New poster signals that the Master of Horror is getting straight back on the horse after the debacle of The Ward...

Horror maestro John Carpenter is shrugging off the critical drubbing of The Ward, his first movie in nine years, and seems to be going down the Shyamalan route of targeting the teen market as keenly as he did in the heady days of Halloween (1978).

The poster below reveals Carpenter's new project Darkchylde, an adaptation of the 90s Randy Queen comic book series which tells the story of shape-shifting Ariel Chydle, who transforms into the ghastly monsters that haunt her dreams.

Carpenter is playing up the Halloween connection too: "Randy Queen’s hijacked angel, Ariel Chylde," he says "is the best young female character since Laurie Strode in Halloween".

If Carpenter wants to target the same audience he did in Halloween, he would probably be advised to play up the magical aspects of the new project, much as the poster does - most of his potential viewers probably think Halloween was made in the same year as Psycho. Darkchylde could turn out to be Carpenter's directorial apology for The Ward not proving a killer comeback after nine years.

I'm not knocking the guy - I love John Carpenter's work, and want to see him back at his best. Combining the teenage magic market with the horror market makes a lot of sense in putting the Great Man back to where he can more easily pursue his visions again.

Total Film

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