John Carpenter
‘I don’t want to be in the mainstream. I don’t want to be a part of the demographics. I want to be an individual. I wear each of my films as a badge of pride. That’s why I cherish all my bad reviews. If the critics start liking my movies, then I’m in deep trouble.’-John Carpenter
My earliest experiences of Horror began at a young age. The first Horror films I ever saw were Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys. Besides that, my interest in the Horror genre wasn’t that great. Until one day when I was 13 that I first saw John Carpenter’s Halloween. That film sealed my faith as a fan of Horror films. John Carpenter created one of the greatest Horror films ever made. Halloween revitalized the Horror genre, and set the standards for the Slasher films of the 1980’s. Soon after, films such as Friday The 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street creeped their way into theatres. Each new Slasher franchise gave birth to new Horror maniacs, most notably Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. But John Carpenter’s maniac from Halloween remained at the top of the game. Michael Myers was the definite Godfather of the slasher maniacs.
John Carpenter was born on January 16th 1948, be became interested in films at am early age and has often cited Alfred Hitchcock as one of his influences to become a filmmaker. After releasing two films, Dark Star and Assault on Precinct 13. Carpenter met Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad to create a Horror film about a maniac stalking babysitters. That film is the now legendary Halloween. With a budget of $325,000 US, Debra Hill and John Carpenter set to create one of the most famous films in Horror history. And as they always, the rest is history.
After Halloween was released, John Carpenter became famous in the Horror genre. The theatrical total of Halloween was around $55 million, equivalent to over $176 million today. His Following film, The Fog, released in 1980, didn’t gain as much praise as Halloween. The film was plagued with numerous problems, and many scenes had to be reshot. Carpenter thought of His film, as a minor Horror classic. In 1982, he directed The Thing, a remake of the 1951 Christian Nyby film The Thing from another World. The film has some of the best special makeup effects done in a Horror picture. The FX was provided by Rob Bottin, who is regarded highly in movie production circles. When The Thing opened in performed poorly at the box office. It was also the year that ET was released in theatres. Some people felt that The Thing was too gruesome and that it was in bad taste. Over the years however, it garnered a massive Cult following. The following year, John Carpenter directed an adaptation of the Stephen King novel, Christine. After directing a Science Fiction and Comedy action film, Carpenter returned to the Horror genre with the 1987 film Prince of Darkness. The film was poorly received in America, but developed a Cult following in Spain and Japan. In the 1990’s he directed a few Horror pictures such as Village Of The Damned, Vampires and Ghosts of Mars. Even though his later Horror pictures don’t have that same energy and suspense and thrills that kept you on the edge of your seat, John Carpenter is still one of the greatest Horror directors. With films such as Halloween, The Fog and The Thing, he’s definitely a master and is in a class of his own.
