I bought the entire first season of Masters of Horror on DVD the other day. I've only ever watched one episode of the series, that film was DARIO ARGENTO's JENIFER which I thought was pretty good and which was my friend Heine Sørensen's choice for the evening at a film night a few years back (men var det hos Henrik eller Nils? I forget). So, last night I watched my first episode and I deliberately chose John Carpenter's CIGARETTE BURNS due to the feeble fact that Uncut.dk's Caspar Vang gave it a good review three years ago, haha. I mean I'm aware that some of episodes are reportedly crap so I wanted to start off on a high note. So, how was it? I hear you cry out in wholesome unity. Well, Caspar gave it four stars out of five and I can certainly vouch for that! The plot: Some young guy who runs a cult movie cinema gets an offer from a weird film collector (played by Udo Kier) to find a particularly rare print of a film. The film itself is apparently so extreme that a riot broke out in the cinema where it was first shown and it has a rather negative effect on people. This is not a review so it's sufficient to say that CIGARETTE BURNS is quite good and certainly delivers in the splatter department. Udo Kier is always a welcome asset to any film regardless of the film if you ask me. There are a handful of references to real horror movies throughout. Recommended! Now watch the trailer!Friday, October 2, 2009
CIGARETTE BURNS (2005)
I bought the entire first season of Masters of Horror on DVD the other day. I've only ever watched one episode of the series, that film was DARIO ARGENTO's JENIFER which I thought was pretty good and which was my friend Heine Sørensen's choice for the evening at a film night a few years back (men var det hos Henrik eller Nils? I forget). So, last night I watched my first episode and I deliberately chose John Carpenter's CIGARETTE BURNS due to the feeble fact that Uncut.dk's Caspar Vang gave it a good review three years ago, haha. I mean I'm aware that some of episodes are reportedly crap so I wanted to start off on a high note. So, how was it? I hear you cry out in wholesome unity. Well, Caspar gave it four stars out of five and I can certainly vouch for that! The plot: Some young guy who runs a cult movie cinema gets an offer from a weird film collector (played by Udo Kier) to find a particularly rare print of a film. The film itself is apparently so extreme that a riot broke out in the cinema where it was first shown and it has a rather negative effect on people. This is not a review so it's sufficient to say that CIGARETTE BURNS is quite good and certainly delivers in the splatter department. Udo Kier is always a welcome asset to any film regardless of the film if you ask me. There are a handful of references to real horror movies throughout. Recommended! Now watch the trailer!
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Yeah, Cigarette Burns is a tv-classic! One of the best work Carpenter has done! I just wished it was a "real" movie :)
ReplyDeleteHad it been any longer it might have suffered from the same problem as so many horror films from the 90s; too long and too little contents, i.e. too weak a plot.
ReplyDeleteNo no, I don't think so. Of course you couldn't drag THAT script to a long movie, but it would have been easy to extend it and work out the myth around the movie.
ReplyDeleteCigarette Burns was definitely one of the best few episodes from series one, in fact, for me, probably the best !.
ReplyDeleteJack, John Carpenter's entry for series two is well worth seeing also Pro Life. Again one of the best few from the second shows. It's a spin on Assault On Precinct 13 with some monster goodness thrown in. Well worth seeking out.
Cigarette burns is the best masters of horror episode. A very dark and mythic piece. I love it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion, Paul. I'll probably get hold of season two when I'm finished with this one. And yes I agree "Cigarette Burns" was really good. I also watched Don Coscarelli's "Incident On And Off a Mountain Road" last night and either I'm just being lucky in choosing the best episodes first or my standards are lower than the rest of you but I thought that one was quite good too. :o)
ReplyDeletePro-Life is a great one to, with a couple of very Carpenter-esque moments. It's been criticized for being anti-abortion, which I just don't understand.
ReplyDeleteIt don't take any stance at all in the subject actually, and both has abortion and getting a child as something positive. At least how I see it.
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ReplyDeleteJohn Carpenter's Cigarette Burns inspired me to make an experimental short film. I studied different techniques of influencing the human mind and attempted to implement them into a story. Art can be presented in the form of a product, or it can be used as a tool to promote different products, people, and ideas. Art can be seen as a tool for manipulation of the mind, the same way a scalpel is a tool for manipulation of the flesh.
ReplyDeleteYou can watch my short film on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDZBzXa6BUM
or in case you prefer Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/5145980