John Carpenter on the set of ESCAPE FROM L.A.
© 1996 Paramount Pictures

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Ghost World: The John Carpenter Interview Part 2

In Part 1 of CINESCAPE's exclusive John Carpenter interview, the famed director discussed getting his latest jaunt into the sci-fi/horror genre, GHOSTS OF MARS, off the ground and out of the hands of intrusive studio executives. In our continuing coverage, the filmmaker explores the actual process of movie making, as well as what movies actually scare him... if any.

CINESCAPE: Did you have ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 in the back of your head while making GHOSTS OF MARS?

JOHN CARPENTER: I guess it's also like RIO BRAVO. I had a whole sequence that I shortened where Pam [Grier] and Natasha [Henstridge] take a tour of the town just like John Wayne and Dean Martin did. It's the same story over and over.

CINESCAPE: The film feels very much like a '70s exploitation movie. It's down and dirty, politically incorrect and has hard action was that intentional?

CARPENTER: I guess I am just a '70s kind of guy.

CINESCAPE: Did you try to do an ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 remake before MARS came along?

CARPENTER: No, but I think they are going to make it in France. They have been talking about it.

CINESCAPE: Would you be involved?

CARPENTER: Oh, no, but isn't that a weird idea? Strange gig. I don't know.

CINESCAPE: That's good because we remake so many French films ...

CARPENTER: This is their revenge right. [laughs]

CINESCAPE: How would they set it over there?

CARPENTER: Well, they have a bunch of problems over there, which are very similar to ours. They have gangs. They have that whole inner city deal going on, except it's a whole different vibe. There's a French movie I saw that is hilarious, but it's real stuff. It's about kids who are disenfranchised. It's good stuff.

From horror guru John Carpenter comes GHOSTS OF MARS

© 2001 Screen Gems

CINESCAPE: Are there some conditions now that make it harder to make movies? For a while you were trying to get away from the studio system. Is it a matter of control in order for you to want to do a film?

CARPENTER: Well, yeah. My career has had interesting twists and turns since the very beginning. My experience of what I make and what the audience and other people see is so different. All I can say is I've done movies for various reasons -- some of them not good reasons. Some of them are practical reasons. Sometimes I just needed a job or I did one as a career move and made a film to better myself. Sometimes I just loved the project or am seeking independence or freedom from restriction. But now the way I see it, they are basically all the same. You give up certain things when you do a big budget studio film. You give it up. You have to give it up, but you get other things back. You do a low budget film, you get a lot more creative control, but you give up money. I don't mean personally, but you give it up in the budget. It's a trade off. The process, however, is exactly the same ... go shoot and then cut it together.

CINESCAPE: What was the reason for doing GHOSTS OF MARS?

CARPENTER: I have been wanted to make a Mars movie since the '80s around the time of THEY LIVE. It's just because Mars always has had this big symbolic deal with mankind and the color of planet is just so dramatic. But I didn't have a story. I didn't want to make a space helmet movie where people are talking to each other and the ship lands and you go down and explore. However, when I figured out that we could do a kind of a western/RIO BRAVO type deal with a little mining outpost and have a secret that is going on, then it started to become more interesting. You know, sometimes I can't even tell you what appeals to me about a project. I just have an idea in my mind about the next one.

CINESCAPE: So what is the idea for the next one?

The John Wayne starring western RIO BRAVO

© 1959 Warner Bros.

CARPENTER: I'd love to do a basic kind of thriller more like HALLOWEEN was real basic, but simple. Not in terms of simple-minded, but in terms of structure.

CINESCAPE: Being the master of the horror genre is it hard to scare audiences?

CARPENTER: We are all afraid of the same things. Scaring is real simple because we are born afraid. We are all afraid of dying. We are afraid of losing a loved one. We are all afraid of the same thing. That's the easy thing. All you have to do is tap into the humanity of it. "You are afraid of the dark. What's in the next room? If you hear a bump ..." That kind of thing.

CINESCAPE: Do you go to all the scary movies that are out or not?

CARPENTER: I don't go to all of them. They send me all the movies at the end of the year for the Academy, so I get to watch everything then. I am too lazy to go out.

CINESCAPE: Is there a general problem with horror movies nowadays?

CARPENTER: I know the plumbing; it's real hard. I get some jumps every once in awhile. Mostly, I get these big crocodile tears in some of these films [laughs] like, "Oh, my god ..."