Masters of Horror - John Carpenter - Cigarette Burns (2005)

Yikes! No! Run! Yuck! Stop!

[review was written for the double feature]

"Cigarette Burns" and
"Dreams In The Witch House"
is a truly great double feature
of mind-numbing horror.

Warning: extremely nasty and creepy.
Do not watch if you are pregnant
or have a weak heart.

These are not sadism or mysteries
masquerading as horror,
but authentic horror, that is,
not only scary, but regarding
things that are out of this world
coming into this world in a most
unfriendly way.
No happy endings here,
other than total gratification
for the horror movie fan.

As of this review,
I have only seen three of the
Masters Of Horror film series,
these two and "the Fair-Haired Child"
(also excellent).
If these films are representative,
then I am greatly looking forward
to seeing the rest of them. I think.
[I'll try "Jenifer" (Dario Argento!) next]

They are not only original and well-plotted,
they are brilliantly implemented as well.
Masters of horror indeed.
This series was a great idea.
The element of competition may have
brought out the best in the participants.

Note Bene: The musical score for both films
are excellent, particularly John Carpenter's
Cigarette Burns".

"Dreams In The Witch House" is an excellent
adaptation of H.P Lovecraft's universe(s)
by Stuart Gordon (see "Dagon" for another;
you will not be disappointed).
August 14, 2008

John Carpenter is back!

Masters of Horror: Cigarette Burns (John Carpenter, 2005)

While it's been twenty years (or more, depending on your perspective) since John Carpenter has made a truly great feature-length film, Showtime's Masters of Horror series gives hard evidence that he hasn't lost an ounce of greatness in the intervening years. "Cigarette Burns", Carpenter's first-season entry in the series, is one of the best episodes I've seen so far.

Kirby Sweetman (The Boondock Saints' Norman Reedus) is the owner of a small revival-house movie theater, and a man who consults with others on finding hard-to-track-down movies. He is approached by a collector, Bellinger (Suspiria's Udo Kier), who wants him to track down a film called Le Fin Absolue du Monde, the only print of which was supposedly destroyed. It's an underground legend; supposedly it had only one screening, and it drove the audience to homicidal violence. To make matters worse, Sweetman has ghosts in his own past, and they're coming back to haunt him in the form of his late girlfriend's father, who loaned him a good amount of money to get his theater off the ground, and wants it back. When Bellinger agrees to pay Sweetman exactly the amount he needs to pay off the father, he's hooked. Unfortunately, the closer he gets to actually finding the film, the more it seems that some things were meant to stay buried...

Reedus and Kier do great work here, and Carpenter is back to the directorial form that produced such films as The Fog and Prince of Darkness, winding things to a supreme intensity and then cutting them open to see how far the blood will fly. And here, it does-- certainly farther than it ever did in any of Carpenter's theatrical releases. But then, the script here is a filmmaker's dream; the whole thing is awash in in-jokes and references, and it deals with finding a lost horror film. From a filmmaker's perspective, how cool can you get? It's obvious everyone involved here had a great deal of fun making this one. Definitely one to track down if you're a Carpenter fan. **** May 30, 2008

9th Gate RipOff, Well done thoguh

This was a great film/episode thingy, but its a total rip off of "The 9th Gate" If you've never seen the 9th Gate, your love it, and if you have and liked it, this will subpliment it, if only their were other movies in the Hell Horror genre
So far, the only good one's I've seen are
The 9th Gate
Cigerette Burns
Constantine
(The Exorcist Doesn't count) March 21, 2008

Truly horrorfying

When i first started to watching the movie i was bit confused. There were missing scenes and i didnt think they would tie the story together at the end. But it did and it was amazing till this day i still get the chills when i think about the movie. i recommend people to get it!!! March 12, 2008

Creepy and Original

I assumed Cigarette Burns would be a winner since horror legend John Carpenter was responsible for it. Thankfully my assumption was correct. This was very well written, acted, and executed.

The story follows a man who has been payed a large sum of money to recover a horrific film that was allegedly destroyed after it's original viewing. He discovers the film is in exsitence and must do some detective work to find it. But the closer he gets to the film the more it begins to affect his mind. He begins to be plauged with strange visions and occurences as he chips away at the mystery behind the film. I don't want to give too much away so I will let you discover the rest.

This is one of the best MOH I have seen to date. I would definately recommend Cigarette Burns. November 24, 2007

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