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The Battle of Horror Masters: CARPENTER VS. CRAVEN

While there are a wealth of excellent filmmakers contributing to our favorite genre, two names tend to emerge as the frontrunners for the title of true Master of Horror: Wes Craven and John Carpenter. Condering the hot and cold patches each man seems to juggle, determining the superior of the two feels near imposble, though I’ve developed a little scoring system to help sort through the madness.

Ultimately decions and point distribution will be made based upon my own opinion, which makes this yet another subjective piece. That noted, I conder myself knowledgeable in virtually every area of horror, and I’ve got some technical studies under my belt to bit, which I hope aids me in identifying mechanical strengths and weaknesses.

At the end of the day my overall scores may not mirror your own, but I’m confident that glaring deficiencies won’t be a common occurrence.

The point system is really rather mple: a standout film earns a ngle point. A terrible feature will result in a negative tally, essentially negating the earned point. Any film that can be condered questionable or leaves me and my personal opinion stuck on the fence, results in a half point mark. In the few cases in which I’m actually foreign to a specific film, no points will be rewarded or deducted, as there’s no legitimately fair way to asgn a rating on something I’ve never had the privilege of viewing.

Before we get into our breakdown, keep in mind that I’ll only be scoring feature length, genre related films that these two men directed; any additional production, writing or acting duties will not be factored into the equation.

Film/Score List:

Wes Craven



The Last House on the Left: .5 The Hills Have Eyes: 1 Stranger in Our House: .5

Deadly Blesng: 0 Swamp Thing: .5 Invitation to Hell: -1 A Nightmare on Elm Street: 1 Chiller: -1 The Hills Have Eyes Part II: .5 Deadly Friend: 0 The Serpent and the Rainbow: 1 Shocker: .5 The People Under the Stairs: 1 New Nightmare: 1 Vampire in Brooklyn: -1 Scream: 1 Scream 2: 1 Scream 3: -1 Scream 4: 1 Cursed: -1

Red Eye: .5 My Soul to Take: -1

Total Score: 5 Points

Summary: The zeroes, as I mentioned gnify my unfamiliarity with a certain film. In the case of this list, I’ve yet to see Deadly Friend and Deadly Blesng. You’ll note that every Scream installment earned a point from me, save for the third feature in the franchise, which was thoroughly underwhelming, thus receiving a negative mark.



I’ve always been a bit indecive in regards to Craven’s gritty debut, The Last House on the Left. While it has some disturbing qualities, it’s technically a bit sloppy, and the taste of the film and its grand message must obviously be called into question. Red Eye and Swamp Thing both teeter on the brink of success, but fall a tad short in my opinion. While Shocker, The Hills Have Eyes II and Stranger in Our House hold special places in my heart, I’m more than ready to acknowledge the fact that they’re far from perfect films, and generally condered weaker Craven efforts.

There’s not much need in discusng the obvious picks, be it potive or negative; we all know Cursed was miserable, just as we all know A Nightmare on Elm Street was fantastic.

John Carpenter



Halloween: 1 Someone's Watching Me!: 0 The Fog: 1 Escape From New York: 1 The Thing: 1 Christine: 1 Big Trouble in Little China: .5 Prince of Darkness: .5 They Live: .5 Body Bags: 1 In the Mouth of Madness: 1 Village of the Damned: -1 Escape from L.A.: -1 Vampires: .5 Ghosts of Mars: .5 The Ward: 0

Total Score: 7.5 Points

Summary: While I enjoy Prince of Darkness, Big Trouble in Little China and They Live, I understand the qualms many have with each picture: POD juggles noticeable pacing issues, They Live is a bit over the top in all the wrong ways, and Big Trouble is a little too busy to ever find a coheve grasp on its own degn. I still enjoy these films, and that’s the reason they each pull down a half point.



Carpenter’s monumental flicks are obvious winners and generally condered fine genre offerings, so I won’t get too deep with my breakdown of films like The Thing, The Fog and Halloween.

If you’re scratching your head over Ghosts of Mars, I don’t blame you. Some love it, some hate it, and some just aren’t too sure; I fall into the latter category.

Village of the Damned and Escape from L.A. (which can be argued doesn’t even qualify as horror, though I definitely see clear traces of the macabre in this one) are both miserable films that lack the pason and intenty of John’s finer works, which results in obvious negative tallies. As for The Ward and Someone's Watching Me!, I obviously haven’t had the chance to screen either: hence the zeroes.

Victor: John Carpenter (2.5 point advantage)

Great Article! Totally agree on Carpenter.

In basketball terms, its like comparing Glenn Robinson and Reggie Miller. Both being extremely overrated but still held in high regard by the community. I'll ealy take Carpenter here. I think Halloween by itself is better than Craven's entire career.

I honestly feel like Craven's career is based off the hype and controversy that LHOTL caused. Sure, he was the first to deliver gratuitous rape and torture to the masses; but that doesn't mean it was a good film. In fact, i think the movie that propelled Craven towards success was complete shite. In my opinion, LHOTL is only recognized because of the time period in which it was released. Craven's timing was impeccable, lucky for him.Carpenter on the other hand, - I'm genuinely a fan of Carpenter. I still have faith he can make one or two more awesome horror films before he dies. But i have to ask myself how great his career would've been if not for Bob Clark.

(And thats how i rationalize each of their careers)

Don't get me wrong, I respect what each of these directors have done for the genre; (more-so Carpenter) but because of their juggernaut status, my grading scale for their work is a harsher than it is for others. Essentially, they are looked at as the best in the buness; so when they show zero constency throughout their career, and seem to get a "free pass" because they made a couple timeless films, i can't give them the benefit of the doubt.@Matt, i'm loving your casual distaste for Last House On The Left... I think that movie blows.

Nice little read this one.

I believe the key to Ghosts of Mars is going into it expecting exactly what it is - an over the top, not to be taken too seriously, popcorn flick. I was lucky enough to see this after reading the endless reviews where the critics and fans were crucifying so naturally I was expecting the biggest pile of shit nce Night of the Scarecrow.

As a result - I fucking LOVE Ghosts of Mars and I always will!

Mr John Carpenter, case closed end of story hands down. No contest whatsoever. Almost everything Wes has done has come from John. Lighting, camera movement,

pana-glide usage, The figure is there once and gone the next frame. Halloween 1978 is the handbook for clasc slasher and horror films in techniques. IMO of course.

Mr John Carpenter, case closed end of story hands down. No contest whatsoever. Almost everything Wes has done has come from John. Lighting, camera movement,

pana-glide usage, The figure is there once and gone the next frame. Halloween 1978 is the handbook for clasc slasher and horror films in techniques. IMO of course.

I would actually give that distinction to Bob Clark, who by his own admison inspired Carpenter's Halloween with the fucking AWESOME Black Christmas.

another piece of crap article... How can you rate a film maker without watching his entire catalog? I agree on the Carpenter nod, but not one of his films built a empire, like Nightmare did for New Line. Why do i keep viting this te? And FYI, Deadly Blesng was epic. Know what you're talking about before putting that boot up that half stepping perpetrating ass.

Hmm...Shocker is my fourth favorite movie of all time, but Big Trouble in Little China is my second...yeah, Carpenter wins. Bedes, when comparing Escape from New York, Halloween, The Fog, They Live, The Thing, and Body Bags to Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, New Nightmare, Last House on the Left, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and The Hills Have Eyes, you know who's going to win. I for one really enjoyed Escape from L.A. though.

another piece of crap article... How can you rate a film maker without watching his entire catalog? I agree on the Carpenter nod, but not one of his films built a empire, like Nightmare did for New Line. Why do i keep viting this te? And FYI, Deadly Blesng was epic. Know what you're talking about before putting that boot up that half stepping perpetrating ass.

I got a good laugh out of this. Somebody's a widdle mad about their buddy Wes not winning? You can borrow my shoulder, Mr. Keyboard Warrior.

BTW, if you dont think Halloween "built an empire", well... then you've probably spent so much time refining your online tough guy persona that you've forgotten a thing called "common sense".

Thanks for reading the article btw, it's good to see it snuggled up under your skin.

Definitely agree! Carpenter has a slight edge.

Wow, this one is rough, but I am glad you wrote it. I stand fully by you on your choice, your ranking system is pretty fair. Obviously, I love both of these directors most famous films hence Laurie Prescott.. mhm wonder where I came up with that? John Carpenter wins in my eyes also. I have a theory when it comes to horror films,

Grandfather film of horror Psycho

Father

Halloween

Son Scream

Mr John Carpenter, case closed end of story hands down. No contest whatsoever. Almost everything Wes has done has come from John. Lighting, camera movement,

pana-glide usage, The figure is there once and gone the next frame. Halloween 1978 is the handbook for clasc slasher and horror films in techniques. IMO of course.

I would actually give that distinction to Bob Clark, who by his own admison inspired Carpenter's Halloween with the fucking AWESOME Black Christmas.

Very true

What's with the .5 for They Live? It's by far the best Carpenter movie bedes Halloween in my opinion. Not that Carpenter needs the points but it's one of my top 10 films of all time.

I like them both so much i cant choose so for this article i cant say yes or no even thou wes craven made my favorite movie seris scream so i can choose i dont agree or disagree

What's with the .5 for They Live? It's by far the best Carpenter movie bedes Halloween in my opinion. Not that Carpenter needs the points but it's one of my top 10 films of all time.

opinion buddy, i love the movie as well, but it's not a technical masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, and there are noticeable flaws all over the place - hence the .5