Saturday 15 January 2011

John Carpenter Gallery : Under Siege

The people who live in John Carpenter's films often end up under siege. Whether holed up in a house, a police station, or a church, and whether alone or brought together in a pressure cooker of thick walls and thin glass, these people have a place to defend, a last safe haven.

The films below cannot only be seen as 'horror' or 'action'. They are like Westerns in which frontiers, geographical, physical and moral, are defended to the death.

























































From Top : They Live, Halloween, Assault on Precinct 13, The Thing, Prince of Darkness, Christine, The Fog

8 comments:

  1. Aha, reminds me so much of Polanski's cinema. Haven't seen a single film by Carpenter, but this is a darn good observation, Stephen.

    Cheers!

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  2. What is the deal, Stephan?! In the last two articles you've dropped comment on two of just a handful of my favorite filmmakers (and two who couldn't be any more different in style): my man, T. Scott, and now John Carpenter. What are you, a mind reader or something? Witch. Anyways, yeah, the motifs you're talking about here, chief among them the Western themes, are a part of what I simply refer to as "The Hawks-Carpenter" - the natural transfusion, a continuing legacy, of cinematic sensibilities from the former to the latter. Carpenter is old school but well schooled, a genuine wood worker of pragmatic storytelling. Yet that's not to say that he's a mere Hawks repeat. Not at all. His allusions to past films and filmmakers is more eclectic than most realize.

    There's really no such thing as a John Carpenter movie that I can't sit and enjoy. VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is probably his least satisfying work, but I can still dig it from time to time. I should stop there; I won't bore you with my thoughts on his entire cannon, except to say that GHOST OF MARS deserves a second chance from all who have dismissed it as uninspired. Below are a couple of insightful interpretations of the film.

    http://www.acidemic.com/id34.html

    http://reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.com/2009/06/cult-movie-review-john-carpenters.html

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  3. "Aha, reminds me so much of Polanski's cinema. Haven't seen a single film by Carpenter..."

    I'm the opposite. I've seen very few of Polanski's films (probably because I didn't like ROSEMARY'S BABY) and quite a lot of John Carpenter's.

    Carpenter's films are very cool and controlled but with a real invigorating edge - a hero/heroine fighting terrible odds, even evil sometimes.

    First and foremost I recommend Halloween. A very good film.

    "...this is a darn good observation, Stephen."

    Thanks very much.

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  4. Space Cadet,

    "What are you, a mind reader or something?"

    Haha!

    "...the natural transfusion, a continuing legacy, of cinematic sensibilities from the former to the latter. Carpenter is old school but well schooled, a genuine wood worker of pragmatic storytelling."

    Very nicely put. You get the feeling, watching his films, and hearing his pared down, cool to the bone, soundtracks that this is a film-maker in complete command of his craft and what he wants from it.

    I've come across the comparison to Hawks in the past but I don't have deep enough knowledge of Hawks' films - I've seen some but not that many - to pass too informed a comment. What I will say is that, yes, there is something refreshingly old-school about Carpenter's films - both classical and pioneering.

    I've been put off by what's been said of GHOST OF MARS but I'll read those pieces and give it another go. Thanks for the links.

    For me, his best are Halloween, then Assault on Precinct 13 and THEY LIVE.

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  5. My favorite Carpenters ate HALLOWEEN, THE THING and THE FOG.

    Another typically excellent idea for a post and great caps to boot!

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  6. Thanks Sam. I haven't seen all of THE FOG and THE THING, I'm not sure why, didn't grab me.

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  7. CHRISTINE is the Carpenter film for me. And at like 20 (10 years ago) I would have said he was in my top 3 directors of all time. Love his Howard Hawks meets B movie sensibilities... which is why I love CHRISTINE so much, it's so American (hot rod cars and rock and roll), but so absurd and subversive. I love it, and see it as a sister film to CARRIE, which I find the lesser of the two.

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  8. CHRISTINE is one of my least favourites, probably down to the simple fact that a car that's alive - and malevolent - doesn't really excite me. I didn't mind the perky Herbie!.

    "Love his Howard Hawks meets B movie sensibilities..."

    I like his style (the traditional and modern mixed), the tense atmospheres and relationships he builds within his pressurised environments.

    I haven't seen CARRIE, I'm afraid. I keep meaning to.

    Thanks for the comment Jamie.

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