John Carpenter: Films: Part II (1980-84)

The Fog (1980)

Dir. John Carpenter

The fictional Antonio Bay is the setting for what's basically a traditional ghost story that's been granted a John Carpenter twist.

The plot is pretty simple: as the townspeople prepare to celebrate the centenary of the Bay, a scary fog with an accompanying green light rolls slowly but menacingly in from the sea, bringing with it something aged and angry. It's the atmosphere, the suspense and the overall eerie vibe that raise it above its B-Movie origins.

Trivia fans might like to know that two of the stars, Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis, are real life mother and daughter, both of whom starred in classic horror/suspense films previously. Janet was in Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). Jamie Lee was in Carpenter's Halloween (1978).

Escape from New York (1981)

Dir. John Carpenter

Snake Plisskin is one of the best roles Kurt Russell ever had. He's a kind of inner city version of Clint Eastwood's no-nonsense cowboy persona but with impaired depth perception.

He's military trained but cares little for authority, so when he's offered the opportunity to gain a little more freedom from society's controlling grip (and keep his Plisskin ass out of prison), Snake has little choice but to say yes.

The anti-hero leads us through an action movie that's shot in the director's distinctive style, filled with great characters, shifting shadows and a strong musical pulse courtesy of a score from the Carpenter/Howarth pairing. If all of that isn't enough for you, it also has Donald Pleasence!

The Thing (1982)
Dir. John Carpenter

A team of scientists in the Antarctic, among them Kurt Russell wearing his best Bee Gees beard, encounter a parasitic extraterrestrial life form that brings a world of shit to their doorstep.

The Thing presents the perfect scenario for Carpenter who crafted a career making films about something outside trying to get in and/or something inside trying to get out. It's his masterpiece and ironically his first studio production; everything prior to it, including the phenomenally successful Halloween (1978), were independent releases.

Roy Arbogast’s creature effects are superb, proving repeatedly that CGI is the weaker, stillborn sibling. Spider-head gave me delicious nightmares as a kid.

Remember, folks, paranoia and flamethrowers are your friends. If you have one, always have the other.

Christine (1983)

Dir. John Carpenter

Seventeen-year-old college student Arnie Cunningham is a walking disaster. His life isn't one many folks would want to trade for.

Arnie's priorities are changed when he finds Christine – it's love at first sight, the kind the poets probably didn't have in mind, because Christine is a car, a red Plymouth Fury, the colour of lipstick, passion, sex and blood.

People find a kindred spirit in the oddest of places, but when you consider that the film is an adaptation of a horror novel by Stephen King, then a nobody like Arnie falling in love with one of America's less celebrated models makes a kind of sense, And even though the focus is a vehicle not a female, the obsession, jealously and rage that are the flip sides of love are experienced the same.

Starman (1984)

Dir. John Carpenter

Jeff Bridges leaves his alien planet (and presumably his record player) behind in order to answer a decades-old invitation to come and visit Earth. Whilst there, he acts as a mirror to humanity's baser instincts, learns practicalities and in return helps a widowed woman experience what it is to feel alive again, all to the sounds of an electronic score by Jack Nitzsche.

It's a sweet film that becomes more endearing after repeated viewings because there's a genuine sincerity to many of the players and the decisions that they choose to make (and Karen Allen has a voice that I could fall in love with).

I also like that I can squeeze it into my Dir. Carpenter theory (something inside trying to get out, etc), albeit in a less straightforward fashion.

John Carpenter: Films: Part I (1974-79)