History Creator / JohnCarpenter

* ''Film/BodyBags'' (1993; 2 segments and wraparound)

* ''[[Film/TheFog1980 The Fog]]'' (1980)

* CorruptChurch: Not so much "corrupt" as harboring a dark and terrible secret. ''Film/TheFog1980'' has a Catholic priest's ancestor — also a priest -- who had a hand in the death of Blake and his men, the church in ''Film/PrinceOfDarkness'' has {{Satan}} itself [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in a container]] in its basement, which a sect known as the Brotherhood of Sleep has been keeping secret for a long time (admittedly for the noble goal of preventing its unsealing). Finally, ''Film/JohnCarpentersVampires'' has Jan Valek, the MonsterProgenitor of the vampire race, whose creation was caused by a failed reverse exorcism sanctioned by the Catholic Church. Also, Cardinal Alba [[spoiler:made a deal with Valek to be turned after the ceremony, thus playing this trope straight.]]

Not to be confused with John Carpenter, the famous $1,000,000 winner on the show ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'', or with John Carpenter, the man tried and acquitted for the murder of [[Series/HogansHeroes Bob Crane]], or with John Carpenter, the alias of Klaatu in ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951''.

* CorruptChurch: Not so much "corrupt" as harboring a dark and terrible secret. ''Film/TheFog1980'' has a Catholic priest's ancestor — also a priest — who had a hand in the death of Blake and his men, the church in ''Film/PrinceOfDarkness'' has {{Satan}} itself [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in a container]] in its basement, which a sect known as the Brotherhood of Sleep has been keeping secret for a long time (admittedly for the noble goal of preventing its unsealing). Finally, ''Film/JohnCarpentersVampires'' has Jan Valek, the MonsterProgenitor of the vampire race, whose creation was caused by a failed reverse exorcism sanctioned by the Catholic Church. Also, Cardinal Alba [[spoiler:made a deal with Valek to be turned after the ceremony, thus playing this trope straight.]]

* DaylightHorror:
** ''Film/PrinceOfDarkness'' happens over the span of a single day in a church with obviously working electricity. It was inspired by Creator/NigelKneale's ''Film/TheStoneTape'', which features key scenes set in small (admittedly dark) room filled with scientists, scientific equipment and haunted by a non-physically-threatening supernatural entity. And it's still terrifying.
** ''Film/TheThing1982'', while still using night time for some of its scares, manages to have a few intense moments in the light of day. Then again, they're in the stormy antarctic, so it's mostly an ''overcast'' daylight. Most of the later parts of the film take place at night (though justified by the way Antarctic winters work), the scenes that actually take place outdoors in darkness (well, partial darkness, the camp has outdoor lights) tend to be some of the ''less'' eerie moments, with most of the creepiest scenes being indoors with electric lighting. The one exception might be the scene where [[spoiler: the guys encounter the Bennings-Thing, and they'd lit a few flares that lit things up real good]].
** One of Carpenter's most effective uses of the trope, and one of the most famous, are the scenes in his film ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' when "the shape" is stalking Laurie Strode and her friends through the quiet streets of Haddonfield during the middle of the day. The idyllic, sunny small town environment is rendered uncanny and frightening by the mixture of creepy music and the fact that the audience is aware of a malevolent presence that the onscreen characters cannot seem to sense.

* MoneyDearBoy: Carpenter is hilariously up front about this, freely admitting he does films for the money. Regarding remakes or sequels of his works, his standing, verbatim principle is "I think it's wonderful as long as they pay me. If they don't pay me, I don't care."

* WidescreenShot: Almost all his movies from ''Assault on Precinct 13'' on were shot using the anamorphic Panavision widescreen process, and his compositions often make full use of the wide frame. In an interview, he said it was some of the best advice he got as a young filmmaker - shooting widescreen with proper anamorphic lenses instantly makes your film look more professional and less cheap.

** "Cigarette Burns"
** "Pro-Life"

* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: John Carpenter is particularly notorious for adding his name to all of his films' titles (such as ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'', ''Film/BodyBags'', ''Film/JohnCarpentersVampires'', ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'', and ''Film/EscapeFromLA''). He even did it with the ''Series/MastersOfHorror'' episode he directed, "John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns" (and it was the only episode title in two seasons that noted its director).

John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948 in Carthage, New York) is an American director, screenwriter, and musician, known primarily for his work in the horror and science fiction genres. His career is speckled with films considered genre classics, as well as a number of movies that initially performed poorly at the box office, but went on to be VindicatedByCable.

His films are characterized by their minimalist lighting and photography, static cameras, use of steadicam, distinctive synthesized music scores (usually self-composed), and recurring use of InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt. Many of today's best directors, including Creator/TimBurton and Creator/ChristopherNolan, state that they were heavily influenced by Carpenter's style and filmography.

Since the release of ''Film/GhostsOfMars'' in 2001, he has gone into a state of semi-retirement, although he returned to the director's chair for several episodes of ''Series/MastersOfHorror'' and the movie ''Film/TheWard''.

On February 3, 2015, he released his debut non-soundtrack album under the indie label Sacred Bones Records, ''Lost Themes'' and its follow up ''Lost Themes II'' on April 15, 2016. He also composed his first TV series theme for ''Series/{{Zoo}}.''

In May 2016, it was confirmed that Carpenter would be returning to the ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' franchise on its 11th entry as executive producer in addition to providing the score.

Not to be confused with John Carpenter, the famous $1,000,000 winner on the show Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire, or with John Carpenter, the man tried and acquitted for the murder of [[Series/HogansHeroes Bob Crane]], or with John Carpenter, the alias of Klaatu in ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951''.

* CosmicHorrorStory: The "apocalypse trilogy" (''[[Film/TheThing1982 The Thing]]'', ''Film/PrinceOfDarkness'' and ''Film/InTheMouthOfMadness'') is an escalation of the trope over the 3 movies: first, a [[ShapeShifting protean]], [[TheVirus invasive lifeform threatening to subsume in itself every living thing on the planet]] in [[MysteriousAntarctica a desolate antarctic setting]] reminiscent of Creator/HPLovecraft's ''At The Mountains Of Madness''; then a liquid [[TheCorruption corruption]] that turns out to be {{Satan}}, and whose goal is to bring to our world its ''true'' father, [[UltimateEvil the Anti-God]], in an old church being investigated by academics from an establishment similar to Miskatonic University; and finally, [[EldritchAbomination ineffable, unreal horrors]] attempting to find purchase in our reality through the writings of a MadArtist and his previously-fictitious TownWithADarkSecret in the middle of LovecraftCountry, all the while [[MindScrew screwing over the protagonist]] in such a way that it was formerly the TropeNamer for ThroughTheEyesOfMadness.

John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American film director, screenwriter, and musician. He's known primarily for his work in the horror and science fiction genres. His career is speckled with films considered genre classics, as well as a number of movies that initially performed poorly at the box office, but went on to be VindicatedByCable.

His films are characterized by minimalist lighting and photography, static cameras, use of steadicam, distinctive synthesized scores (usually self-composed), and recurring use of InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt. Many of today's best directors, including Creator/TimBurton and Creator/ChristopherNolan, state that they were heavily influenced by Carpenter's style and filmography.