Words: R.A. the Rugged Man Photo: Charchi Stinson
Who better for our Halloween issue than John Carpenter the director of…well, Halloween. The master of horror meets master of ceremony, R.A. the Rugged Man. Hide your children.
What did you think of the wave of ’80s slasher films that came after the success of Halloween?
A lot of them just picked a date like, Friday the 13th, Valentine’s Day, to keep with the spirit of Halloween. It was a way to make money. That’s what it’s all about here in beautiful Hollywood.
Is Michael Myers a virgin?
Is he a virgin?
I mean, all he does is kill. Did he ever get laid?
I don’t think he was able to. He was fucked up, I think he got confused between fucking and killing.
What if he’s really just a repressed homosexual on a rampage?
I never thought about that. I just think he’s crazy. But what do I know, maybe he is.
Your illest scene is in Assault on Precinct 13 when they shoot the 8-year-old girl.
That was pretty tough. You know, you can’t kill kids. I don’t know what I was thinking.
It’s great. She tells the ice cream man she wants vanilla swirl and she gets blasted.
That’s right. She goes back and gets nailed. We rigged her ice cream cone to blow out blood on her. She was scared at first, but everybody loves getting killed in movies. She had fun.
Christine had ill dialogue, like the fat guy saying, “Shut your piehole.” And the old man calling everyone, “Shitter.”
That was Stephen King for you—that really strange kinda ’50s bee-bop dialogue. I’m not a big fan of the novel, but we did okay.
Why’d you make it?
I needed a job [laughs]. After The Thing, I was on the street for a while looking for a gig. I had to keep myself going.
I heard they fired you from directing Firestarter after The Thing failed at the box office.
You got it. Back then The Thing was hated, especially by the science fiction and horror fans. They thought I pissed on a classic. So they built me up—you know they build everyone up and they tear them down. That’s the American way.
Now that The Thing is considered a classic, what do you have to say to assholes who hated on it?
Well, I love that people like it now. I had fun making it. I think The Thing delivers and I’m proud of it.
Rowdy Roddy Piper is the man. What was it like making They Live?
Roddy’s a close friend. I didn’t want a Hollywood hero with ’80s hair like, Rambo or Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. They Live was my fuck you to Ronald Reagan and everybody in the ’80s loving that old wrinkled piece of shit. He fucked up everything.
My boy Ayatollah made a beat outta your Precinct 13 score and he wants me to spit over it, do you clear samples?
Be my guest. I don’t know anything about rap. As far as I could tell, the beats are sorta blues with electonic drums but I’m just an old white man, what the fuck do you want from me?
What are some horror movies that really scared you?
In the ’50s, The Fly, when the wife pulls the hood off her husband and he has the head of a fly. I was 10 and that scared the shit out of me. House of Dracula, The Exorcist, Repulsion all have good scares. Documentaries really scare me. Real life is awful compared to horror movies
