Halloween Director John Carpenter Names His Top Six Games of 2013

[Johnny Novgorod]

Honestly, I don't think Carpenter should be anyone's source for good horror know-how. He hasn't made a good film since 1996 and hasn't made a good horror film since '95. Hell, his last 3 feature films have been some of the most awful horror films I have seen in my life, hands down. It doesn't much surprise me that he picked Dead Space 3 to be on his top games of the year...

Also, Far Cry 3 was released last year. How the hell does it count now?

He made Halloween, The Fog, The Thing, Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness. If I want a source for horror know-how I'm ringing this guy. The Thing alone gets him not only into Master of Horror heaven, but Master Filmmaker heaven.

Yeah, he made those all in the 80's and 70's. Nearly all of his attempts at horror since '95 have been completely awful (the only not-terrible thing he has done since then was Cigarette Burns). Or did we all just forget about Vampires, The Ghosts of Mars, and The Ward? The man he was, was a brilliant film director. The man he is, is a crappy has-been. I really wouldn't trust his advice on good horror anymore. If he still could make a good horror story, The Ward wouldn't be one of the dullest movies on the planet, now would it?

I still don't get how questioning Carpenter's "source for good horror know-how" has anything to do with his GOTY list. He's an avid gamer and a famous champion of games-as-art, as well as an iconic contributor to the medium. He was asked for an opinion that has nothing to do with film or horror, and give it he did.

Now about this has-beens-can't-give-opinions-about-anything business you have going. It's a bad philosophy to begin with, but is he even a has-been? His career spans over 50 years and over 20 feature length movies, including instant cult classics like Darkstar, Assault on Precint 13, Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China, Prince of Darkness, They Live, In the Mouth of Madness and Escape from LA, movies that range all the way from sci-fi, action, thriller, horror and comedy. But because his last 5 movies (you mentioned since 1995) have flopped critically and/or commercially (and as always opinions are torn on the meaning of "flop"; if critical acclaim means so much to you, world's foremost critic Roger Ebert did give 3,5/4 stars to Escape from LA and 3/4 to Ghosts of Mars), you feel it's correct to discredit this man's voice in a matter that isn't even related to his shortcomings?

Now let's toss all that. Fuck his hard-earned place in cinematic history. Fuck his right to an educated opinion about whatever. Fuck that his latest 5 movies didn't hit it off as much as you feel they should have. He's a has-been. Like Hitchcock, right? Everything Hitch did after Marnie (some might say The Birds) was pretty shitty. Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy, Family Plot are all pretty bad. It's not that they're not classics, or they're mediocre movies - they are flat out bad. Hitch's genius shows up in a few moments - the painfully "realistic" struggle/murder in the farm in Torn Curtain, the beautiful dress that blooms into a blood stain in Topaz, the tracking shot that pulls from the implied murder in Frenzy.

Here's another has-been: William Friedkin. And another: Alan J. Pakula. And another: Orson Welles. They never turned in an instant classic the way they did as young filmmakers. Sheesh some say Kubrick's last movies were nowhere as good as his first. Fuckin' Stanley Kubrick. You would've scoffed at his insights back in 1999 because Eyes Wide Shut was meh compared to Clockwork Orange? The Ward and 4 other movies are "dull" compared to his other awesome 15 movies so that makes him a has-been and can't have an opinion about an altogether different matter?

 

[BreakfastMan]

Now about this has-beens-can't-give-opinions-about-anything business you have going. It's a bad philosophy to begin with, but is he even a has-been? His career spans over 50 years and over 20 feature length movies, including instant cult classics like Darkstar, Assault on Precint 13, Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China, Prince of Darkness, They Live, In the Mouth of Madness and Escape from LA, movies that range all the way from sci-fi, action, thriller, horror and comedy. But because his last 5 movies (you mentioned since 1995) have flopped critically and/or commercially (and as always opinions are torn on the meaning of "flop"; if critical acclaim means so much to you, world's foremost critic Roger Ebert did give 3,5/4 stars to Escape from LA and 3/4 to Ghosts of Mars), you feel it's correct to discredit this man's voice in a matter that isn't even related to his shortcomings?

Yeah, he is a has-been. The fact of the matter is, even though his career spans over 50 years, nearly the last 20 of those have been terrible, and that isn't changing anytime soon. I don't discredit his voice as a whole. I discredit anything the man says now about film. Or should I start taking tips on good film-making from modern-day George Lucas?

Also, to address the the critical acclaim part... You assume I give a shit about what other critics think about films. I don't. I base this all on what I have seen of the man's work, which at this point is pretty much everything. And his last 3 feature films have all been some of the horrible films I have seen; the Ward was incredibly dull, Ghosts of Mars was consistently, stunningly incompetent, and Vampires was unrelentingly vile. All of them are great candidates for the worst films of all time. So... Sorry if I think that his expertise on the matter might currently be suspect?

EDIT:

Snip

I don't understand your argument. Because creative people make mistakes or enter slumps they should never be trusted again, regardless of whether or not their classics still stand tall? What kind of fucking logic is that? the last movies Alfred Hitchcock weren't that good, and Paul McCartney's solo career wasn't nearly as prolific as his work with The Beatles. Does that mean that they shouldn't be bothered with anymore? Are you aware of the concept of a comeback?

Once they come back, I will start taking their advice on their chosen career into consideration. Before that happens, however, I will consider their advice/critiques suspect.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Now about this has-beens-can't-give-opinions-about-anything business you have going. It's a bad philosophy to begin with, but is he even a has-been? His career spans over 50 years and over 20 feature length movies, including instant cult classics like Darkstar, Assault on Precint 13, Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China, Prince of Darkness, They Live, In the Mouth of Madness and Escape from LA, movies that range all the way from sci-fi, action, thriller, horror and comedy. But because his last 5 movies (you mentioned since 1995) have flopped critically and/or commercially (and as always opinions are torn on the meaning of "flop"; if critical acclaim means so much to you, world's foremost critic Roger Ebert did give 3,5/4 stars to Escape from LA and 3/4 to Ghosts of Mars), you feel it's correct to discredit this man's voice in a matter that isn't even related to his shortcomings?

Yeah, he is a has-been. The fact of the matter is, even though his career spans over 50 years, nearly the last 20 of those have been terrible, and that isn't changing anytime soon. I don't discredit his voice as a whole. I discredit anything the man says now about film. Or should I start taking tips on good film-making from modern-day George Lucas?

I'd argue Lucas's strong suit was never directing in the first place.

Also, to address the the critical acclaim part... You assume I give a shit about what other critics think about films. I don't. I base this all on what I have seen of the man's work, which at this point is pretty much everything. And his last 3 feature films have all been some of the horrible films I have seen; the Ward was incredibly dull, Ghosts of Mars was consistently, stunningly incompetent, and Vampires was unrelentingly vile. All of them are great candidates for the worst films of all time. So... Sorry if I think that his expertise on the matter might currently be suspect?

Thank you for reading through my reply and don't be sorry for your opinion, though you have a long way to go in film viewing if you think your picks are "the worst films of all time". And again - you don't like his latest 3 movies and he's a has-been? Also you're still not answering how any of this is related to his GOTY list.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Thank you for reading through my reply and don't be sorry for your opinion, though you have a long way to go in film viewing if you think your picks are "the worst films of all time".

I don't make such an assertion lightly. I can very much back why all three are some of the worst films ever made.

Also you're still not answering how any of this is related to his GOTY list.

I saw his choice for one of the best games of the year was a horror game which he described as "scary", and I felt the need to point out that his opinion on what makes a good horror story was extremely suspect.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

I'm glad Remember Me got a spot on this list. Despite its flaws it remains one of my favourite games this year. So it wasn't perfect, so what? How many game studios put out a perfect game first time? Sure we need to recognise flaws so devs can improve but constantly bringing them down will only destroy any hope this industry has for putting new ideas out there.

I'd rather see another 10 flawed but original games over a single COD sequel.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

snip

He made The Thing, Escape From New York, In The Mouth Of Madness and They Live, AssCreed 4 is his game of the year AND he was disappointed Bioshock Infinite?

I think I love this guy.

All is forgiven, including Escape From LA and [i/]that[/i] is no small feat.

 

[JagermanXcell]

Y'know I'd love to see a good video game rendition of Big Trouble in Little China complete with voiceover work done by Kurt Russel. For that matter for the camp/cheese factor I'd also like to see a Snake Plissken game. I think the over-the-top nature of the universe would translate well to gaming. Make both games open-world, like GTA/Sleeping Dogs.
But I know it would never happen. Still a man can dream... a man can dream.

I'd fund that kickstarter. If Mad Max can get a game then goddamn it man, BTLC the video game can and should be a thing!

OT:
Love this guy as a director, even if he had his share of bad movies. Knowing that he's such an avid gamer at such an old age and seeing his GOTY list is pretty fun and interesting to say the least.

Also someone correct me if I'm wrong, didn't The Thing get a game for the PS2? A part of me is also assuming the game was decent since the PS2 was home to good horror games.

 

[legendp]

Remember Me needs to be forgotten to be honest. The rest excepting maybe Dead Space 3 were awesome.

well thats a matter of opinion, I personally thought rember me was great, infact I enjoyed it more than far cry 3. to each there own I suppose. my personal top games are bioshock infinte, tomb raider, remember me. and I have yet to play the last of us and beyond two souls

 

[Strazdas]

he seems to have quite interesting and untraditional taste. Fair enough. Though claiming that AC4 is "classic AC gameplay" makes me worry just how much thought he actually put into it.