John Carpenter 75

Much maligned yet now being revised much like many of his films that have been upon release scoffed at I will always love this modern B-Movie nonsense of space assualt on precient 13



After all a ancient species carried in a cloud infecting humans and causing havoc has just been coppied and had plaudicts in a show called the rig.
 
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Aside from the classics like Halloween, The Thing, The Fog etc, I loved In the Mouth of Madness and The Prince of Darkness.
 
Yeah, huge fan of Carpenter.
Halloween was one of the first VHS copies that someone on the street had and we'd borrow.

I remember watching it with my mum in our brightly fluorescent lit kitchen on a black & white portable and STILL watching it peeking behind a door.
But later I watched and watched via that VHS.

Halloween is masterful in everything. The cast, the cinematography (Dean Cundey who went out to work with Spielberg) lit the sets like American paintings, the writing (with a feminist bent from Debra Hill), the production (and that genius choice to spend most of the budget on the steadicam (and Donald Pleasance) so it looks soooo much more expensive.

And of course the music....oh and the William Shatner hacked mask.
Assault on, The Fog, The Thing (utterly brilliant), Escape From, Big Trouble.....

What I've always found is Carpenters style seemed to change quite drastically after these films. They had this stylised acting and B movie vibe about them (Prince Of Darkness is a good example, then ended up with Ghost on Mars - maybe this started with Escaspe from but they feel different to his earlier works).

Saw him live in Manchester a few years ago.
 
I’m not interested in the least in the horror genre, does nothing for me. But a mate encouraged me to watch The Thing saying it was more suspense, a la Alien, than out and out horror (which I’d agree with) and it is absolutely brilliant. Never seen any of the others.
 
Christine one of my favourites. ‘She had the smell of a new car, and that’s about the finest smell in the world, except maybe for pussy’.

When I win the lottery I’ll find a Plymouth Fury and paint it Sky Blue. None of that red shit like Christine.
 
roman totale said:
I’m not interested in the least in the horror genre, does nothing for me. But a mate encouraged me to watch The Thing saying it was more suspense, a la Alien, than out and out horror (which I’d agree with) and it is absolutely brilliant. Never seen any of the others.
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One of the greatest ever movie scenes was the blood testing. So tense but finishing with this fantastic funny eruption

 
roman totale said:
I’m not interested in the least in the horror genre, does nothing for me. But a mate encouraged me to watch The Thing saying it was more suspense, a la Alien, than out and out horror (which I’d agree with) and it is absolutely brilliant. Never seen any of the others.
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Dark Star is a existential sci-fi classic. Starman is also a good one, Jeff Bridges really makes that one work. I didn't really resonate much with the rest of his work, most horror never really got me going.

His music tho is great. He cites Tangerine Dream and Goblin as influences, for me, I prefer his stuff. Aside from his influence on soundtracks (clearly influencing massive musical figures like Gerry Goldsmith and Philip Glass), everyone from NIN to Legowelt is deeply in debt to him.

Motion picture wise... I dunno. Spielberg did Poltergeist in the 80s... does that happen without Carpenter? I doubt it. The lead character, AN Other family man, is such a Carpenter esq figure, thrown out of his element into an epic fight a supernatural force. And it's that same wierd shlocky comic book like action, backed up with strong art direction and the minimalist musical arrangements.
 
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