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John Carpenter

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This article is about the director. For other people named John Carpenter, refer to John Carpenter (disambiguation).
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, film music composer and occasionally an actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres, he is considered one of the most accomplished and influential horror and science fiction directors in Hollywood.

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Early life

Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York, but grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He was captivated by movies from an early age, especially by the westerns of Howard Hawks and John Ford, as well as 1950s low budget horror and science fiction films, such as Forbidden Planet and The Thing From Another WorldMarco Lanzagorta, "John Carpenter" at [Senses of Cinema]. and began filming horror shorts on 8 mm film even before entering high school. John Carpenter's profile at [AMCtv]. He attended Western Kentucky University, where his father, Howard, chaired the music department. He later transferred to the University of Southern California to attend its film program and ultimately dropped out before completing his degree requirements.

1970s: From student films to major theatrical releases

While he was at USC the student film he edited and co-wrote The Resurrection of Broncho Billy with producer John Longenecker, which won the 1970 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film.

His first major film in a directing role, Dark Star (1974), was a sci-fi dark comedy that he co-wrote with Dan O'Bannon (who later went on to write Alien, borrowing freely from much of Dark Star). The film reportedly cost only $60,000 and was difficult to make as both Carpenter and O'Bannon completed the film by multi-tasking, with Carpenter having done the musical score in addition to his writing, producing and directing duties, while O'Bannon was responsible for the special effects (and whose efforts caught the attention of George Lucas who hired him to do work on the special effects for Star Wars) and had acting duties. Carpenter's efforts did not go unnoticed as much of Hollywood marveled at his film-making abilities within the confines of a shoe-string budget.[The Official John Carpenter, London Times: March 8, 1978. The slow evolution of Dark Star].

Carpenter's next film was Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), a low-budget thriller influenced by the films of Howard Hawks, particularly Rio Bravo. As on Dark Star, Carpenter was responsible for many aspects of the film's creation. He not only wrote, directed and scored it, but also edited the film under the pseudonym "John T. Chance" (the name of John Wayne's character in Rio Bravo). Carpenter has said that he considers Assault on Precinct 13 to have been his first real film, because it was the first movie that he shot on a schedule.[SoundtrackNet article, "Having a Bite with John Carpenter": October 14, 1998] The film was also significant because it marked the first time Carpenter worked with Debra Hill, who played a prominent role in the creation of some of Carpenter's most important films.

Working within the limitations of a $100,000 budget,[IMDb.com Business Data for Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)] Carpenter assembled a main cast that consisted mostly of experienced, but little-known, actors. The two leads were Austin Stoker, who had appeared previously in science fiction, disaster, and blaxploitation films, and Darwin Joston, who had worked primarily in television and was also Carpenter's next-door neighbor. Q & A session with John Carpenter and Austin Stoker at American Cinematheque's 2002 John Carpenter retrospective, in the Assault on Precinct 13 2003 special edition DVD.

The film was originally released in the United States to mixed critical reviews and lackluster box-office earnings, but after it was screened at the 1977 London Film Festival, it became a critical and commercial success in Europe and is often credited with launching Carpenter's career. Later, the film underwent a critical reassessment in the United States, where it is now generally regarded as one of the best exploitation films of the 1970s.

John Carpenter on the set of Halloween in 1978.
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John Carpenter on the set of Halloween in 1978.

Halloween (1978) was a smash hit on release and gave birth to the slasher film genre. Originally an idea suggested by producer Irwin Yablans (entitled The Babysitter Murders), who envisioned a film about babysitters being menaced by a stalker, Carpenter took the idea and another suggestion from Yablans that it take place during Halloween and developed a story.[Scifi.com, Interview: John Carpenter looks back at Halloween on its 25th anniversary] Carpenter again worked with a relatively small budget of $320,000 and the film grossed over $65 million, making it one of the most successful independent films of all time.[House of Horrors Review: Halloween] The film was written by Carpenter and Debra Hill with Carpenter admitting that the film was inspired by both Dario Argento's Suspiria and William Friedkin's The Exorcist.

Carpenter relied upon taut suspense, rather than the excessive use of gore that would define later slasher films, in order to make the menacing nature of the main character, Michael Myers, more palpable. At times, Carpenter has described Halloween in terms that appeared to directly contradict the more thoughtful, nuanced approach to horror that he actually used, such as: "True crass exploitation. I decided to make a film I would love to have seen as a kid, full of cheap tricks like a haunted house at a fair where you walk down the corridor and things jump out at you."[The Official John Carpenter, Chic Magazine: August 1979, Dr. Terror stalks Hollywood] Unlike later slasher films that largely mimicked Carpenter's work on Halloween, few have met with the same critical success.

In addition to the film's critical and commercial success, perhaps its strongest legacy is the film's original score by Carpenter, which remains one of the most recognizable film music themes of all time along with other notable scores such as John Williams' Jaws.[Killing His Contemporaries: Dissecting The Musical Worlds Of John Carpenter]

In 1979, John Carpenter began what was to be the first of many collaborations with actor Kurt Russell when he directed the TV movie Elvis. The made-for-TV movie was a smash with both viewers and critics and revived the career of Russell, who had been a child actor in the 1960's.

1980s: Continued commercial success

Carpenter followed up the success of Halloween with The Fog (1980), a ghostly revenge tale (co-written by Hill) inspired by horror comics such as Tales from the Crypt Interview with John Carpenter in the 2005 documentary film, Tales from the Crypt from Comic Books to Television. and by the The Crawling Eye, a 1958 movie about monsters hiding in clouds. Audio commentary by John Carpenter and Debra Hill in The Fog, 2002 special edition DVD.''

Completing The Fog was an unusually difficult process for Carpenter. After viewing a rough cut of the film, he was dissatisfied with the result. For the first and only time in his filmmaking career, he had to devise a way to salvage a nearly finished film that didn't meet his standards. In order to make the movie more coherent and frightening, Carpenter shot additional footage that included a number of new scenes. Approximately one-third of the finished film is comprised of the newer footage.

Despite production problems and mostly negative critical reception, The Fog was another commercial success for Carpenter. The film was made on a budget of $1,000,000, but it grossed over $21,000,000 in the United States alone.[IMDb.com Business Data for The Fog (1980)] Carpenter has said that The Fog is not his favorite film, although he considers it a "minor horror classic." Audio commentary by John Carpenter and Debra Hill in The Fog, 2002 special edition DVD.''

Carpenter immediately followed The Fog with the science-fiction adventure Escape From New York (1981), which quickly picked up large cult and mainstream audiences as well as critical acclaim.

His next film, The Thing (1982), is notable for its high production values, including innovative special effects by Rob Bottin, special visual effects by matte artist Albert Whitlock, a score by Ennio Morricone, and a cast that included rising star Kurt Russell and respected character actors such as Wilford Brimley, Richard Dysart, and Richard Masur. The Thing was made with a budget of $10,000,000,[IMDb.com Business Data for The Thing (1982)] Carpenter's largest up to that point, and distributed by Universal Pictures.

Although Carpenter's film was ostensibly a remake of the 1951 Howard Hawks film, The Thing from Another World, Carpenter's version is more faithful to the John W. Campbell, Jr. short story, Who Goes There?, upon which both films were based. Moreover, unlike the Hawks film, The Thing has a dark, pessimistic tone and a bleak ending, which didn't appeal to audiences in the summer of 1982, when it was released in the wake of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Consequently, it did not perform well commercially and was Carpenter's first financial failure. Later, the movie found new life in the home video and cable markets, and it is now widely regarded as one of the best horror films ever made.

Carpenter's next film was 1983's adaptation of the Stephen King book Christine. The story was about a high-school nerd (Keith Gordon) who buys an old 50's hot-rod automobile which turns out to have supernatural powers. The film did respectable business upon its release, though Carpenter has been quoted as saying he did the film because it was the only thing offered to him at the time.

One of the high points in Carpenter's career came in 1984 with the release of Starman, a film that was critically praised, but only nominally successful commercially.[IMDB: Business Data for Starman] Produced by Michael Douglas, the script was well received by Columbia Pictures, which chose it over the script for E.T. and prompted Steven Spielberg to go to Universal Pictures. Douglas chose Carpenter to be the director because of his reputation as an action director who could also convey strong emotion.[Boston Globe December 9, 1984. Director John Carpenter talks about the movie biz big budgets and cold burgers] Starman was favorably reviewed by the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and LA Weekly and described by Carpenter as a film he envisioned as a romantic comedy similar to It Happened One Night only with a space alien.[The Official John Carpenter: Los Angeles Herald Examiner: December 14, 1984] The film received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Jeff Bridges' portrayal of Starman and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Musical Score for Jack Nitzsche.

Following the box office failure of his big budget action-comedy Big Trouble in Little China (1986) Carpenter struggled to get films financed. He returned to making lower budget films such as Prince of Darkness (1987), a film influenced by the BBC series Quatermass, and They Live (1988). Although some of the films from this time did pick up a cult audience, he never again realized his mass-market potential.

1990s: Criticism and commercial decline

His recent career is characterized by a number of notable misfires: Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), Village of the Damned (1995), and Escape From L.A. (1996) are examples of films that were critically mauled and were failures at the box-office. Notable from this decade is:

2000s-present: Remakes and return to prominence

Carpenter's reputation remains strong, his earlier films are considered classics and (because they have continued to perform well on home video) several have been subjected to big budget remakes; 2005 saw remakes of Assault on Precinct 13 and The Fog, the latter being produced by Carpenter himself, though in an interview he defined his involvement as "I come in and say hello to everybody. Go home."John Carpenter, Staci Layne Wilson interview, quoted at [Horror.com].

Carpenter recently returned to the director's chair for an episode of Showtime's Masters of Horror series, one of the thirteen filmmakers involved in the first season. His episode, Cigarette Burns, aired to generally positive reviews, and he has since decided to contribute another original episode for season two.

Career retrospective

With the exception of The Thing, Starman, and Memoirs of An Invisible Man, he has scored all of his films (although some are collaborations), most famously the themes from Halloween and Assault on Precinct 13. His music is generally synthesized, with accompaniment from piano and atmospherics.

Carpenter is a big fan of widescreen, and all of his theatrical movies (with the exception of Dark Star) have been filmed in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio 2.35 :1.

Most of Carpenter's movies use the director-possessive title, as in John Carpenter's The Thing. One of the few exceptions to this was Memoirs of an Invisible Man.

Many horror/sci-fi/indie filmmakers have expressed admiration for Carpenter's work, including Robert Rodriguez, Guillermo Del Toro, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Quentin Tarantino.

Themes

Innovative techniques

His films are characterized by minimalist lighting and photography, static cameras, and distinctive synthesized scores (usually self-composed). He describes himself as having been influenced by Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, and The Twilight Zone.

Career setbacks

The Thing was Carpenter's first setback. The film was considered excessively dark, it did not do well at the box office and the effects by Rob Bottin were considered too grotesque for a mainstream audience. However the film itself has retrospectively gained much critical appreciation, and is now often considered his best.

Four years later, Big Trouble in Little China was also poorly received by audiences and critics alike, an eclectic mix of genres that was years ahead of its time. This film, like The Thing, found its audience on VHS and DVD years after its theatrical release.

More recently, both Escape From L.A. and Ghosts of Mars were widely panned by critics and failed to make a profit at the box office. Whether these films will gain a cult following remains to be seen.

Legacy and cult status

John Carpenter's legacy as a respected independent filmmaker has translated into minor continued success. His name, placed in front of a movie title, will catch the eye of horror aficionados that know him for The Fog, The Thing, and They Live as well as the casual viewer who knows he's the man behind Halloween.

Carpenter has developed a very large cult following through home video. Many of his films, most notably The Thing, have been rediscovered on VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD. Many have been re-released numerous times on DVD as special editions with a plethora of bonus features. Prime examples are the Collector's Editions of Halloween, Escape From New York, and The Thing. Some have just been re-issued with a new anamorphic widescreen transfer or, in the case of Assault on Precinct 13 and The Fog, to cash in on their recent remakes.

Personal life and other contributions

Carpenter was romantically involved with his creative partner, Debra Hill, from the time they worked on Assault on Precinct 13 until Carpenter met his future wife, actress Adrienne Barbeau, on the set of his 1978 television movie, Someone's Watching Me!

Despite the end of their romantic relationship, Carpenter and Hill continued to collaborate on films and were able to maintain their friendship. Working with both Carpenter and Barbeau on The Fog, however, was reportedly an emotionally difficult experience for Hill. Interviews with Debra Hill and Jamie Lee Curtis in the 2002 documentary film, John Carpenter: The Man and His Movies.

Carpenter was married to Barbeau from January 1, 1979 to 1984. During their marriage, Barbeau starred in The Fog, and also appeared in Escape from New York. The couple have one son, John Cody Carpenter (born May 7, 1984).

Carpenter has been married to producer Sandy King since 1990. King produced a number of Carpenter's later feature films, including: They Live, In the Mouth of Madness, Ghosts of Mars and Escape from L.A. She also functioned as script supervisor for some of these films as well as Starman, Big Trouble in Little China and Prince of Darkness.Sandy King's profile at the [Internet Movie Database].

Trivia

References

Further reading

  • Boulenger, Gilles. John Carpenter: The Prince of Darkness, Silman-James Press (2003). ISBN 1879505673.
  • Conrich, Ian & Woods, David. The Cinema of John Carpenter: The Technique of Terror (Directors' Cuts), Wallflower Press (2004). ISBN 1904764142.
  • Foster, Alan Dean. John Carpenter's Starman: A Novel, Warner Books (1984). ISBN 0446325988.
  • Foster, Alan Dean. The Thing, Bantam Books (1982). ISBN 0553204777.
  • Muir, John Kenneth. The Films of John Carpenter, McFarland & Company, Inc. (2005). ISBN 0786422696.

External links


The Films of John Carpenter
Feature films
Dark Star | Assault on Precinct 13 | Halloween | The Fog | Escape from New York | The Thing | Christine | Starman | Big Trouble in Little China | Prince of Darkness | They Live | Memoirs of an Invisible Man | In the Mouth of Madness | Village of the Damned | Escape from L.A. | Vampires | ''Ghosts of Mars
Made for television
Someone's Watching Me | Elvis | Body Bags | John  Carpenter's Cigarette Burns

 

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