by John Petty

Created on: October 21, 2008

Considered one of the reigning kings of the modern horror genre, John Howard Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York on January 16, 1948, and was attracted to movies from a very early age. As a youngster, Carpenter was drawn to the Westerns of such classic directors as John Ford and Howard Hawks, as well as to the booming genre of science fiction. Both of these early influences would be important catalysts to his later work.

After graduating from the University of California's School of Cinematic Arts in 1971, Carpenter embarked on his motion picture career. His first full-length film was the cult-classic "Dark Star" (1974), which he co-created with Dan O'Bannon (who would later gain fame as the writer for Ridley Scott's "Alien" [1979]). Although the film was a small, independently produced piece - Carpenter served as director, editor, and composer for the film - it caught the attention of several important people in Hollywood, who were impressed with the results Carpenter had achieved on a minimal budget.

This led to "Assault on Precinct 13" (1976), another low-budget film, this one a virtual remake of the Howard Hawks classic, "Rio Bravo" (1959), a personal favorite of Carpenter's. The urban setting notwithstanding, it's easy to see the parallels, as both involve a handful of dedicated lawmen trying to hold off an increasingly violent mob (Carpenter gave a tip of the hat to Hawks in the credits, where he used the pseudonym "John T. Chance" instead of his own name as editor. John T. Chance was the name of John Wayne's character in "Rio Bravo"). The film opened to mixed reviews, but was a smashing success at the London Film Festival in 1977, and enhanced Carpenter's popularity in Europe. Greater fame, however, was just over the horizon.

Working with a budget of only $320,000 Carpenter set out to make a classic haunted house movie that would take place on Halloween night. Drawing inspiration from such sources as "The Exorcist" (1974) and "Suspiria" (1977), Carpenter crafted a tightly-plotted, intensely thrilling tale of terror in "Halloween" (1978), starring a young Jamie Lee Curtis - in her first feature role - as the unfortunate baby sitter who must protect both herself and her young charges from supernatural killer Michael Myers. Seen today as one of the founders of the modern "slasher" genre of horror films - along with such films as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974), and "Friday the 13th (1980) - the film is also memorable for its brilliant score by Carpenter

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