What's your favorite John Carpenter Flick?

The Thing, which is also on my short list of my favorite horror movies. Sure, death is scary, but dying while losing all traces of your identity in the process is downright terrifying. Halloween is a close second and is still the best slasher I've ever seen.

List time!

1. The Thing
2. Halloween
3. Escape from New York
4. In the Mouth of Madness
5. Village of the Damned
6. Vampires

FWIW, these are some that I might've seen back in the day, but don't remember enough to rank properly...

The Fog
Christine
Starman
Big Trouble in Little China

In all fairness, I should probably rewatch 4 through 6 as well on my ranking above.

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I join The Thing-ers. Oddly enough, never liked his other work much, though The Fog definitely wasn’t bad.

I watched The Thing again tonight and enjoyed it immensely. The slow burn to the grim climax, the fatalism in that unforgiving environment really creeped me out. My favorite moment is when the unfortunate Bennings is taken by The Thing -

Obvious choice would be The Thing, but Christine has really grown on me in the past year or so.

I like Halloween slightly more than The Thing, but I consider both of these films to be among my favorite horror films of all time. I'll also give a shout out to They Live, which is in third place.

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Hell yeah. Such an underrated and under-appreciated film. I enjoy it more every time I watch it.

My current favorite, for about the last 4-5 years, is The Fog.

But it changes.

That's another favorite. I'll add that, the first time I saw The Fog, my wife and I were temporarily trapped in a beachfront hotel as a nor'easter roared through the night, with water surrounding the building and impassible roads, but TV movies were still on. The next time we were in California, we visited the lighthouse that was featured in the movie.

I'm not sure how to describe this, but the pace and dialog in The Fog feels like it was done by a musician. Sounds, dialog and mood music are all in step with each other. Then the eye gouging starts.

1. The Thing
2. Halloween
3. Christine
4. Prince of Darkness
5. Escape from New York

Did not like The Fog, Vampires nor Big Trouble in Little China.
Need to see Assault on Precint 13, DarkStar, In the Mouth of Madness, and Starman yet

My top 10:

The Thing (1982)
In the Mouth of Madness (1995)
They Live (1988)
Village of the Damned (1995)
Starman (1984)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
The Fog (1980)
Halloween (1978)
Vampires (1998)

Never really got Carpenter only movie i think i like is They Live, only because it's a bold undertaking and he pulled it off ok.

Oh also he did masters of horror for HBO Cigarette Burns I thought that was pretty good

Two years and two more watches later, it hasn't changed.

Halloween -- it's a really well-done slasher flick, but it is just a slasher flick.

Assault on Precinct 13 -- interesting themes, nice use of an anti-hero, but a bit rough around the edges.

Big Trouble in Little China -- Big Fun and great lines. A little cheesy, a little cringe, but fun.

Christine -- Meh.

Escape from New York -- Cool as AF. Great soundtrack. Kind of a goody premise. Dated SFX. Great for what is implied about the world and only shown in a glimpses (e.g., the girl being sexually assaulted in the basement before Plissken finds "the president"). Still, a little goofy if you think about it (e.g., why would they only have one copy of a cassette tape? Surely, they still have the papers and experts and tests?)

The Fog -- It's OK, but Halloween is better.

The Thing -- Great ensemble cast. Solid acting (can't really say this for all JC films). Great themes. Great music. Cutting edge SFX that largely aged well. Awesome atmosphere/tone. Great sense of creeping dread and mutual distrust. This is his greatest work. It's the one film he did that doesn't have Roger Corman-esque rough edges and schlock. This is his best film.

This definitely tracks.

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Into the Mouth of Mundaness

I always forget that Carpenter directed Starman...great film, Bridges was brilliant.

It's Carpenter's E.T.

1. Halloween
2. In The Mouth Of Madness
3. Ghosts Of Mars (this a film I like more than I probably should, just works for me great,so easy to watch, I love everything about it even though it is a bit schlocky that's part of its appeal!)
4. They Live (sheer brilliance)
5. Escape From New York
6. Escape From L.A
7. Christine
8. Village Of The Damned
9.The Thing

Difficult choice to put "They Live" after "Ghosts Of Mars" and I had to think hard on that.

Always felt "The Fog" should be a film I enjoy but tried it a few times now and I just find it boring and forgettable and won't be fooled into trying again. I gave it all chances, it's a whole heap of nothing.

Hated Assault On Precinct 13 horrible movie

Vampires is pants..

Not seen Big Trouble In Little China in years, I think I liked it as a kid.

I have no inclination to watch The Ward... unless someone tells me differently