B Movies Blog

Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re popping the work of John Carpenter into the ol’ VCR. 

Now, I’m not shy to admit that Halloween (1978) is my favorite horror movie of all time. I have a Laurie Strode tattoo, countless pieces of memorabilia around my house, and I own all of the movies on DVD or Blu-Ray. 

John Carpenter directed and wrote with Debra Hill (RIP) one of the absolute greatest horror movies of all time. The storyline is straightforward… a babysitter and her pals are stalked on Halloween night by a man who killed his own sister as a child. 

When you try to get past the Spectrum table at Walmart without being noticed. 

He’s seemingly indestructible, and he’s presented as a void. Hell, he’s referred to as “The Shape” in the credits. 

However, this piece of horror history catapulted Jamie Lee Curtis into stardom, launched a franchise, and made John Carpenter a legend.

I know that I probably don’t need to list any of his credits, but after Halloween (and Assault on Precinct 13), John Carpenter went on to direct even more of my favorite horror movies, including: 

• The Thing 
• Christine
• The Fog 
• Body Bags 
• Prince of Darkness

And that’s not even mentioning his non-horror work like Big Trouble in Little China and Escape from New York. 

I love John Carpenter because he’s always had this gritty, DIY feel about him. He wrote the infamous theme to Halloween. Debra Hill was in the costume for the famous scenes in the beginning of Halloween, shot from Micheal’s POV. They allegedly couldn’t afford lighting, so scenes aren’t purposely dark. 

It’s honestly super punk rock. 

I can’t tell you how long this has been on my dream couple’s costume list.

Like Robert Rodriguez, it’s also super obvious that you’re watching a John Carpenter movie. I don’t know if it’s the style or the music or both, but there’s no mistaking a Carpenter flick for anything else. 

Thank you, John, for not only giving me my favorite horror movie of all time, but for creating one of the defining movies for horror fans. 

We salute you. 🫡