John Carpenter's Body Bags (1993) | Almost Cult Classics

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

Anyone ever notice John Carpenter seemingly always makes cult classics and most of his movies are never successful initially? Thank god he's gotten to live long enough to see his films get the praise they deserve.

[@bloodrunsclear]

Except for making the most successful indie movie of all time XD

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

@@bloodrunsclear Note I said "Most of his movies" not all of them.

[@duncandmcgrath6290]

He is one of the slow burn classic directors

[@AlkisenSuper]

How did Assault On Precinct 13 do at the box office? It had a very low budget, so it would've had to be criminally underseen to fail. I love that movie with a passion. Deserves to be ranked among his best more often.

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

@@AlkisenSuper I've literally no idea and apparently neither do a lot of people. It's not listed on Wikipedia or atleast some financial sites.

[@BareBandSubscription]

I really love Carpenter’s performance in Body Bags. He’s having so much fun and is surprisingly charismatic in the part. I kind of wish he did more campy roles like that every now and then. Stacy Keach is also great in the middle story.

[@Chuck_EL]

he could of definately been a great lead actor too especially in comedic roles , I always forget he was a theater actor years before he directed Halloween :D

[@Jared_Wignall]

It’s truly amazing just how many cult films John Carpenter has made throughout his career.

[@mst3KGf]

Billy Brown and Dan Angel, who wrote this, are pretty much R. L. Stine's go-to guys for TV adaptations. They weren't just behind "Goosebumps", they were behind "The Haunting Hour" too.

[@BigStef71182]

They also did a great anthology show called Night Visions only lasted a season but it was pretty good.

[@JasonBeam7]

Love those dudes

[@coreyruehling]

Carpenter was hilarious as The Coroner. Wish we'd gotten more of it.

[@jmorlar2852]

That makes two of us! He was one million flavors of fun!

[@howHumam]

Hamil is a phenomenal actor

[@jamesduncan6729]

He's always simply terrific, whatever he's in. If the cast includes Mark Hamill, you can bet it'll be pretty good 👍🏻❤️

[@lisalawrence2696]

i just discovered this on tubi and watched it two weeks ago!! absolutely adored it and john carpenter as a crypt-keeper-like character with his morbid quips. had no idea it was supposed to be a pilot; just figured it was an anthology horror lost to time. loved wes craven's cameo

[@jmorlar2852]

I used to be a big-time horror fan back in my teen years, and this movie was everything I would have ever wanted: simple but effective spooky stories with that Uncle-Creepyesque vibe, great casting, top-notch acting, a ludicrous amount of special appearances and, last but not least, John Carpenter himself as the Coroner! He was simply AMAZING! Totally committed to his role, masterful comedic times, a character you definitely want to see again and again… It could have become a longer series, such a shame it never happened!

[@brandonpage7087]

Wow!!! Yeah, i'm among those devoted Carpenter fans, that have never heard of this flick!! It looks awesome!! I wish it had become a series!!!

[@MVDied]

Just had my John Carpenter marathon last week and I've always had a soft spot for this Anthology

[@UndertakerNeverDies]

That first story about the gas station makes me think of the indie horror game The Convenience Store that was released by Chilla’s Art. They have done many horror games where it’s not overly scary with lots of jumpscares but there’s a creepy atmosphere as you’re playing.

[@TheIceAnt]

Saw this on Sci-fi as a kid and it scared the crap outta me in the best way. All the leads, particularly Hamill, are fantastic. These stories stay with me to this day.

[@starringvincentprice]

I’ve always been a fan of body bags ever since I first watched it some great many years ago. I remember SCREAMING every single time I saw a horror figurehead pop up (I didn’t even notice Sam Raimi as the deceased “employee of the month” the first time!). I hope more get to see it because it really is great fun.

[@tonyruby4467]

Me and my brother use to watch this all the time growing up. Mark Hamill's decent into madness was so entertaining to watch

[@RetroRanter]

Brilliant Halloween episode, I'm glad anthologies have been making a comeback, love these classics though. This deserved to be picked up into a series, Carpenter as the host was perfect.

[@tonymata8070]

I saw this several times and it's one of my favorites. ❤️

[@BigStef71182]

I just watched it on Peacock due to your recommendation. It was pretty good. We definitely needed more Tales from the Crypt anthology type shows in the 90s and hell even now I would be down. John Carpenter is a legend and honestly was the best part of the movie. I would say the first segment was the best. Very creepy.

[@shainewhite2781]

I remember watching this on the Sci Fi Channel and knew that this would be a cult classic.

[@Drew791]

I’m so excited to get my first notification after subscribing a few days ago. I’ve binged your whole channel!! Looking forward to more “forgotten failures” as well!!

[@HatsOffEntertainment]

Cheers!

[@niceguy1774]

Showtime played promos for this between films pretty regularly. I hadn't thought about it in over a decade, but didn't hesitate to buy the BluRay the second I saw it on the shelf. It was funny to realize that the 11yr old me had no idea that the gas station killer was Lewis Skolnick, or that the pitcher was Luke Skywalker, or that the real coroner had directed my favorite film; TCM.

[@nuckygulliver9607]

Turner Classic Movies?

[@diezel308]

I love Body Bags, it's one of the films I make a point to watch again around Halloween time. I know you were just being generous about not spoiling anything when talking about The Gas Station segment since it's a 30 year old movie at this point but the newspaper clip you show at around the 9:05 mark winds up doing it for you. 😉

[@dynomar11]

It took a little while, but this channel has slowly become my favorite. Because of how passionate the creator is about the topics, I'm becoming more and more interested in the topic myself. Seeing the beauty in things I never noticed.

[@jamesduncan6729]

I agree. There's something really special about watching or listening to someone that is talking about something there passionate about, and this channel is really nice to watch. I love it!

[@pholly]

This movie is pretty great, the John Carpenter parts are great and as a huge fan of Creepshow, it's great to find similar types of movies I've never seen. I only discovered it a couple of years ago when it was released on Blu-Ray and was pleasantly surprised.

[@mr.dome.gaming7103]

This movie is have nearly all HORROR MASTERS!! 🧿🪦🔮

[@Tylerson]

Thank you for the work you put into these, it's always a delight to watch your channel. I've always heard about this movie but I never set aside the time to see it - I think it's about time, though. I may even grab the Shout Factory Blu-ray to watch it.

[@vacantknight]

been looking for more of these types of movies, never heard of this one, gonna give it a watch later

[@aggtownstar]

I’m shocked more people don’t know about this movie,it’s actually one of my favorites and I always wondered why it wasn’t more made

[@JeonardShadby505]

Even in that MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN BTS footage, you can get a distinct feeling of "when will this shit be over already" from John Carpenter, perhaps even more than from Chevy Chase.

[@liublanka3925]

Watched this after trick or treating one Halloween with my mom in the 90s such memories

[@2texastornado]

One of my favorite anthologies in film and of course John Carpenters great works in my opinion. Love his horror films

[@TheRealMonkeyrogue]

I loved this. When it hit home video it was always next to a bunch of Full Moon Video stuff and the art style was so similar I think a lot of people just kind of glossed over it.

[@DanSperryOfficial]

One of my best friends growing up and i rented this from the video store on a wim and ended up loving it - had kinda forgotten about it until now, thanks for covering this one

[@bjones8470]

I remember it well. Especially the Stacy Keach episode. It cracked me up.

[@bobmarshall8527]

I absolutely love Body Bags, first saw it as a kid when my Dad recorded it off TV for me. It’s one my favourite Horror Anthologies ever.

[@adamwhite5720]

I love that Sam Raimi has a brief cameo as the gas station attendants corpse.

[@garyschwart]

Great movie. The first segment is one of my favorite horror shorts, ever

[@DashingPunkSamurai]

The first short is the best. Plus it had all the good cameo’s including the Carpenter regulars(Robert Carradine, George “Buck" Flower, Peter Jason) David Naughton , Wes Craven and Sam Rami. Although I love Debra Harry in the second story and Roger Corman in the third.

[@MellowGaming]

Used to be a bit of a cult fave as a kid. Me and a few friends like the Mark Hamill one cos it was one of the few things we'd seen Luke Skywalker in. Other than The Guyver, which was inexplicably called Mutronics here. I had completely forgotten that Twiggy was in that segment.

[@christopherwall2121]

I can give one of two reasons for the title change: 1. _The Guyver_ was based on a manga that, at the time was very obscure in America, and even now is at best a cult classic, and thus was probably practically unheard of in Europe 2.The producers were only interested in Guyver as a potential Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cash-in, resulting in a tone wildly out-of-step with the manga and later recut to be even lighter and softer.

[@GundamWarrior1]

Unfortunate - The definition of John Carpenter's career. On the one hand it's sad he faced so much studio intervention and failure. On the other hand I feel his filmography holds up far better then directors from the decade of the 70's/80's. Spielburg, Lucas, Coppola, Craven, Romero and others lost their touch. Carpenter knew when to quit after Ghost of Mars.

[@GringoXalapeno]

Spielberg can still make good movies although I think most of the time not as good probably due to people being cynical of his earlier work

[@nuckygulliver9607]

John Carpenter was enormously successful! He had full blown hits.

[@FightOstinFight]

Man this would have been a great series!

[@fiftyfadesofgrey]

I watch the anthology Body Bags because of this video. You made it sound so good. It was pretty good. The first ep. Is my favorite. This was a cool one Carpenter had fun doing it looked.

[@RetroRuss]

I got to watch this recently. I love how much fun John is obviously having playing the coroner.

[@michaelaurban4120]

I cannot click “LIKE” fast enough! I look forward to your videos, and your channel is one of my favorites! It seemed very fitting for you to do this movie! Happy Halloween 🎃 and I cannot wait for more of your videos to come 🎉!

[@JoaoMASilva]

It was such a found for me as a Brazilian the get to watch this when I was 12-13. I remember knowing John's work and seeing on the cover in my renting movies store the names John carpenter, Tobe hooper, already knowing both, just pick the movie like without even doubt, and since this has been one of my favorite horror movies. It was so fun yet scary for me in my early age and til this day I didn't find no one that knows this movie besides me who wasn't introduced by myself to this pearl. Great to see someone taking the time to give some attention to this classic. Greetings from Brazil.

[@fiftyfadesofgrey]

This Little known anthology was pretty good and i Just found out about it not long ago. Seeing John Carpenters idea here, you can see what he wanted to do with Halloween.

[@jamesduncan6729]

This looks fantastic! I'll have to check this out tonight. Thanks for the great recommendation! Your channel is a true diamond in the rough ❤️

[@WatchitforDays]

Thank you for sharing! I'm totally interested in seeing this.

[@CiricTorian]

This movie reminds me of staying home sick from school in October and watching horror movies all day

[@alexisrivera202]

I will finish this after I watch the flick. Thank you for giving me something new to watch for Halloween!

[@cannolibros]

Thanks for this recommendation, just got done watching it. Loved it, wish there was more!

[@NessyBoy64]

OH BOY! NEW VID!

[@worstxb1playertylerteehc635]

And the guy who turns up at the petrol garage is the guy from An American Werewolf in London ?

[@serene1275]

That's right!! That was a good movie too.

[@wstine79]

It's like John Carpenter has almost looked the same each year. And his movies are awesome.

[@BareBandSubscription]

“The man has looked 80-years-old for the last 40 years.” - Rich Evans on John Carpenter

[@MondoMurderface]

First thing that stands out is there are no real monsters. Horror stories don't need a monsters, but when you watch an anthology you sorta go in expecting at least ones.

[@christopherwall2121]

SPOILER alert: I suppose we're not counting the alien hair parasites as monsters, then?

[@MichaelTaylorArt]

It it sounds familiar, I'm pretty sure The Simpson's combined two of these stories (Hair and Eye) into one of its Tree House of Horror (IX) stories called "Hell Toupee", where Homer receives a hair transplant from executed criminal Snake which possesses him and makes him go on a murder spree.

[@Bongman42088]

*Thank you for this. I just recently found this flick on Tubi and it was was really fun.*

[@michaelk8860]

Something new to sneak out. Thanks for sharing!

[@musstakrakish]

I'm not the biggest fan of anthology horror but I watch Body Bags at least once a year. Took me forever to even find out that it exists literally no one talks about it.

[@ENigma-um8zw]

The mark hamil one fugged me up as a kid lol “John Randle John Randle!”

[@LiveForFuntasy]

I saw the Mark Hamill segment on TV a long time ago as a kid. Good thing Mark was in it, otherwise I never would of been able to remember enough to find it again.

[@tomkrawec]

I saw this in the mid-to-late 90s as a teen and it's stuck with me.

[@ts371]

Wow. Iwould have never even k own this one was "forgotten". I watch this anthology every year!

[@planescaped]

This would've been a great series.

[@grapeshot]

Well one thing is for sure John Carpenter's movies usually eventually get their due eventually.

[@sourpatchkid394]

Last I saw it was on Shudder! Now I’m sad knowing this was going to be a show!. What a bummer! He was amazing in this. It’s a fun movie. Everyone looks like they’re having fun in the pop up cameos.

[@brandonkays3005]

you left out the legendary cameo by sam raimi in "gas station"!

[@MegaMug]

Yes! This film was great

[@lavo-ld4wm]

Mark Hamill did later play villains, as he later became the best Joker ever!

[@ptbunz2501]

Damn, I never Heard of this! He looks like he's having fun. Just think, In another world this show got seasons.

[@leepopey]

Id never heard of this till today and I love John Carpenter

[@DashingPunkSamurai]

9:07 That review clipping from the paper totally gives away the surprise from the first short. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb

[@jordachejordan90]

Thnx for introducing.

[@Duragizer8775]

This and _The Changeling_ are the earliest horror films I remember seeing.

[@tenebrousoul9368]

Never heard of this before now. Thanks, Hat

[@motxmod]

I feel that the Treehouse Of Horror segment Hell Toupée took more inspiration from those last 2 segments of this film than the Amazing Stories episode of the same name touted in the Simpsons Wiki.

[@CoconutDaddy]

I just recently watched this on Amazon Prime I put it off for so long

[@therealCrazyJake]

You can very clearly see the influence from BeetleJuice in his performance! This looks like a fun watch and like it would made for a great TV show.

[@siauciunaite]

That was the Beautiful Sheena Easton, in the Stacy Keach segment. As his wife, AND, Debby Harry as the nurse.

[@astrogallotron]

I love how The Simpsons combined the last two stories for that one tree house of horrors where Homer gets Snake's hair.

[@vykkye]

I used to watch this daily when I was a kid! Its so damn fun

[@JDelwynn]

Did that first segment have Buck Flower playing a homeless man? Such a departure of his usual roles, like the bum in Back to the Future, a homeless man in Wishmaster, a drunk in Escape from New York or a drifter in They Live! I saw this on VHS with my friend in mid 90's and the eye segment with Mark Hamill is the only one I remembered, guess I have to check this out again.

[@JohnGalt916]

i love bodybags. i found it on YT and it took me back to being 10 and sneaking on showtime

[@jacktoma21]

I’ve seen/enjoyed all the main movies carpenter is known for. I guess I should start looking into more of his obscure work like this.

[@HarvestStore]

Great video.

[@Shorty_Lickens]

I saw this on Showtime when I was a youngster. It kinda messed up my brain.

[@dary0097]

I just love this movie!

[@marshalljimduncan]

That gas station is still there. Not the little booth, but the garage is now the main store.

[@libertines24]

Was always interested in this movie because I love hooper and carpenter

[@jamaaldunbar324]

Never seen it or heard of it, but I've got to check it out now!

[@Menjoood]

That coroner was giving some real Dave Chappelle vibes. This is something I'll have to watch some day.

[@danieljosleary]

If you want Mark Hamill in more villainous live action roles then watch The City (1977). A failed LA detective pilot. Hamil plays the psychotic killer being hunted down by buddy cops Robert Forster and Don Johnson. Released months before Star Wars. Also, both fans and critics of Todd Phillips's Joker should see The City, though I won't spoil why.

[@PinheadLarryVEVO]

Watched this one last Halloween! Thought each part decreased in quality from the last

[@ernestoborrego5102]

Yes!

[@kcadventures1454]

I literally just found out about this movie and watched it the other day!

[@lew306]

The Eye rinds me of that Twilight Zone episode where the guy gets possessed by a dead gangsters shoes.

[@darkhoursofday6250]

I always liked this movie. It was fun.

[@thEannoyingE]

This was originally a back door pilot for a tv show, to compete with Tales from the Crypt.

[@KairuHakubi]

so basically two of those segments combined to that one Treehouse of Horror.. which also pulled from that Twilight Zone about the shoes that possess a bum.

[@saloz9483]

I actually saw this last year and its pretty dam good.

[@JohnnyBurnes]

I've been waiting to watch Body Bags for a while. Since I don't have many Carpenter films I've yet seen, I'm waiting for when I can take it in with good snacks and such....I'm not much fun. :/

[@noneyourbiz8886]

I love this movie