Dark Star (1974)

I was reminded of John Carpenter's 1974 film Dark Star after recently seeing Jodorowsky's Dune, which highlighted how Alejandro Jodorowsky became aware of (and made him an integral part of his Dune production team) Dan O'Bannon after a chance viewing of Dark Star while on a visit to Los Angeles.

 For having a low budget, Dark Star makes excellent use of an inventive, well written script; and Dan O'Bannon's very creative, shoestring production design.

They Live (1988)

I count many of John Carpenter's films among my favorites and 1988s They Live is one of them. Starring bubblegum chewing and ass kicking pro-wrestler Roddy Piper, this movie moves briskly with loads of action and plenty of explosions to go along with the plots less than thinly veiled swipes at 1980s consumerism and conformity. Curious side note, the evil doers subconscious slogans of "obey" served as inspiration for visual artist Shepard Fairey. They Live - a four star popcorn flick!

the trailer

the feature

John Carpenter: Fear Is Just the Beginning... UK documentary