Carpenter's Craft
Director John Carpenter is one of the primary reasons I got hooked on films at an early age ... and more recently, my obsession with his movies led me to embrace the high-quality widescreen format of first laserdisc and now DVD.
I've collected every film in the Carpenter canon on laserdisc -- from the wonderfully silly Dark Star (1974) to the recent Escape from L.A. (1996). Since virtually every Carpenter feature (with the sole exception of Dark Star) was shot in the director's preferred anamorphic/scope aspect ratio (2.35:1), his films deserve to be seen in their original compositions and not in the butchered "pan and scan" framing.
Alas, two Carpenter gems from MCA/Universal and Image Entertainment have finally been released for the first time in widescreen versions on DVD (for some inexplicable reason, the laserdiscs of these same films were only issued in the full-frame format). John Carpenter's They Live (1988, $29.95) and Prince of Darkness (1987, $29.95) may not be two of the director's better-known works, but they each have a certain charm and have managed to maintain a cult status among the auteur's most rabid fans.
I was disappointed when I first saw They Live on video, but as is the case with much of Carpenter's work, the film seemed to grow on me with repeated viewings. After seeing this stunning new DVD transfer, I now realize that much of my dislike stemmed from the poorly-cropped and underlit video copies I had to endure. Watching this outstanding new print is a revelation of Gary Kibbe's second stint as cinematographer with JC -- granted, Kibbe doesn't light night scenes as beautifully as former JC photographer Dean Cundey, but his work here is commendable and much better served in the crisp digital format.
The DVD edition of They Live offers only the film in its widescreen format on the single-sided, 95-minute disc -- no bells, whistles, or neat "extras" here. But it does sport a clever interactive menu which superimposes catch phrases from the film over each chapter photograph -- sayings like "Obey," "Sleep," and "Consume" which the aliens use to tap into our subconscious. The sound has been remastered for Dolby Digital Pro Logic Surround and it does well to emphasize one of Carpenter's best film scores: a sort of synthesized blues-western style fusion.
The film itself is a mesh of styles, something for which audiences were overly-critical. It starts as an out-of-luck story about John Nada (Roddy Piper, in a surprisingly likable performance), then takes a hard right into social satire, and winds up being a paranoid "them or us" sci-fi thriller in the tradition of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Throughout there remains an underlying black comedic tone which seals Carpenter's signature on the work.
If They Live is Carpenter's most sociological film statement, then Prince of Darkness is his most philosophical. Though not as fully-realized as They Live, Prince does tip its hat to many of Carpenter's film influences -- even to some of his own works. The DVD transfer here is just as impressive as They Live, though the freshman effort of cinematographer Gary Kibbe doesn't fare as well in the night scenes outside St. Godard's Church.
The movie is an obvious horror tale packaged as a philosophy lesson on the origins of good and evil. It's unapologetic fun, featuring an ensemble cast of reliable Carpenter regulars like Donald Pleasence, Peter Jason, Dennis Dunn, and Victor Wong -- with the additional talents of Jameson Parker and Alice Cooper thrown in for good measure.
Here Carpenter pays homage to the writings of Nigel Kneale and the cult Quatermass B-movies of the '50s (Carpenter wrote the screenplay, but opted to give screen credit to the fictitious Martin Quatermass; likewise, the screenwriter of They Live, Frank Armitage, is none other than JC himself). The film opens as the last member of a secret religious society (The Brotherhood of Sleep) dies, leaving behind a key which has kept a container of green swirling fluid behind locked doors ... a fluid later determined to be the source of evil incarnate.
Again, the Prince of Darkness DVD is a lean single-sided package offering only the 101-minute film in its widescreen aspect ratio and a remastered Dolby Digital Surround Soundtrack. The dialogue has been much-improved on this disc version, and Carpenter's bass-heavy score will surely give your subwoofer/bass port a workout. The interactive DVD menu here is somewhat lackluster, and sadly neither disc offers a theatrical trailer or production notes.
But these are small sacrifices for finally being able to enjoy these films in their widescreen splendor from pristine prints. Granted, neither They Live or Prince of Darkness are recommended introductory films to the craftmanship of John Carpenter -- you're much better off starting with Assault on Precinct 13 or Halloween and then sample some of his "mainstream" films like Starman and Christine -- but they remain important examples of the director's development and a showcase for his all-important visual style.
Digital Domain menu
