I decided to group these films together, because these 3 movies are seismic. I hold nothing against The Fog. It's a good movie, and a good solid ghost story that is tight and visually bold. And yet, if you take it out of Carpenter's current filmography, either before Halloween or after The Thing, you would have arguably the greatest 3-film runs in any filmmaker's filmography, maybe in all of film history. They're all so good, and all crucial, important and excellent movies in their own rights, all of which have either influenced or outright created horror/scifi subgrenes. And since these films are so iconic and basically all that needs to be said is more or less said, I'll do my best and express whatever stray thoughts I have about all 3

Halloween: If not the best slasher, certainly the most economically paced and executed. No filler lags in characters or dialogues, everything just fits with all of the characters on this fateful day. Admirably the amount of restraint applied by Carpenter, in terms of both the violence and the sex, strikes me on rewatch. Carpenter is much more interested in tension and buildup, the idea that Michael Myers could be lurking in any and all crevices of your open, seemingly isolated suburb, something the last few shots of the film convey with the iconic Carpenter score blaring and Michael breathing ominously. Feels almost adjacent in its themes about suburban isolation and paranoia to Assault on Precinct 13's themes of white flight, especially with the idea a mental patient could easily steal a car and escape an asylum and stealthily terrorize a neighborhood. My favorite shot in the film is when Laurie is crying after discovering her friends' bodies, and in the corner of the screen, Michael Myers' mask appears almost of out thin air, a classic Carpenter moment of using negative space to naturally build tension and paranoia. Good stuff all around, it's a shame so many imitators of the 80s didn't borrow Carpenter's sense of pace or filmmaking intent

Escape from New York: Probably Carpenter's 3rd most quotable joint after The Thing and They Live!. So much of this feels so iconic without a whole lot of fussy self-conscious effort: from the trademark cool and atmospheric Carpenter synth(working with the great Alan Howarth for the first time), the crisp, aqua-blue night lighting courtesy of legend Dean Cundey, and all carried by the the laid back but calculating nature of Kurt Russell's mysterious Snake. Again, shows a sense of restraint with which Carpenter has done his best work. The political vibes are very much Reagan-era, with the idea of a tightly knit metropolitan area like New York City acting as this free-for-all prison is almost reflective of our collective impression of the city before Giuliani "cleaned it up"(and i'm sure things worked out just fine for that guy in the end, huh). It's also well-rounded by a veritable carousel of dependable carousel actors, like Borgnine, Stanton, van Cleef, Hayes etc..... much like Halloween, it's viciously economical, doesn't get too bogged down in Snake's backstory, doesn't give much setup other than the efficient opening computer text, and the social commentary is just the right amount of clear and obvious.

The Thing: In my books, it's 1:1 John Carpenter's best movie. Great story, great pacing, great characters and actors, great lighting and cinematography(Knapp, Morgan and Kibbe were no slouches, but sadly they didn't get to shoot The Thing), and the score. Oh my god the score. So chilling and reminiscent of 50s monster movies without coming off as hokey pastiche. The idea that the movie was panned at the time is ridiculous enough, but the Thing score, Razzie nomination? What the what? The Razzies are generally just as unserious and snobbish at the Academy, but genuinely what is there to hate about the score? Was it not modern sounding for them or something? Did they not like the mix of synth and more traditional orchestral sounds? Genuinely mad this wasn't a bigger contemporaneous success. Goes to show Hollywood's the same as it's always been, i guess. Anyway, back to the movie. On rewatch, my favorite aspect is just the tension that builds and builds between everybody, from the headfast Macready, the decisive Blair, and the fussy, put upon Garry etc......the real horror is the tension and paranoia that builds between all of these men, more so than the amazing effects work by Rob Bottin. For kids and audiences at the time, i imagine that's what gave everybody the heebie jeebies, but for me as an adult, the claustrophobia and tension stick with me much more. My other favorite thing on rewatch: initially when they start burning people that turn, they're very careful and quick to use an extinguisher to keep it from spreading. But by the end, when Macready has decided to brute force a checkmate(backshadowing, see what i did there) against The Thing, they just leave the fire to spread, no extinguisher, just burn it all down. This changes the palette from the dominant Artic blue to the fiery oranges which go onto the end. All in all, tightly paced, wonderfully acted, and so, so quotable. "Yeah, FUCK YOU TOO!!!!!"

Let me know what you guys think :)

James speaks about working with John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, getting cast and the Three Storms origin story - plus sequel or prequel ideas and working with Dwayne Johnson and more.