John Carpenter

[Fenril]

Since the Argento thread's been revived, I decided to start or revive a few ones for my other favorite directors, both Horror (here) and not (in the "Favorite Directors" section).

So, got any favorite movies directed by Carpenter? Or any you don't like?

For my part, ranging the ones I have seen, from favorite to least favorite:

1. In the mouth of madness.

2. Halloween.

3. The fog.

4. They live.

5. The thing.

6. Prince of darkness.

7. Vampires.

8. The ward.

9. Christine.

[slayrrr666]

I think I'm caught up on his work, I just need DVDs to complete the collection out (I only have three of his on DVD so he's a director I seriously need to rectify that with) so here goes, grouping both of his together:

1. The Thing
2. In the Mouth of Madness
3. Christine
4. Vampires
5. Escape from L.A.
6. Escape from New York
7. Ghosts of Mars
8. Prince of Darkness
9. Halloween
10. They Live
11. The Fog
12. Big Trouble in Little China
13. Village of the Damned
14. The Ward
15. Assault on Precinct 13

[Fenril]

Forgot to add one entry, which I know you'll be thrilled about "Cigarette burns", a "Masters of horror" episode that I'd rank... I guess above "The ward".

On with reviews and comments:

- In the mouth of madness. An insurance investigator is hired to locate best-seller Sutter Cane (basically a fusion of Stephen King and H. P. Lovecraft), who was last seen near a town called Hobb's End, which eerily resembles the town in which Cane's stories take place...
So this is my favorite Carpenter production, partly due to personal bias (it's about an horror writer!) partly for being one of the extremely few movies that managed to translate "cosmic horror" to the screen. Then there's the use of fiction within fiction, here used to fairly startling effect with the final twist, and the discussion of both writer and narrator as either creator or instrument (or both, ultimately). But the real thing with Carpenter, or at least what makes him one of my favorite directors, is his handling of atmosphere, here escalating from playful to frantic.