Fantasmo Cult Cinema Explosion

Calling all John Carpenter worshippers!

This Friday evening, February 3rd, at the Chesapeake Central Library in Chesapeake, Virginia, Team Fantasmo will be hosting the 11th episode of their "cult cinema explosion" series, this one spotlighting the works of a Hollywood maverick and a great film artist; the director who brought the world such efforts as Dark Star, Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, Escape from New York, Starman, Christine, Big Trouble in Little China, etc., etc.

Fantasmo has selected two great 1980s Carpenter flicks for the evening's double feature. The first is 1980's supernatural shocker, The Fog, starring Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh. And the second is They Live, the Roddy Piper epic from 1988.

The evening's festivities begin at 7:30 pm, when I'll introduce Carpenter's work, and in particular, discuss the specifics of that double feature.

The Fog is a literate ghost story, and I'll talk a little bit about how the film artfully mimics the the format of the traditional ghost story (folklore that is repeated verbally - replete with mnemonics - from one generation to another).

And They Live -- which was released just days shy of the Bush/Quayle vs. Dukakis electoral college smackdown, takes on a decade of Republican politics, capitalism, homelessness, yuppies...and pro-wrestling.

I'll also be signing and selling some of my books, and catching up with my buddies in Chesapeake. It's going to be a fun night, so if you happen to be in town, drop on by Friday night. I'd love to see you! Read more about Fantasmo right here.