Dont Tell NetflixDont Tell Netflix

By George Robbins

Horror genre films have become a staple in the movie industry and will continue to be important to the industry until the end of time. The horror genre in general has had an interesting lifespan and it is a genre that is constantly changing as time goes on. Many horror movies that we all know and love today were made between the 1970’s and the 1990’s. Over the year, they started to stagnate and many of the movies that came afterward were considered failures overall. Many horror film franchises ended up becoming parodies of themselves and the genre started heading towards decline. This was eventually rectified when a new age of horror movie started peaking its head out from under the bed and we got movies that actually scared people again.

Many horror films have been made over the years and they have all brought their own brand of horror with them. It is because of the new brand type of horror movies that we ended up with new horror films that were pretty good. Unlike some other genres, horror movies have to revamp themselves in order to stay in people’s minds and stay relevant which, in turn, makes them popular. Whether it is slasher films, creature features, or even body-horror films, horror movies try and set themselves apart. The suspense in horror films is what makes those types of films what they are and there is really no one better at building up these types of films than John Carpenter.

Carpenter is known for a multitude of movies and shows that he has had some hand in making over the years. Among the movies he has made is not just horror movies, but also action and, in some ways, comedy films. Movies that he is notable for include, but are not limited to ‘Halloween,’ ‘The Fog,’ Escape from L.A.,’ ‘They Live,’ and the topic of this article, ‘The Thing.’ Needless to say, Carpenter has had a strong hand in the creation of many beloved films and even some of the best horror movies of all time. ‘The Thing’ was an adaptation of an old short story ‘The Thing from Another World’ and it brought with it to the table both body-horror and straight up paranoia that is there both on and off of the screen.

In 2011, we ended up with what was being called at the time a reboot of ‘The Thing’ in which Carpenter had no hand in making and many people were disappointed with. What actually happened with that film is that it was actually supposed to be a prequel to the 1982 version made by Carpenter. It is meant to show just what happened at the destroyed outpost when they first arrive on base at the beginning of the 1982 film. At the time of the original film’s release, many critics gave the film bad reviews but that was pretty much customary for horror movies at the time because it was a different era in cinema history. It is an era that we all not kind of take for granted because it allows us to make and watch movies that have crazy horror situations in them.

Now that studios are getting back to work during this pandemic, many other projects can start getting back underway and new ones can begin. According to reports, Carpenter is developing a new reboot for the movie which he first commented on at the Fantasia International Film Festival over the weekend. No one knows if he would be returning to direct the film, but if he did then it would be his first time directing in over a decade. Collaboration for a reboot would be between Carpenter and Blumhouse Productions which is the studio that has produced the best selling horror movies over the past decade or so. This could mean that we would see a good horror director and a good horror movie-making studio working together to reboot a film that the former directed himself. Needless to say, this is going to be exciting one way or another.