John Carpenter, the auteur filmmaker behind horror classics Halloween and The Thing, is open to making a Metallica music video.
Talking to Metal Hammer, the 78-year-old reveals that he’s a fan of the California heavy metal giants, after his kids introduced him to their music via 1991 hit single Enter Sandman.
“We all loved it when it came out,” he says. “That album [1991’s self-titled album, AKA The Black Album] is just fantastic. And they are, right?”
He continues, “They were just this huge band, but I loved that album for introducing me to them. I’ve never actually seen them live,” then confirms, “I’d totally direct a music video for Metallica if they asked, though.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Carpenter celebrates rock music for being “still alive and still here” after many decades, “like me!” Although it “may be a bit less transcendent and popular than it was … it still speaks to people like it spoke to me all those years ago”.
He adds: “Music as an art form is probably the greatest thing that humanity ever created. It transcends language, going from country to country, across the world. Someone in Bangladesh can hear an American song and still love it.”
Carpenter is best known for manning the director’s chair on Halloween, The Thing, The Fog, Christine, Big Trouble In Little China, Escape From New York and other cult pictures, but he’s also a prolific musician in his own right. He composed the scores for 15 of his 18 feature films, and has been releasing standalone studio albums with his son Cody Carpenter and his godson, composer Daniel Davies, since 2015.
Carpenter put out his latest album, Cathedral, in August via Sacred Bones. The metal-inspired project came with a tie-in graphic novel but was intended to stand as its own musical statement. “That’s first and foremost,” the director said in promotional materials.
He added: “It’s all about making the music work. This is somewhat different sounding stuff that we've done, but it's done with the same desire in mind. In other words, put this thing on and imagine you're watching a movie. That’s what we want you to do.”
Carpenter released his last feature-length directorial effort, The Ward, in 2010. He then served as executive producer on David Gordon Green’s 2018 Halloween legacy sequel and its two follow-ups. He continues to compose for films, including the opening credits score of Studio 666, the 2022 horror-comedy starring Foo Fighters.
Meanwhile, Metallica recently completed their three-year-long M72 world tour and are gearing up for a residency at Las Vegas multimedia venue The Sphere. Performances will begin on October 1 and end on March 13.
