The horror film John Carpenter called a “perfect nightmare”
John Carpenter is undoubtedly an authority when it comes to anything related to horror cinema. The director behind classics such as Halloween and The Thing is considered by many to be one of the greatest horror filmmakers in the history of cinema. Carpenter has conducted fascinating explorations of social issues throughout his career by contextualising them within horror frameworks.
While many of Carpenter’s works weren’t recognised by critics and audiences when they first came out, his filmography has only grown in stature over the years. Carpenter’s magnum opus – The Thing – was once named “the most hated film of all time”, but it is now cited among the finest horror films ever made.
Horror cinema has been a huge part of Carpenter’s life since childhood. During his younger years, he was a fan of westerns by Howard Hawks and John Ford and low-budget horror productions like The Thing from Another World. Hammer productions and their music design shaped Carpenter’s artistic sensibilities in numerous ways.
During a conversation with Rotten Tomatoes, the acclaimed filmmaker was asked to name some of his favourite films of all time. After mentioning two entries by Howard Hawks, Carpenter also included seminal masterpieces by celebrated pioneers like Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Michelangelo Antonioni in his selection.
Interestingly, Carpenter did not mention any of the cult sci-fi/horror films he grew up watching but singled out an enigmatic psychological thriller by Alfred Hitchcock as one of his favourite horror movies of all time. One of Hitchcock’s finest, Vertigo’s brand of horror is highly nuanced and subtle because it builds on psychological aspects of the human condition.
While talking about Hitchcock’s unforgettable masterpiece, Carpenter commented: “Vertigo is a perfect nightmare. Perfect. It’s a dream, and it’s stunning. It’s so dark and obsessive, and it came from this director who claimed to only want to entertain the audiences. But that’s not true; it’s a masterpiece.”
The film follows the strange journey of a retired police detective (played by James Stewart) who suffers from vertigo and a crippling fear of heights. However, all his phobias are exploited as he embarks on a mysterious journey to track down a woman who has her own share of secrets.
