John Carpenter Master of Horror

It’s one week until MVP meets John Carpenter at this year’s Fright Night Film Fest in Kentucky.  We thought we would honor the occasion by focusing on the man, the myth, the auteur John Carpenter this week on Classics Corner.  We’re going to take a look at his movies, his musical scores and even his recent ventures into video game territory with the F.E.A.R. series.

John Carpenter has long been a favorite director of the Mutantville Players.  As a child some of my favorite movies were Big Trouble In Little China and Escape From New York.  When I grew older and became a director of fearfilms – John Carpenter’s Halloween served as a blueprint of slasher horror for us study.  As I became a more seasoned horror fan, I enjoyed following Carpenter’s career as he moved beyond slasher films into ghost stories with The Fog, killer car movies with Christine, and tales of apocalyptic cosmic horror with The Thing, The Prince of Darkness, In The Mouth of Madness and Cigarette Burns.

John Carpenter has never been one to rest on his laurels, constantly evolving his own storytelling style and experimenting with new mediums.  From day one he has created his own scores for his movies making him one of the most complete filmmakers of any era.  Over the years, he has expanded into the medium of television with Body Bags & Masters of Horror and has recently joined the video game revolution by endorsing the F.E.A.R. horror survival games.

Let’s look at his work in the various mediums and appreciate what it truly means to be not only a storyteller but a true auteur.

First let’s look at some clips from his movies.

Here’s a rare German television interview with Carpenter during his promotion for Memoirs of an Invisible Man.

Here’s an introduction to his movie The Thing for the Fantastic Films Weekend at the National Media Museum.

Now let’s listen to some of Carpenter’s fantastic music that haunts his movies. Here is a clip from John Carpenter’s The Fog followed by a few bars from John Carpenter’s Starman.

Last but not least let’s look at some of Carpenter’s work in the new medium of horror survival video games! In 2004, Carpenter was chosen to act as a consultant for the new video game from Monolith Productions entitled F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon. The most recent installment features a collaboration between Carpenter as a conceptionalist and Steve Niles (creator of 30 Days of Night) as the writer for F.E.A.R. 3 . F.E.A.R. 3 was released to very positive reviews from critics and fans alike.

From scripts to directing to music to video games, John Carpenter has done it all. After being largely absent from the horror scene for so many years, Carpenter is back in theaters this very month with The Ward (also available on video on demand) as well as his video game collaboration with Steve Niles F.E.A.R. 3 aka F.E.3.R.  John Carpenter is truly worthy of the mantle of Master of Horror.  Come join us at the Fright Night Film Fest next weekend and join the celebration of his work.