John Carpenter

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q95008: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by Wikidata joins them to Starman, which Starman with Katey Rich credits them on.

Counted as director, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they directed, which the two lists below run through too: Halloween (1978); Escape from New York (1981); The Thing (1982); Christine (1983); Starman (1984); Big Trouble in Little China (1986); Carpenter filmography; Halloween (incl. 2018 revival); Prince of Darkness. Count them as writer (1 film), composer (0 films) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

It Happened One Night (1934): 2 lines

  1. craft (genre / structure) · through Starman (1984), which they directed: It Happened One Night ⇒ Starman (the host's read). Carpenter wanted a road movie of two people in a car getting to know each other, in the mold of It Happened One Night.
    “I want to make it happens one night.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:22:08 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (homage) · through Starman (1984), which they directed: It Happened One Night ⇒ Starman (the host's read). The hay-bale love scene in an empty train car is called a likely conscious homage to It Happened One Night.
    “So it's a, maybe it's an homage.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:27:07 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974): 2 lines

  1. lineage (ancestor) · through Halloween (1978), which they directed: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ Halloween (the host's read). Halloween felt like it invented modern horror, but on rewatch Chainsaw is the real ground zero.
    “whenever I watch Chainsaw, I'm like, no, actually this is ground zero.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:03:01 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. programming (double feature) · through Halloween (1978), which they directed: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ Halloween (the host's read). Bill pairs it with Halloween to compare how much Halloween cribbed from Chainsaw.
    “I went Halloween just to compare and contrast like how much Halloween, crib done, chainsaw, all that stuff.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:31:20 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

An American Werewolf in London (1981): 1 line

  1. lineage (effects lineage) · through Starman (1984), which they directed: An American Werewolf in London ⇒ Starman (the host's read). The transformation sequence is indebted to American Werewolf's practical, show-it-all body effects.
    “Yes, which is very like American werewolf in London, where the body is stretching out.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:20:41 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982): 1 line

  1. industry (studio rivalry / shadow) · through Starman (1984), which they directed: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ⇒ Starman (the host's read). Columbia chose Starman over Night Skies, which Universal turned into E.T., so Starman carried the stigma of the one that got away and then looked like a ripoff.
    “Uh, so they let go of night skies and let Universal acquire and turnaround.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 0:24:25 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)

Eraserhead (1977): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through The Thing (1982), which they directed: Eraserhead ⇒ The Thing (the host's read). Alien, Carpenter's The Thing and Cronenberg's work belong to a 70s-80s peak of gooey rubber and robotics that Eraserhead may have first synthesized.
    “We don't exactly know, but I feel like things like alien and the carpenter film, certainly the thing.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 1:29:47 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Stephen King: 1 line

  1. lineage (adaptation) · through Christine (1983), which they directed: Stephen King ⇒ Christine (the host's read). Carpenter was the first pick for Christine; King later turned on adaptations.
    “he was the pick to make Christine.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 0:22:44 · David Sims (0.45 sure it was them)

Two for the Road (1967): 1 line

  1. craft (genre / structure) · through Starman (1984), which they directed: Two for the Road ⇒ Starman (the host's read). Carpenter reportedly wanted to make something like Two for the Road.
    “I want to make like 2 for the road.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:22:06 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Resident Evil (2026): 2 lines

  1. lineage (influence) · them, directly: John Carpenter ⇒ Resident Evil (the host's read). Carpenter looms over the movie; it sits in a lineage with Romero, 28 Days Later, Alien, Cronenberg.
    “It's very obvious the way that Carpenter looms over a movie like this.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:43:16 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (homage) · through The Thing (1982), which they directed: The Thing ⇒ Resident Evil (the host's read). The farmhouse sequence and the dog at the barn are homages to Carpenter's The Thing.
    “You can see the homage to Carpenters the Thing in all this part.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:40:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Forrest Gump (1994): 1 line

  1. people (performance lineage) · through Starman (1984), which they directed: Starman ⇒ Forrest Gump (the host's read). Bridges' hat, check shirt, strange speech and not-quite-a-person quality read as a proto-Forrest Gump.
    “there's like a proto-Forrest Gump vibe in this performance in the hat and in the check shirt”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:57:23 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Friday the 13th (1980): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Halloween (1978), which they directed: Halloween ⇒ Friday the 13th (the host's read). Friday the 13th was an openly shameless Halloween ripoff, built on Halloween's success.
    “We have to talk about how this was the most unabashed ripoff movie probably of all time.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:17:45 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

John from Cincinnati (2007): 1 line

  1. theme (premise) · through Starman (1984), which they directed: Starman ⇒ John from Cincinnati (the host's read). A mysterious odd visitor who solves everyone's problems and parrots dialogue; John from Cincinnati owes a lot to Starman.
    “He comes and visits, and he's mysterious, and he's weird, and he solves everybody's problem.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 2:11:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Midnight Special (2016): 1 line

  1. verdict (same story, better version) · through Starman (1984), which they directed: Starman ⇒ Midnight Special (the host's read). Midnight Special is called Spielbergian but really Starman-like; its Adam Driver agent does the benevolent-government-agent role better than Starman's.
    “I'm like, God, that's so Starman.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 2:02:29 · Katey Rich (0.45 sure it was them)

Sean Levy: 1 line

  1. lineage (remake plan) · through Starman (1984), which they directed: Starman ⇒ Sean Levy (the host's read). Levy announced a 2016 remake with Michael Douglas on board.
    “I learned from Wikipedia that in 2016, Sean Levy was planning to direct and produce a remake of Starman.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 2:13:16 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Sean S. Cunningham: 1 line

  1. industry (industry) · through Halloween (1978), which they directed: Halloween ⇒ Sean S. Cunningham (the host's read). Cunningham saw Halloween succeed, took out a trade ad for a non-existent movie, and found his funding.
    “The producer, Sean Cunningham, saw Halloween was successful, came up with this idea, put an ad in variety”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:17:50 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)

Starman (1986): 1 line

  1. lineage (sequel / spin-off) · through Starman (1984), which they directed: Starman ⇒ Starman (the host's read). The 1986 show is set 15 years later, about his son, with a recast Starman.
    “is set 15 years in the future because it's about his son.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 2:08:52 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (16) everyone in directing

Writing (1) everyone in writing

Music (1) everyone in music

Other (1) everyone in other

What was said about them, by kind

career (1)

  1. career (career): Kurt Russell → John Carpenter. With Carpenter failing, Russell had no one to prop him up in the late 90s.
    “Carpenter is fucking wiping out, so he can't be there to prop him up anymore.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Vanilla Sky with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:49:22 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

contrast (2)

  1. contrast (contrast): Starman → John Carpenter. Starman is one of the Carpenter movies he did not score; its synthy score is more emotional than his usual.
    “this is one of the Carpenter movies that he did not score.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:17:32 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. contrast (contrast): Jordan Peele → John Carpenter. Peele, unlike Carpenter, won't stay in horror and sci-fi forever.
    “They're not the John Carpenter.”
    The Big Picture · The 10 Best Horror Movies of the Decade | The Big Picture · 0:07:34 · unknown (Alexander or Karaszewski) (0.40 sure it was them)

industry (1)

  1. industry (industry): John Carpenter → RoboCop. Carpenter got better at accepting executive-producer money on remakes of his ideas, while Verhoeven gets no checks.
    “I will happily be a nominal, stupid executive producer or whatever if you pay me.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · RoboCop (2014) · 1:07:21 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

lineage (2)

  1. lineage (influence): Resident Evil → John Carpenter. Carpenter looms over the movie; it sits in a lineage with Romero, 28 Days Later, Alien, Cronenberg.
    “It's very obvious the way that Carpenter looms over a movie like this.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:43:16 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage): It Follows → John Carpenter. Chris compares It Follows to Carpenter, though he knows Mitchell tired of that comparison.
    “I apologize for comparing this to John Carpenter”
    The Big Picture · The 10 Best Horror Movies of the Decade | The Big Picture · 0:25:48 · Chris Ryan (0.85 sure it was them)

people (1)

  1. people (people): John Carpenter → Halloween. Carpenter told the speaker he did not know what a 'final girl' was, until told it came from a Carol Clover essay.
    “I don't know what that is.”
    The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ With Gillian Anderson, Hannah Einbinder, and Jane Schoenbrun! · 1:01:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

programming (1)

  1. programming (programming): John Carpenter → Danny DeVito. Carpenter win means 18 weeks of scheduling; DeVito means about 6 weeks, leaving room for more miniseries.
    “Some people want someone like Carpenter to win so they can control 18 weeks of our scheduling.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:26:04 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

unmapped (2)

  1. unmapped (falling-out): Dean Cundy → John Carpenter. Carpenter said they had a parting of ways over attitude problems, while praising Cundy's work from Halloween through The Thing.
    “But before we could ever work together again, we would have to clear up some attitude problems.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:32:06 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (output comp): Zach Cregger → John Carpenter. Twelve 87-minute Cregger films would feel like when Carpenter put out a movie every 18 months.
    “What we imagine it was like to be like our age when Carpenter was putting out a movie every 18 months.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 1:16:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)

verdict (1)

  1. verdict (verdict): John Carpenter → Danny DeVito. Carpenter, the presumed front-runner, faces DeVito, the toughest opponent he could draw.
    “DeVito is arguably one of the toughest people he could go up against.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:25:32 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about John Carpenter: Drew McWeeny's story: asked his favorite Carpenter movie, McWeeny said Starman and Carpenter said 'ah, a romantic'; Carpenter tests fans for being softies.
    “and Carpenter smiled and said, ah, a romantic.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 0:10:32 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about John Carpenter: Carpenter had never heard of the final girl; his main interest outside his own movies was NBA basketball.
    “He was a great basketball fan.”
    The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ With Gillian Anderson, Hannah Einbinder, and Jane Schoenbrun! · 1:02:03 · Adam Nayman (0.50 sure it was them)