What's your favorite John Carpenter Flick?

Personally, I prefer John Carpenter's more "apocalyptic" or supernaturally-themed films. In particular, I really love the so-called "trilogy" of The Thing (1982), Prince of Darkness (1987) and In the Mouth of Madness (1994). I also love The Fog (1980), which gets too little love compared to Halloween (1978). Christine (1983) is one of my favorite Stephen King adaptations, and sci-fi social satire They Live (1988) is also great fun!

Now, regarding Halloween... I freely grant that it's an influential, iconic low-budget classic. And to be honest, I do like it a great deal. But it doesn't really resonate with me compared to the aforementioned films. Maybe the whole "masked killer" / slasher sub-genre doesn't really do much for me (even though Halloween is better than most in that sub-genre). I mean, some guy in a mask and a machete stalking around racking up an inevitable body count isn't something I'm all that interested in. Granted, I do love the Nightmare on Elm Street films because of the supernatural elements and the whole dream angle, the way we're plunged into the world of the characters' unconscious. And the Friday the 13th films do have a morbid fascination for me because of the dogged and almost comically relentless way the producers somehow manage to keep milking the franchise and finding ever-more ludicrous ways of bringing Jason Voorhees back from the dead - up to and including sending him into outer space! Certainly entertaining, if not exactly artful.

Halloween is certainly very simple, direct and effective at doing its job as a "scare machine," one that ticks off all the right boxes of what a scary movie "should" do, but I personally don't find it all that stimulating beyond that. I mean, "maybe it was the Boogeyman!" Not much there for me, I'm afraid. No offense. The Fog, on the other hand, has the whole theme of the ancestral curse on the town of Antonio Bay and the whole theme of sin and expiation, and The Thing has this weird gender subtext, with its group of increasingly paranoid males and a shapeshifting creature capable of opening up and biting off people's limbs in a way that Sigmund Freud would have heartily red-flagged. (Or maybe I just have an overactive intellect! Perhaps I think too much and feel too little...)

I'm actually much less familiar with the two Escape films with Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken. I've seen fragments of Escape from New York (1981) on cable TV many, many years ago. I also did see Escape from L.A. (1996) once in its original theatrical run. But not since then, however. One of these days, though, I'll watch them properly in a Blu-ray or 4K double bill!

Do you even Carpenter, bro?

I'm sorry, but I'm not particularly fluent in "dudespeak." You'll have to speak the King's if you want to have a productive dialogue... bro.

Playing posh will not absolve you of your filmographical sins, Pazuzu.



Have you even seen Assault on Precinct 13? Do you even Carpenter, bro?

Forgive me, I guess I was in a slightly irritated mood last night and I kind of took it out on you. That was uncalled for.

Bottom line is, I "do" Cronenberg, I "do" Kubrick, I "do" Hitchcock, I "do" Bergman... but I guess that I'm not as familiar with Carpenter's filmography as I am with the aforementioned directors. I merely decided to put in my two cents on the issue when I saw this particular thread. Please try not to hold my filmographical "sins" against me. After all, I was honest enough about what I liked, disliked or was less than familiar with about Carpenter's work. I certainly don't think I was pretending to be something I wasn't.

And no, I haven't seen Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) all the way through yet. As with the first Escape, I've just seen fragments on cable TV when I was younger. But hey, one of these days, right...?

"Playing posh"? Maybe. But please bear in mind, elitism can manifest itself in ways that we're not always consciously aware of. Peace.

BTW, Corax, that's a super-cute avatar. I'm a cat lover myself.

A true Carpenter fan never apologizes!


But I will! Your penance is to watch Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape from New York from front-to-back. Only then shall peace be upon you.

That sounds like a very reasonable form of penance. I eagerly look forward to serving it... whenever it is I get around to it, that is.

It's got to be The Thing for me. An example - one of a select few - where a remake comes good. Really good! Just love its sense of isolation and the way Carpenter builds the fear and paranoia across the group. It's curiously a great example of being trapped without the conventional "lock and key" preventing your escape. It's nature that's locked you in and it's the monster that's going to get you. Plus, the blood test scene is such an iconic and brilliant moment. One of my all-time favs!

I also love Halloween, The Fog, Prince of Darkness and Christine - one of the best killer car movies! Halloween was a trendsetter, Prince of Darkness is terrifying, and The Fog has that wonderful old school ghost story tone that gets the hairs standing up on the back of your neck. Assault on Precinct 13 would round out my top 5. Big Trouble in Little China or Escape from New York would get in there depending on my mood.

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I always say the quality of a film shouldn't be defined by its genre.
The Incredible Shrinking Man is a great example of a film that has many characteristics of a sci-fi B-movie, but as the story unfolds it becomes so much more than the physical and nightmarish ordeal of the protagonist.
Personally, I think it's one of the best American films ever made.

And while The Thing remake is certainly an improvement in terms of special effects (which would become all the rage in 1980s horror cinema, hence why most of it has aged so badly) I find it impossible to ignore the uninteresting characters and performances, and - even worse - the painfully banal dialogue.

Not that Assault On Precinct 13 is masterpiece theater, but in this case the low-budget feel and laid-back attitude creates, for better or worse, a unique atmosphere that justifies its cult status.

I find it quite shocking to see how much love The Thing gets, and not just on this specific website.

I find it quite shocking to see how someone can be shocked by the love The Thing deservedly gets.

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The Thing stands head and shoulders above the rest of his movies for me.

This didn't really affect my enjoyment of the movie. I believe that the plainness of both is more feature than bug. The appeal of the movie to me is seeing ordinary, working class people in an extraordinary situation that they do not understand and that they have no idea how to control. Besides, it's not like they're totally uninteresting. I liked seeing MacReady transition from a guy who doesn't trust technology into someone who confides in it more than other people.

I can't stress enough how bonkers Prince of Darkness is dawg.

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HEI guys.

Completely agree. It was a perfect movie.

The Thing

I can understand that. A film doesn't have to be good to enjoy it.
I see that "banal" was an unfortunate way of expressing myself. What I meant was badly delivered, cheesy dialogue, and yes, I do think that has a great impact on the film (or any film, actually).

And who knows, perhaps The Thing is the best film by John Carpenter, but that isn't saying much, is it?

Obviously the one with the creepy low tempo synth score produced with his partner alan howarth.

The Thing shaped me as a person, saw it at 10 years old.

I hope everybody stll loves me

The rest of his films fun romps and exploitation fare. The Thing is his one "big time" AAA entry. Damn E.T. to hell for eclipsing everything else that came out that year.