Westerns are all about the standoff – that final showdown, ticking seconds off the clock as sweat trickles down the face of a lone cowboy with his hand over his pistol, ready to pounce. They’re about the long game, the waiting game with the big payoff. Being an avid fan of westerns his entire life, this is the kind of tension director John Carpenter has always attempted to bring to each scene of his polished projects, even if the stories don’t necessarily fall in the sweltering heat of gunslinger territory.

That’s why all of his horror movies pack such a punch. That’s why his Kurt Russell roles so closely resemble John Wayne, and why his shootout scenes feel so deliberate and exciting. It’s also why it’s so difficult to rank all of the incredible films that the master filmmaker has crafted over the course of his iconic legacy, but here we are, in the glorious month of October, so I’ll give it a shot.

18. The Ward

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They picked her up on the side of the road at the site of an old decrepit house she burned to the ground, but no one really knows exactly who Kristen (Amber Heard) is, or why she decided to make this particular old home the target of her pyro tendencies. Dragged off to the nearest insane asylum, slapped with an unstable label and thrown into the ward at the top of the building, Kristen finds herself sharing a common area with a few other young delinquents like herself, but soon finds they’re not alone. An evil presence is permeating the hallways of this mental hospital, and though the doctors willfully ignore her pleas, someone or something is after these girls, and with their current condition and personal self-sabotaging histories, it seems that no one is going to help them, leaving them prey to whatever wicked spirit decides to have its way with their imprisoned pretty little souls.

The latest entry in Carpenter’s resume, it’s hard to believe that the man who brought us such invaluable gems as Christine and The Thing made something so juvenile and messy. As the leading lady, Heard has a classic Hollywood look, and there’s a few moments of heightened tension spread sporadically throughout this otherwise lackluster picture, but altogether, The Ward is without a doubt the worst movie Carpenter has ever made, and once the twist ending is revealed, it becomes clear that this movie is not only uneventful, but completely confusing and sloppily written as well.

17. Memoirs of an Invisible Man

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Image via Warner Bros.

Known yuppie and superficial fat cat Nick Halloway (Chevy Chase) thought he was in for a treat when he found himself at the height of his fortune, making waves with other upper class socialites and falling hard for easy on the eyes blonde-haired Alice Monroe (Daryl Hannah), but what happens next is something none of them could have ever predicted. After a freak accident renders Halloway completely invisible to the naked eye, he realizes that the one thing every little boy wishes for is actually not a blessing, but a curse, as he finds himself the target of the government, who wishes not to return Nick to his former self, but to lock him away in a lab and study him for all the rest of time. Now, caught in the crosshairs and simply looking for a way to survive, Nick must entrust his new female companion with providing whatever help she can, as he struggles to grab a hold old his old life and simply survive in a world where he once flourished at the top of his game.

A few moments of hilarity make up for an otherwise flat attempt at recreating the legendary Universal monster picture The Invisible Man, proving that in most circumstances, Carpenter is better at conquering the horror genre than he is comedy.

16. Ghosts of Mars

The year is 2176 and a Martian police unit has been ordered to pick up a highly dangerous criminal at a remote mining post as a result of some tedious intergalactic orders. Once they arrive on the scene of this long abandoned ghost town, they’ll find that there aren’t just broken dreams left behind, but a slew of newly crazed citizens possessed by the ghosts of madmen, polluting the planet with wicked violent tendencies, forming a militia far more dangerous than anything any of the armed men approaching this dangerous new territory could’ve possibly ever imagined.

One has to wonder where the inspiration for such a strange project is derived from, but nevertheless, Ghosts of Mars has its fun moments, although they may be few and far between. In its defense, this picture predates Joss Whedon’s outer space set Firefly television series and spin-off Serenity film, both of which seem to have pretty much stolen the whole concept of the ‘Reavers’ from Carpenter’s possessed Martian victims.

15. Escape from L.A.

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Image via Paramount Pictures

It’s been a long time since ex-military man turned convicted prisoner Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) was called upon by the American government to cross over into dangerous territory and retrieve a piece of property that could bring the nation to its knees, but the man with an eye patch on his face and a chip on his shoulder still takes no prisoners and packs quite a punch.

Last time, he was dropped into dangerous waters in the Manhattan prison bay, but now, Snake will face his greatest challenge yet, as he only has a few hours to find and retrieve the President’s daughter, along with the detonation device she holds dear. It’s a scary time in Los Angeles, the new hot spot for criminal activity that men in high positions wouldn’t dare touch, but Snake has no choice but to venture in there and carry out the government’s plans, lest the poison pulsating in his veins turn him into just as much of a dead man as the delinquents still rummaging around this lost area.

It’s pretty clear that this long-awaited sequel to Carpenter's original innovative story was made purely to amuse lifelong friends and jokesters, John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. They clearly had a fun time revisiting old territory, but although this sequel in no way matches the prowess of the original contender, it still has its fleeting moments of silly, light-hearted fun... even if that does occasionally mean witnessing Snake surfing through the streets of downtown Los Angeles.

14. Starman

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Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen) has been through a hell of a lot lately, but her troubles are far from over. Losing the love of her life to the cruel, cold clutches of death, the film opens with Jenny conducting her new sad nightly ritual, the one where she plays back old 16mm home videos, and cries into her wine glass over the man whose warmth she will never feel ever again. Just when she decides to call it quits for the evening, an odd, otherworldly experience welcomes itself into her home.

An alien has been cast down to earth, and for some reason, it has chosen Jenny’s home as its landing site. Taking on the form of her late husband, the alien looks and sounds almost exactly like Jenny’s deceased lover, except for the fact that he hasn’t mastered the English language quite yet. In short, non-committal phrases, the alien informs Jenny that he must make it to a certain spot in Nevada in a few days time, lest he stop breathing, and as frightened as she may be, looking into the eyes of what’s essentially the man she loved and considering the thought that she might lose him again pushes her to agree to drive the man to his destination. Along their journey, Jenny will teach the starman all about earth, including how to speak and the proper manners for human beings, but the one thing she never considered she might pass on to this unusual man is the one thing that truly makes people human: the ability to love.

Although it carries an impractical plot and tells a story that’s become quite familiar over the years, Jeff Bridges brings a sense of heartfelt meaning to his creature from another world, making the moments that might come across as contrived actually feel somewhat endearing and worth rooting for. It’s actually quite sweet watching him attempt to learn what being a human being is, and showing the earthlings around him that bearing human flesh doesn’t necessarily fill one with humanity.

13. Village of the Damned

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Beware the children, for they are the ones who cast the sleepy spell on this unsuspecting town, and they are the ones who will still be left standing when everything comes undone in the impending chaos. It all started on that unsuspecting day when a quiet town held its fall festivities, and then suddenly and without warning, every single person in this rustic city fell into a deep sleep, all at the same time. Women and children and grown men lay motionless in the dirt, in their cars, at their barbecues, and in their homes, but for no discernable reason, and without the onslaught of nightfall to trigger such a widespread slumber. After a short period of time, each person awoke, unaware of what exactly had happened, but shortly thereafter, an outbreak of pregnancies shook this small town, and almost every single woman old enough to bear children suddenly found themselves having maternal tendencies and a brand new bun in the oven. Flash forward to a few years later. All of the kids who were inexplicably conceived on that day strangely resemble each other, all donning bright bleached blonde hair, a lack of emotions, and an unsettling ability to control the actions of everyone around them. Death has come to their little town, and it has come in the guise of small, innocent children, who wish them nothing more than the utmost harm and malice.

Village of the Damned gets a lot of unwarranted hate, but it’s actually considerably unnerving watching children rule their little town with an iron fist, especially considering their innocent appearances and unsuspecting reputations. Put all your preconceived notions aside and enjoy this little venture into horrific territory, as the one age group you’d least suspect becomes the biggest threat to the stability of mankind.

12. Dark Star

Imagine if the entire Nostromo crew in Ridley Scott’s Alien had been chasing around an unidentified being from another planet that was essentially a beach ball with feet, and you might have an idea of what Carpenter’s first foray into film looks like. Despite the fact that it’s pretty obvious, especially compared to everything that came after, that this is Carpenter’s first movie, it carries with it a certain charm and hilarity that foreshadows his genius and true understanding of storytelling that would shortly follow thereafter. It’s also just downright hilarious, and criminally under seen by most avid cinephiles, who would get a kick out of the goofy nature of the movie and surprisingly telling backstory of how screenwriter Dan O’Bannon would go on to create the eerily similar Alien just a few years later.

11. In the Mouth of Madness

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Image via New Line Cinema

Do you read Sutter Cane? If you do, don’t be alarmed if you begin to experience strange side effects, like surreal dreams, hallucinations, or if you begin sprouting a slimy demonic head on the back of your neck. It’s not your fault that these odd occurrences keep happening to you, it’s just the way he wrote you. It all begins when insurance investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) is called upon to seek out notorious author Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow), whose work has been known to have a strange effect on his readers. Outselling Dean Koontz and even Stephen King, Cane’s readers are not only loyal, but over time, driven insane by their masters’ work.

During his journey to retrieve the infamous author, Trent finds not only that he, too, is affected by these odd readings, but that there is quite a strong chance that all of the monsters and wicked people and strange happenings Cane wrote about are true, and the end of the world may come soon, not in the form of a worldwide battle, but within the quiet context of a novel consumed over a low burning fire. There’s something eerie about the idea of an author controlling the fate of the universe, and all of his faithful readers being slowly sucked into a self-inflicted Hell. With the way fans grow rabid over the work they hold dear, the notion that they could all do themselves in just by picking up the newest copy by their favorite author is a concept that is just as delightful as it is wickedly dangerous.

10. Vampires

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Image via Warner Bros.

Forget what you’ve seen in the movies or what you’ve read in the books, according to renowned vampire killer and self-assured smartass Jack Crow (James Woods), there’s only a few specific ways to kill the creatures of the night – driving a big wooden stake through their hearts and dragging them out into the sun until their entire body lights on fire. He’s been doing this gig ever since the day that his father was bitten by one of the undead and, hiding his injury, turned, killed his mother, and came after him, but even as the years pass and his death toll raises into the double digits, it seems that it only gets harder, and his losses always seem to outweigh his gains. That’s why when one of the ‘Masters’ – a.k.a. one of the stronger vampires who turns the lesser beings – plows through the motel him and his men are staying at and rips his entire crew to shreds, Jack takes it upon himself to hunt the ghoulish devil down, and bring about the fanged serpent’s eternal slumber, once and for all. Little does he know, his very own partner in crime Anthony has been bitten by one of these beasts, and the trouble that lie ahead is nothing compared the man in his own passenger seat, or the Catholic church whose once pure nature has turned deviant when faced with the threat of old age. He’ll be lucky if he makes it to the next sun rise alive.

Come on, admit it, this is a fun movie. People are quick to dismiss this rough-around-the-edges trek into vampire territory, but the fact is Woods is hilarious as the slayer, constantly jabbing at priests for having ‘mahogany’ in their pants, it’s utterly exciting watching the vamps burst into flame, and the head honcho master vampire is one of the most effortlessly cool and frightening imaginings of the creatures to ever exist on film. This is an entry which should rank higher on most people’s lists.

9. Big Trouble in Little China

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Touting a big rig and an eerily on point John Wayne impersonation, all Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) wanted was his truck back, but he’s way too far into the strange happenings of Little China to back out now. It was just supposed to be another stop on his long nation-wide excursion – his trusty eighteen-wheeler parked nearby, Jack pausing briefly to play some dominoes and pick up some clams. But everything changes when his buddy Wang makes him a debt for double or nothing and informs Jack that the only way he can pay him back is if he agrees to help him pick up his fiancé from the airport. That’s when everything goes awry. See, a gang is waiting at the very same terminal to pick up a much sought after green-eyed girl, but when a journalist thwarts their originally intended target, the crew has no choice but to grab the next best thing – Wang’s green-eyed fiancé. The simple take-the-money-and-run scenario turns into a full-on rescue mission, and like it or not, Jack is at the helm. Or at least he thinks he is.

He’s more peeved than petrified and once Jack, a non-believer of magic and all things supernatural, comes into contact with the mystical man of evil, Lo Pan, he will learn the hard way that there are things in this world which simply can’t be explained, and most of those things are standing in his way of retrieving his winnings, or his trusty truck. Once again Carpenter and Russell prove they are a force to be reckoned with as they create one of the weirdest and most hilarious accounts of a reluctant hero and his clumsy rise to victory. It’s hard to think of another movie that even comes close to resembling this odd little mash-up of genres, but it seems as though only a master filmmaker like Carpenter could pull off something as thrilling as an action adventure movie while adding supernatural elements and making us giggle all the while.

8. They Live

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Image via Universal

The world’s gone to Hell in a handbasket, but somehow, Nada (Roddy Piper) is still standing, and he’s maintained his positive attitude throughout the downfall of the human race. The middle class is almost nonexistent now, with the amount of those in poverty growing more and more each day, and the rich only getting richer, but he’s not discouraged – Nada believes in America, and truly thinks that if he keeps his head down, keeps working hard, and keeps his complaints to a minimum, eventually, the nation will grand him a much-needed break, and his life will grow fruitful once more. He couldn’t be more wrong. He, among with many others like him, is essentially homeless now, bouncing from one shelter to another, and finding work where he can, but the man who keeps interfering with the signal on the television has a message that’s slowly creeping into his brain with each broadcast, and although the speeches keep giving him headaches, he can’t help but slowly start to listen to the man’s cries. Perhaps this strange fellow with his smart eyeglasses is onto something, and maybe if he gives his preaching a chance, he’ll find the reason behind the growing working class.

However, Nada isn’t truly convinced something’s amiss until he tries on the strange sunglasses in the cellar of the local church. Once those spectacles are sitting firmly below his knotted brow, Nada can see the world for what it truly is – a black and white universe overrun by a powerful alien breed, hell-bent on controlling the masses through subliminal messages printed on every billboard, in each magazine, and even on our money. ‘Obey’, ‘Marry and Reproduce’, and ‘Stay asleep’, the messages command, and the aliens are easily spotted by their disquieting formaldehyde faces, but no one can see what Nada sees, and it’s up to him to let the world know what’s happening to them – before the aliens spot him and put a stop to his honorable plans.

Without a doubt, the ideas behind They Live are some of the most unique and inventive to ever occur on film, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a wrestler trying his hand at acting is equipped enough to carry out the dialogue, which already feels slightly comedic in a film that’s trying so hard to create a proper commentary about the economy and the government’s treatment of the working class. This will forever be one of the best films Carpenter has ever made, and one of the most incredible stories ever told in cinema, but revisiting this piece after watching hundreds of other masterworks reveals that nostalgia has blinded some to the true nature of this smart but slightly over-acted entry.

7. The Fog

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Image via AVCO Embassy Pictures

It’s just another old ghost story, but if you want to live to see the morning, you’d better listen. Antonio Bay’s centennial celebration is at hand, but little do the people of this quiet town now that their festivities are being held under false pretenses. Unbeknownst to them, they are celebrating a massacre, but when the sun goes down and the fog rolls in on the sandy coast, they will learn first hand the repercussions of the destruction that their ancestors have brought upon them, as the ghosts of a vanquished lepper colony come back to claim six lives as penance for the ones they lost on these very same shores so many sad years ago. It all begins when popular local radio host Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau) slicks her sulky smoky voice over the airwaves and reports an unusual fog coming in on the eve of their hundred-year celebration, but it will end in mayhem, bloodshed, and the sinister spilling of secrets from so many unresolved eons ago.

Reporting from her little light tower on the shoreline, Stevie tries to warn her fellow patrons of what’s happening as far as she can tell from her bird’s eye view, but will her cries for help fall on deaf ears, will she be able to save the town she loves in the nick of time, or will the ghost with the hook in his hand make merry with all of the descendants of the ones who did him wrong? Like the weather in The Fog, the sense of uncertainty oozes and creeps in on the viewer in this underrated classic, which feels just like a ghost story told ‘round a campfire brought to life. This story may not have Michael Myers, but it’s perfect for Halloween time, nonetheless.

6. Escape from New York

In the future, Manhattan serves as an unkempt island prison, wherein the inhabitants are inmates; except no guards, no policemen, no sort of system of law and order is established – just dangerous men, mad women, and the daily threat of the person standing next to you. The people are fed up with the president’s abuse of power, so when his air force one is hijacked by a terrorist and crashes into the chaotic New York City, all bets are off, and the only option that the American government has left is to call upon a convict to carry out a rescue mission and save the leader of the free world before it’s too late.

Between Escape From New York and Assault on Precinct 13, it seems as though Carpenter has a thing for criminals avenging themselves through heroic acts in the face of stereotypical assessments. Perhaps it’s because he’s making quiet protests against the establishment, perhaps it's his way of calling out the judicial system in the guise of a tall tale, or perhaps he just knows it’s badass hearing Plissken defiantly tell a military man to call him Snake. Either way, Escape From New York is an essential Carpenter flick, and one of the last great looks at a sleazy, rain-slicked New York cinematic atmosphere.

5. Prince of Darkness

They knew this day was coming. The theoretical physicists of this local California university have been privy to the happenings of quantum uncertainty for quite some time now, so when the Prince of Night makes his unholy presence known to them, it comes as more of a sad understanding than a genuine shock. Infiltrating these university students and their professors one by one, by way of touch and projectile fluids, Satan slithers all over every inch of God’s house on the holy grounds of a nearby archaic church. The kids may have started out this evening translating impossible equations and ancient text, but by dawn, they’ll all bear witness to the end of the world.

Carpenter is a master of atmosphere and of endings, which are tricky, and this entry is a perfect example of both. Just like the nightmares that everyone onscreen experiences inside of the church, this movie feels like the same sort of haze after waking up from a vivid horrifying dream, that unease still lingering overhead like a hazy hangover, causing you to question the motives of those around you, motivating you subconsciously to avoid dark corners and questionable shadows. It’s hard to think of another film that dares to mix science and Satan, but this one does with finesse, and ends on a note so shocking and dreamlike it’ll make you question your own reality and what’s lurking just beneath the surface or our everyday lives.

4. Assault on Precinct 13

Police sergeant Ethan Bishop walked out of the slums of Anderson when he was twenty years old, but now, he’s stuck here again and he’ll have to work even harder to claw and scratch his way out of this place than he did when he was a young man lost in the throes of unfortunate socioeconomic status. Born under a bad sign, Bishop took on the title of a a man of the law as soon as he was old enough, but when his line of duty lands him over in Precinct 9 (yes, it’s actually 9 not 13) to watch over a soon-to-be closing police station, he finds himself back in the clutches of his old struggles, as a ferocious gang lurking outside turns Bishop’s quiet evening into an unruly siege. He’ll be lucky if he makes it out of his childhood hometown twice and lives to tell about it.

In what’s essentially a modern day Rio Bravo (Carpenter even refers to himself as “John T. Chance” in the credits), Carpenter makes the feeling of being trapped and defenseless against what’s coming just as prevalent as he does in his horror classic The Thing. Like MacReady and his men in the 1982 snowbound thriller, the people contained within the walls of this police station are completely isolated. The only difference is, instead of being miles away from anyone to come to their aid, they’re stranded in the middle of a city, with smart villains who hide the bodies of their casualties so no one can pinpoint where the echo of gunfire is coming from. They are seconds away from society, but no one can help them. Carpenter’s unofficial western is as nail-biting as it is exhilarating, with a thrilling finale and a killer score (possibly his best) to boot.

3. Christine

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Love has a voracious appetite, and it’s coming to claim everything in Arnie Cunningham’s life. A known brain and chess club member, Arnie was born with a target on his back long before he met Christine – she just seized an opportunity. It was the constant bullying at school and over nurturing at home that led Arnie down a dark path of self-destruction, and by the time he came into contact with that old cherry red ’57 two door Plymouth, he was more than ready for an excuse to rebel, a reason to lash out at his overbearing parents, and an easily accessible weapon to dole out punishment as it was needed for all of the boys at school who made his life more unbearable each time that he stepped onto the premises of the heightened world of standardized education.

See, most guys lose their way over a girl in high school, the one who takes his love and twists it into an angsty teenage act of defiance against all who dare try to discipline the lost men going through the rough years of adolescent uncertainty and troubling puberty, but Arnie’s girl is of a different breed – chrome and aluminum and the fiery roar of an unsupervised engine. He might’ve been picked on and pushed around before he met the love of his life, but now, nothing can come between Arnie and Christine, and all those who dare try will be left in the wake of her destruction, their lifeless bodies illuminated by the relentless fury of her lifelike headlights.

Arguably one of the greatest Stephen King adaptations of all time, it’s hard to find a single aspect of Christine that doesn’t shine with confident execution and unbelievably well-acted expertise. The reverse photography on Christine as she begins her self-repairs, Keith Gordon’s transition from the shy boy at school to the abusive boyfriend overstepping his boundaries, the incredibly crazy good soundtrack, the slow descent into madness that spreads its wings over every inch of this picture – this movie is a goddamn masterpiece, and anyone who doesn’t think so clearly owes it a revisit.

2. Halloween

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Image via Compass International

It doesn’t matter what time of the year it is – Spring, Summer, first week of Winter – when you put on John Carpenter’s 1978 classic horror film, suddenly, it’s Halloween. At least, that’s the way it feels, with fall colors, flowing ‘70s autumnal clothing, and pumpkins aplenty adorning the streets of this sleepy Haddonfield town. Sweet little Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends set out for a night of watching scary movies and tucking small children into bed, and hopping into a few beds themselves, but little do they know, the boogeyman is coming and he’s bringing with him not candy, but punishment for all who don’t believe in the the fury of his power. To some, he may just be an escaped mental patient on the lamb, but to Laurie and Annie and Linda, he’s the shape, the embodiment of evil itself, and a cruel end to their short and promising lives.

It’s hard to express just how much of an influence John Carpenter’s Halloween had on the horror genre, and on filmmaking in general, but suffice it to say that although Psycho and Peeping Tom predate this classic, and as most avid horror fans know it’s merely a spin on one of Carpenter’s favorites, Black Christmas, this is the true original slasher movie. This is the film that every Friday the 13th attempted to be, that set off a craze of copycats all throughout the 1980s, much to Carpenter’s dismay, and brought about a whole new method of POV-tracking shots and masked killers and teenage targets for madmen on the loose. Its atmosphere is unparalleled, its score iconic and timeless, and its leading lady one of the greatest women in Hollywood. It’s simply perfect in every way.

1. The Thing

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Image via Universal

Holed up in a research station deep within the frozen tundra of Antarctica, MacReady and his men find something sinister and otherworldly buried in the ice. A neighboring station has been all but demolished by an unknown entity, and the only thing remaining is one of their huskies, chased into camp by a maddened Swedish helicopter pilot. You can just feel it in the air – something’s not right. Something in these snowy banks is hunting them, and it’s looking to lay low within the confines of some poor soul’s cadaver. There is a monster in these snowy banks, lurking, looking for a warm place to hide. It can imitate man physically, taking on the eyes and hair and exterior with convincing precision, almost like a twin made out of thin air and blood – but it is not one of us. It is a virus seeking a host, which it then devours whole and skillfully replicates. You know never know who’s going to be the thing. The men in this crew can’t trust anybody. They’re too far out and too bogged down in the middle of a moody snowstorm to call for help. All they can do is watch each other with suspicious side eyes and hope the isolation doesn’t trap them in an endless nightmare.

There have been several films that tried and failed to capture the same tight, intensely uncomfortable level of paranoia and mistrust that The Thing managed to conjure up in the early 1980s, but alas, none have come close to the ultimate master work that this snowbound thriller achieved. With its low, pulsating score, insanely well-manufactured practical effects from Rob Bottin, and top notch performance from Carpenter favorite Kurt Russell, The Thing is not only Carpenter’s best film, but one of the greatest movies of all time, and something that any fan of film, horror fan or not, can enjoy, appreciate, and hope to aspire to one day.