An intense drama with horror elements

Rating: 10/10 (10 April 2000)

When John Carpenter is at his best, he has no equal, and his early works are, IMHO, his best. This one, however, is probably my favorite. I do not consider this a horror film, but rather as an intense drama with horror elements, much in the same way David Cronenberg's remake of "The Fly" was a tragic love story with horror elements. This is a character-driven piece and is a shining example of great ensemble acting. These guys seemed to be really into their characters. Ennio Morricone's score sounded like Carpenter wrote it himself. It is minimal, yet very effective, especially the pulsing two-note motive in the bass. The icing on the cake is the eye-popping visual and makeup effects, supervised by Rob Bottin and Albert Whitlock. See this film, and ALL of Carpenter's films for that matter, in letterbox format.