Cult horror director John Carpenter honoured at Cannes, Entertainment News

PUBLISHED ONMay 16, 2019 12:31 AM

Cannes paid tribute to cult horror master John Carpenter on Wednesday (May 15) with an award for The Thing director's contribution to cinema.

Carpenter - also known for classics including Halloween and Escape From New York - was presented with the Golden Coach award by the French directors' guild at the opening ceremony of the Director's Fortnight.

It runs alongside the main Cannes festival on the French Riviera.

Fittingly for a film-maker who is also a renowned composer who created or jointly composed the majority of his own film scores, the gala got under way with some eerie electronic mood music.

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Carpenter, an American who lives in California, said he was fascinated by the way characters emerged from rays of light in a movie projector, since his first trip to the cinema at age three to see Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen.

"It's that transportation of an audience through the world of light and the shadows around it, that I'm proud to be a part of," he added.

The main selection of Cannes' film showcase opened with a zombie extravaganza, The Dead Don't Die, on Tuesday (May 14) night.

Its director, Jim Jarmusch, cited Carpenter as one of his horror film references and inspirations.

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