Feature by Darren Horne
Whether you think of John Carpenter as the master of suspense, a horror maestro or a second rate B movie making bum, the chances are that you have come across one of his films. Like them or loathe them, they have a distinct and recognisable style which is rarely compromised by the money men or the audience’s whims. Working primarily on the low brow end of the genre film market Carpenter has treated us to horror and action films such as Halloween which, on the one hand raised the bar for those that would follow after him, and yet also inspired countless “homages” or “jumping on the band wagon” clones.
“Post-Halloween, slasher movies were big business and the horror genre would slowly become dominated by endless rip-offs of Carpenter’s 1978 classic”
(Tom Fallows)
With Halloween Carpenter set up the codes and conventions which would be used as a template for the films to follow, such as the virgin heroine and the faceless monster returning from the dead. Few directors can take the credit for creating a genre, in this case the slasher movie, whilst at the same time being the root of its downfall by causing a trend which would make horror movies unfashionable by the late 1980’s.
The film industry is cyclical, with genres and themes coming in and out of fashion. Once again Carpenter is in style, as are the horror movies he crafted so well. Unfortunately the film industry has changed and few studios will back a filmmaker that works best with total creative control, fulfilling roles as diverse as director, writer, editor and composer. Especially when that film makers specialisation is at the low budget end of the spectrum and whose career has sauntered slowly downwards. Hollywood’s answer to this is of course the RE-MAKE!
It is difficult for Carpenter fans to express their anger and frustration at recent attempts to plunder the back catalogue of such a distinct cult filmmaker when said filmmaker has in turn re-made a plethora of films himself. The new Assault on Precinct 13 starring Ethan Hawke is a functional action movie, but it lacks the heart at the centre of the original. Carpenter is an artist who privileges the film over commercial success. This is shown by his predilection for shooting in Anamorphic Panavision, a widescreen format that looks great at the cinema but has been mutilated on television by using the ghastly pan and scan. With the advent of wide screen TVs and DVDs Carpenter’s films can be enjoyed at home more so than ever before, but it is in the cinema where they truly shine.
Carpenter’s Assault is a re-make of Howard Hawks Rio Bravo, a western siege film starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. Carpenter identifies his influences and creates films that are inspired by other filmmakers he admires, but avoids ripping them off by incorporating the themes and mood rather that copying them scene for scene. Howard Hawks became an ongoing influence on Carpenter’s career who he describes as:-
“…my movie director hero. In my humble opinion he’s the greatest American director ever, who has had a great movie in every genre. Musicals, Westerns, Comedies, he’s done it all” (Carpenter, SFX, 1996)
It was whilst studying at the prestigious University of Southern California that he came across Hawks and the elite of the filmmaking world.
“…I was there in the great days. All the classic directors would come along and talk to us: Welles, Hughes, Hitchcock, Polanski…” (Carpenter, SFX, 1996)
Whilst studying Carpenter made the Oscar winning short The Resurrection of Bronco Billy, about a man that wanted to be a modern day cowboy which he co wrote, edited, composed music for and did a little directing. This taking on of multiple roles is a trait that would follow him thought-out his filmmaking career.
His next film was for his Masters thesis for which he teamed up with Dan O’Bannan (who later wrote Alien, Total Recall and Return of the Living Dead)
Dark Star was a science fiction comedy and already began to show some of Carepenter’s personal style. It can be best described as a seventies version of Red Dwarf, or rather Red Dwarf is a nineties version of Dark Star.
“don’t give me any of that intelligent life crap, just show me something I can blow up” (Dark Star, 1974)
For less that $60,000 his little student film became a film you could see in cinemas. Made in 1974 it portrayed space and space ships as messy junk piles, a retort to the gleaming perfection of Space Odyssey 2001 and a later influence on Star Wars perhaps?
Although Carpenter would never achieve main stream success he certainly influenced a great deal of the films that would follow. Halloween inspired a sewer of cheap imitations and scenes from Escape from New York and Dark Star appear to have been directly lifted to appear in Return of the Jedi and Aliens. (James Cameron, the director of Aliens, was a crew member on Escape from New York) It is important to remember that Carpenter did it first, with a lower budget and far more style.
One of Carpenter’s critically acclaimed films is The Thing, which is also a remake of the 1951 Howard Hawks produced sci-fi horror movie. Once again this is “inspired by” rather than a direct copy. Instead of a humanoid alien attacking a government station in the North Pole Carpenter updates the themes to adhere to 1980’s paranoia of the Reagan and Thatcher governments. Carpenter’s alien is a shape shifting monstrosity which can imitate humans causing the remaining survivors to turn against one another. This is accomplished whilst stamping Carpenter’s personal style onto the narrative, whether it is the eerie shots of empty rooms, the questioning of what makes a man, a hero, or the pessimistic ending that avoids feeling downbeat. A key Carpenter technique is to polarise the audience, to make them side with his anti-hero, who may not be perfect, but is the best we have against the enemy. In The Thing the alien butchers a pack of huskies (the cutest of all dogs), which forces the audience to dispose of any “we come in peace, lets make friends” feelings they may have towards extra terrestrials. Sadly, in 1982 the audience wanted cuddly cute saccharine Spielberg aliens such as E.T, and The Thing performed badly at the box office.
It can seem as though Carpenter has sealed himself into a time capsule, locked in a no mans land in which Hollywood’s studio systems formalised storytelling techniques are used to comment on a mish-ash of 80’s mistrust and unrestrained capitalism. He is the antithesis of a director like Tarantino who not only lifts scenes directly from other films, but creates dialogue and shots that have nothing to do with the development of the narrative. Every shot in a Carpenter film is there to help tell the story, to move along the narrative and inform the audience.
“Some directors put a stamp on their work and some don’t. Some are good storytellers and some aren’t” (Howard Hawks)
He doesn’t need MTV editing to dazzle or distract the audience because his direction and camera work are strong enough to hold the film together. This is supported by looking at the films Carpenter wrote, but did not direct. The Eyes of Laura Mars, Halloween 2, Halloween 3, The Philadelphia Experiment and Black Moon Rising range from awful to functional partly due to their directors inability to do what Carpenter has mastered, making periods of inactivity appear interesting, if not suspenseful and unnatural. This is once again highlighted in Hollywood’s latest attempt at a remake, this time of Carpenter’s 1979 brooding horror The Fog. Starring Selma Blair the 2005 version stays “faithful” to the original story, but wrongly assumes that a contemporary audience needs a shock or a manufactured fright every other minute in order to be entertained. Andrew Osmond said it best in his review:
“The Fog still looks and feels irredeemably second-hand: a noisy, gimcrack ghost train ride that ultimately resorts to advertising its own stupidity long after viewer boredom has already set in. The Film’s tiresomely laboured, risibly over-determined bids to scare its audience look all the sillier beside the unpretentiously sparse efficiency of the Carpenter film. (Sight and Sound, February, 2006)
The reason for this lacklustre remake can be attributed once again to the art vs commercialism battle. Decisions based on financial gain rather that what is best for the story are always going to negatively impact on a films performance.
Debate of Auteur theory still rages in film studies classes nationwide, but if there is truth in the idea that certain film makers can be considered the author of the film because they have stamped their personal mark on to it, then surely Carpenter is worthy of that title.
“In France, I’m an Auteur. In England, I’m a horror movie director. In Germany, I’m a Film-maker. In the US, I’m a bum”
(Carpenter, SFX, 1996)
His themes and techniques remain consistent, whilst retaining a freshness and originality that keep the audience on their toes. In many Carpenter films the main character will be a flawed anti hero that becomes suspicious of the world around them as though awakening from a sleep walk. In the Escape movies Snake Plisken was a decorated special forces operate who turned his back on the government after, we can assume, witnessing their lack of compassion for those that die in their name.
“Yet whilst he may appear to be a nihilistic loner, Carpenter and Russell have invested him (Snake) with a moral outrage and mistrust of government that gives you the impression that if society is to survive, it’s going to be with people like Snake” (Tom Fallows)
In Big Trouble in Little China Jack Burton is a boozy trucker that is the direct opposite of white vest wearing hero John McLaine in Die Hard, and other action heroes that Stallone or Schwarzenegger brought to the screen. At one point Burton fires at the ceiling to intimidate his enemies, causing loose debris to knock him unconscious, leaving his friends to win the battle. He later fights several enemies whilst a bright red lipstick mark adorns his lips after a good luck kiss from the romantic interest. The role of the hero is played with and mocked, but the character remains charming because of his good heart, he does not have to be a super hero. Carpenter’s heroes bare the scars of their ordeal; they have been on a journey. Along with his strong female characters, pessimistic world vision, conflicts between individuals and authority, corruption, social consciousness and use of genre blending, Carpenter had carved out a personal and recognisable style that retains its relevance today.
In a world which is once again gripped by paranoia caused by suicide bombers, an American prison in the desert where people are held without trial, UK and USA military personnel abusing Iraqi prisoners, the threat of a Bird Flu epidemic and an untrustworthy government it seems Carpenter’s films will remain as topical as George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World. Sadly, unless a passionate artist is put at the helm of future remakes, the chances are the films will be reminiscent of the second rate clones that followed the originals, rather than a worthy modernisation of a seminal film.
Recommended John Carpenter Films:-
Dark Star, Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China and They Live.
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