John Carpenter is no fan of Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance.” Here’s an amusing exchange he had with a recent fan expo:
CARPENTER: What did you think of “The Substance”?
INTERVIEWER: I loved it.
CARPENTER: You did? Okay. Well, I didn’t.
INTERVIEWER: What didn’t you like about it?
CARPENTER: What did I like about “The Substance”? ZERO.
INTERVIEWER: What did you not like about it?
CARPENTER: Everything.
Fargeat will likely be disappointed to hear those comments from Carpenter. She’s repeatedly name-checked him as an influence during interviews for “The Substance.”
She told Inverse: “There is David Cronenberg, there is John Carpenter… When I write, I welcome the homage I want to make to those filmmakers that I love and admire.” In another interview, she mentioned how Carpenter’s The Thing had “such a strong influence on me.” In other sit-downs, Fargeat has cited Carpenter’s scores as life-changing.
I’ll vehemently disagree with Carpenter when it comes to “The Substance.” It was one of the best films of 2024 — an instant body-horror classic, an absolute onslaught of audacity, sound, imagery, and blood, tackling Hollywood’s obsession with female beauty. In the meantime, Carpenter, who hasn’t released a film since 2010’s “The Ward,” openly admits he’d rather eat popsicles, watch the NBA and play video games than return to cinema.