'Everything I know about evil I learned in that small town': John Carpenter
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- John Carpenter turned a cinematic nightmare about a portal to the underworld into a graphic novel and soundtrack called 'Cathedral'.
- Carpenter's film career declined after the 1990s due to his demand for creative control, making films like 'Ghosts of Mars' and 'The Ward' his last.
- He has a complicated relationship with filmmaking, loving the process but finding the Hollywood studio system exhausting and creatively draining.
- Carpenter's rebellious spirit was shaped by growing up in the Jim Crow South, his father's encouragement to create, and the 1960s counterculture.
- His breakthrough film 'Halloween' (1978) was a low-budget hit that defined the slasher genre and critiqued suburban domesticity.
- He resisted sequels but profited from them, describing himself as a 'happy capitalist' despite his anti-establishment views.
- Films like 'The Thing' (1982) and 'They Live' (1988) critiqued American values, with 'They Live' becoming a cultural meme about consumerism and ideology.
- Carpenter now focuses on music, touring with his son and godson, and enjoys a leisurely life of basketball, news, and video games.