John Carpenter Talks State of Horror and the Need for a New Beginning

John Carpenter is an interesting guy. He’s that dude that oozes so much wisdom you’re afraid to say anything for fear he’ll crush your statement with a sharp fact-filled monologue.

He’s also still relatively passionate about the genre. He knows what he likes, he knows what works, and as we learned from Carpenter’s appearance on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast, where he had plenty to say about horror in 2016, he knows what he’d change to alter the genre’s landscape.

Carpenter uses AMC’s smash hit The Walking Dead as a jump-off point. “That was a movie that George Romero made back in ’68 [Night of the Living Dead] and they have milked…people have milked it and they’re STILL milking it. It’s unreal.”

He’s right of course, as over the years only a small few have made legitimate bids at creating something refreshing from the zombie sub-genre.

But, while he’s right in a lot of his assessment, he’s also a little contradictory.

“Horror is due for a new beginning. It’s due for a resurgence. They have to change it. We have to change it up. We can’t keep doing these cheap ‘Poltergeist’ movies either. ‘Paranormal’… It’s just a cheap movie. Come on now!”

We’re in favor of creativity, Mr. Carpenter, but let’s all remember that you’ll be heavily involved in another Halloween film… which isn’t what I’d call any kind of “new beginning.”

All nonsense swept aside, it’s nice to hear Carpenter speak on the genre. Most of us are interested in his personal opinions. And although a new Halloween film won’t unearth any new, unexcavated horror terrain, we’re still very excited to see it, and we’re more than pumped to know that Carpenter will be heavily involved in the movie’s creation.

Source: WTF Podcast