Ok, I'm back from my John Carpenter-themed weekend and I have watched all the films listed below. His style of horror is unique and every time I watch his films I get the pleasant feeling of being transported not only to a different place but to a different time of cinema as well:
They Live
It's a fun anti-capitalist film and despite the budget limitations, the central performance by Roddy Piper is a great foundation to build on. The side characters, aside from Keith David's character, however, are mostly not developed or acted well. I like the soundtrack and the overall idea is just something that lots of studios wouldn't touch today, which earns it extra points in my book.
In the Mouth of Madness
Now we're talking, baby. This is my kind of horror film. Sam Neill is an actor I really enjoy on-screen, be it in Jurassic Park, Possession or in this. It's also uncommon to have the main character be an insurance fraud investigator. I love the set-up and the atmosphere because I just love stories that take place in some quiet little town with weird and creepy things happening all around a character who at first is not even aware of these incidents, it build lots of great atmosphere. When we finally got to the major twist of the entire thing I was so grateful because it made this film feel unique among its peers.
Christine
This feels more like a Stephen King adaptation than it does a Carpenter film but as a Stephen King adaptation it's one of the better ones. You expect the high school athlete to be a side character and yet he ends up being the protagonist and while you empathise with the bullied nerd, where he ends up is also sadly totally believable. I think one of my favourite performances in the film is the guy who played George LeBay. The scenes with the car showcase great and rather impressive effects, notably the scene where Christine comes back from being trashed. I have not seen anything like it in another film.
Halloween
Rather straightforward imo. It's a great slasher because it is suspenseful and most of the violence is implied. Jamie Lee Curtis is the best actor in the film. I was just a little thrown off by the fact that the psychiatrist would talk in terms of 'good' and 'evil', which implies an absolutist worldview that I do't think would feel at home in the field of pshyciatry but anyway. Great suspense, the main theme's great, jus some of the side characters are once again not giving terribly good performances.
The Thing
I think the setting contributes a lot to this film's atmosphere and theme without there even having to be much exposition. You get a sense of some of the characters right away and the central idea of the film just leaves Carpenter with lots of opportunities to build tension and suspense. Everyone knows the effects are great and they still hold up and I would trade most CG monsters for these creatures any day. Ennio Morricone's soundtrack is also excellent. If I had one criticism (if you ca eve call it that), it would be that (after having seen this film multiple times) I still am not sure how exactly the creature works: does it merge with the people it mimics? Does it just imitate their appearance? It's not a big deal but it is something that's rather vague. The ending's super chilling and heartwarming at the same time, like a fire in the snow.
Prince of Darkness
This film has a lot of potential (weird unholy liquids, body transformations, an awesome soundtrack) and yet I was left a bit unsure as to how to feel about the entire thing by the end. There are a lot of characters in the film and most of them sadly do not get fleshed out very much. The central idea is intriguing but sadly the scope is rather limited, as the film takes place essentially in just one building. The ending is rather ambiguous but it leaves you with some form of dread, which is a good thing. I wished Alice Cooper got more to do though.
The next films of his I will watch are Escape from New York, The Fog, Big Trouble in Little China, Starman, Assault on Precinct 13, Vampires and Darkstar. Good times.
They Live
It's a fun anti-capitalist film and despite the budget limitations, the central performance by Roddy Piper is a great foundation to build on. The side characters, aside from Keith David's character, however, are mostly not developed or acted well. I like the soundtrack and the overall idea is just something that lots of studios wouldn't touch today, which earns it extra points in my book.
In the Mouth of Madness
Now we're talking, baby. This is my kind of horror film. Sam Neill is an actor I really enjoy on-screen, be it in Jurassic Park, Possession or in this. It's also uncommon to have the main character be an insurance fraud investigator. I love the set-up and the atmosphere because I just love stories that take place in some quiet little town with weird and creepy things happening all around a character who at first is not even aware of these incidents, it build lots of great atmosphere. When we finally got to the major twist of the entire thing I was so grateful because it made this film feel unique among its peers.
Christine
This feels more like a Stephen King adaptation than it does a Carpenter film but as a Stephen King adaptation it's one of the better ones. You expect the high school athlete to be a side character and yet he ends up being the protagonist and while you empathise with the bullied nerd, where he ends up is also sadly totally believable. I think one of my favourite performances in the film is the guy who played George LeBay. The scenes with the car showcase great and rather impressive effects, notably the scene where Christine comes back from being trashed. I have not seen anything like it in another film.
Halloween
Rather straightforward imo. It's a great slasher because it is suspenseful and most of the violence is implied. Jamie Lee Curtis is the best actor in the film. I was just a little thrown off by the fact that the psychiatrist would talk in terms of 'good' and 'evil', which implies an absolutist worldview that I do't think would feel at home in the field of pshyciatry but anyway. Great suspense, the main theme's great, jus some of the side characters are once again not giving terribly good performances.
The Thing
I think the setting contributes a lot to this film's atmosphere and theme without there even having to be much exposition. You get a sense of some of the characters right away and the central idea of the film just leaves Carpenter with lots of opportunities to build tension and suspense. Everyone knows the effects are great and they still hold up and I would trade most CG monsters for these creatures any day. Ennio Morricone's soundtrack is also excellent. If I had one criticism (if you ca eve call it that), it would be that (after having seen this film multiple times) I still am not sure how exactly the creature works: does it merge with the people it mimics? Does it just imitate their appearance? It's not a big deal but it is something that's rather vague. The ending's super chilling and heartwarming at the same time, like a fire in the snow.
Prince of Darkness
This film has a lot of potential (weird unholy liquids, body transformations, an awesome soundtrack) and yet I was left a bit unsure as to how to feel about the entire thing by the end. There are a lot of characters in the film and most of them sadly do not get fleshed out very much. The central idea is intriguing but sadly the scope is rather limited, as the film takes place essentially in just one building. The ending is rather ambiguous but it leaves you with some form of dread, which is a good thing. I wished Alice Cooper got more to do though.
The next films of his I will watch are Escape from New York, The Fog, Big Trouble in Little China, Starman, Assault on Precinct 13, Vampires and Darkstar. Good times.
