John Carpenter is an American film director, producer, writer and composer. He has contributed to many projects as either the producer, writer, director, actor, composer or a combination of the five.
John Carpenter is an American film director, producer, writer and composer. He has contributed to many projects as either the producer, writer, director, actor, composer or a combination of the five.
| Title | Year | Director | Writer | Composer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Captain Voyeur | 1969 | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
| Dark Star | 1974 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also producer |
| Assault on Precinct 13 | 1976 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also editor (credited as "John T. Chance") |
| Halloween | 1978 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| The Fog | 1980 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Escape from New York | 1981 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| The Thing | 1982 | Yes | No | No | |
| Christine | 1983 | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Starman | 1984 | Yes | No | No | |
| Big Trouble in Little China | 1986 | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Prince of Darkness | 1987 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| They Live | 1988 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Memoirs of an Invisible Man | 1992 | Yes | No | No | |
| In the Mouth of Madness | 1994 | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Village of the Damned | 1995 | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Escape from L.A. | 1996 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Vampires | 1998 | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Ghosts of Mars | 2001 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| The Ward | 2010 | Yes | No | No | |
| Title | Year | Writer | Producer | Composer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Resurrection of Broncho Billy | 1970 | Yes | No | Yes | Short film, also editor |
| Eyes of Laura Mars | 1978 | Yes | No | No | |
| Halloween II | 1981 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also uncredited director of reshoots |
| Halloween III: Season of the Witch | 1982 | No | Yes | Yes | |
| The Philadelphia Experiment | 1984 | No | Executive | No | |
| Black Moon Rising | 1986 | Yes | Executive | No | |
| Vampires: Los Muertos | 2002 | No | Executive | No | |
| The Fog | 2005 | No | Yes | No | |
| Halloween | 2018 | No | Executive | Yes | |
| Halloween Kills | 2021 | No | Executive | Yes | [1] |
| Studio 666 | 2022 | No | No | Yes | [2] |
| Firestarter | No | No | Yes | [3] | |
| Halloween Ends | No | Executive | Yes | [4] | |
| Death of a Unicorn | TBA | No | No | Yes | [5] |
Editor only
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Star | 1974 | Talby voice | |
| Assault on Precinct 13 | 1976 | Gang Member | Uncredited |
| Halloween | 1978 | Paul (Annie's boyfriend) | Uncredited voice role |
| The Fog | 1980 | Bennett | Uncredited |
| Escape from New York | 1981 | Secret Service #2, helicopter pilot, and a violin player | |
| The Thing | 1982 | Norwegian in video footage | |
| Starman | 1984 | Man in helicopter | |
| Big Trouble in Little China | 1986 | Worker in Chinatown | |
| The Boy Who Could Fly | Coupe de Villes band member | ||
| They Live | 1988 | Voice that says 'sleep' | Uncredited voice role |
| Memoirs of an Invisible Man | 1992 | Helicopter pilot | |
| Body Bags | 1993 | The Coroner | |
| The Silence of the Hams | 1994 | Trenchcoat man and Gimp | |
| Village of the Damned | 1995 | Man at gas station phone | |
| The Rise of the Synths | 2019 | Narrator and Synth Rider's guide | |
| Studio 666 | 2022 | Engineer | Credited as "Rip Haight" |
This is a list of films directed by John Carpenter that grossed more than $10 million at the US box office according to Box Office Mojo. Carpenter's films have grossed domestically a total of more than $282 million, with an average of $18 million per film.
| Rank | Title | Lifetime gross (US$) | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | |||
| 1 | Halloween | 47.0 million | 96% (84 reviews) [6] | 87 (21 reviews) [7] |
| 2 | Starman | 28.7 million | 86% (36 reviews) [8] | 70 (8 reviews) [9] |
| 3 | Escape from L.A. | 25.4 million | 54% (59 reviews) [10] | 54 (21 reviews) [11] |
| 4 | Escape from New York | 25.2 million | 88% (72 reviews) [12] | 76 (12 reviews) [13] |
| 5 | The Fog | 21.3 million | 75% (69 reviews) [14] | 55 (11 reviews) [15] |
| 6 | Christine | 21.0 million | 70% (37 reviews) [16] | 57 (10 reviews) [17] |
| 7 | Vampires | 20.3 million | 43% (53 reviews) [18] | 42 (19 reviews) [19] |
| 8 | The Thing | 19.6 million | 84% (83 reviews) [20] | 57 (13 reviews) [21] |
| 9 | Memoirs of an Invisible Man | 14.3 million | 26% (35 reviews) [22] | 48 (19 reviews) [23] |
| 10 | Prince of Darkness | 14.1 million | 62% (39 reviews) [24] | 50 (10 reviews) [25] |
| 11 | Ghosts of Mars | 14.0 million | 23% (111 reviews) [26] | 35 (26 reviews) [27] |
| 12 | They Live | 13.0 million | 86% (74 reviews) [28] | 55 (22 reviews) [29] |
| 13 | The Ward | 12.8 million | 33% (72 reviews) [30] | 38 (18 reviews) [31] |
| 14 | Big Trouble in Little China | 11.1 million | 76% (66 reviews) [32] | 53 (14 reviews) [33] |
TV movies
| Title | Year | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zuma Beach | 1978 | No | Yes | No | |
| Someone's Watching Me! | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| Elvis | 1979 | Yes | No | No | |
| Better Late Than Never | No | Yes | No | ||
| El Diablo | 1990 | No | Yes | Executive | |
| Blood River | 1991 | No | Yes | No | |
| Body Bags | 1993 | Yes | No | Yes | Also composer, Segments "The Gas Station" and "Hair" |
| Silent Predators | 1999 | No | Yes | No | |
TV series
| Title | Year | Director | Producer | Composer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters of Horror | 2005–2006 | Yes | No | No | Episodes "Cigarette Burns" and "Pro-Life" |
| Zoo | 2015–2017 | No | No | Yes | Theme music only |
| Suburban Screams | 2023 | Yes | Executive | Yes | Theme music only, Episode "Phone Stalker" [34] [35] [36] [37] |
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sentinel Returns | 1998 | — | Composer [38] |
| The Thing | 2002 | Dr. Faraday | Uncredited |
| F.E.A.R. 3 | 2011 | Narrator | Also storyline consultant |
| Toxic Commando | 2024 | — | Creator [39] |
The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter from a screenplay by Bill Lancaster. Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There?, it tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing", an extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates, other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any of them could be the Thing. The film stars Kurt Russell as the team's helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady, with A. Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, and Thomas G. Waites in supporting roles.
John Howard Carpenter is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is generally recognized as a master of the horror genre. At the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, the French Directors' Guild gave him the Golden Coach Award and lauded him as "a creative genius of raw, fantastic, and spectacular emotions".
A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic term for any horror film involving murder, film analysts cite an established set of characteristics which set slasher films apart from other horror subgenres, such as monster movies, splatter films, supernatural and psychological horror films.
Starman is a 1984 American science fiction romance drama film directed by John Carpenter that tells the story of a non-corporeal alien who has come to Earth and cloned a human body in response to the invitation found on the gold phonograph record installed on the Voyager 2 space probe. The original screenplay was written by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon, with Dean Riesner making uncredited re-writes.
The Fog is a 1980 American supernatural horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote the screenplay and created the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Janet Leigh and Hal Holbrook. It tells the story of a strange, glowing fog that sweeps over a small coastal town in Northern California, bringing with it the vengeful ghosts of leprous mariners who were killed in a shipwreck there a century before.
Halloween II is a 1981 American slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, in his directorial debut, written and produced by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence, who reprise their respective roles as Laurie Strode and Dr. Sam Loomis. It is the second installment in the Halloween film series and is a continuation sequel to Halloween (1978). The plot picks up directly after the cliffhanger ending of the first film, with Michael Myers following survivor Laurie Strode to the local hospital, while his psychiatrist Dr. Loomis continues his pursuit of him.
Halloween is an American slasher media franchise that consists of thirteen films, as well as novels, comic books, a video game and other merchandise. The films primarily focus on Michael Myers, who was committed to a sanitarium as a child for the murder of his sister, Judith Myers. Fifteen years later, he escapes to stalk and kill the people of the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois. Michael's killings occur on the holiday of Halloween, on which all of the films primarily take place. Throughout the series various protagonists try to stop Myers including, most notably, babysitter Laurie Strode and psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Loomis. The original Halloween, released in 1978, was written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill—the film's director and producer respectively. The film, itself inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Bob Clark's Black Christmas, is known to have inspired a long line of slasher films.
Saw is a horror media franchise created by Australian film makers James Wan and Leigh Whannell, which began with the eponymous 2004 film and quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into various films and other media, including a television series, video games, comic books, music, theme park attractions, and merchandising including toys, masks, and clothing. Saw is the fifth highest-grossing horror film franchise.
Firestarter is a 1984 American science fiction thriller horror film based on Stephen King's 1980 novel of the same name. The plot concerns a girl who develops pyrokinesis and the secret government agency known as The Shop which seeks to control her. The film was directed by Mark L. Lester, and stars David Keith, Drew Barrymore, Martin Sheen and George C. Scott. Firestarter was shot in and around Wilmington, Chimney Rock, and Lake Lure, North Carolina.
Insidious is an American horror franchise created by Leigh Whannell and James Wan that is produced by Blumhouse in association with Sony’s Stage 6 Films. The films in the franchise include Insidious (2010), Chapter 2 (2013), Chapter 3 (2015), The Last Key (2018), and The Red Door (2023). The films have grossed over $731 million worldwide on a combined budget of $42.5 million.
Halloween is a 2018 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Jeff Fradley and Danny McBride. It is the eleventh installment in the Halloween film series and a sequel to the 1978 film of the same name, while disregarding all previous sequels. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis who reprises her role as Laurie Strode. James Jude Courtney portrays Michael Myers, with Nick Castle returning to the role for a cameo. Halloween also stars Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Haluk Bilginer, and Virginia Gardner. Its plot follows a post-traumatic Laurie Strode who prepares to face Michael Myers in a final showdown on Halloween night, forty years after she survived his killing spree.
Happy Death Day is a 2017 American black comedy slasher film directed by Christopher Landon, and written by Scott Lobdell. It stars Jessica Rothe and Israel Broussard. The film was produced by Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Productions banner. It follows college student Tree Gelbman, who is murdered on the night of her birthday but begins reliving the day repeatedly, at which point she sets out to find the killer and stop her death.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween is a 2018 American horror comedy film directed by Ari Sandel and written by Rob Lieber from a story by Lieber and Darren Lemke. A stand-alone sequel to 2015's Goosebumps, it is based on the children's horror book series of the same name by R. L. Stine. The new cast consists of Wendi McLendon-Covey, Madison Iseman, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Caleel Harris, Chris Parnell, and Ken Jeong. The plot follows two young boys who accidentally release the monsters from the Goosebumps franchise in their town after opening an unpublished Goosebumps manuscript titled Haunted Halloween, causing a wave of destruction on Halloween night.
The following is a list of unproduced John Carpenter projects in roughly chronological order. During a career that has spanned over 40 years, John Carpenter has worked on projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage. Some of the films were produced after he left production.
Black Christmas is a Canadian-American horror film series that comprises three standalone slasher films, as well as a novelization. The original film has gained a large cult following and is credited as being one of the first slasher films, inspiring many others, including the critically acclaimed hit Halloween (1978). The series centers around a serial killer that stalks and murders a group of sorority sisters. The 1974 film follows the character of Jess Bradford as she and her sorority sisters begin receiving threatening phone calls from an unknown stalker. The 2006 film explores the background and motivation for the killer and his family. The 2019 film completely abandons the first two films' killer storyline, instead focusing on a new set of characters and killers.
Halloween Kills is a 2021 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Danny McBride and Scott Teems. It is the sequel to 2018's Halloween and the twelfth installment in the Halloween franchise. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, and Will Patton. The film begins on the same night where the previous film ended with James Jude Courtney reprising his role as Michael Myers whose presence has become apparent to the residents of Haddonfield.
Firestarter is a 2022 American science fiction horror film directed by Keith Thomas, from a screenplay by Scott Teems, based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, and a remake of the 1984 film of the same name. The film stars Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Sydney Lemmon, Kurtwood Smith, John Beasley, Michael Greyeyes, and Gloria Reuben. It is produced by Jason Blum and Akiva Goldsman under their Blumhouse Productions and Weed Road Pictures banners, respectively, alongside BoulderLight Pictures and Night Platform.
The Exorcist: Believer is a 2023 American supernatural horror film directed by David Gordon Green, who co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Sattler from a story by Scott Teems, Danny McBride, and Green. The sixth installment in The Exorcist franchise, it serves as a direct sequel to The Exorcist (1973). The film stars Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett, Olivia O‘Neill in her film debut, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, and Ann Dowd. Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair reprise their roles from the original film. Its plot follows a photographer who must confront the nadir of evil when his daughter and her best friend are possessed.