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Just bought this as a present for my brother for his birthday (yup - 9/11 is my bro's birthday!), and I had to give it a wee viewing, just to check those darned amazonians hadn't sent me a defective product. This film is pure unbridled satire mixed with a kind of pulpish action verve. John Carpenter is the director, a man with a taste for the wild west but placing it within more imaginative contexts. All of this man's films have a sense of claustrophobic nausea about them, aptly reflecting the three decades of his career. Scriptwise it is perfunctory, but there are some tremendous visual tricks employed via our buffoonish hero (played by former wrestler "Rowdie" Roddy Piper - the pap I've seen -) and his discovery of hoffmann lenses which allow him to see reality. Hideous aliens and Orwellian imagery abound!
Tremendoulsy watchable, genuinely hilarious, unsubtle social critique, utterly scary in places and as fine an attempt to intellectualise the B-movie genre as I have ever seen.
My brother loved it, and as a non-reader, it was a great gateway into debating with him regarding the unseen terrors of modern society, its wants, terrors, discontents etc.
I wish he'd read a book or two, but he won't, and because of this, movies like the work of Carpenter will remain in my heart and mind. "In the Mouth of Madness", by the same director, touches on similar themes but degenerates into Lovecraftian dementia at times.
If only John Carpenter would attempt a movie inspired by the works of Carlos Castaneda, there's a script just waiting to be written and it's just perfect for his "one man dealing with the immensity of the universe" vision.
In short:- cheapo film-making with a heart of gold. Now, if only he'd put those guns away....
Tremendoulsy watchable, genuinely hilarious, unsubtle social critique, utterly scary in places and as fine an attempt to intellectualise the B-movie genre as I have ever seen.
My brother loved it, and as a non-reader, it was a great gateway into debating with him regarding the unseen terrors of modern society, its wants, terrors, discontents etc.
I wish he'd read a book or two, but he won't, and because of this, movies like the work of Carpenter will remain in my heart and mind. "In the Mouth of Madness", by the same director, touches on similar themes but degenerates into Lovecraftian dementia at times.
If only John Carpenter would attempt a movie inspired by the works of Carlos Castaneda, there's a script just waiting to be written and it's just perfect for his "one man dealing with the immensity of the universe" vision.
In short:- cheapo film-making with a heart of gold. Now, if only he'd put those guns away....
