John Carpenter hasn’t directed a movie since 2010’s “The Ward,” and he’s rather okay with that.
He’s a homebody, mostly playing video games all day on his couch, in between watching WNBA games, and even directing, via Zoom, an episode of his upcoming TV series “Suburban Screams”.
Carpenter’s even admitted to not really knowing much about recent horror: When asked, he had no idea what “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” were. They’re movies, John. He’s living in a hermit-like bubble.
His interview with the L.A. Times’ Jen Yamato only reaffirms all of that. Here’s the most amusing part of his conversation with Yamato, it turns out Carpenter has seen “Barbie”:
Many of the films Carpenter’s directed since 1978’s “Halloween,” although panned at the time, are now celebrated as genre classics, I’m talking particularly about his ‘70s and ‘80s stuff (“Escape from New York,” “They Live”).
However, none were trashed as much as “The Thing,” which many consider now to be Carpenter’s masterpiece. Here he is describing the effect the film’s bad reviews had on his career at the time:
The film that I feel closer to my heart is “The Thing,” which was trashed big time when it came out. Now it’s a little more liked. But, boy, woo, when it came out. My God. I lost a job because of it. I got fired. I would have directed “Firestarter.” That was tough.
Although Carpenter has hinted at possibly directing one more film, this interview puts a major damper on any hopes that his fans might have had in seeing the master back in action.