Why does everyone say that John Carpenter sucks now?

[love broker]

I think that Vampires is an all time horror classic. Great music, and great acting, so why does everyone say that John Carpenter sucks now? Because he quit making Halloween themed pics or what? I thought Escape From LA was superb and most people hate it, personally I can't wait for Ghosts of Mars, not to forget that the perfect Natasha Henstridge is in it, but Carpenter is as good as he ever was, it is us the audience who has changed. What do you guys think?

[The Arrow]

I agree dude, Carpenter doesn't get any respect. I think he still rocks. Mouth Of Madness was kickarse and so was Vampire.

One thing though: I thought Escape from LA sucked and Village of The Dammed wuz weak but still kinda of fun.

Bottom line though: I respect and enjoy Carpenter's work very much. His body of work speaks for itself.

[the night watchman]

I don't think Carpenter sucks, but his films after "They Live" are far weaker than the ones in the first half of his career. "Vampires" is great until the anticlimactic final battle. "Village of the Damned" is not so much a bad movie than one of missed opportunities. (Why, for instance, is so much time spent on elaborate death scenes? It slows the pacing and takes time away from the more interesting aspects of the story.) "Escape from LA" was pretty cool - it was neat seeing Snake again - but the story was far too derivative of "New York," and too much of it was played for laughs. (The surfing scene … I mean come on!) "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" was amusing but unmemorable. And "In the Mouth of Madness" definitely had its moments, but falls apart in the end.

Do you really think any of these compare to "Halloween," "The Thing," "Big Trouble in Little China," "Prince of Darkness," etc.?

I still think Carpenter has the stuff and am waiting for "Ghosts of Mars" with high hopes.

[!MorganOnyx!]

I still think John Carpenter rocks!He's my favourite director.But i do also think that the movies from the first half of his career piss on the 'recent' ones. I did like ESCAPE FROM LA, and thought that VAMPIRES had its moments but wasn't as scary as what it could've been. However, i am sick at the thought that he agreed to direct THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. Straight to cable shite that couldn't scare shaggy from fucking scooby doo! But, HALLOWEEN, THE FOG, THE THING, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 etc make him the best there is by a long shot!Wes Craven? Who?

[AntonioDelLago]

John Carpenter revived the slasher genre with HALLOWEEN in 1978, which spawned a countless number of rip-offs and sequels. Almost EVERY horror movie since HALLOWEEN is derivative of it. That feat, in itself, makes Carpenter a winner in my book. Yeah, he's directed a few bombs (VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED, ESCAPE FROM L.A.), but most of his films are above average at worst (THEY LIVE, VAMPIRES). STARMAN, THE FOG, CHRISTINE, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, and the remake of THE THING are worthy runners-up to his masterpiece HALLOWEEN. Besides Hitchcock, what director HASN'T directed a bomb (I still haven't forgiven Brian DePalma for BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES or the late, great Stanley Kubrick for EYES WIDE SHIT...I mean SHUT).

[This message has been edited by AntonioDelLago (edited 02-02-2001).]

[This message has been edited by AntonioDelLago (edited 02-03-2001).]

[AntonioDelLago]

John Carpenter also provided the excellent, atmospheric scores for HALLOWEEN and THE FOG. Not many directors can say they've done that!

[This message has been edited by AntonioDelLago (edited 01-29-2001).]

[Marcia]

Well, Hitchcock made Family Plot, so no one's perfect!

Halloween is probably my favorite horror movie of all time; it's atmosphere is unbeatable and it featured many subtle directorial touches that made it so muh more than a "slasher".

Sadly, people usually compare JC's later works to Halloween, though, and in that light the newer material looks weak. I think if you compare recent JC movies to what is being released concurrently, JC fares much better.

[love broker]

nah nah nah nah
hello there

[the night watchman]

Hey. Whaszup.

[love broker]

i was just getting sick of noone talking about this topic so i thought i would bring it up the top of the list. just having stoopid fun

[Danzig Misfit]

Dude, not everybody is full of John Carpenter, and I am still the same person that I was when The Thing scared the hell out of me, the same with The Fog, Christine, Halloween, and The Prince Of Darkness. If it comes down to that resume' though, Vampires and Village Of The Damned were really bad movies. Any respectable director has made bad movies though, Look at Stanley Kubrick; this is the man that brought us Doctor Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, etc., but his last movie was Eyes Wide Shut? Well, that was a great piece of film . . . to warm my feet as it burns on the logs of my fire place! See, the last truly awesome movie John Carpenter made was In The Mouth Of Madness, it truly is true. And hey, he had a stinker before Vampires and Village Of The Damned, anyone seen Halloween III? Oh boy, what a great movie . . . if you like the smell of elephant dung under your nose while you are trying to sleep!

[the night watchman]

"In the Mouth of Madness" was a great film ... FOR ME TO POOP ON!

Sorry, couldn't resist. /ubb/wink.gif

[love broker]

has anyone seen vampires? or were we all just plain expecting halloween with vampires? you can't compare vampires to village of the damned, which sucked, or the thing. vampires is classic horror. good versus evil. evil as shit vampires and rough and tough good guys. carpenter is a great director and film maker

okay so some of his movies suck, but even films that suck are still good. am i right or what?

carpenter is not my favorite director i just love a couple of his films, halloween, vampires, both escapes, they live and big trouble in little china. i just hate when people bring shit on a guy who has and will still entertain us for years to come.

[the night watchman]

Carpenter's great, man. I agree he hasn't gotten much respect from the critical community since, damn, "Halloween" probably. Such is life.

And, yeah, I saw "Vampires" and liked what I saw. For me the final act was sort of anticlimactic, so that's why I wouldn't rate it as one of his finest. It is his best work since "They Live," though.

[!MorganOnyx!]

DANZIG MISFIT -
You can't blame CARPENTER for SEASON OF THE WITCH, which, it seems, a lot of people actually do like! All he did was come up with the idea of having a 'HALLOWEEN' movie every year with different storylines (like the twilight zone episodes) and put up the money for it! He DID NOT DIRECT/WRITE/CAST etc!

[love broker]

didn't carpenter produce season 'o' witch?

[Sean]

Carpenter's career,like most horror director's(Deadly Friend,Mr.Craven?)has had extreme high's and extreme low's.Halloween and Escape From New York were huge hits.But many forget,even classics like the Thing,Christine,and Big Trouble in Little China were not big blockbusters.Infact,Vampires did about as well as any of those.It has been the unique quality of his films and his devoted fanbase that's kept his name a hot commodity.He's a brilliant movie maker,and an old fashioned one.I hope he get's another big hit though,just to shut the detractor's up.

[Danzig Misfit]

Hey all, I am not "blaming" anybody for Halloween III. On it's own it actually was a pretty good spook movie. Come on, the chase scene at the begining is still one of the best ones around. Other mentionable great Carpenter films are Dark Star, Star Man, Assault On Priecinct 13, They Live, Of course Halloween, Big Trouble In Little China, The Thing, and Escape From New York. Even Elvis was a deacent film. As I cannot deny that Carpenter is a force to be reckoned with, he seems to be missing his Savy that made his older films so great. Oh yeah, anyone seen Body Bags?

[!MorganOnyx!]

I've got BODY BAGS - i payed about £3 for it from a video store that was closing down. Love the first story about the GAS STATION, some real good suspense and tension! But the other two sucked - notice that dude from STAR WARS in the one about the eye!? And the one about the hair - WHAT?!?!
Yeah DANZIG - i totally agree with you.Thre opening ten minutes of SEASON OF THE WITCH - including the opening credits were mind blowing.

[Gore 4 All]

Any fans of Carpenter and survival horror video games should check out "Run Like Hell" for the Playstation 2. I am not sure when it will come out, but Carpenter is helping to develop it and write the music. The star of the game will be none other then Lance Henrikson. Badass!

[Jason]

The Thing(based on Carpenter's hit movie) is now out as a videogame on Playstation 2 and PC.

[teenkiller]

I don't think Carpenter sucks but his movies of recent times haven't captured my interest like Halloween or The Thing did. Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[mario_the_apocalypse]

Carpenter rocks. Nuff said. Except, I thought Kubricks "Eyes wide shut" was awesome. I admit that I wasn't paying close attention till the tits and bush kicked in, but I gotta say that a movie with that much naked t&a is a good movie to me.

I need to get out more!!!

[Jason Voorhees]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by mario_the_apocalypse:
Carpenter rocks. Nuff said. Except, I thought Kubricks "Eyes wide shut" was awesome. I admit that I wasn't paying close attention till the tits and bush kicked in, but I gotta say that a movie with that much naked t&a is a good movie to me.

I need to get out more!!!</font>

lol, I'll agree with that http://www.joblo.com/ubb/smile.gif.

[The Arrow]

Carpenter rocks!

Moving this to General Horror Talk.