Trivia / John Carpenter

• Creator's Favorite Episode: He has stated that The Thing (1982) is the film he is proudest of, lamenting that it took so long to get the respect it deserved.
• Creator's Oddball: Amongst his filmography, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China and Memoirs of an Invisible Man are far removed from his "Master of Horror" status he’s known for. Each film is either a romance or a comedy.
• DVD Commentary: He has made commentary tracks for most of his films, which tend to be very entertaining. The ones with Kurt Russell in particular are clearly two good friends reminiscing and catching up.
• Production Posse: Particularly in his earlier films. Debra Hill produced and co-wrote three of his films, Dean Cundey was the cinematographer on five, Gary B. Kibbe was the cinematographer on eight, and Alan Howarth either composed the music or helped compose the music (with Carpenter himself) on five. Frequent actors include Kurt Russell, Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes, Charles Cyphers, Tom Atkins, Donald Pleasence, Nick Castle, among others.
• Referenced by...:
  • In Bacurau, the town school is the "Prof. Joāo Carpinteiro" school, an obvious reference to Carpenter. The film also uses some of his music.
  • Plan 7 of 9 from Outer Space. The martian TuMok exclaims, "Ghosts of Mars!" invoking the "curse of the dreadful John Carpenter movie."
• What Could Have Been: He was set to direct the comedy Armed and Dangerous but ended up backing out.
  • He was also considered for Santa Claus: The Movie, but was turned down since he also wanted a say in the writing, music score, and final cut.

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