History Creator / JohnCarpenter

John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American film director and screenwriter, known 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.

He's widely regarded by interviewers, fans, and coworkers as one of the [[CoolOldGuy chillest old dudes in Hollywood]]. Although he's been in a state of semi-retirement since 2010, [[https://theplaylist.net/john-carpenter-video-games-nba-20181001/ when asked]] if he would ever direct again, he said that he might, but first he'd have to stop spending all his time [[OneOfUs watching basketball and playing video games.]]

He's widely regarded by interviewers, fans, and coworkers as one of the [[CoolOldGuy chillest old dudes in Hollywood]], and although he's been in a state of semi-retirement since 2010, [[https://theplaylist.net/john-carpenter-video-games-nba-20181001/ when asked]] if he would ever direct again, he said that he might, but first he'd have to stop spending all his time [[OneOfUs watching basketball and playing video games.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R. 3]]'' (2011, writer)

* ''Film/{{Halloween|2018}}'' (2018)

%%* BittersweetEnding

* CorruptChurch: Not so much "corrupt" as harboring a dark and terrible secret. ''Film/TheFog'' 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. 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.]]

* ThematicSeries: John Carpenter has what he considers his "Apocalypse Trilogy" starting with ''Film/TheThing1982'', going into ''Film/PrinceOfDarkness'' and ending with ''Film/InTheMouthOfMadness''. As the name implies, the connection has to do with each of the films presenting a CosmicHorror scenario that could potentially result in the end of the world, by way of alien invasion, the awakening of an EldritchAbomination that was the basis for Satan, and a crazy writer whose work has [[spoiler: possibly]] been influenced by ancient Lovecraftian monstrosities. All three have the protagonists coming face to face with the end of the world, and they all end on a bleak note but open to interpretation:

** ''Prince of Darkness'': [[spoiler: Satan is apparently expelled and trapped in another realm, at the cost of the LoveInterest's life, but she starts appearing in the main character's dreams, and then he reaches for that mirror- [[NothingIsScarier we don't see what happens next]]]].
** ''In The Mouth of Madness'': [[spoiler: The protagonist learns he is a fictional character in a writer's story, he tries to stop the publication of the novel every way he knows how, but Sutter Kane is always one step ahead of him, and before long we can't tell if he's truly mad when other people seem to forget things. The book gets published, people go insane, and before long society is in ruins- and to add further MindScrew, it turns out the film we've been watching is actually the adaptation of the novel]].

John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is a American film director and screenwriter, known 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.

* ''[[Film/{{Halloween 1978}} Halloween]]'' (1978), along with varying involvement in its sequels.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''Film/{{Starman}}'' may come as a surprise to anyone who is familiar with most of his films as it is the most light-hearted work of his whole career. It is mostly devoided of the violent and bleak thematics commonly seen in his other movies, despite it occasionally feature moments where the pacifist alien played by Creator/JeffBridges learns about the darker aspects of human condition.
** ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' is a goofy, light-hearted action movie parody.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Believe it or not, Carpenter is younger than Creator/StevenSpielberg and Creator/RidleyScott!

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John Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is a American film director and screenwriter, known 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.

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.

* CorruptChurch: Not so much "corrupt" as harboring a dark and terrible secret. ''TheFog'' has a Catholic priest's ancestor — also a priest — who had a hand in the death of Blake and his men, the church in ''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. Finally, 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.]]

** ''Film/PrinceOfDarkness'' happens over the span of a single day in a church with obviously working electricity. It was inspired by Nigel Kneale's The Stone Tape, 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.

!!Films (and other media) directed by John Carpenter include:

* DVDCommentary: John Carpenter has made commentary tracks for most of his films, which tend to be very entertaining. The ones with Creator/KurtRussell in particular are clearly two good friends reminiscing and catching up.

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 ''The Ward''.

* ''The Ward'' (2010)

On February 3, 2015, he released his debut non-soundtrack album under the indie label Sacred Bones Records, ''Lost Themes''; he also composed his first TV series theme for ''Series/{{Zoo}}.''

* ''[[Film/VillageOfTheDamned Village of the Damned]]'' (1995)

* ''Film/VillageOfTheDamned'' (1995)

'''John Carpenter''' (born January 16, 1948) is a American film director and screenwriter, known 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.

* ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R. 3]]'' (2011)

* CosmicHorrorStory: The "apocalypse trilogy" (''Film/TheThing1982'', ''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.

On February 3, 2015, he released his debut non-soundtrack album under the indie label Sacred Bones Records, ''Lost Themes''.