John Carpenter
Directing
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.
TV Shows(14)
John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A.
Self
2024
Amityville: An Origin Story
Self
2023
Charles Band’s Full Moon Freakshow
2022
The Movies That Made Us
Self (Archival Footage)
2019
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015
Track Stories
Self
2015
The Director's Chair
Self
2014
The Real History of Science Fiction
Self
2014
A History of Horror
Self
2010
100 Scariest Movie Moments
Self
2004
Through the Night with...
Self
2002
100 Years of Horror
Self - Interview
1996
Crossbow
1987
The Rifleman
1958
Movies(111)
Carpenter
Self (archive footage)
2026
The Thing Expanded
Self
2026
In Search of Darkness: 1995-1999
Self
2025
I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not
Self (archive footage)
2025
In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994
Self
2024
Hammer: Heroes, Legends and Monsters
Self
2024
In Search of Darkness: Part III
Self
2022
Halloween in Hollywood
Self
2022
Studio 666
Engineer
2022
In Search of Tomorrow
Self - Interviewee
2022
The History of Metal and Horror
Self
2021
In Search of Darkness: Part II
Self
2020
AGFA Mystery Mixtape #4: Follow Your Own Star
Self
2020
The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault
(archive footage)
2020
The Rise of the Synths
Narrator (voice)
2019
1982: Hollywood Summer
Self
2019
In Search of Darkness
Self
2019
Henchman: The Al Leong Story
Self
2018
John Carpenter: Live Retrospective
Self
2018
Dark Glamour: The Blood and Guts of Hammer Productions
Self - Filmmaker
2017
Monstres, l'ennemi de l'intérieur
Self
2017
John Carpenter: Live At Primavera Sound 2016
Self - Keyboards
2016
It Takes a Village: The Making of Village of the Damned
Self
2016
The Puppet Man
The Taxi Driver
2016
Jean-Michel Jarre: A Journey into Sound
Self
2015
Carpenter on Quatermass
Self
2014
Why Horror?
Self
2014
The Birds: Hitchcock's Monster Movie
Self
2012
The Future of Fear
Self
2011
Charlie Brown: Blockhead's Revenge
Self/Host
2011
Scary Girl
2011
Nightmare Factory
Self
2011
The Original Monster Mash
Self
2011
Let There Be Light: The Odyssey of Dark Star
Himself (voice)
2010
Halloween: The Inside Story
Self
2010
Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock
Self
2009
The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style
Self
2009
Nightmares in Red, White and Blue
Self
2009
Monsterland
Self
2009
Tales from the Script
Self
2009
Fantastic Flesh: The Art of Make-Up EFX
Self
2008
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock
Self
2008
Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock's Maestro
Self
2008
In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
Self
2008
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators
Self
2008
Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown
Self
2008
Bloodsucking Cinema
Self
2007
Commemoration: Howard Hawks' 'Rio Bravo'
Self
2007
Big John
Self
2006
Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon
Self
2006
Born to Controversy: The Roddy Piper Story
Self
2006
Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet
Self
2006
Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film
Self
2006
Halloween: 25 Years of Terror
Self
2006
Working with a Master: John Carpenter
Self (archive footage)
2006
Hollywood's Greatest Villains
Self
2005
The Perfect Scary Movie
Self
2005
Snake Plissken: Man of Honor
Self
2005
Hollywood's Creepiest Creatures
Self
2004
Christine: Fast and Furious
Self
2004
Christine: Finish Line
Self
2004
Christine: Ignition
Self
2004
John Carpenter: The Man and His Movies
Self
2004
Return to 'Escape from New York'
Himself
2003
An Opera of Violence
Self - Filmmaker
2003
The Wages of Sin
Self - Filmmaker
2003
Something to Do with Death
Self - Filmmaker
2003
Halloween: A Cut Above the Rest
Self
2003
Do You Remember Laurie Zimmer?
Self (voice)
2003
Scoring Resident Evil
Self (archive footage)
2002
Masters of Horror
Self
2002
Tales from the Mist: Inside 'The Fog'
Self
2002
Red Desert Nights: Making Ghosts of Mars
Self
2001
Hidden Values: The Movies of the Fifties
Self
2001
Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror
Self
2001
Scream and Scream Again: A History of the Slasher Film
Self
2000
Mario Bava: Maestro of the Macabre
Self
2000
The American Nightmare
Self
2000
Guns for Hire: The Making of 'The Magnificent Seven'
Self
2000
Halloween: Unmasked
Self
1999
The Thing: Terror Takes Shape
Self
1998
Unmasking the Horror
1998
After Sunset: The Life & Times of the Drive-In Theater
Self
1995
Village of the Damned
Man at Gas Station Phone
1995
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects
Self
1994
The Silence of the Hams
Trenchcoat Man / Gimp
1994
Body Bags
Coroner
1993
Memoirs of an Invisible Man
Helicopter Pilot
1992
Fear in the Dark
Self
1991
Horror Cafe
Self
1990
First Works
Self
1989
Stephen King's World of Horror
Self
1989
They Live
Voice That Says 'Sleep' (voice) (uncredited)
1988
The Making of 'They Live'
Self
1988
The Boy Who Could Fly
The Coupe de Villes
1986
Big Trouble in Little China
Worker in Chinatown (uncredited)
1986
Stephen King's World of Horror
Self
1986
Starman
Man in Helicopter (uncredited)
1984
The Thing
Norwegian (video footage) (uncredited)
1982
The Making of 'The Thing'
Self
1982
Take One: Fear on Film
Self
1982
Escape from New York
Secret Service #2 / Helicopter Pilot / Violin Player
1981
The Fog
Bennett
1980
Fear on Film: Inside 'The Fog'
Self
1980
Bringing A Legend To Life
Himself
1979
Halloween
Paul (voice) / Michael Myers (uncredited)
1978
Assault on Precinct 13
Gang Member (uncredited)
1976
Dark Star
Talby Voice
1974
The Debra Hill Story
Self
Full Moon Rising: The Charles Band Story
Self
John Carpenter: Live From Los Angeles - Halloween Night
Self