DVD review (region 2, 6-disc box set)
Includes Halloween, Escape From New York, The Thing, The Fog, They Live, Assault on Precinct 13, Prince of Darkness
Directed by John Carpenter
Release date 6 October 2008

Seven classic nail-biters from the director’s most successful period…

It may have been 13 years since John Carpenter last made a truly great movie (that was 1995’s underrated In the Mouth of Madness), but this box set reminds us what a formidable force the director once was. If anything these films just look better and better as the years roll by.

The first film here chronologically is 1976’s Assault on Precinct 13, the only non-fantasy movie in the set. Instead it’s a low-budget riff on Rio Bravo about a police precinct under siege by a street gang, and this taut, inventive action-thriller stands head and shoulders above most of the exploitation pictures of the time.

You’ve all seen 1978’s Halloween of course, but the seminal slasher bears repeated viewings. The film managed to inspire a thousand rip-offs, yet still feels fresh and original thanks to Carpenter’s playful camerawork, the unforgettable synth score and a strong, sympathetic heroine in Jamie Lee Curtis’s Laurie.

1980’s The Fog is, in terms of plot at least, a fairly traditional ghost story about a coastal town under attack from a fog that brings forth the spirits of dead sailors. While it may not be one of Carpenter’s masterpieces, it’s an effective and atmospheric shocker with a simplicity that works in its favour.

Escape From New York (1981) now looks a little rough around the edges due to its grand ambitions on a fairly tiny budget. But it remains one of Carpenter’s most fun movies, with a neat and much-imitated concept (in the future New York has become one giant prison, and one man must venture into the danger zone to rescue the president), impressive production design and an iconic performance from Kurt Russell (sounding EXACTLY like Clint Eastwood) as the eyepatch-wearing tough guy Snake Plissken.

The Thing (1982) vies with Halloween for position as Carpenter’s best picture. The movie still holds its power to horrify, partly because of the well-drawn characters, partly because of the bleak isolation of its Antarctic location and partly because of the mind-boggling special effects (courtesy of Rob Bottin). It remains one of the greatest and most unremitting sci-fi horror films ever made.

1987’s Prince of Darkness is the weakest title in this set, a fairly plodding effort about a green liquid (which, it turns out, is actually the Devil!) that possess students in an abandoned church. It has its moments and includes another excellent score from Carpenter, but it’s a long way from the director’s best work.

Finally, They Live (1988) is, like many of Carpenter’s movies, one of those films that has become more appreciated as the years have gone by. It’s another fun high-concept caper with former wrestler ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper in a role that Kurt Russell might have once taken on. He plays a non-too-smart construction worker who learns that the ruling classes are in fact aliens – and can only be seen with the aid of special sunglasses. Altogether now: “I’m here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… And I’m all out of bubblegum!”

There are some decent extras scattered throughout the discs here, including a revealing Carpenter interview on the Escape From New York disc (in which Carpenter admits that, if he was making Assault on Precinct 13 now, he would have omitted the startling scene where the little girl is shot at the start, and also claims he’s unable to watch Dark Star all the way through) and a jovial commentary from Carpenter and Kurt Russell to accompany The Thing. James Skipp

VERDICT
Assault on Precinct 13: 9/10
Halloween: 10/10
The Fog: 7/10
Escape From New York: 8/10
The Thing: 10/10
Prince of Darkness: 5/10
They Live: 7/10