Welcome to the Chatter Box Film horror section, where we pick our top 3 favourite horror movies by director; John Carpenter.
John Carpenter’s work in film began in 1969. The movies have mainly focused on three genres: science-fiction, action and Carpenter’s strongest body of work being in horror.
3. Vampires (1998)
Enter a movie filled with gore, fear and action! The film stars James Woods and Daniel Baldwin as mercenaries, Thomas Ian Griffifth (The Karate Kid Part II, Cobra Kai) as Jan Valek; the vampire with no mercy. There’s only one group of vampire slayers that might be able to stop Valek from taking over everything.
The Vampires film most notably has Greg Nicotero’s outstanding prosthetic make-up. You may have seen his work recently in The Walking Dead as well.
2. Halloween (1978)
It’s one of the most iconic slasher movies and has a great soundtrack to go with it, that’s also composed by John Carpenter. The movie focuses on the cops, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance and Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) as they get caught up with Michael Myer’s lurking around Haddonfield. This movie has stemmed an entire horror franchise spanning over 44 years, with the latest addition being Halloween Ends.
1. Christine (1983)
Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) is a teen that’s mostly seen as unpopular and gets bullied on often. One day he’s looking for a car, and is suddenly mesmerized by a busted up 1958 Plymouth Fury car. Arnie buys it for cheap, and is slowly able to restore it into a beautiful classic. There’s just one problem, the car turns out to be somewhat demonic and possessed by its former owner.
There’s just something that’s completely haunting about a 50’s car, playing eerie music while targeting people one-by-one throughout the movie. The way the car also affects the attitude of Arnie and how he treats his friends Dennis (John Stockwell) and Leigh (Alexandra Paul), is some creepy, yet strong character development!
The practical FX are impressive, especially when the car is driving while fully engulfed in flames, as well as reverse filming techniques while Christine is appearing like it is repairing itself.
This is a great Stephen King story paired with John Carpenter’s filmmaking.
