With the release of Black Christmas (1974), filmmaker Bob Clark hardly produced a film that could rival It’s a Wonderful Life in terms of yuletide popularity. It’s unlikely that the film will ever be given its own 24-hour Christmas Eve Marathon on a Ted Turner network, a la A Christmas Story. Film director John Carpenter and his financiers, however, had a more lucrative idea: make the quintessential Halloween hack and slash film. And for as long as people continue to celebrate Halloween, Carpenter will retain his presence in popular culture. But the man has produced several other works that deserve recognition. If anything, Halloween has wrongfully eclipsed some of Carpenter’s finer work – although he’s best known for his contributions to the horror genre, Carpenter has produced many stellar films in a variety of genres throughout the course of his career, and has integrated various devices and styles into his oeuvre. Although it would appear that the man is “all out of bubblegum†nowadays thanks to a series of critical and financial flops, his influence is still resonant . Here is a look at the Carpenter’s three most distinguished contributions to the cult cinema cannon.
The Thing
It had the distinct misfortune of opening up against E.T. — and that adorable little bastard took Carpenter to the cleaners.Although it was a box-office disappointment, and hindered Carpenter professionally in the eighties, The Thing is now regarded by genre-nerds as one of the best special-effects heavy horror films of all time. Carpenter’s classic horror film is a loose remake of Howard Hawk’s 1951 film The Thing from Another World. A group of researchers discover a parasitic alien life form in Antarctica that can change shapes and mimic the genetic structure of its host. Although character development takes a backseat to gruesome special effects, Carpenter’s visual storytelling prowess is pretty remarkable. This first film in Carpenter’s “Apocalypse Trilogy†(the second and third being Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness respectively) and in addition to getting a lot of play on niche TV networks, it has since inspired a literary adaptation, a comic book mini series, a prequel, and a video game sequel.
Starman
Starman shows carpenter’s ability to weave different genres together. With less horror and more science fiction, Starmandepicts a visiting extraterrestrial, played by Jeff Bridges, who takes on the appearance of a Jenny Hayden’s (Karen Allen) deceased husband in order to get her to take him to rural Arizona where he will get picked up by his spaceship. Along the way, they fall madly in love. Unfortunately, the United States government is in hot pursuit, eager to spoil their strange courtship, so that they make take Jeff Bridges and slice him up on the slab, Roswell style. The film is almost like the inverse of The Thing. In both instances you have an alien lifeform with the ability to mimic the genetic structure of other lifeforms, but where The Thing plays like an abysmal bloodbath, Starman is heartwarming and life affirming, and relies largely upon the strength of its actors. With Starman, this versatile director shows us romance and science fiction woven together, two genres that are not Carpenter’s usual area of expertise in film.
In these three films, we see three vastly different ideas put to film. John Carpenter was able to generate cult classics, whether he had major studio backing or not. While there are several other works by the man that deserve to be revisited, this offers a nice snapshot of the man’s strengths as a filmmaker.
Christine
It’s a movie about a killer car, based on a book by Stephen King. Now, the thing with horror movies (and Carpenter understands this well) is that incredulousness itself doesn’t necessarily diminish what makes a story frightening — in fact, incredulousness can enhance what is frightening, by giving us permission to entertain and confront anxieties that our supergo attempts to suppress. Nothing amplifies an anxiety or obsession as effectively as denial, and Christine exploits this. Some critics panned it upon release, but nowadays, we live in an era of cars that can control themselves, and kitchens that use home automation integrated with their home alarm technology to regulate their own activities. Perhaps a killer hot-rod wasn’t so far off after all? In the movie Arnie (Keith Gordon) is a shrimpy, bespectacled geek. Girls ignore him. Bullies target him. His parents repress him. And then one day, he spots Christine (played by a vintage Plymouth Fury). Arnie decides to purchase her, and his whole life changes. He loses the glasses, and affects a macho hot-headedness. He also begins dating a girl named Leigh (Alexandra Paul). We come to learn that Christine is not only possessed, but hell bent to kill anyone who comes between her and Arnie, and she is particularly envious of Leigh. When bullies attempt to destroy Christine, she inexplicably rebuilds herself and goes on a rampage, killing said bullies. It’s not without its flaws, but it’s a great film nevertheless.
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