Precinct 13: The Movies and Music of John Carpenter artwork

Precinct 13: The Movies and Music of John Carpenter

54 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratings

Join co-hosts Nick Rocco Scalia and Chris Oliphant on a movie-by-movie journey through the career of filmmaker/composer John Carpenter. From the genre-defining works to the cult classics to the overlooked gems (and misfires), we're covering the entire catalog of this modern master of horror, science fiction, and beyond!

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Episodes

Halloween Ends (2022)

October 26, 2022 18:15 - 1 hour - 76.8 MB

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-...

Firestarter (2022)

May 29, 2022 14:40 - 1 hour - 59.5 MB

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 wri...

Ranking the John Carpenter Filmography (Part 3) f/ Megan Mosley

April 15, 2022 14:10 - 3 hours - 178 MB

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'...

Ranking the John Carpenter Filmography (Part 2) f/ Josh Mosley

March 09, 2022 00:10 - 2 hours - 155 MB

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 th...

Ranking the John Carpenter Filmography (Part 1) f/ Alexandra Wiles

February 16, 2022 01:37 - 2 hours - 111 MB

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...

The Thing (2011)

December 15, 2021 01:56 - 1 hour - 67.1 MB

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 le...

The Ward (2011)

November 19, 2021 01:13 - 1 hour - 83.3 MB

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 f...

Halloween Kills (2021)

October 29, 2021 17:49 - 1 hour - 93.9 MB

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...

Halloween (2018) f/ Alexandra Wiles

October 14, 2021 18:40 - 1 hour - 98.4 MB

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 spi...

Masters of Horror: Pro-Life (2006)

October 01, 2021 01:41 - 1 hour - 78.5 MB

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 wo...

The Way of Darkness (A Tribute to John Carpenter) + Unkillable + Chvrches

September 09, 2021 00:51 - 1 hour - 59 MB

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 -- inc...

El Diablo (1990)

August 11, 2021 01:27 - 1 hour - 68.5 MB

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...

Remake Review: Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) f/ Alexandra Wiles

July 22, 2021 15:28 - 1 hour - 88.9 MB

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 N...

Masters of Horror: Cigarette Burns (2005) f/ Josh Mosley

July 06, 2021 16:47 - 1 hour - 100 MB

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...

Remake Review: The Fog (2005)

June 11, 2021 04:07 - 1 hour - 63.8 MB

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...

Ghosts of Mars (2001)

May 26, 2021 00:13 - 1 hour - 89.6 MB

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-...

Vampires: Los Muertos (2002)

April 30, 2021 01:44 - 1 hour - 57 MB

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 ...

John Carpenter's Vampires (1998)

April 14, 2021 15:16 - 1 hour - 76.5 MB

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 it...

John Carpenter's The Joker: Year of the Villain #1 (2019)

March 18, 2021 19:14 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MB

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...

The Music of John Carpenter: Lost Themes III: Alive After Death (2021)

March 05, 2021 04:24 - 1 hour - 59.9 MB

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 ...

Escape From L.A. (1996) [Part 2] f/ CoolRogRox

February 12, 2021 03:55 - 1 hour - 77.4 MB

This week, a more in-depth breakdown of John Carpenter's Snake Plissken sequel Escape From L.A., featuring returning guest CoolRogRox -- who previously joined us way back when to talk Escape From New York. A huge fan of the original film since its debut, Rog shares with us his thoughts on the non-blockbuster follow-up that piles on the campy moments and over-the-top FX sequences in an attempt to outdo its cult-classic predecessor. Our discussion stretches from Star Wars prequel trilogy compa...

Escape from L.A. (1996) [Part 1]

January 28, 2021 03:58 - 1 hour - 68.9 MB

Yes, you can still call him Snake... But, even though John Carpenter's most beloved B-movie anti-hero returns in the 1996 sequel Escape From L.A., things are definitely not the same (well, unless you're talking about the plot, which is almost exactly the same!). This week, Chris and Nick take a look at the long-awaited follow-up to Carpenter's classic Escape From New York, and we have so many thoughts on this controversial addition to the Carpenter canon that we're just scratching the surfac...

John Carpenter Live Retrospective (2018)

January 14, 2021 03:37 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MB

Back in 2016, John Carpenter and his band embarked on a world tour, performing all the classic cuts from his movie soundtracks as well as a selection of songs from his two Lost Themes albums. Sadly, Chris and Nick missed all of those shows, but the John Carpenter Live Retrospective Blu-Ray from Storm King Productions is as close as we could get to actually being there. For our first episode of 2021, we take a look at this one-of-a-kind concert film, a must-have for fans of John Carpenter's c...

2020 Holiday Special: Christmas with the Coupe de Villes

December 23, 2020 22:52 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MB

This week, Chris and Nick take a break from their regularly scheduled programming to share some holiday cheer from the most unexpected of places! Back in 1986, John Carpenter's band, featuring his friends and fellow filmmakers Tommy Lee Wallace and Nick Castle, filmed a music video for their end-credits theme to Big Trouble in Little China... and it is, in our humble opinion, the greatest thing ever. We love it so much, in fact, that we've decided that discussing it is the perfect way to end...

Village of the Damned (1995) f/ Brian Verderosa

December 09, 2020 04:48 - 1 hour - 74.4 MB

Oh, the HUMANITY! This week, Chris and Nick welcome back their old buddy Brian Verderosa to discuss John Carpenter's sci-fi/horror remake Village of the Damned, a movie with no shortage of creepy kids, unintentional camp, or lovely northern California locations to its credit. Arriving hot on the heels of Carpenter's boundary-pushing Lovecraftian meta-nightmare In the Mouth of Madness, this film is one of the director's least-loved works, but it does reunite him with cinematographer Gary B. K...

In the Mouth of Madness (1994) [Part 2] f/ Justin Dane

November 28, 2020 00:35 - 1 hour - 98.8 MB

As promised, we're not done with Sutter Cane yet... or, maybe, he's not done with us! In the second episode of our two-part discussion of John Carpenter's modern horror classic In the Mouth of Madness, we welcome actor, podcaster and Carpenter fan Justin Dane to the show to help us sort all of this insanity out. Our deep dive into the final entry in the "Apocalypse Trilogy" covers everything from the film's Lovecraft references to its still-impressive VFX to the killer Sam Neill performance ...

In the Mouth of Madness (1994) [Part 1]

November 11, 2020 05:37 - 1 hour - 72 MB

It's time to give the ol' double-episode treatment to another John Carpenter classic: 1994's In the Mouth of Madness. After celebrating Halloween with a pair of special holiday episodes, Chris and Nick are back to their regularly scheduled programming, breaking down the truly unique horror film that asks viewers, "Lived any good books lately?" On the first of our two-part conversation on this reality-warping, mind-bending, Lovecraft-worshiping movie, we take a look at the film's development ...

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

October 28, 2020 03:29 - 1 hour - 90.5 MB

Halloween is here once again, and while the season is still in full swing, we thought we'd take a look at a John Carpenter-produced sequel that (temporarily, at least) took his beloved horror franchise into entirely new territory. Halloween III: Season of the Witch, directed by Carpenter's regular collaborator Tommy Lee Wallace, might be one of the kookiest big-studio horror films ever made, kicking Michael Myers to the curb and replacing him with something altogether unexpected. Chris and N...

Halloween II (1981)

October 16, 2020 03:54 - 1 hour - 86.1 MB

The Halloween season is upon us yet again, and we simply couldn't let it pass without checking in on the long-running horror franchise that John Carpenter launched over 40 years ago. This week, it's back to good old Haddonfield as Chris and Nick revisit 1981's Halloween II, the first sequel to Carpenter's genre-defining classic. While directorial duties were handed over to first-timer Rick Rosenthal, Carpenter and Debra Hill returned (somewhat reluctantly) as screenwriters and producers; the...

The Music of John Carpenter: Lost Themes II (2016)

October 02, 2020 02:45 - 1 hour - 64.2 MB

We're back to discuss another collection of John Carpenter's original musical compositions, the 2016 Sacred Bones release Lost Themes II. Like the first Lost Themes album, this one features songs that aren't tied to any of Carpenter's film projects -- though anyone who loves his film-scoring work will likely find a lot to love across these 11 tunes. Chris and Nick break the album down track-by-track, discussing Carpenter's composing, instrumentation, and influences -- and considering the ama...

Body Bags (1993)

September 10, 2020 00:38 - 1 hour - 75.3 MB

After the disappointing returns of his big-studio effort Memoirs of an Invisible Man, John Carpenter briefly returned to television for a Showtime anthology film, seemingly designed to cash in on the popularity of HBO's Tales from the Crypt. 1993's Body Bags was a  particularly fun entry in the filmography for Chris and Nick to discuss -- it includes two segments directed by Carpenter (plus a third by his fellow 70s genre auteur Tobe Hooper) and, even better, features the filmmaker/composer ...

Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

August 19, 2020 02:25 - 1 hour - 72.5 MB

We've covered a lot of Carpenter classics on this show thus far, and now it's time to take a look at one of his less-loved efforts. 1992's Memoirs of an Invisible Man was a project that star Chevy Chase had been attempting to get off the ground for years, and after passing through the hands of directors Ivan Reitman and Richard Donner, the film became Carpenter's return to the screen after his longest hiatus to date. So, does this sci-fi star vehicle (also featuring Daryl Hannah and pre-Jura...

Carpenter the Scribe: Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) & Black Moon Rising (1986)

August 05, 2020 03:19 - 1 hour - 66 MB

How's this for a change of pace: this week, we're talking about two films that John Carpenter didn't direct! However, both 1978's Eyes of Laura Mars and 1986's Black Moon Rising began their existence as Carpenter screenplays (both, eventually, re-worked by other writers), and we'd be missing out on a lot of Carpenter completionist cred if we didn't check them out!  In a discussion that somehow ends up winding its way through early 80s west coast punk rock, the recent Suspiria remake, and the...

Carpenter Origins: Captain Voyeur (1969) & The Resurrection of Broncho Billy (1970) [plus: Skeleton / Unclean Spirit single)

July 22, 2020 00:50 - 1 hour - 64.5 MB

This week, we're firing up the Wayback Machine for a look at the very beginnings of John Carpenter's film career. As a student at USC in the late 60s/early 70s, Carpenter wrote and directed the bizarre comedy/horror short Captain Voyeur, and he followed it up by collaborating (as co-writer, editor, and composer) on the Academy Award-winning The Resurrection of Broncho Billy. After our marathon look at They Live, and before we tackle Carpenter's still-prolific 1990s, we thought we'd study som...

They Live (1988) [Part 2]

July 08, 2020 02:57 - 1 hour - 97.2 MB

Sorry for the delay on this episode... we seem to have run out of bubblegum. But, for those who've been patiently waiting for the conclusion of our discussion of Carpenter's 1988 sci-fi/action satire They Live, we've got a whole lot of show for you! This week, Chris and Nick break the film down beat-by-beat, with an eye on its sharp character moments, the witty critiques of 80s-era media and consumer culture, that deservedly famous fight scene between "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Keith David, and...

They Live (1988) [Part 1]

June 12, 2020 04:01 - 1 hour - 70.4 MB

Well, how about that... we seem to be all out of bubblegum. Only one thing left to do, then! This week, Chris and Nick put the glasses on and take a look under the surface of Carpenter's paranoid 1988 sci-fi/action flick, They Live. In the first of two episodes on this much-discussed, still relevant satire of consumerism and the evils of media technology, we explore some of the film's subversive and daring themes, the cast and crew of returning Carpenter regulars and welcome new faces, and t...

Prince of Darkness (1987)

May 21, 2020 21:55 - 1 hour - 70.1 MB

Is 1987's Prince of Darkness one of the most underrated and overlooked films in the John Carpenter canon? Or does this smaller-budget but thematically ambitious tale about science, religion, and bicycle impalements not quite hit the sweet spot of cinematic craft and outright horror that, by the late 80s, we knew was well within his wheelhouse? Chris and Nick wrestle with these questions, and many more, in an exploration of a movie that might not have won over the box office or the critics, b...

Big Trouble in Little China (1986) [Part 2]

May 07, 2020 16:05 - 1 hour - 68.5 MB

The Porkchop Express rolls on in part two of our discussion of Carpenter's action/comedy cult classic Big Trouble in Little China! Picking up where they left off (after catching up on a bit of quarantine film-viewing), Chris and Nick explore the bizarrely wonderful back half of Big Trouble, which features some of the wildest moments in the entire Carpenter canon. Along the way, the guys also pay tribute to some of the amazing character actors and art department personnel that helped make thi...

Big Trouble in Little China (1986) [Part 1]

April 24, 2020 05:16 - 1 hour - 63.2 MB

It's cult-classic time once again here on Precinct 13, and this week, Chris and Nick are jumping aboard the Porkchop Express for part one of a two-part discussion of Carpenter's mid-eighties action-comedy Big Trouble in Little China. You know the deal: Kurt Russell stars as trucker Jack Burton in a wildly colorful movie that goes so far over-the-top with its martial arts and mystical mayhem, it's almost too much to absorb in a single sitting. For part one of our exploration of Big Trouble, w...

The Music of John Carpenter: Lost Themes (2015)

April 08, 2020 03:50 - 1 hour - 55 MB

We're back, and with quarantine still in place, we've had a lot of time on our hands. So, what a great opportunity to really soak up some instrumental John Carpenter compositions from his 2015 album Lost Themes! Track-by-track, Chris and Nick break down the album of all-original Carpenter music (none of which has been heard in his, or anyone else's, films), and it's a must-listen for those who love his iconic scoring work on movies such as Halloween and Assault on Precinct 13. We also recap ...

Starman (1984) f/ Brian Verderosa

March 24, 2020 17:38 - 1 hour - 74.6 MB

At long last, we're back in action to discuss John Carpenter's 1984 romantic sci-fi road movie Starman -- and we've brought along our ol' podcasting pal, Brian Verderosa, to help us sort through this very unique addition to the Carpenter canon. While the first decade of the director's career was marked by thrills, chills, and dark humor, with Starman, Carpenter shows his sentimental side; yes, there's an extraterrestrial visitor, here, but this movie is about as far from The Thing as it gets...

Christine (1983) f/ Josh Mosley

March 04, 2020 05:03 - 1 hour - 88 MB

Buckle up and crank that old time rock 'n roll, Stephen King fans, because it's time to tackle John Carpenter's adaptation of the killer-car novel Christine. On this episode, King expert Josh Mosley joins Chris and Nick to discuss Carpenter's comeback film after the box-office disappointment of his magnum opus, The Thing. Is the cinematic Master of Horror up to the task of bringing King's wildly popular work to the screen? Or does the film, about a 50s-vintage Plymouth Fury that's as evil as...

The Thing (1982) [Part 2]

February 19, 2020 19:48 - 1 hour - 77.1 MB

We're back to wrap up our two-part discussion of one of the all-time great Carpenter films, 1982's The Thing! This time around, we take a look at the film's chilling second half, from the infamous "defibrillator" sequence to the most terrifying blood test in movie history to the brilliant ending that drives home the film's themes of both apocalyptic despair and -- perhaps surprisingly -- sacrifice and brotherhood in the face of unimaginable evil. We also discuss the film's box-office disappo...

The Thing (1982) [Part 1]

February 05, 2020 03:16 - 1 hour - 71.1 MB

It's the dead of winter, and what better movie to, er, celebrate the season with than Carpenter's snowbound sci-fi/horror masterpiece, The Thing? Chris and Nick have been eagerly anticipating the chance to discuss this film (Nick's favorite entry in the Carpenter canon), and on this episode, they tackle The Thing's origins, its themes of paranoia and isolation, and -- of course -- the incredible visual effects that can make even modern audiences squirm. This week's episode focuses on the fir...

Escape from New York (1981) [Part 2]

January 22, 2020 03:41 - 1 hour - 64.1 MB

We just can't get enough of Snake Plissken here at Precinct 13, so this week, Nick and Chris are back to continue our discussion of Carpenter's 1981 classic Escape From New York. This time around, we discuss the film's casting (and what it might have been like without star Kurt Russell), explore some thematic ideas that link Escape to the previous entries in the Carpenter canon, take a look at critics' opinions of the film both then and now, and delve a bit further into the film's cinematogr...

Escape from New York (1981) [Part 1] f/CoolRogRox

January 08, 2020 03:52 - 1 hour - 69.2 MB

2020 is here, and as we kick off the new decade, it's time to tackle the amazing run of films that characterized John Carpenter's most successful decade of moviemaking. Guest co-host CoolRogRox joins Chris and Nick for the first half of our wide-ranging discussion of Escape from New York, the movie that introduced the world to Kurt Russell's all-time-great action antihero Snake Plissken. This week, we touch on everything from the film's almost comically bleak depiction of dystopian future Am...

The Fog (1980) f/ Megan Mosley

December 24, 2019 20:40 - 1 hour - 95.2 MB

The holidays have come, and... well, alright, John Carpenter's 1980 horror outing The Fog has absolutely nothing to do with this season, but who needs the holiday spirit when you've got vengeful spirits raising hell for Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, and an all-star cast of Carpenter regulars? Chris, Nick, and returning guest co-host Megan Mosely break down the supernatural thriller that marks something like an "official" follow-up to Halloween, features some of the finest cinematograph...

Elvis (1979)

December 10, 2019 23:12 - 1 hour - 58.7 MB

Chris and Nick check in to the Heartbreak Hotel for a discussion of John Carpenter's 1979 made-for-TV film Elvis, which marks the first collaboration between Carpenter and his ride-or-die leading man, Kurt Russell. Does Kurt have the chops to portray The King both as an up-and-coming young star AND as a middle-aged music icon who's well past his prime? Can Carpenter successfully pivot from innovative genre fare into much more conventional TV-movie territory? And, how excited are we to see Ca...

Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998

November 26, 2019 22:32 - 1 hour - 55.4 MB

We're switching things up a little bit this week, taking a step back from our discussion of Carpenter's film-directing career to focus on a 2017 album that showcases his talents as a composer. Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998 features re-recorded and newly orchestrated versions of a large selection of classic Carpenter movie themes, with musical support from his son, Cody Carpenter, and godson, Daniel Davies. Chris and Nick break it all down track-by-track and discuss Carpenter's stylistic ...

Someone's Watching Me! (1978)

November 13, 2019 02:16 - 1 hour - 72.3 MB

This week, Chris and Nick take a look at one of John Carpenter's more obscure early works, the 1978 made-for-TV thriller Someone's Watching Me!  The film premiered just one week after Carpenter's breakthrough hit Halloween arrived in theaters, though he actually made this one first -- and, as your humble hosts are quick to point out, it's filled with small glimpses of the masterful suspense and superb visual storytelling to come. That's not to say that Someone's Watching Me! is one of Carpen...