Episodes
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Hello out there, and welcome back! As promised, Chris and Nick have returned with an all-new episode to discuss Halloween Ends, the final film in David Gordon Green's sequel trilogy that's now out in theaters and on Peacock. Like every Halloween fan out there, we've got some thoughts on this unique and highly divisive horror film, featuring an original score by John Carpenter (with his usual collaborators Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies) as well as what is -- supposedly -- the very last on-screen appearance of Jamie Lee Curtis as babysitter, massacre survivor, and, uh, pumpkin pie baker Laurie Strode. We really enjoyed being back to talk all things Carpenter once again, and we hope you'll join us for an in-depth, occasionally rather heated talk about the final (?) chapter in the franchise that he and Debra Hill kicked off back in 1978. Enjoy, and, if you're a horror fan, please join us on our new show, The Shuddering (shudderingpod.simplecast.com)!
Be warned: MAJOR SPOILERS for Halloween Ends beginning at 36:10 on this episode! They conclude at 1:21:25.
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We're BACK -- and sooner, rather than later! After wrapping up the show proper, we promised to check back in any time there was a good reason to do so, and the recent release of Firestarter is exactly that! Why, you ask? Well, most importantly, the Stephen King adaptation features a brand new score composed by none other than John Carpenter, and it features his regular collaborators Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies from his album, soundtrack, and live concert projects. Plus, the film was written by Halloween Kills scribe Scott Teems, and -- as we're sure you've heard us talk about -- back in the early 80s, Carpenter himself was originally tapped to direct the earlier Firestarter film that ended up in the hands of another director. So, those were more than enough reasons for Chris and Nick to get back into the saddle and revive the show for what we hope is the first of MANY returns to the Carpenter-centric conversation! So, join us for this "bonus" episode, and please check out our new podcast, The Shuddering, when it launches very soon!
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Missing episodes?
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Well, everybody, this is it! On this extra-special (and extra-lengthy) episode of Precinct 13, Chris and Nick reveal the top seven films in their Carpenter rankings -- and cap off our three-part sort-of series finale with a look back at some of our favorite stuff. We also welcome back Megan Mosley, who you might remember from our Halloween and The Fog episodes from way back when, to share her own rankings and thoughts on the Carpenter canon. We hope you enjoy this look back at everything we've done over the past few years on the show, and please stay subscribed! We'll be back any time there's something new to talk about in the world of filmmaker, composer, and all-around fascinating creative talent John Carpenter. Thank you all for listening, and please share with us your thoughts on the show, your own Carpenter rankings, or anything else that's on your mind! And, hey, if you like what we do around here, check out our new show, The Shuddering, coming soon -- we're on Facebook and Twitter @ShudderingPod if you'd like to stay informed as we get set to launch!
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The knock-down-drag-out Carpenter-ranking extravaganza continues this week as Chris and Nick share their next round of picks (the middle of their lists) and returning guest Josh Mosley gives us his takes on all 23 films! Once again, the good, the bad, and the silly in the John Carpenter filmography get discussed, along with a few of this year's Oscar nominees, an Elvis impersonator who's got nothing on Kurt Russell, and some further details of your hosts' next podcasting endeavor. This is the second-to-last episode of the show proper (though we'll be back whenever the occasion presents itself), so enjoy and be sure to join us again in a few weeks as we close things out with our very favorite Carpenter films!
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We're back again, and the time has finally come to unveil our rankings of all of the John Carpenter-directed films we've covered since Precinct 13's humble beginnings in the fall of 2019! This week's show is part one of our three-part "final" episode extravaganza (more on that in just a second), and we're welcoming back two-time guest host Alexandra Wiles to share her own rankings of all of the Carpenter films. Chris and Nick, meanwhile, share their bottom eight -- some of which you probably have already figured out, others that might be a little bit of a shocker -- and you can hear the rest of their lists as we look back and close out the show over the next few episodes! As we've mentioned several times before, this isn't quite the end of Precinct 13, but now that we've covered all of the Carpenter movies, we'll be moving on to a whole new show (a few details of which we'll reveal on this episode...) and periodically checking back whenever something new happens in the Carpenter universe. So, sit back and enjoy, send your own Carpenter rankings to us [email protected], and stay tuned for our favorites in the weeks ahead!
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Ever wonder what happened before MacReady and the boys went toe-to-toe with alien terror in John Carpenter's 1982 classic The Thing? Well, we didn't really, either, but leave it to Hollywood to show us the mysterious backstory that Carpenter's film left tantalizingly out of reach. 2011's The Thing, a sort of grotesque, body-horror hybrid of prequel and remake, takes place a few days before the original and tells the tale of the Norwegian research base that made the colossal mistake of not letting sleeping extraterrestrials lie. Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr. and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton, the film is similar to its predecessor not only in its story and visuals, but also in the critical and box-office disappointments it suffered on its release. But, hey, it turned out that Carpenter's film was actually pretty incredible -- can the same be said about this long-in-development return to Antarctica? Chris and Nick break it down in the last of our reviews of Carpenter-adjacent projects, taking a look at the film's controversial CGI visual FX, van Heijningen's direction, the little details that make this a very faithful prequel to the '82 version, and lots more! Plus, Nick checks out a trippy slice of forgotten 70s horror, Chris recommends another stellar film from South Korea, and the guys preview the grand finale (for now) of this very podcast!
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2011's The Ward may not be one of the heavy hitters in the John Carpenter canon, but does this modestly budgeted return to feature filmmaking nevertheless have something to offer the Master of Horror's fans? Chris and Nick consider that question in a discussion that also touches on the future of Carpenter's directorial career -- and whether or not there'll actually be one! Yes, that's right, folks: this is Carpenter's last film, made an entire decade ago, and it might just end up being the final entry in his filmography. Fear not, though -- we at Precinct 13 still have a few more episodes waiting in the wings, and we're not quite ready to step away from all things J.C. just yet! But, for now, our in-depth look at The Ward covers everything from the film's female ensemble cast (a Carpenter first!), its relationship to Carpenter's classic genre works, its slew of new collaborators both behind and in front of the camera, and even which national chain restaurants we'd compare this movie to (trust us, it does sort of make sense!). Plus, Chris revisits Nick's all-time favorite film, Nick thoroughly enjoys a bonkers 90s horror sequel, and the guys propose a cinematic collaboration that would definitely be one for the ages (or, at least, one for the aged)!
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Michael Myers is back, and so are we -- it's time to close out another "season of the witch" with an episode about Halloween Kills, the long-awaited (by us, anyway) second entry in David Gordon Green and Danny McBride's sequel trilogy! After debuting to stellar box office numbers and some decidedly mixed reviews from critics and audiences, the new movie has left Chris and Nick with a lot to talk about, so pull that William Shatner mask over your face, grab your favorite piece of cutlery, and strap in for a mayhem-filled ride. Kills has what is likely the highest body count in the entire franchise, it brings back A LOT of supporting characters from Carpenter's 1978 original, and -- of course -- it treats us to another go-round of Jamie Lee Curtis in her most iconic role of Laurie Strode. There's even an extended flashback to 1978 that painstakingly recreates the look and feel of the FIRST night that Michael Myers came home. Is all of that enough to satisfy fans of the long-running franchise and, more importantly, of the film that put John Carpenter on the map? Your humble co-hosts break it down piece-by-piece, from the screenplay to the score to the bigger, badder, meaner tone that allows for brutality and bloodshed that might surprise even a hardened slasher fan. Does this film improve on the one that it (sort of) replaces in the series' continuity, Halloween II? Will fans enjoy the return of characters like Brackett and Tommy Doyle for a four-decades-later showdown with The Shape? And what, exactly, does this film have in common with Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ? All that and more on this very special Halloween episode! Incidentally, we keep the spoilers as limited as possible for most of the episode, but if you're wary of big-time spoiler content, then skip from 1:06:30 to 1:38:30, and you'll be all good! We've got a few last-minute spooky-season movie recommendations for you, too, of course, so enjoy this jam-packed episode, have a very happy Halloween, and don't forget: EVIL DIES TONIGHT!!!
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With the long-awaited sequel Halloween Kills hitting theaters and All Hallow's Eve just a few weeks away, it was the perfect time to revisit one of the most high-profile, critically acclaimed, and financially successful remakes of any film in the John Carpenter catalog. 2018's Halloween, directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Danny McBride, tosses away all of the franchise's continuity after what was established in Carpenter's original, and it attempts to faithfully capture the spirit of the 1978 classic and pick up the story four decades after we left off. How successful is it in doing that, and what's in store for the rest of the trilogy it began? Chris, Nick, and returning guest co-host Alexandra Wiles discuss those questions and many more in a comprehensive breakdown and review of Green's sequel/reboot/homage. We've covered a lot, here -- from the evolution and psychology of Laurie Strode to the (too plentiful?) meta nods to the original film to the music and cinematography that, like a lot of this effort, take inspiration from Carpenter's classic work while catering to a more modern taste in horror cinema. Along with that, we also have some more recommendations for your Halloween movie-viewing month -- and, of course, we'll be back in two weeks to tackle our most highly anticipated horror film of the season, Halloween Kills!
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We're back to working our way through John Carpenter's filmography this week, taking a look at the second and final of Carpenter's Masters of Horror episodes. Pro-Life, from the show's second season, features Ron Perlman in a major role and was written by the team that gave us the earlier Carpenter-directed episode Cigarette Burns. Should be great, right? We'll leave you to find out our thoughts on this film -- and we have plenty of them -- but, suffice it to say, this story about a young woman, her fundamentalist father, and the demon baby she's determined to not give birth to is... well, it's not quite what you might expect. Plus: Chris shares his thoughts on the divisive James Wan horror opus Malignant, Nick revisits a classic HBO series with a new movie on the way, and the guys debate Red Letter Media's recent video ranking John Carpenter's films from worst-to-best!
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We're back from a brief late-summer hiatus with lots of new music in the John Carpenter universe to talk about! Our "feature presentation" of this episode, so to speak, is a track-by-track breakdown of the recently released tribute album The Way of Darkness, out now on Italian label Rustblade Records. This album features ten tracks of familiar Carpenter tracks from his movie scores and non-film albums, re-imagined and re-recorded by a selection of artists in the electronic music genre -- including two contributions from Claudio Simonetti, keyboardist for the legendary Goblin. It's an under-the-radar release that Chris and Nick have really come to love, and, chances are, if you're a Carpenter fan, you're going to dig it, too! We also discuss the recent remix collaborations between Carpenter and the well-respected synth-rock band Chvrches and, maybe best of all, the brand-new cut "Unkillable" from the original score of the long-awaited Halloween Kills!
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What the hell is El Diablo, you ask? Why, it's a made-for-HBO film from 1990 co-written by none other than John Carpenter and Tommy Lee Wallace (as well as Christine screenwriter Bill Phillips). And, at least according to us, it's awesome! This week, Chris and Nick check out a largely forgotten chapter in the history of Carpenter's filmmaking career, a hilarious and surprisingly dark comedy/western featuring Anthony Edwards and Louis Gossett, Jr. -- alongside an impressive supporting cast of familiar faces like Joe Pantoliano, Miguel Sandoval, and John "Gremlins 2" Glover. Carpenter might have passed up the chance to direct this one, but it's not hard to catch a glimpse of the humor, energy, and grit of films like Dark Star and Escape from New York in El Diablo's ACE award-winning script. The film is currently streaming on HBO Max, and we think it's well worth a look! Plus, Chris has an amazing experience with the legendary Bruce Campbell, and Nick salutes a YouTube channel that's dedicated to the most obnoxious actor in action movie history.
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Yep, we did it again! After tackling the limp Carpenter retread that was 2005's The Fog, we simply couldn't leave that same year's version of our show's namesake on the table. So, Chris, Nick, and special guest Alexandra Wiles checked out director Jean-Francois Richet's Assault on Precinct 13, and, it turns out, we had a lot to discuss about it! Unlike some remakes, this one at least has the guts to try something different from Carpenter's original, swapping out its L.A. setting for a cold New Year's Eve in the industrial sprawl of Detroit and replacing its iconic cop/criminal duo with a strung-out Ethan Hawke and an ice-cold (and, perhaps, a little too Morpheus-like) Laurence Fishburne. And, this time, it isn't a faceless street gang that lays siege to the derelict police station, and (thankfully?) nobody dies while eating ice cream. But, at any rate, this movie -- which is notably lacking in Carpenter's involvement -- has left us with a lot of questions. Like, is a steady stream of automatic gunfire a good substitute for character development? (Spoiler: it's not). Would this movie be improved by the addition of some familiar faces from other beloved franchises? (Spoiler: it would). And, just how did that remote, moonlit forest suddenly appear in the middle of the Motor City? (Spoiler: we have no f*cking clue). So, join us for an unexpectedly in-depth analysis of this not-quite-classic, plus: Nick throws some shade at the Purge franchise, Alex and Chris celebrate a recent horror sequel that definitely did not suck, and we consider just how many close-range Molotov cocktails constitute overkill.
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We're back, and we've got a real barnburner (cigarette burner?) for you this time! Chris, Nick, and returning guest co-host Josh Mosley have A LOT to unpack about John Carpenter's first of two episodes of the sadly defunct Showtime anthology series Masters of Horror. With its In the Mouth of Madness-style plot, its graphic bloodletting, and its unique ideas on the medium of film, Cigarette Burns certainly stands out in the Carpenter filmography -- this is definitely not a case of late-career check-cashing. But, there's often a big difference between "interesting" and "good," and while one of your hosts thinks Cigarette Burns is a masterpiece, there's definitely a strong case that can be (and, over the course of this epic-length episode, is) made that this might not be among the director's strongest work. Hate it or love it, though, this hour-long film leaves us with all kinds of things to talk about, and we appreciate Josh being in for the long haul!
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This week, we're headed back to good old Antonio Bay... But, this time around, it's not quite the same place that John Carpenter introduced us to in his classic 1980 chiller. No, against our better judgment (seriously, this thing has a 4% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes!), we've decided to take a look at director Rupert Wainwright's 2005 remake of The Fog to see if there's anything in it that's worth seeing for die-hard Carpenter fans like ourselves. You'll have to listen to find out, but, as with the movie itself, you're not likely to be shocked. Still, Chris and Nick put their usual level of over-thought into this largely forgotten PG-13 affair, and if nothing else, it's a chance to discuss remakes and reboots of beloved genre films -- some of which really did do some interesting things to justify their existence. We also ponder the question of what the most truly original John Carpenter film might be, celebrate the return of moviegoing in the post-COVID world, and discuss the recent Guardian piece about why Ghosts of Mars might not be so bad, after all.
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On our latest episode, it's finally time to take a look at John Carpenter's post-millennial moviemaking career, beginning with his 2001 effort Ghosts of Mars. This sci-fi/action/horror romp marks Carpenter's last foray into directing (relatively) big-budget studio movies to date, and while the film didn't set the world on fire critically or commercially, it did receive a memorable thumbs-up review from Roger Ebert. The film stars Ice Cube and Natasha Henstridge alongside a stacked cast of B-movie favorites -- from Pam Grier to Carpenter regular Peter Jason -- and it puts a high-concept sci-fi spin on a lot of familiar Carpenter ideas: outlaw antiheroes, western movie tropes, Alamo-esque siege situations, and more! At first glance, Ghosts of Mars looks a lot like classic Carpenter -- but, is the final product an unheralded late-career masterpiece, a misfire of epic proportions, a hyper-violent Scooby Doo episode set in space, or something else entirely? Chris and Nick attempt to tackle those questions, and many, many others that this film leaves unanswered, in a discussion that, love the film or hate it, we at least hope gives it its due!
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Last episode, we sank our fangs into John Carpenter's late 90s horror/western Vampires, a modest box-office hit that paid tribute to some of the director's biggest cinematic inspirations. In keeping with Carpenter's tradition of not caring all that much about making sequels to his own movies, he handed the reins down to his longtime friend and collaborator Tommy Lee Wallace (director of Halloween III: Season of the Witch) for a direct-to-DVD sequel in 2002. Vampires: Los Muertos takes place in the same blood-soaked, vamp-ridden universe as the first film, but, with none of the original cast returning, this time around it's none other than Jon Bon Jovi in the protagonist role, with a whole new bunch of slayers to back him up. So, does this lower-budget, south of the border-set sequel have anything to offer to fans of the original? Or does it totally, ahem, suck? Chris and Nick tackle those questions, and attempt to figure out the film's not-so-coherent plot, in a discussion that takes a slight detour from the Carpenter filmography into the wild (or, at least, wildly inconsistent) world of DVD-era studio sequel-ization.
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It's back to the movies and back to 1998 on the latest Precinct 13, as Chris and Nick sink their fangs into John Carpenter's action/horror/western hybrid, Vampires. Starring James Woods as the leader of a wild bunch of slayers hired by the Catholic church to exterminate the unholy undead, this film was a rare commercial success for Carpenter in the 90s. But, with last-minute studio-imposed budget cuts, a tangle with the MPAA over its bloody mayhem, and the blockbuster Blade breathing down its neck, could this movie live up to the Carpenter classics -- or, at least, to the earlier From Dusk Till Dawn, which covers a lot of the same territory? We've got lots to say about this one -- not all of it positive -- and, along the way, we get into everything from the influence of classic westerns to the crazy "could've beens" on of the casting to the film's uniquely explosive way of dispatching its villainous bloodsuckers. Plus, a few off-the-beaten-path recommendations of genre films that the Carpenter crowd might enjoy, whatever their feelings on this attempted return to form.
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This week, it's a first here on Precinct 13: a look at one of John Carpenter's forays into writing for the comics world. The Joker: Year of the Villain #1 is a one-shot entry into the DC Comics canon that Carpenter co-wrote with Borderlands writer Anthony Burch in 2019; it was released right around the same time that movie audiences were turning out en masse to see Joaquin Phoenix's interpretation of the infamous Batman villain. Our discussion of this unique Carpenter work also gets into the larger world of Carpenter comics, the very un-Joker-like portrayals of villainy in his films, and even a member of Batman's "Rogues Gallery" that you may(o) have never heard of! All that, plus a few more of our musings on non-Carpenter horror, from a solid recent sequel to a long-running, low-key franchise to a movie that shows us what The Thing prequel probably should have looked like.
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Among the many things we'd been looking forward to in the year of 2021 was the release of Lost Themes III: Alive After Death, the third collection of John Carpenter's original, non-soundtrack musical compositions. And, now that it's here, we can safely say -- and Chris DOES say so, more than once -- that this album is an absolute banger! We got to hear a lot of these tracks when they were released as singles last year, but your humble hosts and Carpenter aficionados think this album is best enjoyed in its entirety. Nick and Chris do another track-by-track review and commentary of this Sacred Bones Records release, and along the way, we imagine the cinematic visions this music might inspire, consider the locked-in groove that Carpenter and his band (son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies) have established over several albums, and even figure out the correct pronunciation of Moog! Plus, Chris braves the brutal world of Australian horror filmmaker Greg McLean, Nick has a bloody good time with an Italian slasher-movie classic, and we celebrate another one of our favorite cinematic composers, Trent Reznor.
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