The Most Underrated Movie Ever?
Well Horror movie anyways... It blows my mind that this movie isn't more regarded as one of the best movies ever in horror.
shareDitto. It's criminally under-rated. Nor can I understand why so many Carpenter fans dislike it as it's quintessential Carpenter. Time for me to shamelessly plug our fansite for the movie over at www.jcpod.net.
shareDefinitely one of 'em (Most Underrated).
Not only is it quintessential Carpenter, but some of the most personal, as it's one of the few he wrote on his own as well as directed...and it's informed with a lot of his influences and obsessions from the time. Somewhere I read he thinks of POD as a personal favorite of his; definitely one of mine, too. But then I just watch it; he made it!
Yeah?
I can see how it could be your favorite. I really enjoyed it too, but I think it's downfall is its pacing. It's REALLY slow. I know, I know, it's building mood/tension/characters. That's a totally legit reason for a movie to be slow but I (personally) feel "The Thing" pulled that off in a much better fashion, with more 'action'.
There's more to talk about with PoD for sure, but not everyone is looking for that in a movie. It doesn't appeal to the mainstream, and lets face it the mainstream is what determines a movie's status.
PoD is an awesome cult classic and is very well written if you're willing to buy into it's message, but what're you going to do?
"It doesn't appeal to the mainstream, and lets face it the mainstream is what determines a movie's status."
...excellent point, and one that too many people forget in their foolish pursuit of artistic purity. I agree that at times the film is a little slow and probably loses plenty of the mainstream for this reason. But I would also say that, as mentioned above, the musical score does a great job of building tension as does the acting for the best part (big fan of Donald Pleasance), and overall this makes for an enjoyable film for horror buffs or Carpenter fans.
As I am definitely both, I have no complaints!! Well written, atmospheric and laden with apocalyptic doom- Carpenter at his best!
[deleted]
The pacing works for me; such a slow burn, a relentless disquiet with practically no moment of relief anywhere.
sharei'm afraid its written by martin quatermass, and judged along side his other films, POD is pretty dire....
shareYou're entitled to your opinion on the film, but I'm afraid Martin Quatermass IS John Carpenter, or vice versa. Heard of pseudonyms? Originally Quatermass was also credited for directing Halloween. Not a bad film for someone who doesn't exist.
sharewell i didnt know that, thats good to know. however i maintain my other points and wonder if he used an alias because he knew it wasnt very good. not a bad film, i agree, A VERY VERY BAD FILM, in fact apart from VAMPIRES, its the worst thing "martin quatermass" ever did, i'm also very sad to see he's willing to sell out and let any old prick remake his films to an increasingly low standard, nice one john, i look forward to a piss poor remake of P.O.D (well at least it might have a couple of actors in it), heres hoping THE THING(WITH SHINY ACTORS AND SUPERMODELS NOT SPEAKING NORWEGIAN) never gets released, christ!!!
shareHaha i guess we'll have to disagree on the quality of the film then. I can say that Vampires didn't really do much for me though. Also, POD is far from my favourite Carpenter film. My List: The Thing, Escape From New York, Halloween, They Live, Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog. I just place it higher than, say, Vampires, Escape from LA and Village of the Damned, for example. I just think it should be at least as well respected as those three *beep* fests. Oh, and fingers crossed The Thing remake goes straight to hell before a new generation of cinema- goers try and tell me how good "that new horror movie....in Antarctica" is. I've had that with The Fog already!
share
however i maintain my other points and wonder if he used an alias because he knew it wasnt very good.
You sir, are an *beep*
Carpenter wrote They Live as Frank Armitage.
Did he do it because he thought They Live sucked or was going to suck ?
Educate yourself, read, watch, whatever, before being stupid.
Go watch Transformers. share
You sir, are an *beep*
Carpenter wrote They Live as Frank Armitage.
Did he do it because he thought They Live sucked or was going to suck ?
Educate yourself, read, watch, whatever, before being stupid.
Go watch Transformers. share
John Carpenter is a fan of the Quatermass stories. Stories created by Nigel Kneale. The main character continually finds Alien threats to humanity. He's portrayed in TV, and then done homage to in several movies. He had a brother who was a science fiction writer named Martin.
If you read this...
http://phantomframe.co.uk/qua_pit.htm
..you'll realize all these people get their inspiration from somewhere.
Carpenter is always putting little references to Quatermass into his movies. Apparently he likes to pay homage to Kneale's work.
He used the name Quatermass because the storyline is reminiscent of the Quatermass stories that Carpenter grew up with. It is his homage. He didn't use the name because he was ashamed of his work. Frankly, this is his best work.