- Born
- Place
John Carpenter
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.
As director
The Ward
Pro-Life
Cigarette Burns
Ghosts of Mars
Vampires
Escape from L.A.
In the Mouth of Madness
Village of the Damned
Body Bags
Memoirs of an Invisible Man
They Live
Prince of Darkness
Big Trouble in Little China
Starman
Christine
The Thing
Escape from New York
The Fog
Elvis
Halloween
Someone's Watching Me!
Assault on Precinct 13
Dark Star
Captain Voyeur
As actor
The Thing Expanded
Carpenter
In Search of Darkness: 1995-1999
I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not
John Carpenter: Live From Los Angeles - Halloween Night
Hammer: Heroes, Legends and Monsters
In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994
In Search of Darkness: Part III
Studio 666
Halloween in Hollywood
In Search of Tomorrow
The History of Metal and Horror
AGFA Mystery Mixtape #4: Follow Your Own Star
In Search of Darkness: Part II
The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault
In Search of Darkness
1982: Hollywood Summer
The Rise of the Synths
Henchman: The Al Leong Story
John Carpenter: Live Retrospective
Monstres, l'ennemi de l'intérieur
Dark Glamour: The Blood and Guts of Hammer Productions
It Takes a Village: The Making of Village of the Damned
The Puppet Man
John Carpenter: Live At Primavera Sound 2016
Jean-Michel Jarre: A Journey into Sound
Carpenter on Quatermass
Why Horror?
The Birds: Hitchcock's Monster Movie
The Original Monster Mash