Over New Year’s Eve I decided to do a John Carpenter marathon and watched 10 of his films. I had only ever seen Escape From New York and The Thing before and thought it was time to watch Halloween and Big Trouble in Little China – and I may as well watch most of his other films as well. I picked these 10 films based on the critical response and general opinions and they seem to be the 10 John Carpenter films worth watching. After watching these 10 films I thought I may as well write about them, so here are my thoughts on each:
Dark Star (1974) – **
John Carpenter’s first feature film is a nice student film but a fairly poor film overall. Dark Star is almost a parody of Alien five years before it was released (screenwriter Dan O’Bannon worked on both) and if this film had been released afterwards, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the tagline had been “in space, no one can hear you laugh.” Dark Star references earlier Stanley Kubrick films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove and focuses on the more ridiculous aspects of science fiction, from artificial intelligent bombs to unusual alien beachballs. It’s clear that Dark Star was John Carpenter and friends experimenting to see what they could get away with and while it might have worked for them, it doesn’t really work for me.
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) – ***
For some reason I had the plots of S.W.A.T. and the Assault on Precinct 13 remake mixed up and I spent most of this film wondering when the convict was going to offer criminals money for whoever could break him out. Obviously S.W.A.T. has nothing to do with Assault on Precinct 13, which is a solid film and an improvement over Dark Star. Unfortunately, the film failed to grab me, mainly due to my initial confusion but also because it is inspired by two films I have never seen before: Rio Bravo and Night of the Light Dead. I think I will have to watch those two films and then watch Assault on Precinct 13 again, and then maybe I will appreciate it more and understand why it is considered to be one of John Carpenter’s masterpieces.
Halloween (1978) – ****
The first John Carpenter film I really liked and the one generally considered his best film. I was surprised at how effective Halloween was over 30 years later and after numerous sequels and countless ripoffs (and even a remake with a sequel of its own, as someone pointed out on Twitter). Halloween has stood the test of time as a fantastic film and a definitive horror film at that. Cheap, gritty, and disturbing, Halloween is the kind of film that can get away with the antagonist not being caught or killed and simply disappearing into the night. I can’t imagine any modern horror film being allowed to do that and that is why Halloween is so good.
The Fog (1980) – **
John Carpenter’s follow-up to Halloween was unfortunately underwhelming, mainly because it was a follow-up to Halloween. The Fog has a fog and some ghost pirates but it doesn’t work nearly as well as Halloween, which is a shame. The characters are all pretty forgettable and it seemed like Carpenter could have done more with the idea of a mysterious fog descending on a town. Maybe as a standalone film The Fog isn’t so bad but when compared to what came before (and after it), it’s one of Carpenter’s most forgettable films.
Escape From New York (1981) – ****
One of the two John Carpenter films I had seen before, I knew what to expect when watching Escape From New York this time: Carpenter’s most badass character in the form of Snake Plisskin and the beginning of the great Carpenter/Kurt Russell relationship (ignoring that Elvis TV film, of course). Escape From New York is one of those films that begin as a guilty pleasure and ends as simply pleasure. Even though it takes place in the future of 1997, Escape From New York is a timeless film, and one that is still being referenced even today in the future of 2011 (now 12), like the recent Batman video game, Arkham City. While I didn’t watch the sequel Escape From L.A., I would like it if Carpenter and Russell reunited to complete the trilogy with Escape From Planet Earth someday.
The Thing (1982) – *****
The Thing is my favourite John Carpenter film and the one I consider to be his real masterpiece. A group of scared and tired men in the middle of Antarctica not being able to trust with another is the very definition of paranoia and The Thing has to be the best film about paranoia I have ever seen. Released on the same day as Blade Runner (what a great day for cinema that was), The Thing has gone on to become the second best sci-fi/horror film of all time (Alien is first, obviously). Much like Halloween, The Thing has no clean resolution and the cliffhanger ending makes the film that much better. “Why don’t we just… wait here for a little while… see what happens…”
Christine (1983) – ***
I haven’t read the Stephen King book Christine is based on but I could tell it was a Stephen King story almost immediately: the dopey premise about a possessed car and all of the dialogue about sex. I imagine someone has written a great analysis of this film about the connection between cars and sex so I’m not going to do that here. Christine is surprisingly decent and John Carpenter and King make an effective partnership (and I’m surprised Carpenter didn’t do any further King adaptations).
Starman (1984) – ***
About halfway through Starman I got annoyed because I realised this was just John Carpenter doing E.T. An alien comes to earth but wants to go home and meets a friend who helps him do that. The only difference is in Starman you get creepy Jeff Bridges instead of a creepy little alien and he takes the form of his companion’s lover instead of just being his friend. Starman isn’t bad but it feels simple and weak, and I think it’s Carpenter’s most “mainstream” film yet.
Big Trouble in Little China (1986) – ****
By this point it was no longer 2011 and had become 2012 and I was getting tired of watching films. However, I knew I couldn’t go to sleep until I had watched Big Trouble in Little China. Over the years I’ve heard many great things about this film and it has reached this cult status and become one of those films that must be watched. I loved Big Trouble in Little China. Kurt Russell was useless and hilarious, Lo Pan was a terrific villain, and John Carpenter was clearly just having fun. This is my second favourite Carpenter film after The Thing.
They Live (1988) – ***
They Live is perhaps John Carpenter’s most unusual film (well, maybe Big Trouble in Little China) because it kind of feels like Carpenter trying to do David Cronenberg with the whole idea of these beings being hidden amongst us and one man having to fight them. For some reason I went into They Live thinking it was supposed to be great until a bunch of people on Twitter told me it sucks. While I don’t think it’s bad, it’s certainly forgettable. I do think it’s kind of neat and I’m glad I watched it but it doesn’t stand alongside Carpenter’s best work.
And there we go. I watched 10 John Carpenter films in a row. I really liked four of them, enjoyed four more of them and only disliked two of them. I would say those are pretty good results. What are your thoughts on John Carpenter? Which of his films do I still need to watch?
