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John Carpenter
4K Restorations
Art of darkness
Release Out now
Director John Carpenter
Cast Kurt Russell, Adrienne Barbeau,
Donald Pleasence, Roddy Piper, Tom Atkins
Distributor Studiocanal
Certificate Various
FormatWhile the chances of
John Carpenter stepping back
behind the camera to direct
another feature grow slim, the
influence he has over genre cinema grows more
pronounced. These four beautifully restored
classics are some of the master’s most ambitious
efforts and are essential purchases for any fan
(which is all of us, really, isn’t it?)
There are the classical ghost story chills
of The Fog, the badass dystopian thrills of
Escape From New York, the perennially
underappreciated Prince Of Darkness and the
quotable social commentary of They Live.
Each comes loaded with a commentary, a hefty
documentary and various interviews, vintage
featurettes and bits of arcana.
The Fog saw Carpenter and his Halloween
crew setting out to make something very
different from their slasher movie, and despite
the apparently disastrous first cut (discussed
in the doc), the reshoots helped it to emerge
as one of the decade’s most effective chillers.
Meanwhile the eccentric genre-smashing of
Escape From New York has made sure that the
only thing about it that’s dated is the decision to
set it in 1997. In fact, it’s as cool as ever.
Prince Of Darkness has only just started
to enjoy the reputation it deserves and each
successive viewing only heightens that perfectly
judged slow creeping dread as the band of PhD
students and Donald Pleasence’s priest realise
what they’ve found in the abandoned church.
That doom-laden spirit would translate into
They Live, which is superficially crowd-pleasing
but angrier than anything he made previously.
The major selling point for these new editions
are the restorations and they’re fantastic. The
new docs are comprehensive but completists
should note that there’s not much input from the
cast (They Live has interviews with Meg Foster
and Keith David) and Carpenter’s interviews are
archive stuff. Still, you need these.
Jonathan Hatfull
Unfriended:
Dark Web
Killer bytes
Release Out now
Director Stephen Susco
Cast Colin Woodell, Stephanie
Nogueras, Betty Gabriel
Distributor Universal Pictures
Certificate 15
Format •In a change of direction from
the teen supernatural horror of
the original, this sequel grounds
itself in the real world with a group
of 20-somethings gathering behind their
computer screens to play an online game of
Cards Against Humanity. It toys with timely
political issues and is inspired by online black
market the Silk Road.
Tapping into anxieties about the
manipulation of facts and images in the
digital age, this cyber-horror is interested
in observing the impact our online lives, and
the sharing of information, has on our day-
to-day lives.
It suggests that no one is safe from
being the target of malicious propaganda,
humiliation and threatening behaviour and
that one wrong move or one digression online
can have ruinous effects.
Director Stephen Susco amps up a tense
atmosphere in this creepy morality tale and
as the horror continues it goes to some pretty
bleak places regarding snuff films. As the
torture and violence plays out the focus on
its themes is somewhat lost but the kills are a
veritable roulette wheel of terror.
Katherine McLaughlin
Hotel
Artemis
Future noir
Release Out now
Director Drew Pearce
Cast Jodie Foster, Sterling K Brown,
Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum,
Brian Tyree Henry
Distributor Warner Brothers
Certificate 15
Format •Jodie Foster came out of
an acting hiatus to star in Drew
Pearce’s directorial debut feature
and she absolutely owns her role
as a world-weary nurse in an exclusive LA
hospital run for criminals. Her performance is
a wonderful blend of fragility and wisecracks.
She’s joined by a stellar ensemble cast
including Dave Bautista as her loyal orderly
and muscle and the pair make an endearing
double act.
Set in 2028 there are riots on the streets
of LA with a lack of resources a huge factor
and the poverty divide determining who is
viable for health care. Inside the hotel another
violent war is set to be waged between the
guests and the city’s mob ruler.
Charlie Day has a lot of fun in the wild
card role as a conniving tycoon, Sofia
Boutella gets to slay some fierce opponents in
energetic fight scenes and Sterling K Brown
is as charismatic as ever in his desperation
to save his injured brother played by Brian
Tyree Henry. The similarities to the superior
John Wick do not work in the film’s favour but
there’s real charm in the performances.
Katherine McLaughlin