Cigarette Burns

A must see for every horror/underground film obsessive who spends hours on weird little forums and secret torrent sites trying to track down the perfect obscure treasure, THIS is your life as a horror movie. Balls-out grotesque visuals plus a creepy, darkly funny script, by far one of Carpenter's tightest works and miles ahead of all the dumb-as-fuck remakes and Eli Roth shit that makes it to theatres nowdays.

Disturbing horror about audiences vs films, filled with an amazing build-up and, maybe, the most mesmerizing and bloody finale of Carpenter's career. Like in In the mouth of madness, there is an obsession with what's on screen and what's not -- or what's fiction and what's real --, but here the insanity is that what was supposed to be a lie is actually a true story -- put on film produced by the devil --, something that gets under your skin because it truly happened -- an angel losing his wings.

An amazing short film which shows just what an uncaged John Carpenter is capable of. Scary, tragic, unsettling. It manages it's 60 minutes very well, and leaves the viewer completely fulfilled, if a little shell shocked.

An interesting idea for a movie that's been tried before but like this film it never truly succeeds with what it tries for. This plays out like an extended episode of Tales from the Crypt. Not great but well done for a TV production.

Carpenter stole the show during the first run of "Masters of Horror." He's still got it! Maybe skip "The Ward" though.

Ohkay; thing is here (according to his Horror Hound and Rue Morgue interviews), this wasn't supposed to be a 'horror' film. It's a thriller. And as such, in a dark, drag-you-along sort of way; it really works well. Not to mention the age-old snuff story.

Makes a terrible mistake in the end by actually showing viewers The Film. After all the buildup, nothing they show you can be as terrifying as what you imagine. Carpenter of all people should know that.

This series has such terrible acting / writing / effects / pretty much everything. There's always something redeemable [in this case - Udo Kier's small part and the gore moments] but I'm really getting tired of MoH.

The idea is clever and more-or-less original and it's chewed on with plenty of gore, stylish editing and stylized performances. I also like how this movie is very short. Too many movies test your patience by being very long but this movie cuts that crap by being less than one hour long.

There are moments of greatness in here, and Carpenter shows his prowess in holding back just enough to adequately build to a surprisingly gory finish. Problem is, some elements of the film are SO contrived it hurts. The premise is its strongest suit, but could have been explored to better effect in a feature-length: I like the fictional film mix of Gance's 'La Fin du Monde', 'Begotten' and Pasolini's 'Salo' as the basis to explore the true effect of cinema on its audience.

This should've been made into a feature-length film. Some fairly disturbing scenes with a wonderfully suspenseful build-up, very reminiscent of his Mouth of Madness and Prince of Darkness films (which he was probably going for) and basically what the film the Ninth Gate should've been. It's a real shame this wasn't taken to the next level.

Cigarette Burns just skirts the edge of a being a concept too experimental to really capture the interest of the viewer and/or be truly frightening, but Carpenter keeps it all together and pulls off an interesting little piece of horror cinema here.

best episode from the best director. That's it. Also - great Udo , great Kier

I found the premise enticing, though it vaguely echoes those of Videodrome and Ringu. Unfortunately, the movie is persistently stupid; every time it starts to get spooky and unsettling, a new surprise in contrived bullshit arrives. Also, for a film about extreme horror films, this is really tame.

Carpenter is at the top of his game here, with loads of blood and gore!

Yummy! Persistently mystical and peculiarly unsettling. Carpenter in form!

The best of the Masters of Horror series, about a long lost film that reportedly drives anyone who watches it to complete insanity. Udo Kier is one creepy dude.

This is probably the best of the MOH series I've seen to date.

At the moment this is probably the best episode, it's quite balanced, the mistery element is well developed, characters and dialogues are better than average in the series (though still not great) and the story is interesting on itself. The reference element helps too.

Production values are pretty poor here and this had potential to be so much better... but as somebody who's always on the search for the weirdest, most fucked up obscure films I'm easily seduced by the film's theme.

lovecraft's terrors were no less real than a child's, his words splurged desperately onto the page as unfiltered manifestations of those terrors. his prose, shit by many standards, is nevertheless one of the clearest windows you'll find into any artist's mind - to read it is to know every fucked up corner. for all its faults, this dumb ass short is carp's most lovecraftian because it shares that lack of self-awareness or control, making its horrors more gnawing, obsessive, malignant.

Star Rating: ★

INDIRECT SPOILER ALERT: Check out what does the word "cigarette burn" mean in theater business. Once this meaning is clear we can infer that the cigarette burns shown in the movie are a clever ploy to bring the story back on track when it runs astray. Another appealing feature of the film is its underlying interesting theme related to the holy grail of horror movie and slight build-up of intrigue towards the climax. Rest fails!

I'll certainly give Carpenter points for making one of the more interesting MoH efforts. Cigarette Burns is the slightly awkward love child of In the Mouth of Madness and The Ninth Gate. I almost didn't recognise Norman Reedus without the crossbow...

A solid tale of the length a collector will go for that one rare item.

Very The Ring-y

Really really cool story! Must be seen by all horror fans out there! Loved the acting and pacing. It really made me want to watch the movie that the movie was about: Le Fin Absolue du Monde. Norman Reedus is an underrated actor indeed. This short movie should be remade into a 2 hour movie!

Interesting concept and a piece I really wanted to like but it fell a bit flat overall and isn't very memorable. Worth a watch once if you're a Carpenter fan.

From the dopey blonde lead, to the naked girl covered in blood, to the cheesy generic font used in the opening credits, to the stereotypical horror flick piano riff, this movie screams Carpenter.

One of the better MoHs, though it still isn't too great. It does have a cool concept and some kinda disturbing imagery. Too bad Norman Reedus is an atrocious actor.

One of the best horror movies I've seen in a LONG time. The main character is kind of blank and uninteresting, but the concept and the supporting actors are GREAT. If you like John Carpenter and/or horror, see this movie!

Now this is more like it. Definitely a "film" with problems, but, quite honestly, I can't resist the sheer deliciousness of the premise. Don't all us horror fans dream of one day discovering THE ULTIMATE HORROR MOVIE? I totally want to write the script for _Le Fin Absolue du Monde_ now, but I'd have difficulty pitching it as a worthwhile investment to producers

nice idea, bad execution

Surprisingly unnerving. Carpenter's talent for creating atmosphere overrides the poor acting and low budget. Smothering everything with a building dread, he then pulls triggers like the pro he is. His comment on the power of film may lack the same subtlety, but enough is accomplished to allow it to ring true.

Revisting the Masters of Horror part 1. Should have been a great episode, evoking urban legends like Ringu did and the innate ghostliness of cinema, but the script is more concerned with characters continually repeating that "Le Fin Absolue du Monde" is evil rather than letting its presence merely drive the dread and cheap shocks like snuff films. Cigarette Burns begins to collapse into bad drama. Such a disappointing beginning of my viewing especially as a John Carpenter entry.

the whole concept has an air about it of minimal action--a guy looking for a movie that causes people to go insane, yeah right, and not only that he doesn't even watch it till the last five minutes. this really cuts back on the horror opportunities of the movie. i have to admit though with all its setbacks carpenter does a good job saving this movie from being terrible, it's definately an acceptable movie, but nothing above.

Best MoH movie

Freaky journey to the dark side of cinema. Gore and tension goes hand in hand here quite well.

pretty good entry