ohn Carpenter been has been thrilling moviegoers for years with hits like Escape From New York, Starman, In the Mouth of Madness, John Carpenter's Vampires and John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars. But certainly his greatest fame came from his 1978 film, Halloween. This year marks the 25th anniversary of that modern horror classic, which has spawned numerous sequels and countless imitators.
Though most of Carpenter's heroes are men of action, he doesn't ignore the strength and valor of women. Laurie Strode, as portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween, proved to be the only one brave and resourceful enough to subdue the relentless silent killer, Michael Myers.
John Carpenter was born in Carthage, N.Y., and raised in Bowling Green, Ky. He enjoyed westerns as a child, which may explain the stalwart outlook of most of his heroes, as well as the high-action energy he brings to his work. He attended Western Kentucky University and later enrolled in the University of Southern California's School of Cinema. As a student, he completed the 1970 short subject "The Resurrection of Bronco Billy," which won an Academy Award. He went on to direct Dark Star, Assault on Precinct 13 and then Halloween, which earned over $75 million worldwide on a budget of $300,000.
Following Halloween, he scored big with such suspense and horror hits as The Fog, They Live, Prince of Darkness, Christine, Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, In the Mouth of Madness and Village of the Damned. He has also ventured into other genres, including the comedy Memoirs of an Invisible Man and the sci-fi romance Starman. For TV, Carpenter directed the thriller Someone's Watching Me, the miniseries Elvis and the Showtime horror trilogy John Carpenter Presents Body Bags. Carpenter's screenwriting credits include Eyes of Laura Mars, Halloween II, The Philadelphia Experiment, Black Moon Rising, Meltdown and the TV western El Diablo. He co-authored the screenplay of John Carpenter's Vampires with Dan Jakoby and Dan Mazar from Vampire$, a novel by John Steakly.
What did executive producer Irwin Yablans give you to start The Babysitter Murders (later known as Halloween) creatively, and how did you and Debra Hill develop that into the script?
Carpenter: Irwin Yablans said, "I want a movie about babysitter murders, about a stalker, a killer going after babysitters." He thought that all teenagers could relate to that, because they all babysat some point. So I said, "OK, fine."
Debra and I outlined an idea and I went off and directed the TV movie Somebody's Watching Me. She wrote the first part of the script, and after I finished the TV movie I came back and finished it.
One day, Yablans called me on the telephone and said, "Why not set the film on Halloween night and we'll call it Halloween?" It had never been used as a title before.
Michael Myers/The Shape is the ultimate bogeyman: unstoppable, without reason and yet based in humanity. How did you and Debra go about creating Michael?
Carpenter: The ultimate bogeyman? The ultimate unkillable thing? If one goes back and looks at Westworld, that picture involved a robot gunfighter that keeps coming back again and again. I copied a bit of that idea and added it to a horror film on Halloween night with teenagers. To make Michael Myers frightening, I had him walk like a man, not a monster.
Was Michael Myers' character history, as conveyed in the later films, part of your original Myers mythos?
Carpenter: Michael Myers' connection to Jamie Lee Curtis was all made up in the later films because my business partners wanted to make sequels. I can't stop them from making sequels. For Halloween II I contributed a screenplay, but I didn't want to direct it.
Most of Michael Myers' victims were sexually active, while the one who eludes him, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), is virginal. Were you trying to make some kind of statement about sex being deadly?
Carpenter: For the last 25 years, people have brought up this so-called "sexual statement" issue. It has been suggested that I was making some kind of moral statement. Believe me, I'm not.
In Halloween, I viewed the characters as simply normal teenagers. Laurie, Jamie Lee's character, was shy and somewhat repressed. And Michael Myers, the killer, is definitely repressed. They have certain similarities.
Halloween sparked a glut of horror movies based on serial killers attacking on holidays, for example Friday the 13th, My Bloody Valentine, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery ... were you flattered?
Carpenter: I was flattered, but I took it not as much about me as money. One could make money and get a career going with a low-budget horror film about killers attacking on holidays. It is always flattering to have somebody copy you.
You shot some scenes for the TV broadcast of Halloween to help pad the running time, using the cast and crew from Halloween II. Why?
Carpenter: NBC purchased the right to show Halloween on network television. The minimum length requirement was 93 minutes, if I remember correctly. Halloween only lasted 88 or 89 minutes. So we had to pad it to get to the length NBC required. I just added a lot of foolish crap—nothing particularly good.
You produced and scored Halloween 3: Season of the Witch. That movie broke away from Michael's story. Was the intent at that point to release a stand-alone movie on October?
Carpenter: I wanted to get away from what I thought was the dead end of the original Halloween story. It's basically the same idea over and over again. Nothing really changes. Halloween 3 was an attempt for something new. I was wrong. The audience didn't want to see a change. They wanted The Shape. So The Shape is what they got.
What was your level of creative input with the other Halloween sequels?
Carpenter: After 3, I didn't have any creative input. I just collected checks.
Aliens and monsters hidden among us—that's the theme behind your movies Village of the Damned, The Thing and Ghosts of Mars. The main sense of horror in these films seems to come from paranoia: No one can be trusted. Do you see that as a dominant source of fear in today's world?
Carpenter: Evil hiding among us is an ancient theme. Demonic possession has been with us for centuries. With the emergence of science fiction, this evil sometimes takes the form of malevolent aliens.
You've written, directed, scored the music, edited and produced several of your movies. How do you juggle so many responsibilities?
Carpenter: With great difficulty.
Escape From New York and Escape From L.A. are set in a distant police-state society. Do you feel the United States is headed in that direction or not?
Carpenter: I don't feel the U.S. will resemble the world that I portrayed in the Escape movies. Certain aspects of it, yes—but I doubt to the extent of the fictional country that Snake Plissken found himself in.
What are your thoughts on the horror and science-fiction genres?
Carpenter: I've always had a fondness for horror and science fiction.
You've also worked extensively with the late Donald Pleasence. Do you have any stories about your years of working with him?
Carpenter: Donald Pleasence was a dear friend for many years. I admired him as an actor and loved working with him. He was one of the funniest men I've known.
Satan and the Anti-God, as depicted in Prince of Darkness, appear to be science-fictional as well as supernatural. For example, the Anti-God is trapped in a mirror dimension, and the liquid life form in the ancient canister acts like a contagious virus. Do you feel the supernatural might be, in fact, another form of science?
Carpenter: This is a difficult question. I personally don't believe in the supernatural. On the movie screen, the supernatural certainly can exist, but in real life, no. But most people on the planet have a deep hunger for supernatural meaning. One can't just ignore it. I combine science and the supernatural to tell a story, nothing more.
On a related note, Ghosts of Mars also combines the supernatural and science fiction: Ghosts of long-dead aliens possess modern earthlings. Do you believe in life after death, as either a supernatural or scientific phenomenon?
Carpenter: I don't believe in life after death.
Is there a project you ever passed on that you now wish you hadn't?
Carpenter: No.
You played a coroner in Body Bags. Do you have any acting roles lined up in the future?
Carpenter: If anyone asks me, I'll do it.
Last question: What scares John Carpenter?
Carpenter: That is another question that I've been asked for the last 25 years. I have the same answer every time. What scares me is what scares you. We're all afraid of the same things. That's why horror is such a powerful genre. All you have to do is ask yourself what frightens you and you'll know what frightens me.
Back to the top.
