thereafter. So, even though it's essentially a big interview (or a series of interviews, conducted over the period of a few years), it still has the feel of a biography, and serves that purpose quite nicely, if you ask me.
With chapter/section headings like "Halloween and Elvis: The Movie" and "They Live", it quickly becomes apparent that each chapter is devoted to one or two movies made during a given period in Carpenter's career. Fans of The Thing (myself included), will be thrilled, as the chapter about that movie is the longest of the book, and contains some of Carpenter's most pensive, introspective comments. Interviews like this can sometimes be somewhat dry, but for the most part, it's exciting to see Boulenger drag so much intimacy and honesty out of Carpenter. This could have been an opportunity for Carpenter to be his usual self-congratulatory, somewhat pompous self, but instead, we get a picture of a man who struggles with decisions in his day to day life (like all of us); sometimes those decisions work out, sometimes they don't...but Carpenter can never be accused of not trying.
I was also worried going into this book that it would be another exercise in ass-kissing. All too often, this kind of subject is approached with a slavish devotion by the author, but Boulenger seems to realize that Carpenter has, in fact, made some real turkey's in his career, and the author is not afraid to prod Carpenter about why those films weren't up to the standards of, say, Halloween or The Thing. So, the guy doesn't play favorites. He proves that it is possible to be a fan (which he obviously is) without being completely blind to failures. This honesty and, I hesitate to say, "journalistic integrity" is refreshing, and is all too frequently ignored in similar genre reference works.
I highly recommend "John Carpenter: The Prince of Darkness". Even if you're like me and aren't the biggest fan of Carpenter's body of work, this is still a fascinating, brutally honest, and educational book that is a pleasure to read and a joy to behold. Seek it out!
John Carpenter, as we all know (mostly because he keeps telling us), is one of the most misunderstood genre directors in history. His work ranges from absolutely astounding and important (Halloween) to simply astounding (The Thing) to surreal and challenging (Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness) to downright awful (Ghosts of Mars, Village of the Damned, etc). Because of these huge career fluctuations, Carpenter is one of those directors, perhaps even more than contemporaries Wes Craven and George Romero, whose work polarizes audiences and genre fans alike. There is often precious little middle-ground when it comes to Carpenter, but Gilles Boulenger, former publisher of the French cult movie magazine "Le Cinephage", puts in an admirable and almost Herculean attempt to even the playing field by giving us Carpenter's true feelings on his own work in the new book "John Carpenter: The Prince of Darkness".