He seemed to age rapidly after The Thing in 1982. I wonder if the fact that the bombing of that masterpiece, wich basically sealed his career with big budget companies, had something to do with it. Heard he went into depression and had lots of stress due to it.
The Thing is a masterpiece. Perfectly crafted. Also; I recently rewatched Big Trouble In Little China and was blown away by the economical way he told the story. The editing was paced perfectly. It's something that can almost be taken for granted as it's such a smooth assembly of parts.
This man is a freaking genius, he may be a lil nerd and social awkward, but this man was truly ahead of his time, already predicting the biggest problem we have in the media in general nowadays: censorship! And he was right about it: Tarantino indeed had to face the censorship through career cancelation attempts! John Carpenter knows pretty damn well when he tells people that he fears this world a lot more than horror/violent/scary movies!
Carpenter grew up in a small Kentucky town called "Bowling Green" I live in New Orleans and during hurricane Ida we drove to Lexington. Driving we passed Bowling Green on the interstate. Guess what exit immediate followed Bowling Green? Smith's Grove
John Carpenter had to be the unluckiest Director of all times. A lot of his films were met with poor reviews, and only when time goes by, they realized those films were actually good.
I think Carpenter and John Milius are two directors who never got what they really deserved given their talents and vision. It does not seem to be a coincidence, given that both directors made films that were somewhat out of step with a corporate Hollywood vision.
It's not being unlucky, it's reviewers who don't know how to review them because the films basically deconstruct & criticize the Reagan lore that helps them to be prominent critics now. It's still with us today. Honestly, they're scratching their heads @ They Live like: "Carpenter seems to be saying something about our cultural belief in aliens". Most people understand why they were always good. Like he says here, he partly judges his films on if they turn a profit, so he's not an entirely reliable critic about his own films either.
