John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns

Wow. I was not ready for what this compact hour contained. So much more imaginatively written and better directed and acted than any crap that has passed for horror in the past 30 years.

I have seen most of J. Carpenter's films, some I like, some I don't. But with this piece he has surpassed not only himself but most horror films made either for theaters or TV.

It is hard to write about and describe because it is best to not give away too much, other than the premise involves a rare film that was shown only once, and it caused a riot to erupt in the theater, with deaths involved. The protagonist is hired to find the only known remaining print of the film, and finds himself drawn into something that was much more than he bargained for. Is there something supernatural involved? Does the film drive people insane? How can this be?

In some respects, there are more questions at the the end that remain unanswered. But, as with the best films, that's the way it should be; it stays with you, haunts you, and nags at your brain -- just like the legendary film within the film, "Le Fin Absolue du Monde."

Totally stunning, horrifying and awe-inspiring. A day later, I still can't shake it from my mind.

"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 television movie filmed as part of the Masters of Horror series, CIGARETTE BURNS is just under an hour in length and nevertheless achieves the same effect as a full-blown, feature-length movie. The short running time means that the pacing is nice and fast, and what plays out is a story that may be a little predictable (the idea of an 'evil' film has been done in the likes of the Ramsey Campbell novel, ANCIENT IMAGES) but is nonetheless handled very well indeed. This is horror at its most chilling: a nice combination of subtle chills with in-your-face shocking gore. And of course, most of the impact has to do with director John Carpenter, the man who brought us classics like HALLOWEEN and THE THING, and more recently trash like the bomb that was GHOSTS OF MARS.

On the strength of CIGARETTE BURNS, Carpenter's back. His direction is focused and assured, and there's only one time when his work feels false: there's a scene that rips off HOSTEL quite obviously, but Carpenter's in-your-face direction means that it's still powerful and shocking. For a television movie, the cast is fantastic. Norman Reedus plays a character who is a far cry from the nerdy geek he was in BLADE II; he's intense, multi-layered and fine. Udo Kier has a great little cameo and makes a memorable departure. The supporting players are great, and everyone seems to give a powerful, vivid turn. Special mention has to go to Douglas Arthurs and Colin Foo; they've both got small parts, but they're equally terrifying in their own way.

The focus is on a film-within-a-film here and there are plenty of nods for fans, including references to Dario Argento and the like. The glimpses of the 'evil' film that we see are intensely disturbing and not for the faint-hearted. Neither is the bloodshed, which includes a very realistic decapitation and a bit with a projector which is very nasty. The climax is well-achieved and the film as a whole is an effective piece of work. I especially liked Carpenter's traditional, simplistic synthesiser work; the score here is one of the best things in the film, adding a subtle layer of dread and foreboding to the proceedings. Good work!

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.

Cigarette Burns is one of the more entertainingly shocking little horror films I've seen in a while. It's only an hour long, but it still kind of sits well in that area between a short film and a 'real' feature-length film. If anything a story like this could be made into a slightly longer film (whether it would be better or give more chances for fright I don't know). But for TV it's pretty amazing stuff, mostly as it builds and builds in the climax. What was interesting too was watching the DVD extras and seeing Carpenter's own view on some of the film's clichéd sayings about how 'film can change you', which even he admits is BS. To him, the whole Le Fin Absolue du Monde part of the story could be anything supernatural (and its practically a retread of similar material from In the Mouth of Madness) or anything that keeps the plot moving along. It's a MacGuffin that does have a need to actually be seen by the audience- if not the audience's in the film then us watching at home- but when it is it's genuinely creative in an ironic way.

Norman Reedus proves he can act with a good script and defined character as a theater owner and rare-film buff who meets up with a spooky collector (Udo Kier as usual quite creepy and darkly funny in equal measure) who wants him to track down the obscure French film titled The Absolute End of the World, which only screened once to a violent crowd. But right off the bat things don't seem right as Kier's character keeps a living 'Angel' from the film's production with its wings clipped off. As Reedus goes deeper into the search, he then starts to realize its effect as it stirs up old rotten memories into his consciousness. Carpenter deals with the dialog scenes really quite well, and it's refreshing to see him direct more realistic scenes here and there as opposed to his recent films where style and flash trumps the words. And there really can't be enough said about Gregory Nicotero's make-up, which is there at best to totally supply Carpenter with what he needs to work off his visual scares.

And towards the end, as Kier finally gets a print of the film in his possession, it really is some of the more freaky, bloody, and unexpected scenes in a Carpenter work I've seen since the Thing just for sheer visceral impact. Without giving away too much, it does kind of border on the obvious of what might occur with some of the characters. But the way the actors pull it off corresponds well with how the 'MacGuffin' is finally shown, as a rip-off on pretentious violent art-film tripe that had me grinning as I cringed. Cigarette Burns is a successful little pot-boiler that probably might work better for Carpenter fans and those who find 'cult films' fascinating as the subject matter.