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They don’t make ‘em like John Carpenter anymore.
The iconic director (and moustache-haver) has shaped the world of cinema in some truly unique ways. On the action front, he’s contributed the likes of Escape From New York, They Live, and Big Trouble in Little China, but it’s on the horror plane where he truly excels, deserving of a place in the Horror Hall of Fame just for his work on the Halloween series alone, but there is so much more to his repertoire than Michael Myers.
He has inspired millions of people with his twisted imagination, including a certain Terry Crews, who, while he is best known for his work in comedy and action, isn’t averse to working in horror. He appeared in an episode of Tales of the Walking Dead, an anthology series set in the world of Robert Kirkman’s zombie-ravaged apocalypse, and, on a very different note, he also appeared in Scary Movie 5.
In an interview with Stumped, Crews revealed that his love of horror goes back a long way, reaffirming his love for George A Romero’s enduring classic Night of the Living Dead, before revealing the John Carpenter movie that set him on the path to his own acting dreams.
“The Thing changed my life,” he recalled, “It was the first R-rated movie I was ever allowed to see, and it just blew my mind, after that there was no going back for me. I was like, ‘Whoa! This is it’”.
Released in 1982, The Thing is Carpenter’s take on the classic novella, Who Goes There? If you still somehow don’t know the plot of this legendary film, then just know that I am very disappointed in you, but I’ll remind you anyway cos I’m just that kind of guy.
It revolves around a group of Arctic researchers, led by Kurt Russell’s R J McCready, who encounter a shape-shifting monster from beyond the stars, and the group must decide who among them is real and who is secretly the creature. With its iconic Drew Struzan poster, enduring visuals, and chilling ending, it is still regarded as one of the very best horror movies ever made.
Crews loved The Thing, but it didn’t immediately make him want to be an actor. “I really thought I was going to be a special effects guy,” he revealed, and to be honest, looking at the film, you can see why. The creature effects on The Thing were handled by the great Rob Bottin, whose work also includes RoboCop and Se7en. The scenes where we actually see the hideous creature, particularly the famous defibrillator scene, are among the most striking in horror history and are a true testament to the magic of practical filmmaking.
He might not have made a decent film in a hot minute, but the impact that John Carpenter has had can still be felt across the movie spectrum. His films have influenced so many remarkable people far beyond the horror space, and that’s a statement Terry Crews would be happy to endorse.
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