Exclusive Modern Masters of Horror Interview Series: In-Depth with John Carpenter
Steve Barton
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John Carpenter has been making films for longer than you have been living. Do the math. His post college career, alone, is probably longer than your lifespan.
A seminal director and one of the foremost experts in the Horror genre, John Carpenter is often credited with popularizing the concept of the slasher flick. With a distinct eye for talent, Carpenter has helped launch the careers of names such as Jamie Lee Curtis and Kurt Russell.
Despite an illustrious career and a reputation that has already stood the test of time, Mr. Carpenter has a surprisingly simple outlook on the way he makes films. He’s the type of guy that does not like to over-complicate things. For him, the entire process of filmmaking comes back to one, essential element: the story.
Beyond being a filmmaker, beyond being a director, John Carpenter primarily sees himself as a storyteller. Whether it’s an escaped, homicidal mental patient, or a metamorphosing creature from outer space, John’s main motive is to do no more than tell a good story.
Now 65 years old, Mr. Carpenter is in good health (despite his own predictions to the contrary), he’s looking toward the future and he’s still passionate about his straightforward theories on filmmaking. He’d be the first to tell you that if you don’t have a good story, you don’t have much of anything.
In an exclusive interview with Dread Central, Carpenter digs deep into his years of experience to provide some of the most common sense filmmaking advice that you can get from someone with a resume as long as his. In our second installment of the Masters of Horror series, these are The Guts of the Craft, according to John Carpenter.
DC: Let’s start with the most basic question. What do you think makes a good horror film? What distinguishes a great horror film from, say, a B movie?
JC: A good story, well told. That’s the essential element. That’s the element that cannot, no matter how many tricks you use, and what kind of a budget you have, can’t be overcome.
DC: But then what makes a good story? What goes into that good storytelling?
JC: Well, if I had the formula, I could make a lot of money selling it, couldn’t I? But you know, there are basic rules, you can read about them, you can study old films. You need compelling characters and a plot that won’t let you go, especially in a horror film.
DC: What do you think an audience is looking for in a good horror film?
JC: Well, a lot of things, but mostly just entertainment and fun. People go to movies to escape and have fun, especially when they’re seeing a horror movie. And to be scared in a safe place, face your demons and your fears in a safe place, scream and yell and grab your girlfriend in a safe place, or your boyfriend, whichever.
Horror films are a universal genre in that they appeal to the entire world. Whereas, say comedy, that doesn’t really travel sometimes. But horror does. What scares somebody here in Los Angeles probably scares somebody in Hong Kong.
People have tried for years to think ‘what is it that scares, people and I’ll make a movie about that.’ Well, it’s not that simple… The question is: what is it that you have as a storyteller? What do you have to give to the audience that makes your story compelling?
DC: You once said in an interview that all horror films are about people who have lost control of their situation. You said that the essential goal of a protagonist in a horror film is overcome these atrocious obstacles that have been put in front of him or her.
JC: That’s smart! I can’t believe I said that. (laughs)
DC: But really though, when you’re looking at your characters, how do you imagine them heroically? How do you add that sort of element to a character and make it believable?
JC Well, you don’t add an element. No, you put a character in a situation and then they respond. Anybody can be a hero; and anybody can be a coward. It depends on how they respond to the situation.
Assume [that when] an audience is watching a movie, what they’re doing is projecting their own feelings, their own fears, their own selves into the characters they see on screen. I (referring to an audience member) become this person, I take sides with this person, and I like this person on screen, that’s the projection. [It’s a] literal, emotional projection…I (referring to himself) want a character to be heroic, and I want him to fight for his life, and to fight for the lives of loved ones.
DC: Over the course of your career, how do you think audience expectations have evolved? And how have you had to adapt to that?
JC: Listen, change is inevitable. You go with it, you learn from it, and try to tell stories that speak to the culture.
I don’t have a formula for any of this. I don’t think anybody really does. There are certain basics in a horror movie, like a jump scare, well everybody has their own technique for that… So you ask somebody how do it, well, they’ll do it their way.
People have all these cliché terms for drama these days. It all comes back to a basic element, and that’s the story. What do you have in your story? What have you got going for you?
DC: One of the things that I gather from you is an overwhelming sense of simplicity and precision. It’s as if the idea is to keep your process simple and create something that is effective.
JC: Sounds good to me! I think that down deep, underneath, I’m a very simple person. I don’t have a lot of complexity so I probably approach life that way. But I don’t know that’s just a personal style, that’s just the way I look at things.
I just think you bring yourself to a movie. I don’t think you can learn complexity. You either have a sense of that or you don’t in terms of storytelling. You can do complex storytelling, there’s no mystery in it… I think you’ve got it right, simplicity and efficiency.
DC: You once said something to the extent of, ‘Everything I ever learned about evil, I learned in Bowling Green, Kentucky.’
JC: That’s right!
DC: I was hoping you could elaborate on that.
JC: I suppose you can say that about any town. Any place there are people around, human evil is close. I could see how people treated each other, how they treated the weak and how bullies operated and how power operated. This was in the Jim Crow South, I saw how racism raised its head. There’s a lot of savagery in people’s hearts. It’s really interesting. It’s everywhere, but [Bowling Green] is where I learned my little taste of human nature.
DC What were some of the more practical things you had to learn as you were coming into your own as a filmmaker?
JC: Well, the first thing I did was learn everything I could learn about cinematic storytelling. And once you have that, once you have the ground rules down, on how to tell a movie story, then a lot of the extraneous stuff can get left behind and you can get rid of it. That’s what it’s all about, is storytelling. No matter what it is you’re doing, you’re telling a story cinematically.
So my first suggestion to everybody who’s starting out or young and wants to be a director or whatever, is learn the basics. However, you want to do it. You can go to film school, you can study old movies, you can read books, whatever you want to do, but learn those. And then, there are rules to be broken, you can make up your own rules. If you have the basics of cinematic storytelling, you’re free. So a lot of the bullshit you carry around with you can be left behind. That’s the essence of it: learn the craft. Once you’ve got that down, the rest is easier.
DC: What were some of the challenges you faced when you were moving from smaller, more independent projects, to bigger budget, studio films? Did you find that you had to adapt your process at all?
JC: It’s all the same. When you have more money, sometimes you have more headaches. Sometimes you have more stuff, you have more opportunity, but the storytelling process is exactly the same. Whether you’ve got a hundred million dollar movie, two hundred million dollar movie, or a fifty thousand dollar film, it doesn’t matter.
So, once again, you go back to the basics. Once you’ve got the basics, you can do it all… The task of the director is always the same, that’s what’s so great about learning the basics. Once you’ve got them you’re not going to lose them.
A native of Kentucky and a graduate of USC Film School, John Carpenter has directed, written, and even scored for such classic titles as Halloween, The Thing, and Escape from New York.
DC: Let’s talk music for a second. When you’re approaching a composition for a film, where do you start?
JC: Improvisation. Most of the music that I’ve done for movies is improvised. It just comes up on the spot depending on the sequence that I’m watching. I’ll cut a movie, and then I’ll play to the image. I’ll play the music to the image to support the sequence that’s going on. Very rarely do I come up with a piece ahead of time. But mostly it’s improv. That goes back to instinct. It goes back to trusting yourself.
DC: Who are you listening to nowadays?
JC: I think Hans Zimmer is really great these days, you want to see how great a score can be? Listen to his stuff.
DC: You once said that the Horror genre is starting to die out because a lot of the basic techniques of the craft are being stolen by action movies.
JC: Well, that’s true.
DC: Do you feel like that’s still the case? What do you think the future holds for Horror?
JC: I think that your generation is going to come along and re-invent a lot of this. That’s all we need is a little re-invention. And I think that’s under way, so I’m really hopeful about the future. I say that it’s all gonna be fine.
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