Academy Museum Opens Horror Show With John Carpenter Retrospective

The Academy Museum has launched a new horror exhibition called The Horror Show. The exhibition features an original face-hugger from Alien, storyboards from The Exorcist, and costumes and props from Scream, Saw, and Us.

The Horror Show opened with a retrospective series titled John Carpenter: Prince of Darkness. The series includes films such as In the Mouth of Madness, Big Trouble in Little China, The Thing, Vampires, and Memoirs of an Invisible Man. It began with a screening of Carpenter's 1978 film Halloween.

Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis appeared at the Academy Museum to introduce the film alongside Howard Berger. Curtis said she was available to audition for Halloween after being fired from a TV series adaptation of Operation Petticoat. Carpenter credited co-writer and producer Debra Hill with championing Curtis for the role, and he called Curtis after the first day of shooting to tell her she had done a great job.

The Michael Myers mask was a William Shatner Captain Kirk mask modified by production designer Tommy Lee Wallace. The film was set on Halloween but shot in March, so the prop guy tossed old and painted leaves into the frame. Carpenter composed and performed the film's music in three days; he also scored Assault on Precinct 13 in one day. Director of photography Dean Cundey used the Panaglide, an early variation on the Steadicam, and the film's opening long take was shot on the final day of production.

The retrospective and exhibition details were reported by IndieWire.