Genzel, C: The Films of John Carpenter

In his early days, John Carpenter was praised for his original genre features, among them the urban western ‘Assault on Precinct 13‘, the relentless shocker ‘Halloween‘, and the cynical futuristic vision of ‘Escape From New York‘. But ever since his remake of Howard Hawks‘‘ ‘The Thing from Another World‘ failed to meet critical and commercial expectations, critics have continuously dismissed Carpenter as a burnt-out director who unsuccessfully seeks to recapture the magic of his early successes. Even though some of his movies have now been re-evaluated, many film critics are still hesitant to regard Carpenter as a veritable auteur - a director whose personal vision, point of view, and style are visible throughout his entire body of work. But as an in-depth discussion of Carpenter‘‘s movies shows, all of his films are informed by a deep distrust of authorities, by stylistic references to the western genre, by a network of references to (pop) culture, by a strong undercurrent of social commentary, and, most notably, by an ongoing focus on the notion of isolation, both physical and psychological.