Watch Video Essay On Escape From New York

John Carpenter is a master of horror there is no denying that claim, he earned it. He’ll always be known for the likes of Halloween, The Thing and my personal favourite Escape From New York. 40 years after it’s cinematic release certain elements may look a little dated, 99% film feels very relevant.

Society is condemned, living in a decaying world whilst the wealthy get richer and the rest of us fight. Anger, corruption, distrust in the government who run the world with iron fist of authoritarianism. One could say Manhattan Island which is a prison island in the film is a metaphorical representation of our planet all thanks to Covid-19.

The film was an very ambitious project that very few studios in the day didn’t want to touch. Carpenter took his fate into his own hands and 40 years on Escape From New York is a cult classic.

Studiocanal have released this video essay created by Billie Jean of Video Nasty Presents. Who has a look at the cult film, taking a deep dive look into the technical mastery of Escape From New York.

The year is 1997 and in a police state future the island of Manhattan has been turned into a maximum security prison. The rules are simple: once you’re in, you don’t come out. But when the United States president (Donald Pleasance) crash lands an escape pod into the centre of the city after fleeing a hijacked plane, a ruthless prison warden (Lee Van Cleef) bribes ex-soldier and criminal Snake Plisskin into entering the hazardous Manhattan and rescuing the distraught president from the twisted world of New York and from the demented clutches of its new ruler The Duke (Isaac Hayes) in John Carpenters cyber-punk, action, suspense spectacular.

Escape From New York is available now on 4K, Blu-Ray and DVD.