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Who is John Carpenter?
Official Site | IMDB | Wikipedia | Twitter
Master of Cinema - John Carpenter:
American born Director, Writer and Composer. Known mostly for his late 70's and 80's directorial work. Some of his most well known directorial works include: Halloween, The Thing, The Fog, Big Trouble in Little China, Assault on Precinct 13, Escape From New York.
John Carpenter's directorial works mostly reside in the Horror and Science-Fiction genres where he has helped develop landmark titles and influenced many directors including Robert Rodriguez.
Robert Rodriguez on Carpenter's infuence on Planet Terror:
From Interview:
Austin Chronicle Interview with Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez on Escape From New York:
Robert Rodriguez on The Thing:
From Interview:
The Daily Beast Interviews Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez Interviews John Carpenter:
El Rey - The Director's Chair (Video Interview)
John Carpenter helped to create the modern 'Slasher' genre of horror as we know it when he directed Halloween (1978). The genre has grown into a large if not over represented sub-genre of horror. Notable copy-cats include: Friday The 13th series where from the second film on the character of Jason Voorhees is clearly heavily inspired by the character of Michael Myers from Halloween.
Related Article Link:
How John Carpenter’s Halloween created the modern slasher movie
Carpenter famously composed the score to most of his film catalogue, the most notable exception to this was The Thing (1982). Famous Italian composer Ennio Morricone was tasked with composing the score for the snowy sci-fi horror, which he bafflingly won a 'Razzie' award for that year.
Soundtrack ~ Ennio Morricone ~ The Thing (1982) ~ 01 ~ Humanity, Pt. 1
From Article:
DenOfGeek - 10 Mystifying Razzie Nominations
John Carpenter first fell in love with the medium of film as a child watching 50's serials, which often contained works in the horror and science-fiction genres. It's no surprise that this early exposure to and love of these classic works has had massive influence on the work he would go on to create and why his catalogue is so strongly represented by the horror and science-fiction genres. At times he would combine the two to great effect such as cult classic The Thing (1982) and the often underappreciated Prince of Darkness (1987).
Forbidden Planet (1956) - Official Trailer:
From Article:
Irish Times - John Carpenter: "A lot of old-timers like to bitch... Movies are for the young"
John Carpenter seems to have a great working relationship with most of his actors, to the point where often times he would reuse actors across various films. This would sometimes give the impression that Carpenter has a 'stable' of actors that he would use across his works. The most famous of these relationships would be his working relationship and friendship with actor Kurt Russell. They first met on the set of the made for TV movie: Elvis (1979) and went on to work together on The Thing (1982), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Escape From New York (1981) and Escape From L.A. (1996).
The Thing Commentary Track - Kurt Russel Pranks John Carpenter
For John Carpenter branding was something he realized was important early on and he was one of the first directors to put his name in the titles of his films. This helped create a brand name that was not tied to any specific studio or IP, this helped fans to follow his work at a time before finding out the entire creative team for any product was only a click away, It may also be one of the reasons he is so well known with fans of the science-fiction and horror genres.
From Artice:
Consequence of Sound - The Making of John Carpenter’s Halloween
Some of John Carpenter's films contained strong themes regarding the possible end of the word. The Thing, Prince of Darkness and In The Mouth of Madness in particular are often dubbed the "Apocalypse Trilogy" by fans.
John Carpenter Introduces his 'Apocalypse Trilogy' at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica: (Apologies about the low quality)
Related Articles:
John Carpenter had early mainstream success with Halloween (1978) but this would prove a difficult task to repeat as time went on. His theatrical releases ranged from moderate box office success to complete failures. Carpenter liked to be creative and experimental with the films he created, this often left the studio executives puzzled and confused on what they actually had and how to market it. This dissonance would be partially responsible for some of the theatrical failures or underperforming films. An example of this would be Big Trouble in Little China, the pulpy mystical/martial arts love letter to Asian cinema. The studio executives wanted Indiana Jones, but they ended up getting something very different which they had no idea how to market or where to find the audience for such a film.
From Article:
uk.movies.yahoo.com - John Carpenter: No one’s talked to me about the Big Trouble in Little China remake
One of the biggest box office failures that Carpenter faced is by many considered his best work, The Thing (1982) grossed only 19.6 Million USD at the US box office on a reported budget of 10 million USD (not including marketing). This can largely be attributed to Universal Studios releasing the film at practically the same time as their other box office juggernaut E.T.:The Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
From Article:
gadflyonline - The Thing That Ate E.T.
These continuing box office difficulties caused the budgets on Carpenter's future films to continue shrinking, in turn resulting in a cycle of middling to low success at the box office. A lot of these films gained a second lease of life on the then budding and expanding home VHS market. Home audiences showed an appreciation for Carpenter's work that far surpassed their box office popularity. This home video success has continued to this day and caused landmark titles such as The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, Escape From New York to live on and influence many works, including video game character Raiden from the Mortal Kombat series, who is based on one of the "Three Thunders" from Big Trouble in Little China.
In recent years John Carpenter has moved away from the limelight of hollywood after being disillusioned with the executives and lack of success some of his best works faced at the box office. Each year that passed by it became more and more difficult for Carpenter to raise adequate funds to continue directing his larger works. His most recent full length film was The Ward (2010) which reached moderate success relative to it's budget.
From Interview with The Guardian:
The Guardian - Interview
John Carpenter continues writing and composing and has released an album in 2015 titled "Lost Themes" and a follow up "Lost Themes II" in 2016. He has toured worldwide performing the music from these albums live as well as anthologies of his previous film scores.
The 'Lost Themes' were published by Sacred Bones Records and can be purchased below:
Buy 'Lost Themes'
Buy 'Lost Themes II"
Track 'Vortex' from Lost Themes Album:
*This Section Reserved for Catalogue and Short Synopsis of John Carpenter's Directorial Works - To Be Inserted When I Get Home From Work*
Please share your thoughts and appreciation on the directorial works of John Carpenter. I'd also like to know what your favourite John Carpenter film is and why.
If you are short on time I've also included a poll with some of his more well known films. Cast your votes now!
EDIT: I've added some more quotes, links, youtube videos etc.. I will try to add more as I go along to keep improving the OP. I intend to add details about each film in John Carpenter's filmography. Consider this post a continously improving WIP. Thanks.
Official Site | IMDB | Wikipedia | Twitter
Master of Cinema - John Carpenter:
American born Director, Writer and Composer. Known mostly for his late 70's and 80's directorial work. Some of his most well known directorial works include: Halloween, The Thing, The Fog, Big Trouble in Little China, Assault on Precinct 13, Escape From New York.
John Carpenter's directorial works mostly reside in the Horror and Science-Fiction genres where he has helped develop landmark titles and influenced many directors including Robert Rodriguez.
Robert Rodriguez on Carpenter's infuence on Planet Terror:
Robert Rodriguez said:
From Interview:
Austin Chronicle Interview with Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez on Escape From New York:
Robert Rodriguez said:
Robert Rodriguez on The Thing:
Robert Rodriguez said:
From Interview:
The Daily Beast Interviews Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez Interviews John Carpenter:
El Rey - The Director's Chair (Video Interview)
John Carpenter helped to create the modern 'Slasher' genre of horror as we know it when he directed Halloween (1978). The genre has grown into a large if not over represented sub-genre of horror. Notable copy-cats include: Friday The 13th series where from the second film on the character of Jason Voorhees is clearly heavily inspired by the character of Michael Myers from Halloween.
Related Article Link:
How John Carpenter’s Halloween created the modern slasher movie
Carpenter famously composed the score to most of his film catalogue, the most notable exception to this was The Thing (1982). Famous Italian composer Ennio Morricone was tasked with composing the score for the snowy sci-fi horror, which he bafflingly won a 'Razzie' award for that year.
Soundtrack ~ Ennio Morricone ~ The Thing (1982) ~ 01 ~ Humanity, Pt. 1
denofgeek said:
From Article:
DenOfGeek - 10 Mystifying Razzie Nominations
John Carpenter first fell in love with the medium of film as a child watching 50's serials, which often contained works in the horror and science-fiction genres. It's no surprise that this early exposure to and love of these classic works has had massive influence on the work he would go on to create and why his catalogue is so strongly represented by the horror and science-fiction genres. At times he would combine the two to great effect such as cult classic The Thing (1982) and the often underappreciated Prince of Darkness (1987).
Forbidden Planet (1956) - Official Trailer:
The Irish Times said:
From Article:
Irish Times - John Carpenter: "A lot of old-timers like to bitch... Movies are for the young"
John Carpenter seems to have a great working relationship with most of his actors, to the point where often times he would reuse actors across various films. This would sometimes give the impression that Carpenter has a 'stable' of actors that he would use across his works. The most famous of these relationships would be his working relationship and friendship with actor Kurt Russell. They first met on the set of the made for TV movie: Elvis (1979) and went on to work together on The Thing (1982), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Escape From New York (1981) and Escape From L.A. (1996).
The Thing Commentary Track - Kurt Russel Pranks John Carpenter
For John Carpenter branding was something he realized was important early on and he was one of the first directors to put his name in the titles of his films. This helped create a brand name that was not tied to any specific studio or IP, this helped fans to follow his work at a time before finding out the entire creative team for any product was only a click away, It may also be one of the reasons he is so well known with fans of the science-fiction and horror genres.
Consequence of Sound said:
From Artice:
Consequence of Sound - The Making of John Carpenter’s Halloween
Some of John Carpenter's films contained strong themes regarding the possible end of the word. The Thing, Prince of Darkness and In The Mouth of Madness in particular are often dubbed the "Apocalypse Trilogy" by fans.
John Carpenter Introduces his 'Apocalypse Trilogy' at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica: (Apologies about the low quality)
Related Articles:
- Strange Horizons - Cosmic Horror in John Carpenter's "Apocalypse Trilogy"
- The Film Stage - A Slow Descent Into Madness: Revisiting John Carpenter’s Apocalypse Trilogy
- Den Of Geek - John Carpenter's Apocalypse trilogy: a look back
John Carpenter had early mainstream success with Halloween (1978) but this would prove a difficult task to repeat as time went on. His theatrical releases ranged from moderate box office success to complete failures. Carpenter liked to be creative and experimental with the films he created, this often left the studio executives puzzled and confused on what they actually had and how to market it. This dissonance would be partially responsible for some of the theatrical failures or underperforming films. An example of this would be Big Trouble in Little China, the pulpy mystical/martial arts love letter to Asian cinema. The studio executives wanted Indiana Jones, but they ended up getting something very different which they had no idea how to market or where to find the audience for such a film.
uk.movies.yahoo.com said:
From Article:
uk.movies.yahoo.com - John Carpenter: No one’s talked to me about the Big Trouble in Little China remake
One of the biggest box office failures that Carpenter faced is by many considered his best work, The Thing (1982) grossed only 19.6 Million USD at the US box office on a reported budget of 10 million USD (not including marketing). This can largely be attributed to Universal Studios releasing the film at practically the same time as their other box office juggernaut E.T.:The Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
gadflyonline said:
From Article:
gadflyonline - The Thing That Ate E.T.
These continuing box office difficulties caused the budgets on Carpenter's future films to continue shrinking, in turn resulting in a cycle of middling to low success at the box office. A lot of these films gained a second lease of life on the then budding and expanding home VHS market. Home audiences showed an appreciation for Carpenter's work that far surpassed their box office popularity. This home video success has continued to this day and caused landmark titles such as The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, Escape From New York to live on and influence many works, including video game character Raiden from the Mortal Kombat series, who is based on one of the "Three Thunders" from Big Trouble in Little China.
In recent years John Carpenter has moved away from the limelight of hollywood after being disillusioned with the executives and lack of success some of his best works faced at the box office. Each year that passed by it became more and more difficult for Carpenter to raise adequate funds to continue directing his larger works. His most recent full length film was The Ward (2010) which reached moderate success relative to it's budget.
John Carpenter said:
From Interview with The Guardian:
The Guardian - Interview
John Carpenter continues writing and composing and has released an album in 2015 titled "Lost Themes" and a follow up "Lost Themes II" in 2016. He has toured worldwide performing the music from these albums live as well as anthologies of his previous film scores.
The 'Lost Themes' were published by Sacred Bones Records and can be purchased below:
Buy 'Lost Themes'
Buy 'Lost Themes II"
Track 'Vortex' from Lost Themes Album:
*This Section Reserved for Catalogue and Short Synopsis of John Carpenter's Directorial Works - To Be Inserted When I Get Home From Work*
Please share your thoughts and appreciation on the directorial works of John Carpenter. I'd also like to know what your favourite John Carpenter film is and why.
If you are short on time I've also included a poll with some of his more well known films. Cast your votes now!
EDIT: I've added some more quotes, links, youtube videos etc.. I will try to add more as I go along to keep improving the OP. I intend to add details about each film in John Carpenter's filmography. Consider this post a continously improving WIP. Thanks.
Last edited:
