John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns

This is the first "Masters of Horror" episode that I've watched and I thought it was a fairly cool and creepy little story. It reminded me of The Ninth Gate, only this time, instead of books, the search was for a very rare movie called La Fin Absolue Du Monde, or The Absolute End of the World. The movie was said to be so powerful, so evil, that anyone who watched it turned violently insane. The man who wants this notorious film is played by Udo Kier, who is always fun to watch and has great expressions. The rest of the cast is adequate and Carpenter's direction is mostly solid, though it doesn't really feel like a Carpenter picture. His son, Cody, composed the music, which fit the short quite well; it was like the Halloween theme with a touch of Goblin.

Cigarette Burns was a TV production and unfortunately, it felt like one. I think it would've been better suited as a full length feature, where the characterization and plot could be fleshed out further and fine tuned, instead of trying to cram everything into under an hour. Still, it was an admirable effort and the material is definitely interesting (I especially liked the angel subplot). And with the gore, crazy scenes, and several nods to horror fans, collectors, and cinema itself, Cigarette Burns turned out to be a pretty entertaining little picture.

The DVD has many extras (and Easter Eggs), including a commentary with the director and one with the writers. Carpenter's has a few fun moments but going by it and his interviews on the disc, he just doesn't seem to care much anymore. The writers, Scott Swan and Drew McWeeny (McWeeny…hehe), were a lot more excited and hopefully we'll see good things from them in the future. I see they're currently writing the script for the remake of Race with the Devil.

Several years ago I read a quote by Carpenter where he said that he did not understand how a film like " The Ring" can be considered to be a true horror film. I think that this short certainly backs up his vision of horror and I must agree. "Burns" is a cross between the aforementioned "The Ring" and 1 of Carpenter's best works in recent years..."In the Mouth of Madness". Carpenter's horror is not suggestive, it is in your face. A true non-conformist, he is amongst my favorite filmmakers and in a time when being PC has brought us to new levels of bland. Carpenter is the one filmmaker that will give his unabated opinion on the state of film without it having to go through a publicist first. Like his movies or not, he is an original American talent. And for the record, his 1982 remake of "The Thing" goes down as one of the underrated horror films of all time. As a remake, it is one of the best that has ever been done in the genre, that is something that these director's of 70's remakes i.e ..Hills, Massacre, Omen....can learn from. If you are going to do a remake...REMAKE IT..not copy it! Kudos to Mr. Carpenter.

Kirby (Norman Reedus) is an esoteric film fan who runs a revival house and occasional makes an extra buck by tracking down prints for rare films for clients. He is licking the wounds left by the suicide of his junkie girlfriend and trying to pay off her father who gave him cash to open the revival theatre. If things couldn't get any worse his life takes a detour into the surreal when a rich, eccentric buff (the devilish Udo Kier) who wants a particular film. The rare film has the dubious honor of playing once at a festival and seemingly disappearing forever. The one showing however drove the audience to murder. The film's devilish grip changes anyone who even thinks about it let alone sees it.

John Carpenter comes back in full force in this excellent episode of Showtime's 'Masters of Horror' series. Carpenter revisits the territory of the weird that he explored with 'In the Mouth of Madness' and throws in a little Dario Argento to sweeten the deal (the music score done by Carpenter's son Cody screams 'Suspiria') and comes away with one of the best projects he's ever done, certainly the best in years. The acting is top notch with genre fave Kier doing what he does best. I highly recommend 'Cigarette Burns'

"Cigarette Burns" is a wonderful tale from John Carpenter that was a delight to watch.

This "Masters of Horror" episode is dark and grim. It's both surreal and frighteningly real, like a bad nightmare. There are images contained in this hour of television that are original and shocking.

Carpenter's touches are filled with a wicked sense of humour. For those cynics who state that this master has lost his earlier powers of film-making, watch this episode! Udo Kier is creepy as hell in this tale and Norman Reedus is gripping as the lead character.

Surprisingly violent and challenging, "Cigarette Burns" is a very strong entry in the "Masters of Horror" series.

A film collector/sleuth accepts an assignment from an eccentric millionaire to locate a notorious film that caused mass hysteria and madness upon it's one and only showing. As he gets nearer to finding it he experiences the film's profound effects and the horror it possesses.

A good and original horror story gets supreme treatment from a master horror director. Striking images (one in particular) fuel this intriguing story which builds good momentum and climaxes in a very satisfying and bloody way. People have noted the similarities between this film and Carpenter's earlier In the Mouth of Madness but when all is said and done this is pretty effective stuff and handled beautifully by Carpenter. One scene is as gruesome as they come and I'm amazed it wasn't edited out since this is a TV movie. It could easily be stretched out for feature length and that's maybe it's only problem; it unveils too fast.

Although not written by Carpenter this still feels and looks like a film made by him. Highly recommended.