John Carpenter
Biography
An American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor.
Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.
Most films in Carpenter's career were initially commercial and critical failures, with the notable exceptions of Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), and Starman (1984).
However, many of Carpenter's films from the 1970s and the 1980s have come to be viewed as cult classics, and he has been acknowledged as an influential filmmaker. Cult classics that Carpenter directed include: Dark Star (1974), Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Prince of Darkness (1987), They Live (1988) and In the Mouth of Madness (1995).
His films are characterized by minimalist lighting and photography, static cameras, use of steadicam, and distinctive synthesized scores. Carpenter is also notable for having composed or co-composed most of the music of his films; some of them are now considered cult as well, with the main theme of Halloween being considered a part of popular culture. His music is generally synthesized with accompaniment from piano and atmospherics. He released his first studio album Lost Themes in 2015, and also won a Saturn Award for Best Music for Vampires (1998).
Carpenter is an outspoken proponent of widescreen filming, and all of his theatrical movies (with the exception of Dark Star and The Ward) were filmed anamorphic with a 2.35:1 or greater aspect ratio. The Ward was shot in Super 35, the first time Carpenter has ever used that system. Carpenter has stated he feels that the 35mm Panavision anamorphic format is "the best movie system there is", preferring it over both digital and 3D film. Many of Carpenter's films have been re-released on DVD as special editions with numerous bonus features.
Carpenter has been the subject of the documentary film John Carpenter: The Man and His Movies, and American Cinematheque's 2002 retrospective of his films. Moreover, in 2006, the United States Library of Congress deemed Halloween to be "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
In 2010, writer and actor Mark Gatiss interviewed Carpenter about his career and films for his BBC documentary series A History of Horror. Carpenter appears in all three episodes of the series. He was also interviewed by Robert Rodriguez for his The Director's Chair series on El Rey Network.
Many filmmakers have been influenced by Carpenter, including James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight was heavily influenced by The Thing), Guillermo del Toro, Robert Rodriguez, Edgar Wright, Danny Boyle, Nicolas Winding Refn, Bong Joon-ho, among others.
The video game Dead Space 3 is said to be influenced by Carpenter's The Thing, The Fog and Halloween, and Carpenter has stated that he would be enthusiastic to adapt that series into a feature film.
Acting (96 movies)
Halloween
1978
The Silence of the Hams
1994
The Perfect Scary Movie
2005
The History of Metal and Horror
2021
Scoring Resident Evil
2002
Body Bags
1993
In Search of Darkness: Part III
2022
Nightmares in Red, White and Blue
2009
Tales from the Script
2009
Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown
2008
Fantastic Flesh: The Art of Make-Up EFX
2008
Assault on Precinct 13
1976
John Carpenter: The Man and His Movies
2004
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock
2008
Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film
2006
The Thing: Terror Takes Shape
1998
Let There Be Light: The Odyssey of Dark Star
2010
The Original Monster Mash
2011
Studio 666
2022
Charlie Brown: Blockhead's Revenge
2011
An Opera of Violence
2003
Halloween: A Cut Above the Rest
2003
Do You Remember Laurie Zimmer?
2003
Halloween: Unmasked
1999
Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon
2006
Monsterland
2009
Stephen King's World of Horror
1986
Christine: Ignition
2004
Christine: Fast and Furious
2004
Christine: Finish Line
2004
Nightmare Factory
2011
It Takes a Village: The Making of Village of the Damned
2016
Commemoration: Howard Hawks' 'Rio Bravo'
2007
Working with a Master: John Carpenter
2006
Why Horror?
2014
The Birds: Hitchcock's Monster Movie
2012
Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock's Maestro
2008
The American Nightmare
2000
Halloween in Hollywood
2022
Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror
2001
The Boy Who Could Fly
1986
Red Desert Nights: Making Ghosts of Mars
2001
Monstres, l'ennemi de l'intérieur
2017
Big John
2006
The Puppet Man
2016
Henchman: The Al Leong Story
2018
Take One: Fear on Film
1982
Fear in the Dark
1991
After Sunset: The Life & Times of the Drive-In Theater
1995
Hammer: Heroes, Legends and Monsters
2024
Mario Bava: Maestro of the Macabre
2000
Hollywood's Creepiest Creatures
2004
The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style
2009
Hidden Values: The Movies of the Fifties
2001
Stephen King's World of Horror
1989
In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
2008
Dark Glamour: The Blood and Guts of Hammer Productions
2017
Guns for Hire: The Making of 'The Magnificent Seven'
2000
Horror Cafe
1990
Born to Controversy: The Roddy Piper Story
2006
First Works
1989
Jean-Michel Jarre: A Journey into Sound
2015
Halloween: 25 Years of Terror
2006
John Carpenter: Live Retrospective
2018
Masters of Horror
2002
Hollywood's Greatest Villains
2005
The Thing
1982
In Search of Darkness
2019
Dark Star
1974
The Fog
1980
Escape from New York
1981
Starman
1984
Big Trouble in Little China
1986
They Live
1988
Memoirs of an Invisible Man
1992
Village of the Damned
1995
John Carpenter: Live At Primavera Sound 2016
2016
Tales from the Mist: Inside 'The Fog'
2002
In Search of Tomorrow
2022
Fear on Film: Inside 'The Fog'
1980
1982: Hollywood Summer
2019
The Rise of the Synths
2019
The Wages of Sin
2003
AGFA Mystery Mixtape #4: Follow Your Own Star
2020
The Making of 'The Thing'
1982
In Search of Darkness: Part II
2020
Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet
2006
Halloween: The Inside Story
2010
Something to Do with Death
2003
Scream and Scream Again: A History of the Slasher Film
2000
Snake Plissken: Man of Honor
2005
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects
1994
In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994
2024
Scary Girl
2011
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators
2008
The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault
2020
Directing (24 movies)
The Thing
1982
Escape from New York
1981
Dark Star
1974
Ghosts of Mars
2001
Escape from L.A.
1996
The Fog
1980
In the Mouth of Madness
1995
Memoirs of an Invisible Man
1992
Halloween
1978
Big Trouble in Little China
1986
They Live
1988
Someone's Watching Me!
1978
Body Bags
1993
Christine
1983
Village of the Damned
1995
Starman
1984
Prince of Darkness
1987
Elvis
1979
Vampires
1998
The Ward
2010
Assault on Precinct 13
1976
Pro-Life
2006
Cigarette Burns
2005
Captain Voyeur
1969
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Captain Voyeur | 1969 | Writer |
| Captain Voyeur | 1969 | Producer |
| The Resurrection of Broncho Billy | 1970 | Writer |
| Dark Star | 1974 | Screenplay |
| Dark Star | 1974 | Producer |
| Dark Star | 1974 | Original Music Composer |
| Assault on Precinct 13 | 1976 | Original Music Composer |
| Assault on Precinct 13 | 1976 | Writer |
| Eyes of Laura Mars | 1978 | Screenplay |
| Zuma Beach | 1978 | Writer |
| Halloween | 1978 | Original Music Composer |
| Halloween | 1978 | Screenplay |
| Someone's Watching Me! | 1978 | Writer |
| Better Late Than Never | 1979 | Writer |
| The Fog | 1980 | Original Music Composer |
| The Fog | 1980 | Screenplay |
| Escape from New York | 1981 | Original Music Composer |
| Escape from New York | 1981 | Screenplay |
| Halloween II | 1981 | Screenplay |
| Halloween II | 1981 | Producer |
| Halloween II | 1981 | Original Music Composer |
| The Thing | 1982 | Original Music Composer |
| Halloween III: Season of the Witch | 1982 | Producer |
| Halloween III: Season of the Witch | 1982 | Original Music Composer |
| Christine | 1983 | Original Music Composer |
| The Philadelphia Experiment | 1984 | Executive Producer |
| Black Moon Rising | 1986 | Screenplay |
| Black Moon Rising | 1986 | Executive Producer |
| Big Trouble in Little China | 1986 | Original Music Composer |
| Prince of Darkness | 1987 | Screenplay |
| Prince of Darkness | 1987 | Original Music Composer |
| They Live | 1988 | Screenplay |
| They Live | 1988 | Original Music Composer |
| El Diablo | 1990 | Writer |
| Blood River | 1991 | Writer |
| Body Bags | 1993 | Executive Producer |
| Body Bags | 1993 | Original Music Composer |
| In the Mouth of Madness | 1995 | Original Music Composer |
| Village of the Damned | 1995 | Original Music Composer |
| Escape from L.A. | 1996 | Screenplay |
| Escape from L.A. | 1996 | Original Music Composer |
| Vampires | 1998 | Original Music Composer |
| Ghosts of Mars | 2001 | Original Music Composer |
| Ghosts of Mars | 2001 | Writer |
| Vampires: Los Muertos | 2002 | Executive Producer |
| The Fog | 2005 | Producer |
| Halloween | 2018 | Executive Producer |
| Halloween | 2018 | Original Music Composer |
| Halloween Kills | 2021 | Original Music Composer |
| Halloween Kills | 2021 | Executive Producer |
| Firestarter | 2022 | Original Music Composer |
| Halloween Ends | 2022 | Original Music Composer |
| Halloween Ends | 2022 | Executive Producer |