John Carpenter Applauds Let the Right One In for Reinventing the Vampire Genre – IndieWire

John Carpenters legacy in the horror genre just keeps building, even nearly five decades after Halloween.

The director is currently producing and composing the score for upcoming cathartic franchise conclusion Halloween Ends, helmed by David Gordon Green. While lead star Jamie Lee Curtis has confirmed this is her final time as the iconic final girl after more than four decades as Laurie Strode, Carpenter told The New Yorker that theres always room for another sequelor re-quel or remake.

I will have to see how much money it makes! Carpenter quipped of Halloween Ends, out this October.

Carpenter added that he, to an extent, keeps up with new movies, applauding 2008 film Let the Right One In. Directed byTomas Alfredson and based on John Ajvide Lindqvists coming-of-age vampire novel, the film focused on a bullied teen who befriends his mysterious neighbor.

I thought there was a great one that came along, called Let the Right One In,' Carpenter said of his favorite recent horror film. I thought that was a movie that reinvents the vampire genre it really does and I admire it for that.

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The film spurred a Matt Reeves-helmed remake and aShowtime series that is currently in development. IndieWires Eric Kohn lauded the film in IndieWires 2017 rundown of the best foreign-language films of the 21st century, citing Alfredsons ability to merge a Spielbergian sense of childhood awe with the dread of a darker world just outside the frame.

Speaking of Spielberg, or rathernotspeaking of him, Carpenter drew a line between himself and Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola as titans of film history.

No, no I dont know those bums er, guys, Carpenter said of his peers. I did know the horror directors. I was friends with all of them: Tobe Hooper and George Romero, those guys.

He added, The best cinematographer I ever worked with was Dean Cundey, a genius with lighting. Everybody is different, so its hard to say. Some cinematographers are centered around the entire visual image. Some utilize their profession for ego boosting. Some are there to serve the director, which is what youre supposed to do. I look at it like composing [music]. My son, my godson, and I are composing the score for the new Halloween movies. Were here to serve the director, not to tell him what to do. Were there to make his vision, not ours.

And what does a classic film auteur even mean anymore anyways? Carpenter weighed in.

I find that its probably better not to pay too much attention to it. Right? Film criticism changes depending on the times, the In the Mouth of Madness director said. One minute youre a genius, and then another minute youre a bum. Well, both things are not true.

Carpenter concluded, Look, Im just a broken-down horror director trying to get along in this world, O.K.? Thats all Im trying to do, navigate the shoals. I think its always fun. A lot of it is a lot of fun. Interacting with fans is fun because theyre always so nice. Thats great. Talking about my own movies? God, no. I hate it. I dont want to do that. They speak for themselves.

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John Carpenter Applauds Let the Right One In for Reinventing the Vampire Genre - IndieWire

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero