Over the past few days, writer/director Guillermo del Toro has been extolling the virtues, works, and attitude of writer/director/composer John Carpenter. Talking not only about Carpenter’s films but also about the music he wrote, the stories he told, and the attitude he had to the successes and failures, del Toro essentially honed in on what makes horror such a painful yet incredible genre, even reminding us that it, “…will always be punk rock!”
Del Toro is one of the most respected and exciting directors in the genre, so to see him act like such a, pardon the phrase, fanboy just warms my heart. It shows that no matter how successful we get or how much influence we have, we should still never forget what gave us the passion and drive in the first place.
I’ve collected all of del Toro’s tweets regarding Carpenter below. However, I highly recommend following him on Twitter as he retweets and discusses horror form all sorts of wonderful angles.
When I think of John Carpenter, I am amazed at the fact that we take him for granted. How can we? Why should we? He is lightning in a bottle
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
Assault on Precinct 13 by John Carpenter. Carpenter flexing his muscles, revamping the archetypes of a Western and establishing his own.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
Halloween by John Carpenter. A genre supernova. Creates a taxonomic category that still lives. Unsparing precision, simplicity and elegance.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
Sidebar: We must all agree that Carpenter is a brilliant writer / director. A rare breed. A true auteur. Oh, and a hallowed composer.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
The Fog by John Carpenter. 1/2 One of my favorites. Highly original blend of bare bones folk tale horror and metaphor.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
The Fog by John Carpenter. 2/2 The film works like JC's scores, by spare rhythmic punctuation. Its origin reveals a literary streak in JC
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
Carpenter's scores fluctuate w his films. Listen to them: they embody the spirit of each film perfectly. They are his final auteur voice.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
Second sidebar: John Carpenter doesn't give a fuck whether we like his films or not.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
John Carpenter is one tough motherfucker.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
The Thing by John Carpenter. 1/4 A game-changer (again) and one of the finest horror films ever made. It cannot be matched. Holy Grail.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
The Thing by John Carpenter. 2/4 Make up effects, score, cinematography, production design are all utter perfection. But so is the script.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
The Thing by John Carpenter. 3/4 the irony is that most reviewers at the time were entirely blind to the virtues of story and character.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
The Thing by John Carpenter. 4/4 The movie bombed and was panned both. And I believe it fragmented Carpenter's heart somewhat. Fuck them all
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
The Thing by John Carpenter 5/4 Carpenter chose (like Scott in Alien) to define character and story through audio-visual coding and…
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
The Thing by John Carpenter 6/4 …their interactions. Viewers needed to pay attention to the way characters related and spoke. Structure…
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
The Thing by John Carpenter 7/4 …not neatly packaged into a pre-digested structure. The movie was fiber, not pablum. You had to chew…
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
The Thing by John Carpenter 8/4 …but we were at the peak of pre-chewed regurgitation.We MUST atone for the errors of the past. Masterpiece
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
Anecdote 1/2: One night, over dinner, I told John Carpenter, how much all generations love The Thing. How amazing it was that it had…
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
Anecdote 2/2: …over time, "found its audience" and was now revered. "What fucking good does that do to me" he said. We ordered dessert.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
Final thought for the day: Carpenter creates masterpiece after masterpiece and they are often ignored. Now, go to bluray church and pray.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
Regarding Carpenter: We all talk about inequalities in film. We can add up a huge one: Genre inequality. Horror will always be punk rock!
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 22, 2016
Big Trouble in Little China by John Carpenter. Sheer pulp brilliance and dazzling magic. The first of a franchise that should have been.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 23, 2016
Prince of Darkness by John Carpenter. Perfect rephrasing of Nigel Kneal and Dennis Wheatley style horror. Chockfull of ideas and power.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 23, 2016
Sidebar: Kurt Russell can do no wrong. He cannot. He is equally gifted as a hardass or a genius at comedic timing or a drama leading man.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 23, 2016