John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns 

With a torrid past that haunts him, a movie theatre owner is hired to search for the only existing print of a film so notorious that its single screening caused the viewers to become homicidally insane.

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

Mick Garris (creator), Drew McWeeny

Stars:

Norman Reedus, Colin Foo, Udo Kier

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Norman Reedus	...	Kirby
Colin Foo	...	Fung
Udo Kier	...	Bellinger
Christopher Redman	...	Willowy Being
Chris Gauthier	...	Timpson (as Christopher Gauthier)
Zara Taylor	...	Annie
Gary Hetherington	...	Walter
Chris Britton	...	Meyers
Julius Chapple	...	Henri Cotillard
Taras Kostyuk	...	Kaspar (as Taras)
Brad Kelly	...	Horst
Lynn Wahl	...	Cab Driver
Douglas Arthurs	...	Dalibor (as Douglas H. Arthurs)
Gwynyth Walsh	...	Katja
Brahm Taylor	...	Protagonist

Storyline

The bankrupted owner of the movie theater 'Vogue', Kirby Sweetman, is hired by the eccentric private collector Mr. Bellinger to search and find the only existing print of the legendary horror film "La Fin Absolue du Monde" by Hans Backovic. This lost film is considered magic and cursed, and has been presented only once to an audience at the Sitges Festival, driving the people insane and causing bloodshed in the theater. The director, the crew and everybody involved in its production seemingly have died since. Kirby owes 200.000 dollars to his father-in-law, who blames Kirby for the death of his daughter Annie, and accepts the assignment to pay his debt. Bellinger shows him a souvenir from the film in his basement, a chained angel that had his wings torn off in the movie. Kirby travels to France to meet a contact and has glimpses of his beloved Annie, initiating his journey to hell.

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Plot Keywords:

subjective camera | death of protagonist | extreme violence | collector | angel | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

Highest rated episode of the series on IMDB.

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Goofs

When Kirby is confronted by Walter about the money he owes, Walter tells Kirby he's got one week to come up with it. Kirby towards the end of the movie gets the money and finds the theater chained up. When on the phone with one of the employees from the theater he says that he was given *two* weeks to get the money.

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Quotes

Fung: I know what you want, you want to see the movie!

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Connections

References The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

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Soundtracks

Le Fin De Mond Theme
Written by John Roome
Courtesy of Mekong Records

User Reviews

The Cursed Movie

The bankrupted owner of the movie theater Vogue, Kirby Sweetman (Norman Reedus), is hired by the eccentric private collector Mr. Bellinger (Udo Kier) to search and find the cursed horror movie "Le Fin Absolue du Monde". This film is considered lost and magic, and has been presented only once in the Sitges Festival, driving the audience insane and violent, causing bloodshed in the theater. The director, crew and everybody involved in its production has also died. Kirby owes US$ 200,000.00 to his father-in-law, who blames Kirby for the death of his daughter Annie (Zara Taylor), and accepts the assignment to pay his debt and for his own satisfaction. Bellinger shows him a souvenir from the film in his basement, a chained angel that had his wings torn off in the movie. Kirby travels to France to meet his contact and has glimpses of his beloved Annie, initiating his journey to hell.

"Cigarette Burns" is the best episode of "Masters of Horror" so far among the ones that I have watched. The dark story slightly recalls in some moments "In the Mouth of Madness", also directed by the awesome John Carpenter, the best director of horror movies that should win an Oscar for his magnificent filmography and contribution to this genre. The uncomfortable and surrealistic story has the atmosphere of a nightmare, with excellent performances, and a great potential of cult-movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Pesadelo Mortal" ("Mortal Nightmare")

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 December 2005 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

IDT Entertainment, Industry Entertainment, Nice Guy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

59 min 56 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1