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She Looks So Good In Red, American Nightmare Running Scared

By TK | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (14)

Concept2.jpg

There was a time when the announcement of a new John Carpenter would have me running around in circles screaming until I passed out. That was before Escape From LA. And Ghosts Of Mars. And… sigh.

Moving on. Carpenter’s getting his hand back in the game after a hiatus — he hasn’t made a movie since 2001’s goofy Ghosts Of Mars. He did direct two episodes of Showtime’s “Masters Of Horror” series (and damn fine ones, to boot), but otherwise he’s been quiet. Now he’s got The Ward coming out soon, and now it’s been announced that he’ll be directing an adaptation of the horror/fantasy comic DarkChylde. The story:

(It’s) about an amiable southern teen cursed to become the creatures from her many recurring nightmares. Every time Ariel Chylde transforms, she sheds her skin and a new nightmare emerges from her Id to act out her deepest, darkest impulses.

Huh. Not a bad concept. The comic, which I haven’t read (though a cursory Google Image search turned up some artwork that’s rather… blue), was apparently extremely popular in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. Written by Randy Queen and published by Image Comics and Maximum Press, and for a while outsold some of the most popular titles, including Marvel’s Spider-Man.

Carpenter had the following to say about the project:


“Randy Queen’s hijacked angel, Ariel Chylde, is the best young female character since Laurie Strode in Halloween. Bringing Ariel and her dark mysteries to life should be quite an adventure for us all.”

The tricky part is, of course, that a story like that is gonna require some pretty boffo effects, and Carpenter frequently does his effects on the cheap (though usually effectively).

So this time, he’s got New Zealand-based WETA in his corner. Yeah, Lord Of The Rings WETA. District 9 WETA. So, what say we? Can Carpenter regain his former glory? Can a powerhouse effects shop like WETA help show the world once more why he is one of the grand masters of horror?

I fucking well hope so.

Bonus: Here’s a video of WETA’s test footage:

Aaand a poster:

john-carpenter-darkchylde.jpg


(source: ShockTilYouDrop)









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Comments

This is some pretty insane news. Carpenter is my favorite filmmaker.

Admittedly this has me extremely apprehensive. Now I have to hop that flukes come in waves, and if they were indeed as such, this should be fantastic.

Posted by: Sam at November 2, 2010 9:12 AM

You won't find a bigger Carpenter fan than Jay Cheel at Film Junk, and he hated The Ward. But who knows, maybe that film was just Carpenter's gears creaking back to life and this other film will be something worthwhile.

Gotta say, though, the title Darkchylde sounds Boll-erific....

Posted by: sansho1 at November 2, 2010 9:13 AM

was apparently extremely popular in the late 90’s/early 2000’s

No, it wasn't. This is marketing hype. Something like Darkchylde would be released with three or four covers for issue #1, speculators would rush to purchase them all, and the result would be an orgy of sales that for one issue only might trump an average issue of Spider-Man, back when Spidey's sales were in the toilet post-Clone Saga.

There are no comics nerds eagerly awaiting Darkchylde anything. None.

Posted by: mightygodking at November 2, 2010 9:14 AM

Interesting. While we were watching Carpenter's The Fog and Halloween this weekend my son asked what Carpenter has been up to lately and I had to say "not much". Any word on "The Ward" being worth a damn?

I love JC's earlier stuff but Ghosts of Mars was horrible. Vampires was decent but looked like it ran out of money at the end.

Posted by: TylerDFC at November 2, 2010 9:19 AM

John Carpenter would have me running around in circles screaming until I passed out. That was before Escape From LA. And Ghosts Of Mars....

WHOA WHOA there Nelly! Nothing wrong with Ghosts of Mars. The Cube, Henstridge? Thea Duvaall butching it up? It was a fun little romp.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at November 2, 2010 9:23 AM

Mr L is quite fond of Ghosts of Mars - but then he also plans to go out and buy the Predators movie (buy, not rent) as soon as it comes out, so is possibly not to be trusted...

Posted by: lingli at November 2, 2010 9:35 AM

I'm as big a Carpenter fan as they come. His late 70s/80s run was epic.

However the line of demarcation for me isn't Escape from L.A. but rather Confessions of an Invisible Man. Big budget movie that failed because Carpenter and Chevy Chase both lost their fastballs during its filming.

I enjoyed In the Mouth of Madness and Vampires, but Carpenter hasn't put out a great movie in years.

And this concept sounds all kinds of lame to me.

Posted by: Fredo at November 2, 2010 9:41 AM

"Confessions of an Invisible Man. Big budget movie that failed because Carpenter and Chevy Chase both lost their fastballs during its filming..."


Holy crap, that was a John Carpenter joint? I had no fucking clue.

Horrible, horrible flick.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at November 2, 2010 9:47 AM

was apparently extremely popular in the late 90’s/early 2000’s.
---
So good that it sat on the shelf for 10 years while every lameass comic book in the universe got made into a shitty movie, and when they got under the bottom of the barrel and found this, they said, "What the hell, let's make that one too, the geeks will watch anything."

Posted by: , at November 2, 2010 9:48 AM

Carpenter is going to have to do a lot to earn back my respect and this doesn't necessarily sound like a good start.

Posted by: admin at November 2, 2010 10:04 AM

mightgodking beat me to it, but, yeah, Darkchylde was not popular. It tried to ride the wave of Witchblade and The Darkness but nobody took it as seriously as even those projects. It was T/A meets Gothic Horror as transcribed from ancient runes by a fourteen year old boy.

Which, I guess sort of does it make it perfect for John Carpenter.

Posted by: RobP at November 2, 2010 11:16 AM

Like BSlim, I enjoyed Ghosts of Mars. I'm in good company.

It had Ice Cube! And Natasha Henstridge! And Pam Grier! And Joanna Cassidy! Did I mention THE STATHAM?

OK, mainly I just liked the gothy-y twisted scissor-blade sculptures the crazy people made, but still... (Yeah, yeah, I'm a weirdo.)

I dunno about this Darkchylde nonsense - between the poster and the spelling, I'm sensing overwhelming lameness.

Posted by: MM at November 2, 2010 9:57 PM

Darkchylde wasn't popular huh? That must be why there were action figures, mini busts, skateboards, trading cards, apparel, and even a fanclub through Dynamic Forces, because it wasn't well received, and there was no fan support. That must be why it topped charts in both American and European markets. That must be why for almost an entire year it stayed at the top of the hottest comics lists in two of the leading industry trades. It's always funny when something can be extremely successful and then some tool hops online and thinks they can rewrite history by saying it wasn't so, simply because it's not their cup of tea. The same tools who have never accomplished anything of merit for anyone to ever bicker over on message boards. I'm a fan, and I'm looking forward to this.

Posted by: Icewater at January 22, 2011 1:27 PM

Precisely what some really good audio players for kids? My cousin is 5 years old and for christmas I need to buy her a music, she loves my nano but I think it might be difficult for her to use it. Are there worthwhile ones for kids?

Posted by: MP3 players for kids at March 18, 2011 7:03 PM