22 replies to this topic

[Byron]

Anyone enjoy this director's films?

My top 3 favourites are:

1) Assault on Precinct 13
2) The Thing
3) Big Trouble in Little China

[Harmsway]

I love The Thing and have quite a soft spot for Halloween.

[Bond_Bishop]

Halloween is his best, The Thing second and other favourites are Espace from New York, The Fog and Assault on Precinct 13

[Bon-san]

I'm a fan of "The Thing", "Halloween", "Escape From New York", and "Assault On Precinct 13". I respect the fact he does things on a shoestring and they're still quite fun. Dig the music, too.

[The_Hunted]

The Fog being my favourite film by JC. Closely followed by Halloween.

[licensetostudy]

Halloween is one of my favorite all time movies and would make my top ten list. It is far more horrifying and scary than the boring and laughable Exorcist, especially with the whole stalking issue which has been treated by our American culture as big for the past decade, making Halloween all the more scarrier even though in my opinion the issue has gone way overboard and has caused too much hysteria. Escape From New York is my second favorite, followed by Christine. I still have to see The Thing which airs all the time on cable television so I will have to check it out next time it's on. I also recommend They Live.

Edited by licensetostudy, 30 June 2005 - 06:44 PM.

[Righty007]

I love the Halloween series.

[Harmsway]

Halloween is one of my favorite all time movies and would make my top ten list. It is far more horrifying and scary than the boring and laughable Exorcist, especially with the whole stalking issue which has been treated by our American culture as big for the past decade, making Halloween all the more scarrier even though in my opinion the issue has gone way overboard and has caused too much hysteria. Escape From New York is my second favorite, followed by Christine. I still have to see The Thing which airs all the time on cable television so I will have to check it out next time it's on. I also recommend They Live.

I love Halloween, but it didn't scare me once when I saw it. I just had a fun time watching it. The Exorcist, on the other hand, scared the crap out of me (The Thing did as well).

[Loomis]

Carpenter, eh? Strikes me as a director whose reputation is considerably higher than the general quality of his output. HALLOWEEN is a masterpiece, and ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 a near-masterpiece, but I'm not sure he's done anything really amazing since 1978. I never thought much of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THE THING or BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, which along with a couple of his other flicks seem held in very high regard in some quarters. Not saying he's untalented - clearly, he's very talented indeed (as well as one of those directors who obviously lives and breathes movies), just that he's.... well, to put it bluntly, a bit overrated (which is hardly his fault, of course). Funnily enough, that appears to be the case with quite a few people known chiefly as horror directors: they make one or two good films early in their careers, and keep getting worshipped by movie geeks and critics because of them even after following them up with decades of so-so films and/or utter dross (see Tobe "TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE" Hooper, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg....).

STARMAN I like, though, and I remember being on the edge of my seat many years ago watching a TV movie he made in 1978 called SOMEONE'S WATCHING ME!.

BTW, the IMDb, which seems notorious for its unreliable information, lists Oliver Stone as the director of the next HALLOWEEN sequel. Hilarious!

[Tanger]

My opinion on the man is contained in this thread:

http://debrief.comma...topic=11588&hl=

[Double-Oh-Zero]

I've always been a fan of the Escape films and The Thing.

Haven't seen all of Halloween yet, though. Are any of the sequels worth the effort?

[Bryce (003)]

Thanks for posting the link above Tanger. I know my opinion is stated in there as well.

JC is a man of honor in my book. I'm hoping for something new from him, but Escape from NY, The Thing, Starman, Big Trouble.., Vampires, Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, Christine, The Fog speak for themselves.

Gritty, quirky, Intense, creepy, funny. Action, romance, drama, horror - He's really played the field and like bringing it to the screen. Check out the end credits of Escape From New York...You might just catch a few names in key positions that you may recognize.

"You gonna kill me Plisken?"

"Too tired...Maybe later."

[Agent 76]

Carpenter is the master of cool!

[Tarl_Cabot]

Carpenter, eh? Strikes me as a director whose reputation is considerably higher than the general quality of his output. HALLOWEEN is a masterpiece, and ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 a near-masterpiece, but I'm not sure he's done anything really amazing since 1978. I never thought much of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THE THING or BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, which along with a couple of his other flicks seem held in very high regard in some quarters. Not saying he's untalented - clearly, he's very talented indeed (as well as one of those directors who obviously lives and breathes movies), just that he's.... well, to put it bluntly, a bit overrated (which is hardly his fault, of course). Funnily enough, that appears to be the case with quite a few people known chiefly as horror directors: they make one or two good films early in their careers, and keep getting worshipped by movie geeks and critics because of them even after following them up with decades of so-so films and/or utter dross (see Tobe "TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE" Hooper, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg....).

STARMAN I like, though, and I remember being on the edge of my seat many years ago watching a TV movie he made in 1978 called SOMEONE'S WATCHING ME!.

BTW, the IMDb, which seems notorious for its unreliable information, lists Oliver Stone as the director of the next HALLOWEEN sequel. Hilarious!

His next film is by a script written by AICN's Moriarty.Way to go Geeks!

[Hitch]

The Thing is creepy - the type of film I would not like to see in a darkened cinema. Yes, I'm a wuss.

[Matt O'S oo4]

The Thing - Probably one of the best horror/sci-fi flicks I've ever seen. Kurt Russell was terrific.

Escape From New York - Great sci-fi flick with Kurt Russell doing his best Clint Eastwood impression. Carpenter's wife is in this one...anyone know her name? Good fun. Escape from LA had its moments. Loved the credits. (Can't blame Carpenter for that one, though)

Starman - a very touching love story. Jeff Bridges won a nomination for best actor with this one. TV series stunk.

Big Trouble in Little China - good fun, Carpenter love to work with Russell.

Assult on Precint 13 - Guns, guns, guns. What could go wrong?

The Fog - Carpenter's wife in this one again. Hmmmm.

Halloween - Eehh. Too many sequels following.

Blah.

You know.

004

[licensetostudy]

BTW, the IMDb, which seems notorious for its unreliable information, lists Oliver Stone as the director of the next HALLOWEEN sequel. Hilarious!

The greatest mistake ever made by the IMDB which was totally hysterical and amazing they even put it in their news section let alone made it news, was a report that Courtney Love is the granddaughter of Marlon Brando. The article stated Courtney's grandmother had a love affair with Brando back in the 40s. I could not find any other place in the media, either on the internet, television, or newspapers that even had such a story. IMDB was the only source for this ridiculous story.

[DaveBond21]

I’m a big fan of Halloween, the Fog and the Thing.

I always think his creepy build-up photography is better than the real gory moments.

[SecretAgentFan]

One of the most underrated and consistently great directors of our time.

Why? Because even if the scripts aren´t always fantastic, the way Carpenter directs is unfussy, straight, pure storytelling. Even his minor works I can watch again and again, finding them engaging and exciting.

But after the press had given him a boost he did not cater to them anymore (in contrast to Tarantino who goes out of his way to endear journalists). He was being labelled difficult, a one-trick pony, lazy, selling out to the big studios (although he always stayed true to his principles).

The reaction towards "THE THING" is one of those big blunders of the press that buried great films during their first release. Nowadays, journalists love to say that they always loved this film - when in fact they used it to badmouth Carpenter.

My top five?

1) Halloween
2) The Thing
3) Big Trouble in Little China
4) Prince of Darkness
5) Starman

[The Shark]

John Carpenter greatest strength is his economy. That said, once he moved to Hollywood, the quality declined rapidly.

1. THE THING
2. THEY LIVE
3. STARMAN
4. HALLOWEEN
5. ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13

[Harmsway]

THEY LIVE would have been better if it had starred Kurt Russell. Roddy Piper just ain't up to the task.

[Royal Dalton]

Yeah, he's a poor man's Kurt. It would have been a lot better with the real thing. Still, it's not a bad film. And Meg Foster is always very watchable.

[Dustin]

I simply loved 'The Fog', 'Escape From New York' and 'The Thing' at the time. And 'Halloween' was also ok IMO. But I have to confess I didn't watch any of those for years now. And I actually prefer the book 'Escape From New York' to the film because it provides a lot of background that isn't explained in the film and changes most characters. The film in general shares a lot with gang films of that decade, like 'Class of 1984' or 'The Warriors'. The book has a completely different tone and theme and this dimension is lost for the most part.