Vanilla Twist - The Films of John Carpenter

Ep. 42) Suburban Screams/Grand Finale

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 06:00:00 GMT

Here we are. Our Chronological Cantour Through the Canon of Carpenter comes to an end. Comes to an end with Episode 6 of the TV series 'Suburban Screams', currently John Carpenter's latest directorial effort, 'Phone Stalker'. Well, it had to end somehow. Plus, we take a final look at the Carpenter Scale and wrap this whole thing up in a neat little package. Join us one more time!

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'Phone Stalker'

Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: Amanda Deibert

Cast: Julie Stevens, Alyssa Dillard, Cherles Doherty

Prd: Radomir Docekal, Gregory Dylan Harris, Tomas Krejci, Trace Slobotkin

DoP: Mark Bliss

Music: John Carpenter (theme music)

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Ep. 41) Studio 666

Mon, 18 May 2026 06:00:00 GMT

Yeah, it's a Foo Fighters starring horror comedy. BUT, John Carpenter co-wrote one song and appears in two, yes, two scenes. So we're covering it. Hella fun b-movie, or curious vanity project. Join us for a cantour through Studio 666, by way of some Jeff Garlin impressions.

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Dir: BJ McDonnell

Scr: Dave Grohl, Jeff Buhler, Rebecca Hughes

Cast: Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Rami Jaffee, Chris Shiflett, Jeff Garlin, Will Forte, Jenna Ortega, Whitney Cummings, Leslie Grossman

Prd: John Ramsay, James A. Rota

Music: Roy Mayorga

D of P: Michael Dallatorre, Eric Leach

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Ep. 40) Firestarter (2022)

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 08:00:00 GMT

In 1984 the world was robbed of John Carpenter's Stephen King's Firestarter. In 2022 at least he got to give us a kick ass score for a version that's... a film. Why is this getting harder?

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Dir: Keith Thomas

Scr: Scott Teems

Prd: Jason Blum, Akiva Goldsman

Cast: Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Sydney Lemmon, Michael Greyeyes, Gloria Reuben, Kurtwood Smith

Music: Cody Carpenter, John Carpenter, Daniel A. Davies

DoP: Karim Hussain

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Ep. 39) Halloween Ends

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

We're at the End! The End of the David Gordon Green Halloween Trilogy. It's Halloween Ends! Just when you think this film has the answers, the filmmakers change the questions and throw us a Corey curveball.

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Dir: David Gordon Green

Scr: Paul Brad Logan, Chris Bernier, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride

Prd: Bill Block, Jason Blum,

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Rohan Campbell, Will Patton

DoP: Michael Simmonds

Music: Cody Carpenter, John Carpenter, Daniel Davies

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Ep. 38) Halloween Kills

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Let's crank up the crazy, break out the "fan-favourite" sundry characters and ruin all the goodwill of the 2018 'Hallowee', because EVIL DIES TONIGHT! Thank the maestro for the incredible doom score at least.

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Dir: David Gordon Green

Scr: Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, Scott Teems

Prd: Bill Block, Jason Blum,

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Thomas Mann, Anthony Michael Hall

DoP: Michael Simmonds

Music: Cody. Carpenter, John Carpenter, Daniel Davies

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Ep. 37) Halloween (2018)

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 21:59:11 GMT

40 years later, we're back in Haddonfield and Jamie Lee Curtis is here too! Shame about the lack of Pleasence of it all though. But you know... mortality. Still, there's much to talk about, plus a Carpenter score to boot!

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Dir: David Gordon Green

Scr: Jeff Fradley, David Gordon Green, Danny McBride

Prd: Malek Akkad, Bill Block, Jason Blum,

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle, Will Patton, Haluk Bilginer

DoP: Michael Simmonds

Music: Cody Carpenter, John Carpenter, Daniel A. Davies

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Ep. 36) The Thing (2011)

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 06:00:00 GMT

In 2011, the world was confounded by a solid, prequel/sequel/remake of John Carpenter's masterpiece 'The Thing'. Join us as we talk through how the filmmakers tied themselves in knots referencing the original, and who is this really for?

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Dir: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Scr: Eric Heisserer, John W. Campbell Jr.

Prd: Marc Abraham, Eric Newman

Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Eric Christian Olsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

DoP: Michel Abramowicz

Music: Marco Beltrami

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F*ck It, Bonus Ep 2) The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 06:00:00 GMT

We're back from a little summer hiatus and back with a non-John Carpenter bang. It's the second of our 'F*ck It Bonus' Episodes, talking about 1996's 'The Island of Dr. Moreau'. If you listen to this podcast, you probably know the story of this ill-fated, ramshackle film but come listen to us talk about it. Brando's 'presence'. Kilmer's 'performance'? Balk's dancing. Thewlis' accent, it's all on the table.

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Dir: John Frankenheimer, Richard Stanley

Scr: Richard Stanley, Ron Hutchinson

Cast: David Thewlis, Val Kilmer, Marlon Brando, Fairuza Balk, Temuera Morrison, Ron Perlman

Prd: Edward R. Pressman

Music: Gary Chang

DoP: William A Fraker

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Ep. 35) The Ward

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Currently, our Man John's last feature-length motion picture, 2010's The Ward. Is it as derivative as critics would have you believe? Is it, in fact, an underrated horror gem ripe for re-evaluation? Join us.

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: Michael Rasmussen, Shawn Rasmussen

Prd: Doug Mankoff, Peter Block, Mike Marcus, Andrew Spaulding

Cast: Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Laura-Leigh, Jared harris

DoP: Yaron Orbach

Music: Mark Killian

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Ep. 34) Masters of Horror

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Woo! Two John Carpenter directed films for the price of one. We're talking about our man's two episodes of the mid-2000s anthology series 'Masters of Horror'. Join us as we talk about two wildly different stories, one intriguing, one a tad silly. BUT we've got some ridiculous violence, haunted movies and SIEGES to talk about.

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Cigarette Burns (2005)

Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: Drew McWeeny, Rebecca Swan

Prd: Lisa Richardson, Tom Rowe

Cast: Norman Reedus, Udo Kier, Gwynth Walsh, Douglas Arthurs

DoP: Attila Szalay

Music: Cody Carpenter

Pro-Life (2006)

Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: Drew McWeeny, Rebecca Swan

Prd: Lisa Richardson, Tom Rowe

Cast: Ron Perlman, Cailtin Wachs, Mark Feuerstein

DoP: Attila Szalay

Music: Cody Carpenter

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Ep. 33) The Fog (2005)

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

2005, such a vital year for John Carpenter fans to be underwhelmed by re-makes of some of his greatest b-movie hits. Join us as we talk the auteur Rupert Wainwright's supernatural "horror"? The Fog. We're talkin' SEX BOATS! TERRIFYING BARNACLED MIRRORS! UNECESSARY JEOPARDY! WHERE IS JOHN HOUSEMAN?!

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Dir: Rupert Wainwright

Scr: Cooper Layne, John Carpenter, Debra Hill

Prd: John Carpenter, Debra Hill, David Foster, Grace Gilroy

Cast: Tom Welling, Maggie Grace, Selma Blair, Rade Serbedzija

DoP: Nathan Hope

Music: Graeme Revell

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Ep. 32) Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

Mon, 12 May 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Join us back in 2005, where the screen was saturated blue and the camera was shaky for Jean-Francois Richet's remake of Carpenter's classic. Why is this film and it's making of, so hard to find? Why do we never see the bad-ass ultra assassin moves of Laurence Fishburne? How long do we give Brian Dennehy? What would Grae's Only Fans handle be? It's a siege!!

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Dir: Jean-Francois Richet

Scr: James DeMoanco, based on the film by John Carpenter

Prd: Pascal Caucheteux, Jeffrey Silver, Stephane Sperry

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Byrne, Maria Bello, John Leguizamo, Brian Dennehy, Drea de Matteo, Ja Rule

DoP: Robert Gantz

Music: Mike Kourtzer, Graeme Revell

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Ep. 31) Vampires: Los Muertos

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 06:00:00 GMT

What's better than John Carpenter directing James Woods to kill vampires?! Tommy Lee Wallace directing Jon Bon Jovi to kill vampires! No, no, hear us out. Which you can do on this Chronological Cantour through the Canon of Carpenter.

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Dir: Tommy Lee Wallace

Scr: Tommy Lee Wallace

Prd: Jack Lorenz

Cast: Jon Bon Jovi, Cristian de la Fuente, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Arly Jover, Diego Luna

DoP: Henner Hofmann

Music: Brian Tyler

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Ep. 30) Ghosts of Mars

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 08:00:00 GMT

All aboard the model train... of mars! We're talking The Maestro's, for now, last widely released cinematic venture Ghosts of Mars. Prepare for flashbacks within flashbacks, the worst villain ever, all the people walking into rooms training their guns on nothing and the models, oh the models. Join us.

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: John Carpenter, Larry Sulkis

Prd: Sandy King

Cast: Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Joanna Cassidy, Clea DuVall, Pam Grier

DoP: Gary B. Kibbe

Music: John Carpenter, Anthrax

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Ep. 29) Silent Predators

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

In the late 70s, Dear John Carpenter wrote a script, that may or may not have been Jaws with snakes in a suburban town. Over 20 years later a fearless TV producer un-earthed this tome, dusted it off, got the finest actors they could afford, compiled plenty of snake b-roll and gave the world Silent Predators!

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Dir: Noel Nosseck

Scr: John Carpenter, William S. Gilmore, Matt Dorff

Prd: Randy Sutter

Cast: Harry Hamlin, Shannon Sturges, Jack Scalia, David Spielberg

DoP: John Stokes

Music: Michael Tavera

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Ep. 28) Vampires

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT

John Carpenter? James Woods? Vampires? A neo-westen? Oh, go on then.

After a couple of, let's be honest with ourselves, tricky films it's great to be back in the silly fun pool. Bringing some of Director Carpenter's cinematic loves together, this film manages to both simple fun and weirdly consulted with some "that wouldn't fly now" dialogue and badass action scenes.Come join us at the end of the 90s.

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: John Steakley, Don Jakoby

Prd: Sandy King

Cast: James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, Sheryl Lee, Thomas Ian Griffith, Maximillian Schell, Tim Guinee

DoP: Gary B. Kibbe

Music: John Carpenter

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Ep. 27) Escape From L.A.

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT

A major US city that's become a prison. Check.

Something the US President needs for the good of humanity. Check.

A plan to force a man named Snake Plissken into retrieving this something. Check.

An increasing series of nutty people who all know who Snake is. Check.

Snake being forced into some kind of sporting combat or be killed. Check

Women who fall in love with Snake and are killed just as quickly. Check

Welcome to L.A.! No it's nothing like New York. Join us talk about the sequel of the 90s.

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: John Carpenter, Debra Hill, Kurt Russell

Prd: Debra Hill, Kurt Russell

Cast: Kurt Russell, A.J. Langer, Steve Buscemi, Georges Corraface, Stacy Keach, Pam Grier, Cliff Robertson, Peter Fonda, Valeria Golino, Bruce Campbell

DoP: Gary B. Kibbe

Music: John Carpenter, Shirley Walker

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Ep. 26) Village of the Damned

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 08:00:54 GMT

Oh, we're along way from The Thing and Christine now. It's 1995's 'Village of the Damned', a blissful production of the John Wyndham classic chiller, filmed down the road from Dear John Carpenter's house. Featuring a powerful turn by Christopher Reeve, a career-best Kirstie Alley and Dave Davies on the score? Could this be a late-day gem in the Carpenter canon? What do you think?

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: David Himmelstein

Prd: Sandy King, Michael Preger

Cast: Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Michael Pare, Mark Hamill

DoP: Gary B. Kibbe

Music: John Carpenter, Dave Davies

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Ep. 25) In the Mouth of Madness

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 07:00:50 GMT

We're midway through the 90s. We've had made-for-TV Westerns, big studio romantic adventures, and a Showtime horror comedy anthology. Now Mr. Carpenter is bringing us a warped, meta, Lovecraftian horror fest. Part of his unofficial 'Apocalypse Trilogy' and sporting one of Sam Neill's more unhinged performances, In the Mouth of Madness is one of the under-seen highlights in the master's catalogue.

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: Michael De Luca

Prd: Sandy King

Starring: Sam Neill, Julie Carmen, Jurgen Prochnow, David Warner, John Glover, Charlton Heston

DoP: Gary B. Kibbe

Music: John Carpenter, Jim Long

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Ep. 24) Body Bags

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 08:00:15 GMT

What's this? Is that? Well, yes it is! White font on black background, 'John Carpenter Presents'... it's an honest-to-goodness John Carpenter joint. A TV movie anthology of the serial killer variety, humorous Twilight Zone style and downright nasty psychological doings it's BODY BAGS! Join us as we talk through our first watch of the video shop gem.

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Dir: John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper

Scr: Billy Brown, Dan Angel

Prd: Sandy King

Starring: John Carpenter, Tom Arnold, Tobe Hooper, Alex Datcher, Robert Carradine, David Naughton, Wes Craven, Sam Raimi, George 'Buck' Flower, Stacy Keach, David Warner, Sheena Easton, Debbie Harry, Mark Hamil, Twiggy, Roger Corman

DoP: Gary B Kibbe

Music: John Carpenter, Jim Lang

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Ep. 23) Memoirs on an Invisible Man

Mon, 21 Oct 2024 07:00:56 GMT

It's felt like an age. After two made-for-TV westerns written by the man and a bonus episode, we're talking about an honest-to-goodness, directed by John Carpenter movie.

1992's 'Memoirs of an Invisible Man' stands out amongst the man's output as the gun-for-hire, studio project that had less than awesome results. Join us as we talk through the production's ups and downs, the plot's ups and downs, and Grae's up-and-down affection for it.

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: H.F. Saint, Dana Olsen, Robert Collector

Prd: Bruce Bodner, Dan Kolsrud

Starring: Chevy Chase, Daryl Hannah, Sam Neill, Michael McKean, Stephen Tobolowsky

Music: Shirley Walker

DoP: William A. Fraker

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Ep. 22) Blood River

Mon, 30 Sep 2024 06:00:11 GMT

We return to the Chronilogcal Canon of Carpenter with the 1991 made-for-tv-western (yes, another one) 'Blood River'. Originall written by our man in 1971 for John Wayne it found it's way on to TV 20 years later with Wilford Brimley in the role. Is it a worthy substitute? Was it worth the 20 year wait? Was it worth being made?

Join us as we chat through this little seen piece in the Carpenter ouvre.

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Dir: Mel Damski

Scr: John Carpenter

Prd: Andrew Gottlieb

Starring: Ricky Shroder, Wilford Brimley, John P. Ryan, Adrienne Barbeau

DoP: Robert M. Baldwin, Gary B. Kibbe

Music: William Goldstein

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F*ck It, Bonus Ep 1) Anaconda

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 06:00:57 GMT

You read that damn right, fuck it! It's a bonus episode. Well, technically not a bonus episode, more of a change in programming.

We'll get to 'Blood River' but we felt that we couldn't rightly do 2 made-for-tv westerns available only on YouTube back-to-back. So we thought, you know, we've mentioned Anaconda a few times, we ain't watched it in a while, why the hell not? So join us as we revisit a film neither of us have seen in many years. Behold the snake! Behold the lack of sense of time! Behold a pre-JLO Jennifer Lopez. And please, please, won't you BEHOLD JON VOIGHT!

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Dir: Luis Llosa

Scr: Hans Bauer, Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr

Prd: Verna Harrah, Carol Little, Leonard Rabinowitz

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stotlz, Jonathan Hyde, Owen Wilson

DoP: Bill Butler

Miusic: Randy Edelman

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Ep. 21) El Diablo

Mon, 02 Sep 2024 07:00:45 GMT

We're back after our summer hiatus with a... polite pop, don't want to scare anyone. Yes, we're discussing the oft-mentioned 'yeah, this is John Carpenter's next movie', but no it was never John Carpenter's next movie, movie 'El Diablo'. An original script from our man was sold to HBO and Carpenter's western vision was created with he and Debra Hill on board as producers. Lost to the annals of tv-movie history, is it worth re-discovering as a lost Carpenter classic or should it remain a curio? Join Us!

Dir: Peter Markle

Scr: John Carpenter, Tommy Lee Wallace, Bill Phillips

Prd: Rick Nathanson

Starring: Anthony Edwards, Louis Gossett Jr, John Glover, Joe Pantoliano, Robert Beltran, M.C. Gainey, Miguel Sandoval

Music: William Olvis

DoP: Ronald Victor Garcia

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Ep. 20) They Live

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 17:33:19 GMT

We are live, with 'They Live'. Roddy Piper! Yes! Keith David! Yes! 'Kick ass and chew bubblegum'? Certainly. An over-long fisticuffs scene, why not?

Join us as we talk about one of the most culturally significant movies in the Carpenter Canon. But are we willing to 'Obey'?

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: John Carpenter, Ray Nelson

Prd: Larry Franco

Starring: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George 'Buck' Flower, Peter Jason

DoP: Gary B. Kibbe

Music: John Carpenter, Alan Howarth

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Ep. 19) Prince of Darkness

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 07:00:48 GMT

Welcome to Assault on Church 13! After the unfortunate commercial flopping of 'Big Trouble', our hero Mr. Carpenter went back to what he knew best. A Low-budget, largely single-location horror thriller but this time he's been reading a lot of science-type books while writing the script. Featuring Donald Pleasence as a priest and Victor Wong as a university lecturer doing battle against a tube of green liquid that could be... is the son of satan, it's a bug-filled romp start to finish.

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: John Carpenter

Prd: Larry Franco

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Victor Wong, Lisa Blount, Jameson Parker, Dennis Dun, Alice Cooper

DoP: Gary B. Kibbe

Music: John Carpenter, Alan Howarth

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Ep. 18) Big Trouble in Little China

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 05:00:27 GMT

We're back to the BIG ONES. Not some circumspect, 'based off a script idea John Carpenter had when Nixon was still in office' movie, but an honest-to-goodness John Carpenter. Up there with Halloween and The Thing in terms of audience fondness, Big Trouble in Little China remains beloved for a generation of home video viewers.

Join us as we go back to Little China after a long time away to see if it still holds up as one of the 80s greats.

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: Gary Goldman, David Z. Weinstein, W.D. Richter

Prd: Larry Franco

Starring: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Victor Wong

DoP: Dean Cundey

Music: John Carpenter with Alan Howarth

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Ep. 17) Black Moon Rising

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 08:00:41 GMT

Tommy Lee Jones? Yes! A John Carpenter script? Yes! A cult 80s bleep bloopy movie? A thousand times, yes!

And yet... hmmmm. Join us as we sit dumbfounded by Robert Vaughn's villainous plan, Linda Hamilton's hair, Robert Vaughn's plan, plot hole begetting plot hole, Robert Vaughn's plan, Tommy Lee Jone's naked torso... but at least he looks good in a leather jacket.

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Dir: Harley Cokeliss

Scr: John Carpenter, Desmond Nakano, William Gray

Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Hamilton, Robert Vaughn, Richard Jaeckel, Lee Ving, Bubba Smith

Prd: Douglas Curtis, Joel B. Michaels

DoP: Misha Suslov

Music: Lalo Schifrin

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Ep. 16) The Philadelphia Experiment

Mon, 20 May 2024 08:00:57 GMT

Something of a completionist task on this episode. One of the top-tier motion pictures on the list of Great Unmade John Carpenter movies. Our Dear Director worked for years trying to bring the story of an experiment gone wrong to the screen, but tapped out and passed it on to another bunch of folk to go make it. Don't let that fool you, we still find MUCH to talk about - blowing up the sky, left-turn body horror, being over there, then over here.

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Dir: Stewart Raffill

Scr: Michael Janover, William Gray

Starring: Michael Pare, Nancy Allen, Eric Christmas, Bobby Di Cicco, Stephen Tobolowsky

Prd: Douglas Curtis, Joel B. Michaels

DoP: Dick Bush

Music: Kenneth Wanberg

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Ep. 15) Starman

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 08:00:32 GMT

How does a director follow up the left/right of two fantastic horrors? One about a bloody demonic car. The other about a bloody alien that makes YOU very bloody. Well, you go out and make a perfectly lovely road-trip romance about grief and hilarious misunderstandings. Join us as we watch through Mr. Carpenter's 1984 drama, that feels like a step outside the norm for our man.

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon

Prd: Larry J. Franco

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, Richard Jaeckel? Jay-kal? Jackal?

DoP: Donald M. Morgan

Music: Jack Nitzsche

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Ep. 14) Christine

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 08:00:03 GMT

John Carpenter? Yes. Stephen King? Yes. Haunted car? YES. YES. YES! But many years ago Mike watched Master Carpenter's 1983 teenage, Americana horror and was bored to tears. Time has passed now and he realises what an absolute BOOB he was. For 'Christine' has so much to offer. Join us as we discuss why this film rules.

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Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: Bill Phillips

Prd: Richard Kobritz

Starring: Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, Harry Dean Stanton

DoP: Donald M. Morgan

Music: John Carpenter, Alan Howarth

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Ep. 13) Halloween III: Season of the Witch

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 09:00:38 GMT

1982 the producers implored our man John and producer, partner Debra Hill to keep the Halloween franchise going. Bored with Michael Myers they came up with the novel idea of creating a new, Twilight Zone-esque anthology series. 'Season of the Witch' would be the first of this brave new venture, creating a beloved annual horror tradition...

Didn't quite work out like that, join us as we talk about this wonderfully ludicrous, Tommy Lee Wallace penned/shot piece of claptrap.

Featuring: Some big faces, robots? Stonehenge? Snakes? Absolute harridans of ex-wives. James Bond plots to murder children and a whole lot of not making sense.

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Dir: Tommy Lee Wallace

Scr: Tommy Lee Wallace

Prd: John Carpenter, Debra Hill

Starring: Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O' Herlihy

Music: John Carpenter, Alan Howarth

DoP: Dean Cundey

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Ep. 12) The Thing

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 09:00:29 GMT

Here we are with a bumper episode on possibly the biggest film of Director Carpenter's cannon.

Shame Donald Pleasance isn't here, but we do have top-tier Russell. How remarkable is this hodge-podge of genre? How unfairly treated was it when it came out? What a find Wilford Brimley was ey? Please join us as we chat on the iconic 'John Carpenter's The Thing'

Stream/Watch

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/0GHZPSFV4HWNIB3OG48JOQLEQD/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=just016-21

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+Thing%2Bmovie

Buy

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thing-UHD-Blu-Ray-Region-Free/dp/B09BS4R8D5/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1PU9IFE4M6GI1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.iviDJ_1GCsArVSgggb7gGMv7kSRBNGFmd600dmEjpO7IMFOqDmPl5Zk6idCnbkHARfhloGbi2PsJKEwohM6KfTTp9bau8SubEjbqpif_xr5ASz1Cx9CoN1kvdddV8iMrd3UWYj334p8MsWvRmBcecFn5KXKVaZnyxCyIvN55uDBC7waLBjURL3tRSECuHKgN6eL0VFhD0nWm5hoGFG3jN2peG0YGFK7O0CaHTzC0LFE.Y7lDEZPflMNJDiX3nCq0iNCXHGS34Aj7Fzt12TpdC2A&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+thing&qid=1709494323&sprefix=the+thing%2Caps%2C102&sr=8-3

https://shop.warnerbros.co.uk/products/thingtheuhd

Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: Bill Lancaster

Starring: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, T.K. Carter, Donald Moffat, Richard Dysart, David Clennon, Charles Hallihan

Prd: David Foster, Lawrence Turman

DoP: Dean Cundey

Music: Ennio Morricone, with a bit of Carpenter

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep. 11) Better Late Than Never

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 12:01:51 GMT

We're taking a step back in our chronological canter through the films of John Carpenter to 1979's 'Better Late Than Never'. Why cover it now? Because we've only just managed to get hold of a copy from the deepest darkest web (not to be confused with The Dark Web).

A TV movie broadcast in '79, for which our man John took a writing credit on, this would sit between 'Elvis' and 'The Fog' in the timeline. Join us as we offer up no John-text, as none was to be found but we do talk about a truly lost-Carpenter film that we came away from with unexpected thoughts on.

Oh, and for some reason it's directed by Rambo's own RICHARD CRENNA

Dir: Seriously, Richard Crenna

Scr: John Carpenter & Greg Strangis, Robert Stitzel & Robert Johnson

Starring: Harold Gould, Tyne Daly, Strother Martin, Harry Morgan, Donald Pleasance

Prd: Robert Birnbaum

DoP: Ronald W. Browne

Music: Charles Fox

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep. 10) Halloween II

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 15:07:30 GMT

*Note upfront, the recording of this episode isn't quite up to the usual haphazard standard but we know what the problems are for next time. Apologies and hope it doesn't spoil your enjoyment too much*

Completing the saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode in a titanic battle of cunning and physical strength, join us as we sit through the thrilling conclusion to the Halloween story...

Of course not, this is 'Halloween II' the ever-so dull, "what it's kind of like the first one, what's wrong with it?" follow-up to the OG masterpiece. A film so devoid of life you can feel John Carpenter and Debra Hill's writer's block up there on the screen. Nevertheless, it's canon so we cover.

Buy

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Halloween-II-Collectors-UHD-Blu-ray/dp/B07GQ63D83

https://www.filmtreasures.co.uk/halloween-ii-4k-uhdblu-ray1981collectors-edition2-disc

Stream

https://www.nowtv.com/watch/halloween-2-1981-1981/A5EK6sKrAaydRkKR4biQu

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/0PHXMX74INVODV6R6QERECWXNI/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=just016-21

Dir: Rick Rosenthal

Scr: John Carpenter, Debra Hill

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Charles Cyphers, Jeffrey Kramer, Lance Guest, Pamela Susan Shoop, Dick Warlock

Prd: John Carpenter, Debra Hill

DoP: Dean Cundey

Music: John Carpenter, Alan Howarth

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep. 09) Escape From New York

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 09:00:46 GMT

Yes, we're hitting the 80s stride now talking about the cinema of Mr. Carpenter. This episode we're talking the iconic Kurt Russell hostage mission thriller Escape From New York. Join us as we delight in this stacked cast of horrible people, a cavalcade of amazing effects done on a shoe-string budget and THAT theme music, my goodness THAT theme tune. Plus, we take great delight in the performance of our old friend Donald Pleasance along with the bad-assery of Lee Van Cleef.

Buy

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Escape-New-York-Kurt-Russell/dp/B0002JK73Y

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/escape-from-new-york.html

Stream

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Escape-York-Remastered-Kurt-Russell/dp/B00ILNHRV8

https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/escape-from-new-york/umc.cmc.3hubbyao5k45o0mk8y4kz1yh9

Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: John Carpenter and Nick Castle

Starring: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasance, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins, Season Hubley

Prd: Larry Franco and Debra Hill

DoP: Dean Cundey

Music: John Carpenter

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep. 08) The Fog

Sun, 10 Dec 2023 21:19:27 GMT

We're hitting the 80s and with it we begin the great Carpenter run with cult favourite 'The Fog'. Join us as we talk about Mr. John's spooky, pirate ghost chiller replete with terrifying smoke machines, re-shoots, re-shoots, re-shoots and array of random people doing random things. We'll be talking:

Why is Jamie Lee Curtis' character here and where should she be?
Why isn't Donald Pleasance here?
So do people come back from the dead when killed by spooky pirates or what?
Why does the radio station only play smooth jazz?
So do the spooky pirates have poltergeist powers or what?

Buy

https://www.studiocanal.co.uk/title/the-fog-1980/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fog-4K-Ultra-HD-Blu-ray/dp/B07MXVFX9B/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Q2H2UHOMFE6A&keywords=the+fog&qid=1702241396&sprefix=the+fog%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1

Stream

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fog-Remastered-John-Houseman/dp/B07K4H1FST

https://www.nowtv.com/ie/online/the-fog-1980/A5EK6sKrAaydHVP2cDZNY

Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: John Carpenter and Debra Hill

Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Hal Holbrook, Janet Leigh

Prd: Debra Hill

DoP: Dean Cundey

Music: John Carpenter

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep. 07) Elvis

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 09:00:55 GMT

Before Baz made his epic telling of The King of Rock and Roll for the big screen, our Dear Director Carpenter made a TV movie of the icon.

Can the man who has already turned his hand to serial killer horror, comedy sci-fi and neo-westerns pull off a music biopic? Can he bring that same skewed vision to a cradle to grave story of the biggest icon of the 20th Century? Join us as dig out an online link to find out and discuss:

How handsome IS Kurt Russell?
Does everyone need a father like Bing?
Can this film be any more 'and then this happens'?
Why does Brenda feature more than Priscilla?
Can Shelley Winters do one take without crying?
Why Pat Hingle?

Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: Anthony Lawrence

Starring: Kurt Russell, Shelley Winters, Bing Russell, Season Hubley, Pat Hingle

Prd: Anthony Lawrence

Music: Joe Renzetti

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep. 06) Someone's Watching Me!

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 07:04:49 GMT

1978 was a banner year for Maestro Carpenter. One month after the release of the seminal 'Halloween', the thriller 'Someone's Watching Me!' popped up on US TV. If 'Halloween' is his 'Psycho', this may well be his 'Rear Window'. Considered 'The Lost Carpenter' film for many years due to its unavailability (which unless you have the patience to find a link it kind of is), we've unearthed it from a digital crypt to check it out.

So, was it a test-run for Halloween? How many phone calls before you'd seek the police or a Donald Pleasance of some kind? Carpenter's penchant for writing kick-ass women. The unattractive men of LA. Is it truly a Carpenter film without a Carpenter score?

Someone's Watching Me!

Dir: John Carpenter

Scr: John Carpenter

Cast: Lauren Hutton, David Birney, Adrienne Barbeau

Prd: Anna Cottle, Richard Kobritz

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep. 05) Halloween

Mon, 28 Aug 2023 19:40:58 GMT

It's been a minute since a new episode and, indeed, since we've talked about an honest-to-goodness John Carpenter film and it's a big one.

Join us this time as we talk about the undisputed horror great, 'Halloween'.

We're covering the lack of attractive men, the absolutely sane delivery of Donald Pleasance, what it sounds like to hear Michael Myers scurrying away out of shot, plus how awesome Jamie Lee Curtis is.

Let's enjoy Halloween in August and appreciate this 90 minute masterwork.

Stream Halloween on Starz

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/0HIROEAKHVOF23JSTAOGIY79OX/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=just016-21

Purchase the Blu-Ray

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Halloween-Blu-ray/dp/B07FDFNZ9V

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep. 04) Zuma Beach

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 07:00:22 GMT

Dare you take a convertible drive down to ZUMA BEACH!

Grae and Mike continue on this John Carpenter endeavor by talking about movies John Carpenter wrote a script for that then... went in a different direction.

On this ep we're talking the made-for-TV, beach movie 'Zuma Beach' starring 'Three's Company' Suzanne Somers. We talk:

The knock Beach Boy sounds of the Lagoon Boys
The Eyes of Micheal Biehn
How many frickin characters are in this thing?
Why does anyone care about any of these people?
When will they start being murdered?

Join us as we ponder these existential questions.

'Zuma Beach'

Dir: Lee H. Katzin

Scr: John Carpenter, William A. Schwartz, John Herman Shaner

Cast: Suzanne Somers, Steven Keats, Mark Wheeler, Michael Biehn, Rosanna Arquette, Timothy Hutton

Prd: Brian Grazer, Bruce Cohn Curtis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep. 03) Eyes of Laura Mars

Mon, 17 Jul 2023 07:00:11 GMT

On this episode we're talking the John Carpenter scripted but Irvin Kerschner directed, Jon Peters produced 'Eyes of Laura Mars'

We've been waiting years to finally watch this 70s chiller, was it worth the wait? Did we guess the killer? Is Raul Julia in this film as much as he should be? How wonderful is Rene Auberjonois' hair? Can anyone truly trust Brad Douriff? Would this have been better as a cheap and nasty Carpenter schlocker? We attempt to answer some of these questions.

'Eyes of Laura Mars'

Dir: Irvin Kerschner

Scr: John Carpenter and David Zelag Goodman

Cast: Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Douriff, Rene Auberjonois, Raul Julia

Prd: Jon Peters

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep. 02) Assault on Precinct 13

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 06:00:06 GMT

It's been in a minute but Vanilla Twist is back with the second installment deep diving into the cinema of John Carpenter. In this episode Grae and Mike talk about Mr. Carpenter's second feature and cult-classic (aren't they all) siege thriller 'Assault on Precinct 13'.

Much to discuss in this episode including:

How awesome is the theme music
Is it more 'Night of the Living Dead' or 'Rio Bravo'?
Is Tony Burton the MVP of the film?
How heavy is the sound of dripping blood
Are jars of blood more cost-effective than bullets
Silhouettes on the big screen, or bed sheets

Theme Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5UU2TxOcZs&ab_channel=KennethAllen

'You Can't Fight It'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxjKULjz4ho&ab_channel=RolloProduction

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep. 01) Dark Star

Wed, 05 Apr 2023 05:00:21 GMT

Episode one of Vanilla Twist, a podcast about the films of John Carpenter. Where we start fittingly enough with the great auteur's feature-length debut 'Dark Star'. How does it rate on the Kurt Russell scale? Poorly. But there's much else to enjoy as Grae and Mike discuss Carpenter's origins and this subversive sci-fi classic.

Join us please, won't you?

Benson Arizona

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTa2vXL7FI8

Captain Voyeur

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSmd3ZN4X80

The Resurrection of Broncho Billy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpOHMmDmmfc

Red Dwarf Intro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrNLLvAokO8

Buy 'Dark Star'

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Star-Blu-ray-Brian-Narelle/dp/B005DRNXS6

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.