John Carpenter explains why his movies “are so cynical”
John Carpenter has exerted a considerable influence over the direction of modern horror, specifically the slasher subgenre. Following his time at film school, Carpenter made a string of movies during the 1970s, including the thriller Assault on Precinct 13, which has since become a cult favourite. Yet, it was his third feature and first horror film, 1978’s Halloween, which allowed him to become known as a master of the genre.
Emerging after the release of pioneering slashers like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Black Christmas, Halloween became an unexpected hit, inspiring a wave of slashers in its wake, some considerably better than others. Carpenter intended to make a film that disturbed suburbia, setting his movie in a seemingly quaint town where citizens should supposedly feel safe.
The killer, Michael Myers, often shows up in broad daylight, hiding behind shrubbery that lines bright green lawns or even appearing on the grounds of Laurie Strode’s high school. Carpenter’s film unsettled audiences, yet they couldn’t look away, and it ended up grossing $70million despite being made on a budget of less than a quarter of a million dollars.
His next film was The Fog, which also starred Jamie Lee Curtis, continuing his foray into the horror genre. While it wasn’t as successful as Halloween, it is now ranked among some of Carpenter’s best work. Since then, he has released several other popular horror movies in the form of They Live and The Thing, although he has also proved his prowess in the action and sci-fi genres.
Escape From New York came in 1981, which saw Carpenter imagine an alternative New York, full of more crime and chaos. He was inspired by the Watergate Scandal, allowing politics to seep into his work more overtly than ever before.
It is politics that has significantly inspired Carpenter’s films, whether that be through subtle allusions to socio-political discontent in Halloween or more obvious commentary on capitalism and Ronald Reagan’s effects on America in They Live.
Talking to Time Out, Carpenter once explained that politics are the reason that his movies are so “cynical”. He said, “You have to realize that part of my personality is my utter horror at the Reagan revolution. I couldn’t believe it was happening. And yet, the flip side to all my disgust is that the left wing is lunatic—a bunch of idiots who don’t know what they’re doing. So I’m not in love with either.”
According to Carpenter, sometimes he “despairs” at the state of American politics, although he uses these feelings to fuel his films. This led him to discuss Escape From New York, highlighting that the President in the film is actually British. “We made up some story about him being the love child of Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. That didn’t make it into the movie because Kurt Russell is to the right of Attila the Hun,” he explained.
Clearly, like many other horror directors, Carpenter’s observations of the real horrors in the world, such as consumerism and political discontentment, make for the perfect themes upon which to base his scary movies.
