ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976)

 My most fond memory of this film is watching a 16 millimeter print of it with star Austin Stoker in attendance at a horror convention about 15 years ago. An early John Carpenter film(his 2nd full-length feature) this one is technically an action film but it has the pacing and feel of a horror flick. Clearly influenced by NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD with its "group trapped in a building surrounded by the enemy"-plot. It works great no matter how derivative it may be and was the start to a great many superior Carpenter films(up until the 90s anyway). You get a child shooting, tons of gunfights, stupid gang-members who apparently don't mind being cannon-fodder, a great anti-hero character played by Darwin Joston who I can't say has really stood out in anything else I'd seen him in(which is mostly various T.V. stuff), and a typically quirky but appropriate soundtrack by Mr. Carpenter himself.





                                Known in Italy as DISTRICT 13: THE BRIGADE OF DEATH!:

HALLOWEEN (1978)

 I watch this film about once a year. It didn't invent the slasher genre(BLACK CHRISTMAS is usually cited as being the film to do that) but due to it's success it did kick-off the 80's glut of stalk n' kill movies that followed. Probably the first few times I saw this was on TV which is a different cut from the original theatrical release so when I finally caught it on VHS it was strange to see all the little differences. Of course now having seen it so many times on VHS and DVD it's pretty ingrained in my memory.
 Everything about this film is very iconic to the horror genre. Shots are framed with an amazing focus on detail, the camerawork is incredible, the music fits everything perfectly and the characters are about the best the slasher genre would ever see. Donald Pleasence was the only actual name actor at the time this was made but everyone does a great job and of course Jamie Lee Curtis would become a household name after this. This also started director John Carpenter down the road of making some great 80's horror flicks and unlike many of the other supposedly great horror films of the 80's his weren't all full of jokes, but actually scary movies.
 There were 8 official sequels and then a shitty pointless remake from Rob Zombie.



HALLOWEEN posters from around the world!

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981)

"I don't give a fuck about your war... or your president."

John Carpenter was one of the best directors throughout the 1980's.  It's too bad the quality of his movies went on a pretty sharp decline as that decade ended.  This one was made right in his best period and although it's not a horror film it's still one of my favs.  I've seen it at least 10 times now and I always find it entertaining.  There's not a whole lot of other action type films I could say that about.  The strength is in the amazing cast.  Of course you have Kurt Russell doing his cool mother-fucker anti-hero act, Donald Pleasence as the president, Isaac Hayes as the bad-ass bad guy, plus Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Tom Atkins and Adrienne Barbeau's awesome cleavage!  On top of that you have a simplistic but highly effective soundtrack by Carpenter.  If you forget the crappy sequel I think this one still holds up, especially when compared to the sorry excuses for entertainment that current action films are.