The Walking Dead does not have a fan in John Carpenter
By Adam Carlson
John Carpenter is one of the most respected names in the horror genre, but didn’t have kind words to say about AMC’s zombie drama The Walking Dead.
Many people have grown to love horror over the years. One of the folks who may be partially responsible for this passion is writer and director John Carpenter.
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Over the years, Carpenter has been one of the most reliable names in horror. With major films like They Live, the Halloween series, The Thing, Escape from New York, and Escape from L.A. on his resume. And while he looks back on the history of horror very fondly, he isn’t embracing the current state of the genre.
In a recent visit to the WTF Podcast hosted by Marc Maron, John Carpenter had some harsh things to say about the remakes of popular horror franchises as well as attempts to cash in on the success stories horror has created.
AMC’s The Walking Dead was one of those projects Carpenter didn’t speak very fondly of. Here is what he had to say according to Inquisitr:
"“That [The Walking Dead] was a movie that George Romero made back in 1968 [Night of the Living Dead], and they have milked that, and they are still milking it.”"
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Carpenter isn’t wrong. The Walking Dead did have it’s road to success paved by George A. Romero’s popular zombie franchise. In fact, the creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman, has made this crystal clear in his talks about why he believes the franchise has become as popular as it is.
Still, the word “milked” has a very negative feel in this sentence. Like many other shows and movies, the AMC drama had their paths paved by those before them. If not for folks like George A. Romero and John Carpenter, many current horror projects wouldn’t be as successful as they are.
"“Horror was great. I grew up with it as a kid. We didn’t have much in the ’60s in terms of youth culture, so we needed monster movies,” he said."
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The Walking Dead has enough fans around the world to still be one of the most popular horror franchises ever. However, with the words of Romero and Carpenter, it is saddening to see that the torch isn’t be passed along to creative individuals like Robert Kirkman. But this shouldn’t have any effect on enjoying Carpenter’s work, as his movies are still fantastic to watch to this day.