 
As
I have said repeatedly on this site, gore isn't essential for good
horror. Don't get me wrong I love gore, but atmosphere is so
much more important to successful execution of horror. One of the
masters of atmosphere on every level is John Carpenter.
Carpenter utilizes music, mayhem, and the macabre to deliver some
really classic horror moments. Halloween
was the masterpiece that helped to skyrocket his career. From
there Carpenter went on to make such classics as "Escape
from New York", "The
Thing", "They
Live", "Prince
of Darkness", "Big
Trouble in Little China",
and "In the Mouth of Madness".
"The
Thing"
is probably my favorite John Carpenter film. Unfortunately, this
is also John Carpenter's biggest box-office bomb, but to most
Carpenter fans this is probably his most popular. I had
originally planned to put "The Thing" on the site, but I
was torn between classifying it a sci-fi or horror film. I had
considered it a sci-fi movie, based solely on it antagonist being
an alien. But after recently seeing "Event
Horizon" and than
re-examining "Alien",
I now believe that horror and sci-fi can walk hand in hand.
"The Thing" definitely has major horror overtone and Rob
Bottin's effects are outstanding and not over-the-top like most
critics wrote. What is your opinion on the sci-fi/horror debate?
Can you have horror in a sci-fiction setting and vice versa? E-mail me your opinion.
I also a big fan
of Carpenter's films: They
Live", "Prince
of Darkness", "Big
Trouble in Little China",
and "In the Mouth of Madness".
All of these were relatively low budget film that offered
Carpenter greater creative control. Carpenter seems to deliver a
better product when he is not so tightly controlled by the
studio's pressure to succeed.
John Carpenter has remained
very loyal to the horror genre over his career. He may not have delivered the
box-office hit he did with Halloween, he has
delivered some excellent films to his fans.
Again, as always, if you have
anything you can add to help improve this page or if you have any comments,
criticisms, and suggestions, please e-mail me.
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