Sonic Unleashed
Image: Sega

Recently an old Fact Magazine interview with the American filmmaker John Carpenter has re-emerged on the account Crazy Ass Moments in Sonic the Hedgehog History, where he expresses his love for the Sega mascot. We knew Carpenter was a video game fan, with the filmmaker previously praising Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, Fallout 76, and Horizon Forbidden West, as well as criticizing Nintendo Labo, but this was honestly news to us.

Apparently, the director, who is responsible for films like The Thing, Assault on Precinct 13, and They Live, started this love affair with Sonic, after buying the game for his son.

As he told Fact Magazine's Miles Bowe:

“Back in the early ‘90s, I got hooked on Sonic The Hedgehog for Sega Genesis and I just couldn’t stop playing it. I loved the game. I loved everything about it. I especially loved the music. There was something about the whole sound and feel of the Sonic games and suddenly I’m so much younger and it’s the ‘90s.”

The filmmaker didn't stop there, however. He also went on to talk about his difficulties with the original game, especially the Labyrinth Zone level with its creepy underwater theme, and admitted to liking some of the series's more maligned titles like Sonic Unleashed, or as he puts it, "the one where he turns into a werewolf."

As for his opinions on the film, that's a bit more of a mystery, considering the original article was published in 2017. After the initial disastrous trailer for the movie in 2019, which prompted the studio to redesign Sonic's model, Carpenter asked fans at Cannes whether they had seen it, before ending with "What the hell is that? What have they done?" Then, in 2020, GQ asked him, following the film's theatrical release, if he had watched it yet to which he replied, "I did not. Sonic was a great game, but I’m not sure that translates to movies."

All of this has us wondering whether he has seen it in the years since, or what his thoughts are on Sonic Frontiers. We'll be keeping a close eye on this one! That's for sure!

Do you like Sonic Unleashed? Or do you dare disagree with the Master of Horror? Let us know in the comments!

[source factmag.com, via twitter.com]