John Carpenter best to worst
Although he's neither as productive, nor as brilliant, as he used to be, John Carpenter remains one of my favorite directors. I've seen all his films, and what follows is my personal ranking of them. Only theatrical films are listed, but I thoroughly enjoyed his two Masters of Horror entries.
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- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDonald PleasenceJamie Lee CurtisTony MoranFifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsAustin StokerDarwin JostonLaurie ZimmerA Highway Patrol Officer, two criminals and a station secretary defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct office against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsSam NeillJürgen ProchnowJulie CarmenAn insurance investigator begins discovering that the impact a horror writer's books have on his fans is more than inspirational.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsAdrienne BarbeauJamie Lee CurtisJanet LeighAn unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsJeff BridgesKaren AllenCharles Martin SmithAn alien takes the form of a young Wisconsin widow's husband and makes her drive him to his departure point in Arizona. Distrustful government agents, along with a more ambivalent scientist, give pursuit in hopes of intercepting them.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellLee Van CleefErnest BorgnineIn 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsRoddy PiperKeith DavidMeg FosterThey influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellKim CattrallDennis DunA rough-and-tumble trucker and his sidekick face off with an ancient sorcerer in a supernatural battle beneath Chinatown.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDan O'BannonDre PahichBrian NarelleIn the far reaches of space, a small crew, 20 years into their solitary mission, find things beginning to go hilariously wrong.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDonald PleasenceLisa BlountJameson ParkerA group of graduate students and scientists uncover an ancient canister in an abandoned church, but when they open the container, they inadvertently unleash a strange liquid and an evil force on all humanity.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKeith GordonJohn StockwellAlexandra PaulA nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsJames WoodsDaniel BaldwinSheryl LeeRecovering from an ambush that killed his entire team, a vengeful vampire slayer must retrieve an ancient Catholic relic that, should it be acquired by vampires, will allow them to walk in sunlight.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellSteve BuscemiStacy KeachSnake Plissken is once again called in by the United States government to recover a potential doomsday device from Los Angeles, now an autonomous island where undesirables are deported.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsNatasha HenstridgeIce CubePam GrierIn 2176, a Martian police unit is sent to pick up a highly dangerous criminal at a remote mining post. Upon arrival, the cops find that the post has become a charnel house.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsAmber HeardMamie GummerDanielle PanabakerAn institutionalized young woman becomes terrorized by a ghost.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsChevy ChaseDaryl HannahSam NeillAfter a freak accident, a company executive turns completely invisible, goes on the run and becomes hunted by a treacherous CIA official, whilst trying to cope with his new reality.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsChristopher ReeveKirstie AlleyLinda KozlowskiA small town's women give birth to unfriendly alien children posing as humans.