Best/favourite John Carpenter movies?
Discussion
Best: The Thing - combines all the best things/bits of Carpenter's film eg. Kurt Russell, horror, siege mentality a la Precinct 13.
Favourite:
Big Trouble In Little China - a go-to fun and entertaining film if you had 90 minutes to kill
Assault On Precinct 13 - urban western, urban grittiness, sexual tension, great and iconic score by the man himself
I find it difficult to make a list. Although he generally made horror movies they were quite unique in their own ways
Favourite:
Big Trouble In Little China - a go-to fun and entertaining film if you had 90 minutes to kill
Assault On Precinct 13 - urban western, urban grittiness, sexual tension, great and iconic score by the man himself
I find it difficult to make a list. Although he generally made horror movies they were quite unique in their own ways
Best/fav The Thing. Utterly brilliant and hasn't really dated at all. AoP13 was the first JC movie I saw and thought it incredible at the time. It was an 'X' and had just come out so as young teenagers me and a mate snuck into the cinema on Manchester's Oxford Road to see it. I watched In the Mouth of Madness the other day, it was quite poor I thought. Just didn't really work.
Got to be Big Trouble in Little China, just bats
t crazy story with great characters and soundtrack.
Also gave Mortal Kombat inspiration for some of its characters.
The Thing/Fog/Halloween/Christine etc are brilliant too however I can stick BTILC on at any point in the day and enjoy watching it without having to be in the mood for it.
t crazy story with great characters and soundtrack.Also gave Mortal Kombat inspiration for some of its characters.
The Thing/Fog/Halloween/Christine etc are brilliant too however I can stick BTILC on at any point in the day and enjoy watching it without having to be in the mood for it.
I could list 10, but I’ll do a top 3.
1: Halloween. Not the first teen slasher film, but it established the rules of the genre for all that followed. Iconic score. Almost no blood, despite the serial killer’s choice of weapon being a big knife.
2: The Thing. I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, because it felt like a 2nd rate Alien. While they both take inspiration from ‘50s sci-fi monster movies, with an isolated crew of ‘blue collar’ Americans being picked off, The Thing is a great movie in its own right. The concept of the alien is brilliant. The special effects were as good as we’d seen. Kurt Russel (until recently known as a star of Disney kids movies) gave the performance of his career.
3: Assault on Precinct 13. Some of the worst acting seen on film. The plot can be written on the back of a matchbox. And the budget was probably less than the catering budget for a day on some films. None of which is enough to stop this being a masterpiece of action cinema.
Oh, and another Disney child actor...
1: Halloween. Not the first teen slasher film, but it established the rules of the genre for all that followed. Iconic score. Almost no blood, despite the serial killer’s choice of weapon being a big knife.
2: The Thing. I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, because it felt like a 2nd rate Alien. While they both take inspiration from ‘50s sci-fi monster movies, with an isolated crew of ‘blue collar’ Americans being picked off, The Thing is a great movie in its own right. The concept of the alien is brilliant. The special effects were as good as we’d seen. Kurt Russel (until recently known as a star of Disney kids movies) gave the performance of his career.
3: Assault on Precinct 13. Some of the worst acting seen on film. The plot can be written on the back of a matchbox. And the budget was probably less than the catering budget for a day on some films. None of which is enough to stop this being a masterpiece of action cinema.
Oh, and another Disney child actor...
Very tough choice, but probably The Thing as the best and Big Trouble as the most fun. In fact it's one of the most outright enjoyable films I've ever seen, a brilliant example of them just throwing everything at the wall and it all sticks.
Most underrated, and for me scariest, would have to be Prince of Darkness, since it absolutely nails the atmosphere and feeling of creeping dread. Ghosts of Mars is a guilty pleasure of mine as well, it's complete trash but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it.
Worst is sadly Escape from LA, just an exact retread of New York with possibly the worst CGI ever seen in a major motion picture.
Most underrated, and for me scariest, would have to be Prince of Darkness, since it absolutely nails the atmosphere and feeling of creeping dread. Ghosts of Mars is a guilty pleasure of mine as well, it's complete trash but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it.
Worst is sadly Escape from LA, just an exact retread of New York with possibly the worst CGI ever seen in a major motion picture.
Christine, still in my top 10 of favourite films
https://youtu.be/oezKQEF0deY
https://youtu.be/zNSDAaeIh7U
https://youtu.be/oezKQEF0deY
https://youtu.be/zNSDAaeIh7U
Gassing Station | TV, Film, Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff