John Carpenter John Carpenter

Born: 16 January 1948, Carthage, New York.

Biography:
Cult American composer and director, one of the few with the genuine musical talent to score his own films. Born in New York, Carpenter moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, at an early age, when his father became the head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. He studied at WKU, and at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema, and began making sci-fi and horror short films in the 1960s. He first came to prominence in 1970 when he won an Oscar for his short "The Resurrection of Broncho Billy", and followed that with his first feature, the classic "Dark Star" in 1974. Since then Carpenter has become a respected and admired practitioner in the horror and science fiction movie arena, with several box-office successes to his name, and critical acclaim for films which have subsequently - and rightly - gone on to be considered genre classics. His best movies include "Assault on Precinct 13" (1976), the unforgettable "Halloween" (1978), "The Fog" (1980), "Escape from New York" (1981), "The Thing" (1982, composed by Ennio Morricone), "Starman" (1984, composed by Jack Nitzsche), "Big Trouble in Little China" (1986), and "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" (1992). As a composer, Carpenter often collaborates with others - notably Shirley Walker, Alan Howarth, Jim Lang and Dave Davies - for his scores, most of which are based around synthesised melodies with minimalist textures contributed by his collaborators. His eerie clockwork score for "Halloween" is rightly considered a genre classic, and he even wrote a hit song for "Big Trouble in Little China" for his group, The Coup de Villes, which comprised himself and fellow directors Nick Castle and Tommy Lee Wallace.

Reviews:
Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from New York and Ghosts of Mars

Filmography (as a composer):
Halloween: Resurrection (2002), Ghosts of Mars (2001), Halloween: H20 (1998), Vampires (1998), Escape from L.A. (1996), Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), Village of the Damned (1995), In the Mouth of Madness (1995), Body Bags (1993), Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989), Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988), They Live (1988), Prince of Darkness (1987), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Christine (1983), Halloween III: The Season of the Witch (1982), Escape from New York (1981), Halloween II (1981), The Fog (1980), Halloween (1978), Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Dark Star (1973), The Resurrection of Broncho Billy (1970).

Highest Grossing Films as at end of 2007 (adjusted for inflation):
Halloween ($123.3m), Halloween II ($65.2m), Escape from New York ($64.3m), The Fog ($56.3m), Christine ($47.2m), Halloween III: The Season of the Witch ($34.7m), Vampires ($30.7m), Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers ($30.6m), Prince of Darkness ($25.7m), Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers ($24.6m).

Links:
Official Site

Assault in Precinct 13 Big Trouble in Little China Body Bags Christine Dark Star Escape from L.A. Escape from New York The Fog Ghosts of Mars Halloween Halloween II Halloween III: The Season of the Witch Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers Halloween: Resurrection In The Mouth Of Madness They Live Vampires Village of the Damned


Home Page | Reviews A-M | Reviews N-Z | Composers | Links

Site copyright © 1997-2008, Jonathan Broxton/Movie Music UK. This page copyright © 2008. All rights reserved. The reviews and articles contained herein may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of the author. Some artwork and multimedia material are © various record labels and artists. All photos, multimedia and album artwork used are for non-profit making, promotional purposes, and no copyright infringement is intended.