Preview: Mick Garris' Interview with John Carpenter

For decades, John Carpenter's weird visions have terrorized the screens of millions. Unlike others, Carpenter never confined himself to cheap and easy thrills, but genuinely shocking displays of cinematic horror that also brought eerie ruminations after the monster faded from the screen. For weird horror fans, who can forget the combo of freakish transformations and the consequences of a malevolent cosmos wrought by Carpenter's extraterrestrial in The Thing? Or what about the Lovecraftian imagery and meta-fictional play that sardonically jeered audiences when In the Mouth of Madness premiered?

Next week, FEARnet is due to unleash a new interview with John Carpenter conducted by Mick Garris. They have kindly allowed this preview clip to be posted below. Carpenter discusses his film making icons and influences - the obscure and the celebrated - in a short, but illuminating talk. Like his influences from literature, it seems Carpenter isn't shy about plugging obscure mentors, such as Howard Hawks. His Lovecraftian influence has never been a secret, even at a time when H.P. Lovecraft's work was far less known than today.



The interview is a part of a series of talks by Garris with some of horror cinema's biggest names. Check out the full interview this February 28 on FEARnet's John Carpenter page.

-Grim Blogger