Late Night Blogging: The Top Ten John Carpenter Films (at Arrow's Video Deck)

As many of you know, I've been working with Arrow Video in the UK, as of late.  I have written articles for their (gorgeous...) Blu-Ray booklets for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and for the upcoming Big Trouble in Little China (1986).

To celebrate the latter film's new home release, I posted at their blog, The Video Deck, my selections for the top ten John Carpenter films.  Check it out here.

Here's a snippet:

"It’s always a difficult task to weigh a director’s career output in terms of a mere top ten list, but much more so in the case of John Carpenter.  The auteur and maverick has directed so many great films --- and in so many genres -- that often times it feels like comparing apples and oranges.  For example, how does one choose between two legitimate masterpieces like The Thing (1982) and Halloween (1978)?

Below, I have endeavored to tally the top ten John Carpenter films as I view them right now, and the reasons behind those selections.  Those who have read my book The Films of John Carpenter will note that I have re-jiggered the order some since that book was first published.  This is because John Carpenter’s films are almost universally ahead of their time, and sometimes a “true” sense of a film’s value only becomes apparent on retrospect."