It’s always a joy when you learn people who make things you love also love other things you love. Speaking for myself, the great John Carpenter has made at least 10 of my all-time favorite movies. From Halloween to The Fog to The Thing, Carpenter has earned his nickname as the Master of Horror. So it’s a delight to hear he also loves Godzilla movies! We obviously think very highly of the giant lizard too. Not only is Carpenter a ‘zilla fan, but he’ll host Shout! Factory TV‘s Masters of Monsters weekend in November.
Beginning November 3, Carpenter will sit down to present his four favorite monster films directed by Ishiro Honda: Godzilla, The Uncut Japanese Original (Gojira), Rodan, Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, and The War of the Gargantuas. John Carpenter will make appearances throughout the Masters of Monsters marathon to discuss his great love and admiration for the franchise.
As Carpenter fans will know, he’s a very accomplished musician and composer. Hell, he’s composed some of the most iconic themes of all time. So he knows a thing or two. In our below exclusive clip, Carpenter discusses the brilliant work of composer Akira Ifukube. Ifukube composed music for nearly 300 films (wow!), including a truly staggering number of Godzilla and other kaiju films. He also, chiefly, came up with Godzilla’s distinctive noises.
Masters of Monsters kicks off Thursday, November 3, at 6pm and 8pm PT with the original Godzilla. On subsequent nights at the same times, tune in for Rodan, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, and The War of the Gargatuas. That last one is Brad Pitt’s favorite movie, fun fact. The watch party for Gargantuas takes place on TokuShoutsu’s Twitch, while the watch party for Ghidorah will be on Scream Factory TV. Shout! Factory TV, TokuShoutsu, Scream Factory TV, and Shout! Cult will all be streaming the original program. For more information about the Masters of Monsters Godzilla movie marathon, please visit MastersofMonsters.com.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.