Wissenswertes

Based his most famous character, the iconic Michael Myers from Halloween - Die Nacht des Grauens (1978), on a thirteen-year-old boy he saw at a mental institution on a school trip.

Praised longtime friend and frequent collaborator Kurt Russell for being a hard-working, professional actor who isn't afraid to take on roles that might hurt his image or make him look like a fool.

Said in a 1982 interview that he thought the R rating for Halloween - Die Nacht des Grauens (1978) was justifiable, but The Fog: Nebel des Grauens (1980) should have been rated PG.

Is an avid fan of the Godzilla films. He considers the first Godzilla movie (Godzilla - Das Original (1954)) to be an inspiration for him.

Named his six favorite films as SOS Feuer an Bord (1939), Citizen Kane (1941), Vertigo: Aus dem Reich der Toten (1958), Rio Bravo (1959), Blow Up (1966) and Jessy - Die Treppe in den Tod (1974).

In an interview, he stated that he takes much of the failure of his movies pretty hard. However, out of all the movies that he had done, he claimed that Das Ding aus einer anderen Welt (1982) was the failure he took the hardest.

He appears in his own films under the name Rip Haight, appearing in The Fog: Nebel des Grauens (1980), Starman (1984), Body Bags (1993) and Das Dorf der Verdammten (1995).

Is a great fan of Sergio Leone and cast Lee Van Cleef in Die Klapperschlange (1981) because of his work with Leone.

Turned down the chance to direct Top Gun (1986), which went to Tony Scott.

He has directed one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant": Halloween - Die Nacht des Grauens (1978).

Turned down the chance to direct Zombieland (2009), which went to Ruben Fleischer.

With the exception of Flucht aus L.A. (1996), he has rarely made a sequel to any of his films. Has said that he got forced into writing Halloween 2 - Das Grauen kehrt zurück (1981), but refused to direct it because he "didn't want to direct the same movie again".

He is known to be completely comfortable with filmmakers doing sequels to or remakes of his movies, but he has also admitted that he is mostly indifferent to them, and usually gets involved in such projects for the money.

Was originally supposed to direct Der Feuerteufel (1984), and even had a screenplay written by Bill Lancaster. Both were replaced when Das Ding aus einer anderen Welt (1982), a film on which they both collaborated, did poorly at the box office.

Is a huge fan of Howard Hawks, Elvis Presley and The Beach Boys. Loves old Cadillac automobiles.

Is a huge fan of video games. He claims that his son, Cody Carpenter got him hooked when he was a child. The two spent time playing together, with early games such as Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). To this day, he continues playing video games both with his son and independently. As of 2021, his recent favorites included: Dishonored (2012), Assassin's Creed III (2012), the God of War (2005) Collection and Halo Infinite (2021). He can frequently be seen at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) with his son.

Considers this bad luck to wear the hat of the show he's working on. Will not wear a crew cap until the film is over.

Fans of John Carpenter's work include the directors Bertrand Bonello, Tom Tykwer, Bong Joon Ho, Jeff Nichols, Olivier Assayas, Alice Winocour, Gaspar Noé, Jeremy Saulnier and Jordan Peele, who all named him as an influence on some of their own work. The composer Hans Zimmer was an early fan and said Assault - Anschlag bei Nacht (1976) has his favorite movie theme of all time. Another fan is Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, who is especially fond of John Carpenter's Sie leben (1988).

In the movie Ein himmlischer Schwindel (1969), Elvis Presley plays a character named John Carpenter. In 1979, Carpenter directed the television movie Elvis - The King (1979) starring his good friend Kurt Russell.

Has always claimed that the Western is his favorite genre but has never made a full-length film within the genre.

Was offered a chance to direct Eddie Murphy's film Auf der Suche nach dem goldenen Kind (1986), which he turned down.

He directed child actress Kim Richards in his second feature film, Assault - Anschlag bei Nacht (1976), and directed Kim's sister Kyle Richards in his next film, Halloween - Die Nacht des Grauens (1978).

Likes to begin shots on the back of a character as they walk away from the camera, thus revealing the setting. There are examples included in Christine (1983), John Carpenter's Die Fürsten der Dunkelheit (1987) and John Carpenter's Sie leben (1988), among others.

Turned down the chance to direct Eine verhängnisvolle Affäre (1987), which went to Adrian Lyne.

Close friends with actor Jeff Bridges.

Directed one Oscar-nominated performance: Jeff Bridges in Starman (1984).

In the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), two of his films are listed: Halloween - Die Nacht des Grauens (1978) and Das Ding aus einer anderen Welt (1982).

Holds a commercial pilot's license, flying rotorcraft-helicopters.

Has one son with Adrienne Barbeau: Cody Carpenter (born John Howard Carpenter Jr.).

Is a huge fan of the Quartermass movies (Schock - The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Das grüne Blut der Dämonen (1967)), wrote John Carpenter's Die Fürsten der Dunkelheit (1987) under the pseudonym of Martin Quatermass, and the village in Die Mächte des Wahnsinns (1994) is named after a rail station in "Quatermass and the Pit".

Was approached to score Planet Terror (2007) for Robert Rodriguez, but was busy finishing up post-production on Masters of Horror (2005).

He said in an interview that he almost directed Tombstone (1993).

Currently resides in West Hollywood, California.

Is a major NBA fan and has a satellite dish installed on his location trailer to keep up with the games. Always has a portable basketball hoop on location.

Was offered the chance to direct Der Exorzist III (1990), which went to William Peter Blatty.

Was offered the chance to direct Zwei Unter Volldampf (1986), which he turned down. The job went to Mark L. Lester who also directed Der Feuerteufel (1984), which was offered to Carpenter.

Carpenter's character Snake Plissken (of Die Klapperschlange (1981) and Flucht aus L.A. (1996)) is about to become a comic book. Published by the CrossGen imprint Code 6 Comics, the book will be known as "John Carpenter's The Snake Plissken Chronicles" and set for publication beginning in 2003.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 3, 2025. His Walk of Fame star is located in front of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Was given the chance to direct Mutant Chronicles (2008).

Director John Carpenter named some of the characters in his cult film The Fog: Nebel des Grauens (1980) after his collaborators including Tommy Lee Wallace, Dan O'Bannon and Nick Castle.

Godfather of musician and composer Daniel A. Davies.

Biography in the following: John Wakeman, editor. World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985. pp. 184-189. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company (1988).