Letter to John Carpenter

Open letter from DOUSSOT Benjamin to John Carpenter
“A fan letter from France”

16 October 2011,

Dear Mr Carpenter,

I've been thinking for a long time to write you a letter from France and take the liberty to do it thanks to this website. I've long wanted to express my admiration for you and the work you've been releasing in cinema during all these years. As a matter of fact, you have ended to be my favorite movie director. I can remember my first contact with your movies many years ago. The first of them was Escape from New York (in france New York 1997) which was a real shock to me : I've never saw a movie which such an atmosphere. I felt like I was really walking along Snake Plissken in the devasted streets of New-York. Then came other great moments of cinema : Escape from L.A, Halloween, Assault, Christine, Jack Burton In the Mouth of Madness, Village of the Damned, Vampires, Ghost of Mars, Body Bags, Masters of Horror and of course The Fog, They Live,The Thing and Prince of Darkness. I consider these four last one (plus Escape from New York) to be your majors achievements.

I've been enjoying that "alone versus everyone" feeling you put into They Live, making the tension being almost permanent during the whole movie. It was a thrilling and exciting movie and most of all a real and subtle critic of mass consumerism in our world. It reminded me in some ways 1984 from Orwell : the fact we're being stalked and dominated with a way of thinking which is not ours except this time it is and that the real secret is that we don't even know we've been led to that society and accepted it. I reminds me also a fight beetween commercial and independant cinema, you being one of the best element the second one gave to us. I also liked the nihilistic feeling.

The Fog reminded me in a way a mix of Desperation and The Mist from Stephen King : how a group of survivors try to survive a supernatural threat in a almost abandonned town. The feeling of terror was real and I felt really thrilled during the whole movie. Besides the fact it happenes during the night helps a lot. I especially like movies like that which use night as a background to their stories. The Fog is one of the best example of "night terror movie" to date in my opinion.

Prince of Darkness is, in my sense, one of your most philosophical and intense movie. The interraction beetween religion and science, God and mateer/anti-mateer was a real and interrestic topic to explain. I remember it lead to some debates about that with my friends after we saw the movie. I also love that "hui-clôt" style which installs a real claustrophobic feeling. I often describe it like "The Thing meets Satan". The realistic tone of the movie also makes it like a documentary which adds to the fear it can inspire to us.

Of course I have to talk about the Thing. While Escape from New York is my "coup de coeur" movie, I think The Thing is your ultimate masterpiece. Today again, I can watch that movie with the same feeling of horror and angst I had the first time. That movie was a real shock once again not only for the atmosphere but for the technical achievement it is. The work on make up and special effects is a real improvement and your movie is for me one of the biggest classics in cinema history.

What I like in your cinema is your unique way to make movies. Some articles describe your way of filming movies as minimalistic but in my opinion there is a Carpenter Touch. I can see it in movies like Escape from New York : there's a real way to film the night and its lights, especially the first time Snake Plissken arrives in Manhattan and explores the street. A great moment of solitude and exploration, like rediscovering a new place. The recent DVD and Blu-Ray editions helped to make that really impressive on the screen. Today again, it's still an incredible atmosphere. The same goes for your other Movies. We really feel that it's "Carpenter" behind the screen when we watch the movies.

The music also counts a lot. While some people prefer instrumental music, your music have a real spirit which helps to increase the atmosphere in your movies. I've been listening numerous times to Escape from New York, They Live, Christine, Prince of Darkness or Christine soundtrack because they fit to much your movies that when I listen to them it's like I'm watching the movie again in my head.

I'm still looking at your futures movies and while that always enjoy to watch again and again your movies on my TV. You've been and still are a real artist for me and a real "auteur" moviemaker. I hope my letter will please you and can't wait to have an answer from you. Forgive me also for my english if I happen to make some mistakes. While working a lot to improve it, it may still have some mistakes in my writting.

From France please receive from me, Mr Carpenter, all my respect and admiration for your talent and your contribution to the art of cinema.

DOUSSOT Benjamin

Author: DOUSSOT Benjamin