John Carpenter is a prolific director most well-known in the horror space, but who has also contributed greatly to the action and science fiction genres. An American filmmaker, screenwriter, and composer, Carpenter directed 21 films in his career as a filmmaker, most of which he also composed or co-composed the score for.
Interested in movies from a young age, Carpenter began shooting horror shorts on 8 mm film even before starting high school, and then going on to attend the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, where he would later drop out to make his first feature film, Dark Star, in 1974.
Most well-known for Halloween, Escape From New York, and The Thing, Carpenter’s filmography is long and filled with a variety of wonderful and not-so-wonderful movies. It’s often said Carpenter was ahead of his time as most of his films were initially commercial and critical failures, though most have become classics now in modern day. Here’s how all of Carpenter’s films stack up against one another.
21. Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
Memoirs of an Invisible Man is a notoriously bad black sci-fi/comedy loosely based on the 1987 novel by H.F. Saint of the same name, starring Chevy Chase as a businessman who becomes invisible due to a strange scientific accident. Just from looking at the film’s poster audiences can tell it’s going to be bad, but behind-the-scenes drama with the original director and Chevy Chase ultimately led to a boring, terrible film so poorly crafted that Carpenter opted to leave his name out of the title.
20. Ghosts of Mars (2001)
A science fiction film set in the second half of the 22nd century, Ghosts of Mars explores a far-off future in which Mars has become the new settlement of humans fleeing an overpopulated earth. When a mining operation uncovers a long-dormant Martian civilization, their warriors begin to systematically take over the bodies of the human settlers. Originally intended to be the third in the “Escape from…” series, Ghosts of Mars is laughably bad with a convoluted plot and cringe-worthy acting.
19. The Ward (2010)
A psychological horror film and the most modern movie that John Carpenter directed, relies entirely on jump-scares to frighten the audience and doesn’t offer much in the way of interest or memorability in the plot or characters.
18. Elvis (1979)
This TV movie showcases the rise of rock-n-roll music star, Elvis Presley, from his early years in Mississippi and Tennessee through his first single “Heartbreak Hotel” and his subsequent rise to stardom as a musician and actor. Kurt Russell stars as Elvis in his first collaboration with Carpenter, so the film is important for that reason at the least. But, with a nearly three-hour run-time, Elvis is really a film for hardcore fans of The King only.
17. Village of the Damned (1995)
John Carpenter’s remake of the classic 1960 film of the same name, undeserved bad reputation, it’s not as good as most of Carpenter’s better work. While it offers a great score and several great scenes, it’s mostly a middling offering.
16. Dark Star (1974)
John Carpenter’s first film, Dark Star is a sci-fi comedy that follows a group of bumbling astronauts twenty years into their mission to destroy unstable planets that might threaten future colonization of other planets. Co-written with Dan O’Bannon, who would go on to make Alien with Ridley Scott, the crew of the deteriorating starship Dark Star features O’Bannon himself as one of the most comedic characters. Dark Star delivers a lot of great comedy and science fiction fun, but suffers from its low budget, causing it to feel like a student film.
15. Starman (1984)
A science-fiction romance, Starman stars Jeff Bridges as an alien being who tries to make with earth, but is downed in the process by an American missile. He then inhabits the body of a dead man and kidnaps the man’s widow in a desperate search for a way back home. Essentially a road-trip romance, this movie is sweet and offers a great feel-good energy while still providing a lot of emotional depth.
14. Escape from L.A. (1996)
The sequel to Escape from New York, Escape from L.A. takes place in the far-off future of 2013 when the United States President is exiling all citizens who don't conform to his hyper-conservative views to Los Angeles, which became an island after a huge earthquake. When the President’s daughter steals the detonator for her dad’s nuclear weapon and flees into L.A. to be with her rebel-leader boyfriend, Snake Plissken is commissioned to retrieve her. Not a bad movie by any means, Escape from L.A. gets a bad rep just from not being as good as its predecessor. Otherwise, it’s a solid action flick, but doesn’t have too much else to offer.
13. Vampires (1998)
Following a team of Vatican-sponsored vampire hunters as they clear out vampires in New Mexico, Vampires features a showdown between the team of vampire killers and a vampire kingpin with greater powers than any of them have ever seen. James Woods stars as the lead vampire hunter Jack Crow, and Thomas Ian Griffith stars as the vampire Jan Valek, a reference to the demon Valac from the Lesser Key of Soloman. While the film offers decent, gory fun for its audience and James Woods’ charisma really sells the movie, the plot is mostly one-note.
12. Someone's Watching Me! (1978)
Someone’s Watching Me follows Leigh Michaels, a woman who begins receiving strange phone calls and gifts after taking a room in an apartment building where the previous tenant committed suicide. When she receives a letter from her tormentor that he intends to kill her, the police refuse to do anything about it, so she takes the investigation into her own hands. Offering plenty of Hitchcockian vibes à la Rear Window, Someone’s Watching Me is a TV movie that offers a surprising amount of tension and substance with great performances and cinematography.
