Big brunettes in little China : my favourite John Carpenter movies
Submitted by cramoukji on Fri, 02/18/2005 - 11:22
Tags:
- They Live (This very straightforward criticism of the Reagan system is barely disguised as a celver sci-fi plot feauring Roddy Piper in his only good role)
- Prince of Darkness (As stated on some other list of mine, this movie gives me shivers everytime and Alice Cooper's cameo is so creepy)
- Halloween (What more can be said about this movie ? It has defined the whole slasher sub-genre and has been influencing horror cinema for more than two decades now)
- Big Trouble in Little China (At the top of his game, Carpenter mixed hong-kong martial arts movies with american buddy comedies a decade before anyone else attempted it and got very unfair reviews)
- Escape from New-York (One of John's most demented projects, this is a very deep investigation of the fabric of american popular culture and a hell of an action movie too)
- The Thing (Shocking, disgusting, this remake of the Howard Hawks classic is also one of the earliest movies to approach the subject of AIDS)
- Dark Star (Carpenter's first movie is exactly what the tagline promised "a movie about what the real life of men in space" and its low budget makes many scenes hilarious)
- In The Mouth of Madness (Shadows of HP Lovecraft and Stephen King collide in this dark fantasy comedy -sadly the plot is a little loose in the middle)
- Starman
- Escape from LA (The first warning in the decline of this one-of-his-kind creator, this sequel has its moments but they are few and far between)
- Christine (Well-received and even praised when it came out, this adaptation of a King novel, one of the few King himself admitted to like, has not stood the test of time)
- The Village of the Damned (This remake definitely does not compare to the original but it features both Christopher Reeve and Mark Hammill in good roles)
- Body Bags (This TV pilot for a prospected horror series expected to be somewhat gorier than Tales from the Crypt features two stories directed by Carpenter and one by Tobe Hooper)
Author Comments:
I haven't seen his most recent movies, whom I've been told are not very good anyway and I haven't seen his old Assault on 13th Precinct and The Fog, whom I've been told are rather quite good
I wondered if you might have a Carpenter list to go alongside the Cronenberg one. I haven't seen They Live in a long time, but I remember liking it quite a bit. I'm surprised it doesn't get talked about more.
Halloween is not only my favorite Carpenter film, it's probably my second-favorite horror film (after Alien). Too bad almost every so-called "slasher" film made after this one is so bad that it gives the whole sub-genre a bad name. The amazing thing is how atmospheric and, yes, elegant it is; the scares are truly organic, rather than the filmamker creating rather obvious set-ups in which something will jump out.
I would also recommend The Fog. It suffers in comparison to Halloween, partially because Carpenter decided to use a couple of his cast members from Halloween, notably Jamie Lee Curtis, but it is still a fine atmospheric piece. Few outright scares, but parts become chilling through the deliberate pacing. And, hey, is it just me, or did I Know What You Did Last Summer lift the idea of fisherman's hooks as weapons from this film?
Johnny Waco
I still have to see The Fog and I haven't seen I know what you did... so I can't really agree or disagree about the fishermen's hooks... anyway thanks for your interest and comments... isn't it funny how different Cronenberg's and Carpenter's movies really are and yet they somehow always get talked about in the same bundle of "horror-social content-alternative" filmakers ?
Let me tell you that Assault on Precinct 13 is fantastic. Same for The Fog. You definetly should see them.
And I will... If only because I've found The Fog in mid-price DVD months ago but I haven't got the time yet to come around to watch it... On same subject, I've been having The Naked Lunch and The Night of the Living Dead on DVD for months and I still haven't found the time to watch them... and I've also got Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in my view simply one of the best movies ever, I can argue over that but not now, on DVD for months but still haven't watched it since I've switched to DVD for good... gosh, I need to go and buy that VHS-DVD transfer device they sell at MediaMarkt for 470€... I have about 500 VHS tapes needing to be updated to the DVD civilization... or whatever, thanks anyway for your contribution my Letzebuerger friend, you're always more than welcome to give your opinion on my lists...
Thank you!
Now that you mention it, I have taped well over 120 movies, and I still haven't watched them. I don't know what I'll do if my VHS breaks down one day...
I haven't seen The Naked Lunch either. Night of the Living Dead is IMO a matter of taste. I didn't really dig it, but I'd nevertheless like to see Dawn of the Dead. As for Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I just watched the 2003-remake some days ago, and it is pretty bad. Still the original is probably the movie I most want to see right now. Maybe I should order it via amazon.
Not sure you'll like it but go ahead and try it... you may want to try this list as well
Ooops, forgot to put Starman in this here list... That small overlook will be corrected later!