Age: 78
male
An American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction. Most films in Carpenter's career were initially commercial and critical failures, with the notable exceptions of Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), and Starman (1984). However, many of Carpenter's films from the 1970s and the 1980s have come to be viewed as cult classics, and he has been acknowledged as an influential filmmaker. Cult classics that Carpenter directed include: Dark Star (1974), Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Prince of Darkness (1987), They Live (1988) and In the Mouth of Madness (1995). His films are characterized by minimalist lighting and photography, static cameras, use of steadicam, and distinctive synthesized scores. Carpenter is also notable for having composed or co-composed most of the music of his films; some of them are now considered cult as well, with the main theme of Halloween being considered a part of popular culture. His music is generally synthesized with accompaniment from piano and atmospherics. He released his first studio album Lost Themes in 2015, and also won a Saturn Award for Best Music for Vampires (1998). Carpenter is an outspoken proponent of widescreen filming, and all of his theatrical movies (with the exception of Dark Star and The Ward) were filmed anamorphic with a 2.35:1 or greater aspect ratio. The Ward was shot in Super 35, the first time Carpenter has ever used that system. Carpenter has stated he feels that the 35mm Panavision anamorphic format is "the best movie system there is", preferring it over both digital and 3D film. Many of Carpenter's films have been re-released on DVD as special editions with numerous bonus features. Carpenter has been the subject of the documentary film John Carpenter: The Man and His Movies, and American Cinematheque's 2002 retrospective of his films. Moreover, in 2006, the United States Library of Congress deemed Halloween to be "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 2010, writer and actor Mark Gatiss interviewed Carpenter about his career and films for his BBC documentary series A History of Horror. Carpenter appears in all three episodes of the series. He was also interviewed by Robert Rodriguez for his The Director's Chair series on El Rey Network. Many filmmakers have been influenced by Carpenter, including James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight was heavily influenced by The Thing), Guillermo del Toro, Robert Rodriguez, Edgar Wright, Danny Boyle, Nicolas Winding Refn, Bong Joon-ho, among others. The video game Dead Space 3 is said to be influenced by Carpenter's The Thing, The Fog and Halloween, and Carpenter has stated that he would be enthusiastic to adapt that series into a feature film.
On Halloween 1997, ten-year-old Michael Myers stabs his sister Judith Myers to death and bludgeons her boyfriend Steve Haley to death. Other than his parents, the only person he spares is his baby sister Angel Myers. Fifteen years later, Michael escapes from Smith's Grove Sanitarium during a prison transfer and makes his way back home to Haddonfield Illinois, leaving a bloody trail of corpses in his wake. Pursuing him is his former doctor, Sam Loomis, the only person who knows that Michael is nothing but true evil. In Haddonfield, Michael steals a Halloween mask and a boiler suit, as well as the tombstone from his sister's grave. He then begins to stalk high school student Laurie Strode and her friends, Annie Brackett and Lynda Van Der Klok. Loomis also shows up and teams up with Annie's father, Sheriff Tom Brackett, to put an end to Michael's rampage. Unknown to everyone but Michael, Laurie Strode is actually Angel Myers. While Laurie is babysitting little Tommy Doyle and Lindsay Wallace, Michael stalks her friends as well as her parents, Morgan and Cynthia Strode, before murdering them in a gruesome and brutal fashion. Eventually, Laurie discovers the bodies of her friends in the house across the street and is attacked by Michael, who chases her back across the street. After an intense final chase, Laurie seemingly kills Michael and then sends Tommy and Lindsay to get help. They are spotted by Loomis, who arrives at the Doyle house just in time to save Laurie by shooting Michael. However Michael isn't defeated until Laurie stabs him and he falls into the swimming pool. But when Loomis goes outside to check the body, Michael has vanished, meaning he's still out there
