What makes John Carpenter's films special is the way he sets up the atmosphere and lets the plot unfold as the tension climbs while allowing me to be part of the show by feeling for the characters and what they're experiencing. This story is so good that it might be possible. Lovely is the high level of intelligence that's supplied by the characters who are students of the physics graduate program run by a professor with an interest in the paranormal.

At the hands of master director John Carpenter, Escape from New York is one of the ultimate cult films. It's also a surreal futuristic flick with an all-time badass by the name of Snake Plissken whom Kurt Russell was born to play. All hell breaks loose in New York City when Snake meets unsavory, eerie-looking characters around the city and starts pissing them off which makes it a fun picture to watch.

Among John Carpenter's top three films of all time, The Thing is a bona fide horror classic that improves on the original in every way possible. The plot is terrific which is alike to Alien. But this time, everybody dies because it's for the sake of saving the world from the unstoppable monster. The movie is pure terror all the way to the end.

A John Carpenter masterpiece, Halloween is universally regarded as one of the best suspenseful horror movies made. The director's setup of the atmosphere is brilliant. So is his idea of putting on a simple white Shatner mask over Michael Myers' face. He's like a robot with no feelings. Jamie Lee Curtis is the indisputable queen of scream. Her name will live forever in the annals of horror cinema.

There's something about each film by John Carpenter: the deliberate buildup of tension, the slow movement of players as they get to their places, and the subsequent roller-coaster ride. In short, Assault on Precinct 13 is the textbook of his formula. Interestingly, there are a great deal of similarities between this and Night of the Living Dead. If that's the case, then he was paying homage to George Romero by using nihilists in the place of zombies.

Fifteen years later, Snake Plissken is back. Louder and bigger than ever, Escape from L.A. is good fun that looks better than the original with few minor problems. Kurt Russell once again gives a great performance. John Carpenter is able to blend the terrible-looking CGI with the sci-fi classic to make it more attuned to today's standards of cinema while Snake Plissken is the bastion of old values and traditions. Also, what's fascinating is the Orwellian atmosphere that still rings true to this day.

Starman is at once charming and freaky. Good performances are rendered by Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, and Charles Martin Smith. I realize it's not simple to act like a robot consistently throughout the film, but Jeff Bridges has done it, earning himself an Oscar nomination.

Wow...Rowdy Roddy Piper stars in They Live. If you don't know who he is, obviously you aren't familiar with WWF. If you don't know what that is, forget it. In the philosophical sense, the film is Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets The Thing minus the gore.