Editorials
“The Check is in the Mail”: Celebrating 30 Years of ‘Big Trouble in Little China’
“I’m a reasonable guy. But, I’ve just experienced some very unreasonable things.Big Trouble in Little China. Full of great characters, a wildly entertaining story, and one of the greatest “side kicks who thinks he’s the hero” gags, I’d honestly put my life on the line in support of that movie.
Today marks the 30th anniversary since the movie hit theaters where it was considered a major flop, earning only $11.1 million (in N. America) against its $20 million budget. While audiences at that time did not recognize the magnificence that graced their very presence, we today understand the appeal of the film, which has since attained a cult status. Hell, even The Rock loves it.
As you can probably guess, the following is simply me gushing about Big Trouble in Little China. Here we go.
Many of you know my undying love of this film. Hell, I’d honestly put it in my Top 10 movie list, and that’s not limiting it to horror. I can’t tell you how much joy I get watching Big Trouble in Little China. Firstly, it’s got the ever awesome Kurt Russell, the incredibly attractive and brilliantly cast Kim Cattrall, and it introduced Carpenter to Dennis Dun, who would appear in 1987’s Prince of Darkness. When it comes to villains, they cast James Hong as Lo Pan. Sheer. Genius.
The story is also delightfully absurd and yet absolutely magnificent. I’d be willing to put down serious money that says games like Streets of Rage and Double Dragon took inspiration from here. Just think about it! Gang members kidnap the hero’s girlfriend and it’s up to him and his pal/brother/whatever to rescue her by beating the absolute crap out of everyone in various scenarios. That’s the plot to nearly every arcade beat ’em up from the late 80’s and early 90’s. At the very least, they owe Big Trouble in Little China a little bit of gratitude.
As for the script, I will never stop gushing over it. It fully embraces its cheesiness and pokes fun at it left and right. The level of absurdity is through the roof and yet everyone plays their characters with just joy and gusto that every line comes off as charming instead of groan-inducing.
Look at these examples:
“Okay. You people sit tight, hold the fort and keep the home fires burning. And if we’re not back by dawn… call the president.”
“This is gonna take crackerjack timing, Wang.”
“Play your cards right… you live to talk about it!”
“[After Jack starts up his truck, “Porkchop Express”] 6.9 on the Richter scale!”
“That’s why the bottle didn’t slice. My mind and my spirit are goin’ north and south.”
Dammit, I love it so much!
And for those of you still kvetching that it’s not a horror movie, let’s look at the monsters because some of them are great!
Remember the hairy red-eyed Yeti-esque thing? I won’t lie, that thing scared me when I was a young’un. The final scene where it bursts out of the back of Burton’s truck? I covered my eyes nearly every time. Or how about the “Guardian”, the multi-eyed cacodemon looking bastard that licked itself with a tongue that had an eyeball on its tip!!! If that’s not enough, the whole movie is about demons, ghosts, and supernatural entities. Just because the horror aspect isn’t front and center doesn’t mean it’s not a horror film. It’s just a ton of other stuff as well!
As always, Carpenter and co-composing partner Alan Howarth crafted an engaging and addictive score. Carpenter’s own band Coupe De Villes’ provided a theme song which never fails to make me tap my feet and sing along.
Look, I could go on and on about Big Trouble in Little China for hours and hours. Seriously, hang out with me, get a beer or two inside my stomach, and watch me gush. Why? Because it’s a brilliant movie that is honestly one of John Carpenter’s best.
And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go pop it in. This is Jonathan Barkan of the Bloody-Disgusting Express, signing off!
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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