The Films of John Carpenter

This book isn't the most exhaustive treatise on Carpenter (see Troy Howarth's "Assault on the System"), and neither is it the most interesting (see Gilles Boulenger's "John Carpenter: Prince of Darkness"; or Conrich and Woods' "The Cinema of John Carpenter"; or Robert Cumbow's "Order in the Universe"); but regardless, Muir's material is outstanding and should be considered a benchmark text on the subject. Every Carpenter student needs to have a copy of this title on their shelf.

Got this book for a college class and I actually enjoyed it

John Carpenter is an underrated film director. In this overview of Carpenter's work (which ends with 1998's Vampires), Muir defends a director he obviously admires as much as I do while still pointing out some flaws in some of his films. In particular, Carpenter's 1990s films are weaker than many of his 1980s films and that may have to do with some bitterness and anger that the director felt towards film critics and movie executives in his own country. The French view him as an auteur, but Hollywood views him as a hack. Some of these reviews appear in part (or in whole) in other critiques that Muir has published but generally the book is essential for genre fans who appreciate Carpenter's work.

The horror master is one of the most gifted filmmakers ever to populate this earth, and, if you're not comfortable with that, look someplace else. This is a true master like Hawks or Welles, and an underrated filmmaker. Carpenter's The Thing is a masterpiece that will grow with time, I know it! His films like They Live, is a Scorsese favorite, so watch out when a master praises another master. Cheers!

A patchy look at a personal favourite of mine but flawed. The book only goes as far as 1998 and, while Carpenter has done little since, the lack of an update is a shame as is the omission of Elvis. The rest of the book is beautifully written and insightful

I was rather dissappointed reading this book.Altough It provides interesting insight to the historical aspects of Carpenter's work it lacks indepth analysis when attempting to comment on the films.I understand there's a well meaning effort here to address the average viewer and that is done successfuly,giving Carpenter the status he deserves,but to me Carpenter's movies are a lot more than that and some suggestions regarding some screenplay details seem to loose the point completely.

Enjoyed it, a little repetitive.

Great book

A terrific, passionate appraisal of John Carpenter's work, with many interesting tidbits about the making of the films and how they were received at the time of their release. After reading this book, you'll want to re-watch all of Carpenter's movies.

My son loves this book good read