My Five Favorite John Carpenter Films and my Number one Least Favorite

John Carpenter is one of my favorite directors and he definitely has one of the most accomplished careers of any director. Admittedly in the last 20 years his movies have been very hit and miss and only shadows of the quality of his past movies. In fact his latest movie 2010`s The Ward was his first feature film since 2001`s Ghosts of Mars, I just hope he puts out a couple more movies before he quiets for good. Anyways here are my top five FAVORITE John Carpenter movies and my number one LEAST favorite;



1. THE THING (1982)
 For me this is John Carpenters masterpiece. Its the perfect mixture of science fiction and horror, as well as being probably the best remake ever made. On top of that the special effects are some of the greatest practical effects i`ve ever seen. I could go on and on about how much I love this movie and everything about it but I think you get the idea.



2. Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)
 I have to give this movie credit for really being the Carpenter film that made me appreciate and realize how awesome his films are. This movie is one of his very early films and instead of a "horror" film its a brilliant thriller that doesn't hold back.


3. HALLOWEEN (1978)
 Halloween is just such a great horror movie in almost ever way. From its iconic soundtrack to its great Halloween season atmosphere this is a film that is a true classic.


4. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981) 
     Another simply brilliant film. It has a amazing cast with Kurt Russel, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgine, Donald Pleasence, etc. Then its title main character Snake Pliskeen is one of the coolest antiheroes since Clint Eastwoods "the man with no name" character. Not to mention the film is just great to look at, the art direction is just amazing.


5. THEY LIVE (1988) 
  What can I say I just love this crazy movie. Though really "They Live" is a great satire at its core (in a Dawn of the Dead sort of way) but its message doesn't get in the way of the film at all. Instead it succeeds in still being an enjoyable horror film with great dark comedic elements.

That about does it with my top 5 favorite Carpenter film unfortunately a couple that I really loved didn't make the list like The Fog, Christine, and Vampires. All three of those are just really great films that I highly recommend checking out as well. Unfortunately though John Carpenter has made some duds, since the beginning of the 90`s its been real hit and miss for his movies on one hand you have Vampires (1998) and In Mouth of Madness (1994) which actually are really good movies. Then you have Escape From L.A (1996) which I don`t think is that bad of a movie I just think it was forced to live up to impossible standards that audiences were giving it, which is one reason why I think most people despise it, but in my opinion I think its alright not anywhere near as good as New York but an OK movie none the less. Anyways the worst film ever done by John Carpenter is by far:


GHOSTS OF MARS (2001)
Most people will probably agree with me that this movie is Carpenters worst. Its just so bad and its really unfortunate because I feel like it could have been possibly been good. Instead its a lame science fiction film, with a lackluster story, uninspired acting, and really bad dialogue. Unlike with some of his other bad movies like Memoirs of an Invisible Man which is a pretty forgettable film but it at least has some funny moments and Village of the Damned which is a awful remake but does have a few good scenes, Ghosts of Mars has nothing and is one of those bad films that is so bad its hard to finish.

The Vampire Bat (1933)

The Vampire Bat (1933)
Directed by: Frank R. Strayer
Written by: Edward T. Lowe Jr
Starring: Lionel Atwill, Fay Reagan, Melvyn Douglas 

   The Vampire Bat is actually one of my favorite Lionel Atwill movies and is a great little gem in regards to 1930s horror. Utilizing some great actors, creepy atmosphere, fantastic sets, and some dash's of  funny humor. I`ve also got to say its one of the  best movies in the public domain; along side films such as White Zombie, Carnival of Souls, and of course Night of the Living Dead. Of course not as good as those movie but its up there with them.

   The movie is set in the village of Klineschloss were locals are scared stiff of a "vampire" who is killing villagers and then draining them dry of their blood. This fear of the killer becomes so strong the people in the village start to become hysterical, which only gets worse when the Burgomaster and town doctor Otto Von Niemann (Lionel Atwill) declare it is officially a epidemic of vampirism. Only police inspector Karl Brettshneider remains skeptical of the "vampirism theory", though with the increasing body count and mounting evidence towards vampirism he doesn't know what to believe. Up until the epic and rather surprising climax were everything is reveled.

      One thing about The Vampire Bat is that its one of the best independent horror films of the 30`s. The sets alone are fantastic, though that mostly has to do with the fact that they were getting to use Universals European village sets at night when Universal wasn't using them, in fact if you think Lionel Atwills office looks familiar its because its the same interior sets from Universals "The Old Dark House". On top of having great set design director Strayer does a marvelous job at photographing the scenes and creating this great unique atmosphere that echoes influence from German Expression and other Universal horror films from that period. The point i`m trying to get at is it doesn't feel like a "cheap quikie" like it could have been, instead it utilizes all its resources and crafts a inspired period piece that holds up to films like Dracula and Frankenstein despite only having a fraction of the budget that they had.

       Not mention it has a really good cast. With the always great Lionel Atwill as the town doctor, Fay Wray from King Kong fame as his niece, and future Oscar winner Melvyn Douglas as police inspector Karl, Lionel Belmore who was the Burgomaster in Frankenstein plays the Burgomaster in this film (so they were recycling Universal sets as well as supporting actors I guess) and good ole Dwight Frye plays the slow odd Herman Gleib whose made a scapegoat for the killings, oh and not mention Robert Frazer from White Zombie has a small role in this movie as well. The cast alone is reason enough to check out this movie and if you like Lionel Atwill and haven't seen this movie there's even more reason now to check it out, cause personally its one of my favorites of his.

      Altogether The Vampire Bat is a great, well made early 30`s independent horror movie. Its a film that so easily could have been bad but wasn't and since its a "spooky old dark house" and "bats flying everywhere" type movie its a perfect movie for Halloween time. So if your a classic horror fan, I definitely recommend giving The Vampire Bat  a chance.

The Gorilla (1939)

                              

  The Gorilla (1939)
  Directed By: Allan Dwan
  Written By: Ralph James and Sid Silvers, based on a play by              Ralph Spence
   Starring: The Ritz Brothers, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill


   The Gorilla is a comedy/horror film made by the comedy duo the Ritz Brothers, it costars horror icons Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill. Now just to put it out there this is the only Ritz Brothers movie i`ve seen, unless you count Harry Ritz`s cameo in Mel Brooks Silent Movie. But i`m not sure now if this was a good place to start because the film is neither very funny, spooky, or even memorable. To be fair i`ve heard that this is far from there best movie and the production and making of this film were plagued with difficulty's.

           The Gorilla is about a serial killer called The Gorilla who warns people via paper message when hes going to kill them. When he threatens the wealthy man Walter Stevens (played by Lionel Atwill) he hires private investigators (the Ritz Brothers) to protect and investigate for him.. When suddenly a real gorilla gets loose in the house, Walter Stevens goes missing, secret passages and rooms pop up, and real conspiracy's begin to surface in the plot. Unfortunately this whole thing feels quickly and hap haphazardly thrown together and just results in a mess of a movie.

        Though to the films benefit it has some really good actors in it; two of my favorite in fact Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill.; Lugosi plays the butler who is who your supposed to think the Gorilla is but obviously he`s not and Lionel Atwill plays the target of the Gorilla Walter Stevens who the Ritz Brothers are supposed to be protecting.Now I know that the Ritz Brothers are supposed to have better material (hopefully) but all I have to say after seeing this is they are no Abbott and Costello or There Stooges in this. and this is why; For one the humor they use in this movie is really dated, two unlike the Three Stooges you had three different distinguishable characters with the Ritz Brothers I couldn't tell one from the other they all look and acted the same, and then they used the same gags through the whole movie at first they were worth a chuckle but than it just got really boring and old. One of the funniest moments is actually when Lugosi`s character tells the maid Kitty to shut up, because she screamed the whole movie and then talked in a high pitched voice when she wasn't screaming her lungs out, its the way Lugosi said it its almost like he genuinely wanted her to shut up.

         There were things I did like about this movie though, other than Lugosi and Atwill. I really liked the set design in this movie. It was your classic spooky old fashioned mansion set with your constant rain, thunder, and lightening going on outside the whole time. Which looked especially good in its Black and White Photography.

        Sadly though I feel this movie feel short. Its not funny or scary and as far as it could be from a horror comedy like Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein. Its also a very forgettable movie on top of it all and I really wouldn't  recommend to anybody unless they are a Bela Lugosi fan maybe. There are just so many better horror/comedy's from the era like as i`ve mentioned already  Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein,   Boris Karloff and Peter Lorres The Boogie Man Will Get You, and the super underrated Bela Lugosi movie One Body Too Many. So unless your really curious to see this movie and hey you might watch it and like it more than I did, otherwise go ahead and skip this one you wont be missing a thing.

                   

  

 

Witchfinder General (1968)

 

Witchfinder General (1968)
Directed by: Michael Reeves
Written by: Michael Reeves and Tom Baker; based on a novel by Louis M.Hayward
Starring: Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Hilary Heath

Witchfinder General (aka The Conqueror Worm because American distributors wanted to cash off Roger Corman`s Edgar Allan Poe series) is not only one of my favorite Vincent Price films but one of my all time favorite movies ever made. I`ve seen this movie a good number of times and its truthfully never lost its touch on me and ever time i`ve shown this film to someone despite what skepticism they might have no one i`ve ever shown it to has been disappointing. Now its considered a horror film but to be honest its more of a historical piece because its based on a true story in history and this guy Matthew Hopkins was a real person who really did the kind of  horrible things he does in this movie.

This film is set in England during its civil war were it was the Royalists vs the Parliamentary party both fighting each other over control. Its thanks to this conflict that's ongoing people like Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price) are able to go village to village exploiting fears and superstitions by offering his services as a "Witchhunter"and than killing who ever he pleases and sees fit to bill as a witch, and than walking away with a profit. All this works splendidly for Hopkins until he targets the wife of the young soldier Richard Marshall who despite risking treason for desertion from the army pursues Hopkins with only the thought of making him die painfully.

     Vincent Price is at his best in this movie. In most of Vincent Prices horror movies he incorporates a certain level of charm to his villains that make them sympathetic like in House on Haunted Hill and House of Wax, but not here. In Witchfinder General he is pure evil in his portrayal of Matthew Hopkins. One other thing that's really interesting on Prices part is he plays the role in a way that you feel like the character Matthew Hopkins is so consumed in greed, lust, and hate that he cant feel sympathy and lacks the emotion that a normal human would have. And Price translates this to the screen marvelously in his performance. Now one person in particular that i`d also like to mention is the actor Robert Russell who plays Matthew Hopkins accomplice  John Sterne. In all the reviews of read on this movie no one seems to mention him, so naturally I feel obligated to mention him and point out what a perfect person he was to play that role. John Sterne is a greasy mean little man who delights in torturing and inflicting pain onto people, and Russell just does it too well. You might just have to see it to understand.

Sadly though this was to be director Michael Reeves last film, as he died at the age of 25
of    alcohol and barbiturate overdose after this movie came out. Anyways his direction in this movie is nothing short of incredible. For one he really does a good job at completely immersing the movie into a deep period setting, making the film really look and feels like the sixteenth century. Furthermore he makes the movie quite gory especially for the 60`s and obviously because its so bloody the censor boards and critics at the time completely balked at the film over that. 

      Overall I obviously love this movie and would recommend it to everyone ( in fact I like this movie so much I have a painting of the Vincent Price character Matthew Hopkins by artist LJ Dopp above my bookshelf  in my bedroom), but I don't love the movie for the sole fact that it has my favorite actor Vincent Price in it or that its based on a subject matter that's very interesting to me. But because its honestly a incredible piece of work, and everyone whose a fan of not only cult cinema but of film in general should have to watch and experience Witchfinder General. 

BloodRayne (2006)

BloodRayne (2006)
Directed by: Uwe Boll
Written by: Guinevere Turner
Starring: Kristanna Loken, Michael Madsen, Ben Kingsley 

When BloodRayne was released it tanked at the box office barely making over 3 million dollars when its production budget alone was 25 million dollars, it received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics and audiences alike and currently on IMDB it has 2.8 stars outta 10. I would have to say its a pretty bad movie but its saved by being entertaining, and not being dull or boring. Plus all the famous actors who make appearances in this movie is bound to keep you a little interested.

        Now as you probably know this movie is directed by Uwe Boll. Boll is probably one of the most talked about directors when it comes to bad movies. Now to be fair I don't dislike him, in fact most people know that I am the worlds biggest defender of his movie In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, which I just think is a awesome fantasy adventure film and then his movie Rampage which most people don't even know he did is a actually a good movie that's very different from everything else hes done and is just all around well made. Unfortunately though most of his other movies especially his newer stuff is not only bad but boring which is the worst kind of bad in regards to movies.

        BloodRayne though isn't boring its a terrible movie but its at least never dull. Its for one a very gory movie and it has a lot of actors that I like in it. Other than that its got a lot of bad wigs, the most tacky looking swords i`ve ever seen in a nonSyFy movie, and this one subplot that was derivative from the main plot and just didn't really add anything for the movie either.

      BloodRayne in case you didn't know is based on a video game by the same name (like most of Bolls films) and tells the story of a half human half vampire (known as a Dhampir) who joins up with a group of vampire hunters to kill Kagen (Ben Kinglsley) king of the vampires. Other than that there isn't much to add on to the story, just lots of fighting and blood. If you want to hear some random trivia this movie was written by the same woman who wrote American Psycho I find that interesting because that movie is just so different from this movie.

     Now as for the acting, its sorta all over the place. Id have to say my favorite performances came from Billy Zane even though he has like only three scenes and Ben Kingsley who plays a pretty intimidating vampire/bad guy, but when this came out apparently some critics said his performance was so bad in this movie he should return his Oscar he won for Ghandi, I don't think that's fair to say cause its not a bad performance and even if he did some amazing acting its not like it would have helped elevate the films quality much . Kristanna Loken plays Rayne and her performance is well I don't know its not "bad" but its a little too unfocused to be taken seriously but she looks great in the costume so I guess that's what really mattered in the end. Than Boll regular Will Sanderson plays a really psycho henchmen to Kagen, Udo Kier plays a regal monk, Geraldine Chaplin plays a fortune teller, Meat Loaf plays a slob vampire, and of course Michael Madsen plays Vladimir the lead vampire hunter.

    Overall I cannot pretend I liked BloodRayne, and there is no way i`m gonna watch the direct to video sequels; BloodRayne 2: Deliverance which is about Rayne fighting vampire cowboys and BloodRayne: The Third Reich that's about Rayne fighting vampire Nazis, both of which have been directed by Boll. But this is one is only campy bad and I bet if you got together with some friends to watch this it'd be a good way of getting some laughs.

The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1974)

                                                                                   

The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1974)
Director: Alan Gibson
Writer: Don Houghton
Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Coles

            The Satanic Rites of Dracula was as you probably known already know the last Hammer Dracula picture to have Christopher Lee play as Dracula, its also sadly the last Hammer production to have Cushing and Lee in the same movie together. The end result though of this movie is kinda a mixed bag and its going to come down to personal taste as to whether or not you like this movie. If you want to know what I think, I hold to belief that this movies awesome.  I love it, its a crazy 70s horror movie with an odd mixture of horror, sci-fi, and espionage all with excessive amounts of gore. Plus if you ask me its better than the last Dracula movie from the series Dracula A.D 1972.
         
           This movie has Dracula at one of his most evil. In this movie he literally wants to exterminate the human race.You may wonder why would he kill his whole food source? Van Helsing theorizes that because Dracula is a cursed immortal he wants to end his existence in the only way he sees possible by exterminating the human race, create the Armageddon. Dracula plans to do this by creating a incurable and 100x more contagious version of the black   plague. To make matters worse he has all these top minds from England professors, scientists, etc involved with the creation of the plague and participating in the "satanic rites". Leaving it up to Van Helsing (played once again played by the great Peter Cushing), Van Helsings granddaughter, and a couple Scotland yard detectives to stop Dracula before all hope is lost.
         
          Peter Cushing is awesome as always in the role of Van Helsing. While Christopher Lee plays Dracula one last time for Hammer and even though he was really tired of the role hes none the less great as usual,with that dark presence present on screen ever time hes there. Also if you've seen The Elephant Man by David Lynch you might recognize Freddie Jones who plays a scientist in league with Dracula.
         
         Overall I think this is a pretty cool Dracula movie and better than what most people give it credit for. Its dark and sports some great performances from Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Though it gives some odd ways of killing vampires, its in this movie I learned that silver bullets kill them, as well as Hawthorne bushes? Van Helsing explains that its because it was a Hawthorne bush that they put on Christ when he was crucified it can kill Dracula to, oh and there's another scene were Dracula accidentally touches a Bible and it burns his hand. So there is no shortage of ways to kill Dracula. Anyways this film has fallen into the public domain and is thus easily attainable if your interested in giving this movie a try.

The Lords of Salem (2013)

                                                      

The Lords of Salem (2013)
Written and Directed by Rob Zombie
Starring: Sherri Moon Zombie, Bruce Davison, Jeff Daniel Philips 

      Rob Zombies latest film is a well done, original, and utterly artistic and classy horror film. Now that being said it almost goes with out saying that this movie is definitely not for everyone. Its a very unusual movie and kinda disturbing at times, though it is not at all violent. I really don't feel though that the general public would appreciate let alone understand this movie, its a more of a film that people who a have great appreciate of horror and or Rob Zombie (which I have both) will understand and most likely really enjoy.

     One thing that I particularly liked about this movie was it evoked styles of film making that evoked the same kinda feeling I felt while watching Stanley Kubrick`s The Shining and Roman Polanski`s Rosemary's Baby, or pretty much any film by Ken Russell for that matter. Plus another thing I love about Rob Zombies films is he like Quinton Tarantino and Joe Dante have mastered this art of referencing older films within their films. Its hard to explain, but its as if they have constructed and utilized their own movie "geekyness" into their own personal films for other film geeks like me for example to pick up on and enjoy.

      Anyways The Lord of Salem is truthfully a very unique horror movie.What its about though is this radio D.J named Heidi whose sent this record that only says " a gift from the lords". When she listens to it the sound triggers disturbing flashbacks of Salem's dark past. Causing you to wonder is Heidi going mad, or are the Lords back to take revenge on Salem.

      Then as usual Rob Zombie has assembled a great cast of actors. His wife takes the lead role as Heidi and what can I say the role was literally made for her. Jeff Daniel Philips and Ken Foree play her fellow disc jockey co-workers, and Bruce Davison is especially good in his role as Francis Matthias a scholar whose a expert on the Salem witch hunts who is trying to help Heidi but unaware of the shear size of the situation shes in. As usual for a Zombie movie the movie filled with cult actors in supporting roles like Judy Gleeson (who plays Heidi's sinister landlord), Patricia Quinn, Dee Wallace, Meg Foster, Andrew Prine, and then Michael Berryman and Sid Haig play witch hunter brothers! Unfortunately though most of their scenes ended up being cut. Udo Keir and Clint Howard also had roles in this movie but sadly ended up being cut completely from the film.

     Altogether this is a great horror movie. Its very artistically directed by Rob Zombie and for me was just a breath of fresh air in regards of originality. The cast is fantastic and when I found out that this movie was 100% practical effects meaning no CGI, it just made me appreciate the movie even more. Also i`m lucky I was able to see it in the theater because I know it didn't go to 3,000 + theaters like Iron Man 3 but instead went to only I believe 400 or so theaters which is unfortunate, but lucky for me my local Harkins was showing it so I made a point of going opening weekend, but I understand a lot of other people didn't have that convince I did. Anyhow I am none the less looking forward to both this films Blu-Ray release (which i`m hoping has a directors cut and some great special features) and what ever film Rob Zombie puts out next; which I heard him say the podcast The Nerdest recently will be a sports film called The Broad Street Bullies which is about the hockey team the Philidalphia Flyers.