CRIMSON PEAK, director Guillermo del Toro, on set, 2015. ph: Kerry Hayes/©Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Though John Carpenter is an icon to genre film enthusiasts, the commercial viability of his output has always been unpredictable. Halloween eventually became a box-office success, but many of his subsequent efforts failed to connect during their theatrical runs.
As you might recall, The Thing was a box-office bomb that eventually became a cult classic through the home video market. In the Mouth of Madness and Vampires also underperformed during their theatrical runs, but each eventually became a VHS staple.
And what about Big Trouble in Little China? It’s one of Carpenter’s most iconic films, but it barely recouped half its budget when it played theaters. As has been the case with so many Carpenter pictures, the film took some time to find its audience, but now it’s a bona fide cult classic. In fact, the picture even counts the great Guillermo del Toro as a champion. As you can see from the X (formerly Twitter) post below, del Toro is a massive fan.
Big Trouble in Little China by John Carpenter. Sheer pulp brilliance and dazzling magic. The first of a franchise that should have been.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 23, 2016
That’s a great callout about the picture’s franchise potential. If only the film had caught on when it played theaters, there would surely have been a series of follow-ups that saw wisecracking lead character Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) springing back into action and rising to the occasion to keep the world safe from the forces of evil. The film has come dangerously close to getting remade previously, but efforts have stalled out.
Though we never got the chance to see where subsequent efforts (or a remake) might have taken the action, the film remains a true treasure of B-grade filmmaking. Big Trouble in Little China sees Carpenter channeling the output of the Shaw Brothers, melding martial arts tropes with mysticism and grandiose action sequences.
The setup for Big Trouble in Little China is this:
Russell plays hard-boiled truck driver Jack Burton, who gets caught in a bizarre conflict within and underneath San Francisco’s Chinatown. An ancient Chinese prince and Chinatown crime lord has kidnapped a beautiful green-eyed woman, who is the fiancée of Jack’s best friend. Jack must help his friend rescue the girl before the evil Lo Pan uses her to break the ancient curse that keeps him a fleshless and immortal spirit.
All this talk of Big Trouble in Little China has me ready for a rewatch. I own the film on physical media, but anyone who doesn’t shouldn’t fret. The picture is available to stream for free (with ads) on Tubi as of the publication of this post!
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