I watched John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) for the first time about a year ago and just couldn’t believe that I had missed out for so long. I then randomly watched his The Fog (1980) and Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and was officially obsessed even though I’m not a huge follower of horror films. Since Blank Check had done a series on him, I decided to dive right in and watch all of his directorial theatrical films. What a run! Can’t recommend engaging with a filmmaker like this more (my next will be a much more manageable watch of the Wachowski’s films).
Here’s my ranking, completed before listening to the last episode of Blank Check’s miniseries on his films:
- The Thing (1982)
- They Live (1988) (Basically a tie)
- Halloween (1978)
- The Fog (1980)
- Escape from New York (1981)
- Starman (1984)
- Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
- Prince of Darkness (1987)
- Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
- Christine (1983)
- In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
- Dark Star (1974)
Everthything above this line is worth watching.
- Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
- Escape from L.A. (1996)
- The Ward (2010)
- Village of the Damned (1995)
- Vampires (1998)
- Ghosts of Mars (2001)