John Carpenter is the king of horror, a title that is especially relevant this time of year. The spooky writer, director, musician, and songwriter has a knack for getting the hairs on the back of our necks to stand up in fright.
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The man behind the Halloween series, Carpenter has a lot of music to his name, too. From that film’s songs to others from movies like The Thing, They Live, and more. With so much talent and experience, let’s take a look at what he has to say about the world outside his music and other works.
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1. “There are two different stories in horror: internal and external. In external horror films, the evil comes from the outside, the other tribe, this thing in the darkness that we don’t understand. Internal is the human heart.”
2. “What scares me is what scares you. We’re all afraid of the same things. That’s why horror is such a powerful genre. All you have to do is ask yourself what frightens you and you’ll know what frightens me.”
3. “Evil hiding among us is an ancient theme.”
4. “I can play just about any keyboard but I can’t read or write a note.”
5. “In Halloween, I viewed the characters as simply normal teenagers. Laurie, Jamie Lee’s character, was shy and somewhat repressed. And Michael Myers, the killer, is definitely repressed. They have certain similarities.”
6. “You have to fight really hard for a private life, and sometimes you don’t have one. It just gets to you after a while. It’s tough.”
7. “To make Michael Myers frightening, I had him walk like a man, not a monster.”
8. “I don’t want to be a part of the demographics. I want to be an individual. I wear each of my films as a badge of pride. That’s why I cherish all my bad reviews. If the critics start liking my movies, then I’m in deep trouble.”
9. “I made a decision back in 1978 that, in a trade off for money when I directed Halloween, I would have my name above the title in order to basically brand these movies my own.”
10. “One could make money and get a career going with a low-budget horror film about killers attacking on holidays. It is always flattering to have somebody copy you.”
11. “I don’t watch my films. I’ve seen ’em enough after cutting them and putting the music on. I don’t ever want to see them again.”
12. “One of my heroes is a composer named James Bernard, and oh my God… I can still listen to his music today and be stirred and moved by it. But I think that you fall in love with… Well, again, when you’re young, it really is more powerful. Much more terrifying.”
13. “Way back in the ’70s, I was approached to talk about the story I’d write for a Spider-Man movie. They also talked to me about Batman. I had to think about it, but that was way, way back when.”
14. “I had a talent for scoring films. I just developed it.”
15. “From early on, when synthesizers were first introduced into music, I liked the idea that you could get a big sound with them, electronic, but like an orchestra. And I could play it all myself. That was exciting.”
Photo by Sophie Gransard / Courtesy Biz 3
