'Halloween' Director Denies Panning His Own Movies on Review Site
The film review website Letterboxd boasts a pretty robust celebrity following, and for a brief, fleeting moment this week, users thought John Carpenter was among the ranks. But unfortunately, the account, in which the famed horror director was seemingly panning his own movies (among others) sadly turned out to be a fake.
On Thursday, social media lit up with screenshots of what was purported to be Carpenter's account. In one viral post, the 76-year-old supposedly wrote a review of the Stephen King 1990 miniseries It, claiming that he had been approached to direct but did not previously enjoy working with King, who he described as being "on f--king crack."
Really hope this is actually John Carpenter on Letterboxd pic.twitter.com/8s9zCZqo5O
— Dr_Mafoony (@dr_mafoony) September 26, 2024
In another fake review, the fake Carpenter left a blistering review of his 1981 film Halloween II, writing that "they paid me more money than I had ever seen to write a sequel to a film that did not need one." He added: "I took the money and spent it on beers to get me drunk enough to plow through this crap. I looked at the final script, which took me two days to write, and said 'wow that's a piece of s--t.'"
The Virgin Francis Ford Coppola
— Cuttleboss (Watcher of the 2000s) (@2000sWatcher) September 26, 2024
The Chad John Carpenter https://t.co/LIir7UnkUr pic.twitter.com/UV20taJqqn
Those were just two of the many, many musings from the fake Carpenter that made their way to social media on Thursday, including a rave review of the 1996 live action animated comedy Space Jam.
Really really hoping that this is John Carpenter’s actual Letterboxd account. ???? pic.twitter.com/AhuhOpTlP2
— Jeremy (@JeremyElliott_) September 26, 2024
John Carpenter. The most based man alive. https://t.co/64INE0DMaj pic.twitter.com/xwmzdRseDv
— Mr.Welbig (@DWelbig) September 26, 2024
John Carpenter also has the correct take on SPACE JAM pic.twitter.com/ozNbhHRTlK
— Takes from the Crypt (@NoPartyNoDisco) September 26, 2024
Obsessed that John Carpenter rated Barbie higher then Oppenheimer on his @letterboxd pic.twitter.com/ByQHjhQeJ1
— oliviabaldacci (@oliviabaldacci1) September 26, 2024
Sadly, the rug got pulled under fans when Carpenter, who is active on social media, took to the platform to ask: "What the hell is a Letterboxd!??" Around the same time, the account also sadly vanished, along with its prolific reviews.
What the hell is a Letterboxd!??
— John Carpenter (@TheHorrorMaster) September 26, 2024
Carpenter's publicist also confirmed the dupe in a statement to Entertainment Weekly, stating unequivocally: "It was a fake account."
By that point, a few users had sensed that maybe something wasn't on the up and up. "John Carpenter would absolutely not watch Reagan," deadpanned one user, adding: "Some of y’all are too gullible."
John Carpenter would absolutely not watch Reagan. Some of y’all are too gullible. pic.twitter.com/4r9Hzyy2dN
— Patrick Pryor (@Patrick_Pryor) September 26, 2024
Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.