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John Carpenter

American filmmaker, composer and actor (born 1948)

3.64body-of-work score · ranked #306 of 2631 directors · 11 films in our library

A director's score is the sum of their films' composite canon scores — methodology.

Born
January 16, 1948 · Carthage
Nationality
United States
Work
film director, screenwriter, composer, director
Reference
Wikipedia · Wikidata
Portrait of John Carpenter
Kyle Cassidy · CC BY-SA 4.0

Films in our library, ranked

Ranked by composite canon score across 20+ authoritative lists, awards and polls — our ordering, with every placement citing its evidence on the film's page.

  1. 1
    The Thing

    1982 · United States / Canada · horror, sci-fi, mystery

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #118 · National Film Registry (inducted 2025) · Letterboxd Top 250 #109

    1.185 citations
  2. 2
    Halloween

    1978 · United States · horror, drama, thriller

    National Film Registry (inducted 2006) · Empire 500 (2008) #461 · Ebert's annual top 10 1978 #7

    1.147 citations
  3. 3
    In the Mouth of Madness

    1994 · United States · film-noir, horror, thriller

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1995 #10

    0.291 citation
  4. 4
    Big Trouble in Little China

    1986 · United States · action, fantasy, comedy

    Empire 500 (2008) #430

    0.171 citation
  5. 5
    Starman

    1984 · United States · romance, sci-fi, drama

    NYT Best 1,000 Movies

    0.171 citation
  6. 6
    Memoirs of an Invisible Man

    1992 · France / United States · comedy, sci-fi, horror

    Sarris's annual top 10 1992 #13

    0.131 citation
  7. 7
    Dark Star

    1974 · United States · sci-fi, comedy, adventure

    Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.111 citation
  8. 8
    Assault on Precinct 13

    1976 · United States · crime, action, thriller

    Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.111 citation
  9. 9
    The Fog

    1980 · United States · horror, mystery, thriller

    Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.111 citation
  10. 10
    Escape from New York

    1981 · United States · action, thriller, sci-fi

    Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.111 citation
  11. 11
    Christine

    1983 · United States · horror, mystery, drama

    Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.111 citation

Complete filmography

All 26 directorial credits recorded on Wikidata, in chronological order; films in our library link to their canon-score page.