The TOP 10 John Carpenter Movies of ALL-TIME - RANKED! My first Director's Spotlight video is bound to cause some controversey, so pop that tape in, I got you, let's go do this!
I just got the 4k version of the Thing, and believe it or not I have never seen the movie. Always known of it, but never seen it. Going in now having no idea what to expect
I am sooooo jealous that you get to watch it for the first time lol! have fun with it! I spent too many years not giving it a fair shot and now I am catching up!
It would take me a while to rank my top 10 favorites, but my top 3 John Carpenter films are easy: 1. Big Trouble in Little China, 2. The Thing, 3. They Live. Vampires is definitely in the top 10 as well, it’s such a fun film!
For what it's worth, here's my Top 10: 1. The Thing 2. Halloween 3. The Fog 4. Prince of Darkness 5. Escape From New York 6. In the Mouth of Madness 7. Village of the Damned 8. Christine 9. They Live 10. Assault on Precinct 13 I love all these films, so not in any particular order.
I like to include The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) as an add-on, or honorary-inclusion to JC's filmography. Carpenter was due to direct and planned the movie before another director took over and Carpenter became one of the producers. Despite not directing, there is a huge amount of John Carpenter Film-DNA in the movie.
I think people forget how many amazing movies he made. He's truly one of the GOATs. I always liked Carpenter's version Of Christine better than King's. The idea that she was evil from the very start instead of being haunted by her pervious owner was always much cooler to me. It made the car itself feel like a person rather than manifesting the personality of another person. The Thing isn't just my favorite Carpenter movie but one of my all time favorite movies. It's as close to perfect as a film can reach and it amazes me that it was received so poorly when it first released.
My Top 10 10.Ghost of Mars 9.Prince of Darkness 8.Vampires 7.In the Mouth of Madness 6. They Live 5.The Fog 4.Ecape From New York 3. Big Trouble in Little China 2. Halloween 1. Thing
Great list! Before i do my personal ranking, i will say i haven't yet seen 4 of his films. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing 'In The Mouth Of Madness ', and 'The Ward '. The other two are 'Escape From LA', and 'Village Of The Damned'. In my ranking places 2 - 6 are fairly interchangeable, and dependent on my mood. 10 Big Trouble In Little China 9 Memoirs Of An Invisible Man 8 They Live 7 Starman 6 Escape From New York 5 Assault On Precinct 13 4 The Thing 3 The Fog 2 Prince Of Darkness 1 Halloween
Haven't seen all of Carpenter's movies yet. But my favorites of the ones I've seen are: 1. They live 2. The thing 3. Halloween 4. Christine Have also watched big trouble in little China, but it wasn't my cup of tea. The film has a lot of similarities with the golden child, but the golden child is much better. In my opinion
I am in absolute agreement with you on your #1 pick, I'm a huge Thing fan, it's in my opinion the greatest horror movie of all time. if they have to fight you they have to fight me as well. and I am also a big Carpenter fan, he was the Horror Master -especially in the 80's.
LOL we are ready to fight for the Thing and I love it lol!!! Carpenter certainly had a couple of not as great ones later but in the 80s, he had his fastball!!!
Damnit...you beat me to it! I have been thinking of doing a Spotlight series. Have mentioned it in cople of my videos last year. But have been dragging my feet and haven't doen any yet. John Carpenter was the first one I planned. LOL. But my dea of the spotlight series will not be limited to directors. I want to cover anyone involved with the industry: directors, producers, actors, composers, ect...I just need to get started with it. Have been lazy. LOL
I think I need to rewatch The Thing this October. I've only seen it once and I don't know if it was because of how highly everyone talks about it or what but I didn't love it as much as I hoped. I also haven't seen In the Mouth of Madness yet. I plan on getting Village of the Damned. Trying to get all of his Scream Factory releases as well. I hope they release Mouth of Madness on 4K too because I'm trying to get them all with slipcovers. Here's my list. 1. Halloween 2. Big Trouble In Little China 3. The Fog 4. Escape from New York 5. Christine 6. The Thing 7. They Live 8. Prince of Darkness 9. Assault on Precinct 13 10. Starman
like I mentioned, I skipped over The Thing and didnt really give it it's proper shot for the past 40 years and boy am I glad I did now and I only wish I hadnt wasted so much time not loving it LOL...great list! Carpenter has some great ones
Carpenter is in my top 3 directors of all time. The Thing is in my top 3 movies of all time, it might even be number 1. I grew up on it and have always loved it. It also proves practical effects have always and will always beat CGI by a country mile.
Love this series, btw. It’s so tough to rank Carpenter movies for me…I feel like outside of the top two, 3-10 could change depending on the day and my mood. 1. Halloween 2. The Thing 3. Escape from NY 4. They Live 5. The Fog 6. Starman 7. Christine 8. Big Trouble in Little China 9. Prince of Darkness 10. In the Mouth of Madness
thanks man! I am hoping people like this series, this video isnt exactly taking off LOL... Ranking Carpenter is very very hard and there are a few that could move around for me for sure depending on the day and I had a lot of fights with myself before I put the video together hahaha!
Have you seen The Thing from 2011? I finally got around to watching it and really enjoyed it. I loved how it was a prequel and was so faithful to Carpenter's movie.
The Thing is one of the best films ever made! Such a shame it was panned on release, stunted John's directing career & knocked his confidence. Hot take - Halloween would be quite low on my top 10. I can appreciate that it's iconic & spawned the slasher genre etc but........... I find it quite dull 😱
@@AVAPopCulture Thr big reason it flopped was because it literally came out the same time as ET and people especially families would rather see a cute family friendly movie instead of what Carpenter made.
If makes me feel so much better that you switch David Keith/Keith David back and forth because I do that almost every time I mention him 😂 and he's one of my favorite actors
No Assault on Precinct 13 - shocking. Napoleon Wilson is the coolest character ever. For the 2000s, Ghosts of Mars is a good movie (underrated). Christine on 4k makes it look miles better.
I figured that would draw some attention but I go for horror first with carpenter which is also why Big Trouble isnt higher - but i love Kurt Russell in anything...though you can make the case AOP13 is survuval horror like Escape from New York...it is a tough list lol
1. Escape From New York 2. Escape From L.A. 3. Big Trouble In Little China 4. The Thing 5. Elvis 6. They Live 7. Prince Of Darkness 8. Village Of The Damned 9. Vampires 10. In The Mouth Of Madness
@@AVAPopCulture yeah I do hear that a lot 😃 I've always felt that EFLA is a misunderstood satire disguised as an action movie & while Halloween is a good movie it just never struck me the same way as to many others. But if you count 🐍 movies as one than it would at #10
not sure if you know this but there was a Playstation 2 game of the thing which kinda serves as a sequel that we never got to carpenters film. They are currently working on a remaster of the game. Not sure how much you are into video games but it was an awesome game. Also there was a prequel movie that came out in the late 2000's. Story was pretty good but CGI was used instead of practical so the monster FX take a hit. Still worth checking out.
Big Trouble in Little China is a top 3….for sure. My top 3 Big trouble, the Thing, and escape from New York…..there placement can change. The bottom for me is Ghost of Mars, but even still I can watch it and laugh.
Hey Chase, John Carpenter absolutely rules, there's no denying it. I pretty much agree with your ranking other than Prince Of Darkness, that would be my #6 & Escape From New York would be in my top 5. In regards to In The Mouth Of Madness, what the F@CK is Scream Factory waiting for? they need to put this out in 4K right now! It should have been in their October lineup. And as far as The Thing goes, I am praying Arrow does a big chunky box set in 4K, my God it would sell like hot cakes & they would kill it. They did a steelbook & a box set for the Blu-ray but we need a 4K now. Vampires is outstanding! my wife was watching your countdown with me and she couldn't have agreed with you more, she loves that movie too. Peace ✌️
Oh man, if Arrow did a big Chunky box for The Thing in 4k it would sell like CRAZY!!!! Tell your wife she has good taste LOL, Vampires gets way too much disrespect and is too overlooked as a great Carpenter movie and a great Vampire movie!
Love the video. While I don't think anyone would put this movie in the Top 10, I did like aspects of "The Ward" but I would be the first to tell you I look at it through rose colored glasses. Big parts of the film were shot in Medical lake, Washington at Eastern State Hospital, and was able to see parts of the filming. Even cooler was the fact at the time I was working at walmart, and one of my co-workers came to on the night shift really excited and told a few of us that John Carpenter was looking for an artist to use on the film and he had gotten the gig. So every night, I would get the low down on what happened on the set that day. All of the portraits and sketches were all done by him in the film. He said most of his portraits came from him sitting in the makup trailer with the ladies doing his sketches. John Carpenter was even nice enough to set down for a time and let him draw him, which he still has. Jack said positive experiences with John Carpenter and said he was a very down to earth guy and would give everyone a little bit of his time. Jack was so tired some nights from being on set a big part of the day, we would try and help with his workload in the electronics. While not the greatest movie, it was a very fond memory. Also, Jared Harris never disappoints.
I just DO NOT LIKE Prince of Darkness. A lot of people love it, I kinda hate it. The build up is good but it doesn't deliver for me in the end. And the whole green goo thing I just don't get. I feel like there's no adequate character development. I would have liked to have gotten to know them more instead of the sterile scientific research angle. It would have been cool to see the demon play with them. What's the difference between that green goo and an outbreak? Just a miss for me. It's not harrowing enough either. At least not for me. It looks low budget when the story could have just been better. But yeah, I think you're right. If we're judging based solely on how well made, yeah The Thing is number one. But for me Big Trouble is in the top 5. I LOVE that movie. Pure 80s crazy fun bliss. A lot going on and very well made. But yeah, I hate Prince of Darkness. lol
everyone has their different takes on movies and John Carpenter movies for sure! Prince of Darkness is not as high on my JC list as other people have it but the creep factor is there for me
@user-em8yy1dl7s it took getting the 4k and watching it and it was so different for me personally... I recommend the basic studio release 4k you can get for under $20 on Amazon!
😂 I knew it was going to be In the Mouth of Madness when you said you're still holding out on the 4K. I have just about every single one of these and I personally put Vampires higher on my personal list. I have been saying it's unappreciated for years. It's actually in New Mexico which is the state I was raised in.
The TOP 10 John Carpenter Movies of ALL-TIME - RANKED! My first Director's Spotlight video is bound to cause some controversey, so pop that tape in, I got you, let's go do this!
I saw a Norwegian or Swedish version on either TUBI or UA-cam a few months ago that is just as good or better than the original
I just got the 4k version of the Thing, and believe it or not I have never seen the movie. Always known of it, but never seen it. Going in now having no idea what to expect
I am sooooo jealous that you get to watch it for the first time lol! have fun with it! I spent too many years not giving it a fair shot and now I am catching up!
It would take me a while to rank my top 10 favorites, but my top 3 John Carpenter films are easy: 1. Big Trouble in Little China, 2. The Thing, 3. They Live. Vampires is definitely in the top 10 as well, it’s such a fun film!
ranking Carpenter films is hard LOL
For what it's worth, here's my Top 10:
1. The Thing
2. Halloween
3. The Fog
4. Prince of Darkness
5. Escape From New York
6. In the Mouth of Madness
7. Village of the Damned
8. Christine
9. They Live
10. Assault on Precinct 13
I love all these films, so not in any particular order.
it is hard to rank them for sure!!!
@@AVAPopCulture Impossible even!
@@stevenburgess2856 I had some arguements with myself LOL
@@AVAPopCulture Haha I could never rate them - same here though some of the best arguments I've had have been with myself!
I like to include The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) as an add-on, or honorary-inclusion to JC's filmography. Carpenter was due to direct and planned the movie before another director took over and Carpenter became one of the producers. Despite not directing, there is a huge amount of John Carpenter Film-DNA in the movie.
Philadelphia experiment is most likely based on real events.
Vampires was probably one of James Woods best roles.
agreed! perfect for him!
I think people forget how many amazing movies he made. He's truly one of the GOATs.
I always liked Carpenter's version Of Christine better than King's. The idea that she was evil from the very start instead of being haunted by her pervious owner was always much cooler to me. It made the car itself feel like a person rather than manifesting the personality of another person.
The Thing isn't just my favorite Carpenter movie but one of my all time favorite movies. It's as close to perfect as a film can reach and it amazes me that it was received so poorly when it first released.
it still shocks me that the things flopped...hard to imagine now lol
yeah baby, let's do this!
Subscribed 👍.
@@gallynuts thank you so much!
That's a killer list! Great video.
thank you!!! I do enjoy some carpenter!
My Top 10
10.Ghost of Mars
9.Prince of Darkness
8.Vampires
7.In the Mouth of Madness
6. They Live
5.The Fog
4.Ecape From New York
3. Big Trouble in Little China
2. Halloween
1. Thing
I actually enjoy Ghosts of Mars too lol
Great list! Before i do my personal ranking, i will say i haven't yet seen 4 of his films. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing 'In The Mouth Of Madness ', and 'The Ward '. The other two are 'Escape From LA', and 'Village Of The Damned'. In my ranking places 2 - 6 are fairly interchangeable, and dependent on my mood.
10 Big Trouble In Little China
9 Memoirs Of An Invisible Man
8 They Live
7 Starman
6 Escape From New York
5 Assault On Precinct 13
4 The Thing
3 The Fog
2 Prince Of Darkness
1 Halloween
@jonbolton3376 in the mouth of madness is really good and village of the dawned is good but the other two there aren't as good lol
Haven't seen all of Carpenter's movies yet. But my favorites of the ones I've seen are:
1. They live
2. The thing
3. Halloween
4. Christine
Have also watched big trouble in little China, but it wasn't my cup of tea. The film has a lot of similarities with the golden child, but the golden child is much better. In my opinion
@@Allan-Thubten-Sherab 100% agree on it being similar to the golden child and I think I'd pick the golden child over it as well
I am in absolute agreement with you on your #1 pick, I'm a huge Thing fan, it's in my opinion the greatest horror movie of all time. if they have to fight you they have to fight me as well. and I am also a big Carpenter fan, he was the Horror Master -especially in the 80's.
LOL we are ready to fight for the Thing and I love it lol!!! Carpenter certainly had a couple of not as great ones later but in the 80s, he had his fastball!!!
@@AVAPopCulture hell yes!
Damnit...you beat me to it! I have been thinking of doing a Spotlight series. Have mentioned it in cople of my videos last year. But have been dragging my feet and haven't doen any yet. John Carpenter was the first one I planned. LOL. But my dea of the spotlight series will not be limited to directors. I want to cover anyone involved with the industry: directors, producers, actors, composers, ect...I just need to get started with it. Have been lazy. LOL
I think I need to rewatch The Thing this October. I've only seen it once and I don't know if it was because of how highly everyone talks about it or what but I didn't love it as much as I hoped. I also haven't seen In the Mouth of Madness yet. I plan on getting Village of the Damned. Trying to get all of his Scream Factory releases as well. I hope they release Mouth of Madness on 4K too because I'm trying to get them all with slipcovers. Here's my list.
1. Halloween
2. Big Trouble In Little China
3. The Fog
4. Escape from New York
5. Christine
6. The Thing
7. They Live
8. Prince of Darkness
9. Assault on Precinct 13
10. Starman
like I mentioned, I skipped over The Thing and didnt really give it it's proper shot for the past 40 years and boy am I glad I did now and I only wish I hadnt wasted so much time not loving it LOL...great list! Carpenter has some great ones
Carpenter is in my top 3 directors of all time. The Thing is in my top 3 movies of all time, it might even be number 1. I grew up on it and have always loved it. It also proves practical effects have always and will always beat CGI by a country mile.
It is hard to argue with having The Thing that high and I 100% agree on practical FX over CGI ANY DAY!!
Love this series, btw. It’s so tough to rank Carpenter movies for me…I feel like outside of the top two, 3-10 could change depending on the day and my mood.
1. Halloween 2. The Thing 3. Escape from NY 4. They Live 5. The Fog 6. Starman 7. Christine 8. Big Trouble in Little China 9. Prince of Darkness 10. In the Mouth of Madness
thanks man! I am hoping people like this series, this video isnt exactly taking off LOL... Ranking Carpenter is very very hard and there are a few that could move around for me for sure depending on the day and I had a lot of fights with myself before I put the video together hahaha!
@@AVAPopCulture that’s kind of surprising, seems like a fun topic to me
@@TheTylerpoe I thouhgt so too lol... I'll give a try a couple more times and see how it goes...I had fun doing it
Great list also agreed Vampires is underrated . They Live is my #1
@@Retro-Memory love them both!! Vampires gets way too much disrespect lol
Have you seen The Thing from 2011? I finally got around to watching it and really enjoyed it. I loved how it was a prequel and was so faithful to Carpenter's movie.
The Thing is one of the best films ever made! Such a shame it was panned on release, stunted John's directing career & knocked his confidence.
Hot take - Halloween would be quite low on my top 10. I can appreciate that it's iconic & spawned the slasher genre etc but........... I find it quite dull 😱
@jeffwills it is hard to imagine now, that the thing flopped so hard at the box office and was panned by everyone
@@AVAPopCulture Thr big reason it flopped was because it literally came out the same time as ET and people especially families would rather see a cute family friendly movie instead of what Carpenter made.
If makes me feel so much better that you switch David Keith/Keith David back and forth because I do that almost every time I mention him 😂 and he's one of my favorite actors
LOL I do it it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!
No Assault on Precinct 13 - shocking. Napoleon Wilson is the coolest character ever. For the 2000s, Ghosts of Mars is a good movie (underrated). Christine on 4k makes it look miles better.
I figured that would draw some attention but I go for horror first with carpenter which is also why Big Trouble isnt higher - but i love Kurt Russell in anything...though you can make the case AOP13 is survuval horror like Escape from New York...it is a tough list lol
@@AVAPopCulture Love Kurt Russell movies. We need BTILC and Tombstone on 4k.
1. Escape From New York
2. Escape From L.A.
3. Big Trouble In Little China
4. The Thing
5. Elvis
6. They Live
7. Prince Of Darkness
8. Village Of The Damned
9. Vampires
10. In The Mouth Of Madness
Escape from LA at 2 huh? that is an interesting one....no Halloween? this might be the most unique Carpenter list yet LOL
@@AVAPopCulture yeah I do hear that a lot 😃 I've always felt that EFLA is a misunderstood satire disguised as an action movie & while Halloween is a good movie it just never struck me the same way as to many others. But if you count 🐍 movies as one than it would at #10
not sure if you know this but there was a Playstation 2 game of the thing which kinda serves as a sequel that we never got to carpenters film. They are currently working on a remaster of the game. Not sure how much you are into video games but it was an awesome game. Also there was a prequel movie that came out in the late 2000's. Story was pretty good but CGI was used instead of practical so the monster FX take a hit. Still worth checking out.
@@briandaniels2408 I'd definitely be into that game!!!!!
Big Trouble in Little China is a top 3….for sure. My top 3 Big trouble, the Thing, and escape from New York…..there placement can change. The bottom for me is Ghost of Mars, but even still I can watch it and laugh.
I think bottom for me is The Ward lol
Hey Chase, John Carpenter absolutely rules, there's no denying it. I pretty much agree with your ranking other than Prince Of Darkness, that would be my #6 & Escape From New York would be in my top 5. In regards to In The Mouth Of Madness, what the F@CK is Scream Factory waiting for? they need to put this out in 4K right now! It should have been in their October lineup. And as far as The Thing goes, I am praying Arrow does a big chunky box set in 4K, my God it would sell like hot cakes & they would kill it. They did a steelbook & a box set for the Blu-ray but we need a 4K now. Vampires is outstanding! my wife was watching your countdown with me and she couldn't have agreed with you more, she loves that movie too. Peace ✌️
Oh man, if Arrow did a big Chunky box for The Thing in 4k it would sell like CRAZY!!!! Tell your wife she has good taste LOL, Vampires gets way too much disrespect and is too overlooked as a great Carpenter movie and a great Vampire movie!
Love the video. While I don't think anyone would put this movie in the Top 10, I did like aspects of "The Ward" but I would be the first to tell you I look at it through rose colored glasses. Big parts of the film were shot in Medical lake, Washington at Eastern State Hospital, and was able to see parts of the filming. Even cooler was the fact at the time I was working at walmart, and one of my co-workers came to on the night shift really excited and told a few of us that John Carpenter was looking for an artist to use on the film and he had gotten the gig. So every night, I would get the low down on what happened on the set that day. All of the portraits and sketches were all done by him in the film. He said most of his portraits came from him sitting in the makup trailer with the ladies doing his sketches. John Carpenter was even nice enough to set down for a time and let him draw him, which he still has. Jack said positive experiences with John Carpenter and said he was a very down to earth guy and would give everyone a little bit of his time. Jack was so tired some nights from being on set a big part of the day, we would try and help with his workload in the electronics. While not the greatest movie, it was a very fond memory. Also, Jared Harris never disappoints.
@andrewbrown3070 thank you! And whenever we have a a personal connection I think it is perfectly natural to have a different look st something!
My same top 2 as well.
Carpenter is great Halloween, Big Trouble, Vampires, They Live, The Thing, are my top 5. I think my least favorite is The Ward.
yeah, even the hardcore Carpenter fans cant overly defend The Ward lol.... I think Vampires is underrated personally!
@@AVAPopCulture agreed 😂
Ghosts of Mars overlooked?
it isnt top 10 for me but I do enjoy it! I was just complaining on a recent video that we need a 4k for it lol
I just DO NOT LIKE Prince of Darkness. A lot of people love it, I kinda hate it.
The build up is good but it doesn't deliver for me in the end. And the whole green goo thing I just don't get.
I feel like there's no adequate character development. I would have liked to have gotten to know them more instead of the sterile scientific research angle. It would have been cool to see the demon play with them. What's the difference between that green goo and an outbreak? Just a miss for me.
It's not harrowing enough either. At least not for me. It looks low budget when the story could have just been better.
But yeah, I think you're right. If we're judging based solely on how well made, yeah The Thing is number one.
But for me Big Trouble is in the top 5. I LOVE that movie. Pure 80s crazy fun bliss.
A lot going on and very well made.
But yeah, I hate Prince of Darkness. lol
everyone has their different takes on movies and John Carpenter movies for sure! Prince of Darkness is not as high on my JC list as other people have it but the creep factor is there for me
Christine
I don’t get it with thing. I’ll try to make myself love it too lol
@@user-em8yy1dl7s I was right there with you for the last 40 years until it clicked a few months ago
@@AVAPopCulture I probably just need a physical copy. Any suggestions?
@user-em8yy1dl7s it took getting the 4k and watching it and it was so different for me personally...
I recommend the basic studio release 4k you can get for under $20 on Amazon!
@@AVAPopCulture lol no. I recommend being pro White in your videos😝
😂 I knew it was going to be In the Mouth of Madness when you said you're still holding out on the 4K. I have just about every single one of these and I personally put Vampires higher on my personal list. I have been saying it's unappreciated for years. It's actually in New Mexico which is the state I was raised in.
lol yep, I want a 4k of In the mouth of Madness and Vampires lol - and Vampires is criminally underrated
Got an even harder top 10... Top 10 Kurt Russell films. Lol
woof! that will be a hard one!
John Carpenter has 10 good movies? 😂
Im gonna prentend you didnt say that lol