Halloween Director John Carpenter Blasts Friday The 13th & Slasher Genre

Iconic director John Carpenter has been reflecting on his breakthrough film ‘Halloween’ - and he doesn’t seem too proud of its legacy.

The 1978 horror hit launched Carpenter in Hollywood, and introduced audiences to the now-legendary big screen bogeyman, Michael Myers.

A slew of sequels followed, but Carpenter himself has had no involvement in the series since 1982′s ‘Halloween III: Season of the Witch’ - until now, that is.

Now largely retired as a filmmaker, Carpenter recently got back on board the ‘Halloween’ series as executive producer on a new film to be made by Miramax and Blumhouse Films.

Discussing the influence of ‘Halloween’ in a podcast with author Brett Easton Ellis (quotes via Hitfix), Carpenter says there’s a world of difference between his film and its imitators - most notably 1980′s ‘Friday the 13th.’

“One springs from an organic idea and has a truly artist’s eye working. And ‘Friday the 13th,’ I feel, affects me as very cynical. It’s very cynical moviemaking. It just doesn’t rise above its cheapness.

“I think the reason that all these slasher movies came in the '80s was a lot of folks said 'look at that ‘Halloween’ movie. It was made for peanuts, and look at the money it’s made! We can make money like that. That’s what the teenagers want to see.'

“So they just started making them, cranking them out…most of them were awful.”

‘Friday the 13th’ was far from the only imitator to emerge in the wake of 'Halloween;’ upwards of 100 slasher movies were produced between 1978 and 1984.

Carpenter, however, never made another slasher movie; but went on to produce a body of work (including ‘The Fog,’ ‘The Thing’ and ‘Starman’) which made him one of the most revered genre filmmakers ever.

‘Halloween’ leading lady Jamie Lee Curtis originally asked Carpenter to direct 1998′s 20th anniversary soft reboot ‘Halloween H20: 20 Years Later,’ but late producer Moustapha Akkad would not agree to Carpenter’s demanded $10 million fee.

Ultimately, ‘Halloween H20′ was directed by Steve Miner… who had previously directed the second and third ‘Friday the 13th’ movies.

The next ‘Halloween’ movie (the first since Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloween II in 2009) is currently in development.

Directors Adam Wingard (’The Guest,’ ‘You’re Next’) and Mike Flanagan (’Oculus,’ ‘Hush’) are said to be in contention to take the helm.

Picture Credit: Embassy Pictures, WENN, Paramount Pictures

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