In years gone by the idea of a new John Carpenter movie would have had horror fans hyperventilating, but the director of Halloween is not quite the power he once was. However it appears his next flick could be rather interesting, as Collider report he’s signed up to make Darkchylde, based on Randy Queen’s comic book series.
The comics are about a good hearted southern teen cursed to become the creatures from her many recurring nightmares. Every time Ariel Chylde transforms, she sheds her skin and a new nightmare emerges from her Id to act out her deepest, darkest impulses. Carpenter seems to like the comics, which were a huge breakout hit in the late 90s, with the director going rather hyperbolic and saying Randy Queens hijacked angel, Ariel Chylde, is the best young female character since Laurie Strode in Halloween. Bringing Ariel and her dark mysteries to life should be quite an adventure for us all.
Even before Carpenter signed up, Peter Jackson’s WETA workshop has been helping to develop the movie, and has even created a reel of test footage, which you can see below. It doesn’t undoubtedly look pretty cool.
So is this the movie to drag Carpenter back from the wilderness? It certainly sounds like good material for him. At present his first movie since 2001, The Ward, is preparing for release, although he hasn’t actually made anything people care about since the early 90s, so the jury is still out on whether he’s a spent force or not. Darkchylde could be our answer.