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Review: John Carpenter’s Lost Themes (LP)

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I got home around midnight last night from my day job and like a kid on their birthday, I tore into my copy of John Carpenter’s Lost Themes. The cover already invoking a horror vibe, I read the linear notes as I usually do with projects like these. The notes written by Daniel Schweiger, immediately remind me of the fifteen films Carpenter has both directed and composed the music for. He brought up the visuals from films like Big Trouble Little ChinaHalloween, and The Fog. This reminder got me excited as I put the needle to the record thinking of all the monsters, good guys, and anti-heroes Carpenter has given us over the years. And then I read “Lost Themes asks Carpenter acolytes to visualize their own nightmares.” And with a cold beer in my hand I let Lost Themes paint a picture in my dark apartment.

Ultimately, that is what Carpenter wants us the listeners to do. To forget his past catalog, to forget any visual cues from his films, and to let his music to get our imaginations going. Its a bit tough the first time around to not imagine an evil car chasing after you with Vortex or to imagine Snake Plissken trying to escape some alien infested space station filled with cybernetic dinosaurs (I might have an over active imagination). Ultimately the story and visuals are up to you, and that is what is great about this album is that it is fun. Any fan of Carpenter’s work or 70’s/80’s synthesizer rock will enjoy this album. It invokes much from his catalog and takes inspiration from synth-based composers like Goblin with the help of Cody Carpenter (the band Ludrium) and Daniel Davis (I, Frankenstein). 

Excellent album artwork design by Jaw Shaw featuring photography by Kyle Cassidy.

Excellent album artwork design by Jaw Shaw featuring photography by Kyle Cassidy.

Between the artwork and the single word titles for each track this task is made easier to create our own imagery. This obviously would have been harder if he made tracks entitled Snake Plissken Battles Through Space to Stop the Killer Cybernetic Dinosaurs From Kidnapping the Vice President of Earth (seriously, how isn’t this a movie already?) If I were to compare Lost Themes  to any time period of Carpenter’s score catalog, I find it is closer to resembling the scores of They Live and Escape From New York than say Halloween or Assault on Precinct 13. But even when the listener isn’t trying to imagine their own story line the album sounds just as great as his classic scores.

Carpenter wants us to exercise our imagination and helps us with the task by creating his best music since the 1980’s (although I still love the score to Into The Mouth Of Madness). Read any review on the album and you will see how much of a diverse the imagery that is invoked by this hypnotic and atmospheric piece. John Carpenter has proven again that his is a master story teller.

Track Listing:
1. Vortex
2. Obsidian
3. Fallen
4. Domain
5. Mystery
6. Abyss
7. Wraith
8. Purgatory
9. Night
*10. Night (Zola Jesus and Dean Hurley Remix)
*11. Wraith (ohGr Remix)
*12. Vortex (Silent Servant Remix)
*13. Fallen (Blanck Mass Remix)
*14. Abyss (JG Thirlwell Remix)
*15. Fallen (Bill Kouligas Remix)

*Remixes are download only. The LP version does come with a download card

 

 

BUY IT! CONSUME IT!

BUY IT! CONSUME IT!

Buy it here:

Amazon.com 

The Official Sacred Bones Site

Or your local record store!

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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