John Carpenter
- 2008
Master of Horror John Carpenter returns to the helm for his first feature film since 2001's Ghosts of Mars with this tale of an ex-CIA operative who begins to question his own sanity after being called back to active duty to track down a relentless serial killer. Simultaneously developed as a feature release and a video game, Psychopath features a script penned by Carpenter in collaboration with Jason X scribe Todd Farmer. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1956
The redoubtable John Carpenter strikes again with the ultra-low-budget I Killed Wild Bill Hickok. Carpenter serves as the film's producer and screenwriter, and also heads the cast, pseudonymously billed as John Forbes. Everybody knows that Wild Bill Hickok (here played by Tom Brown) was shot in the back while playing poker, but Carpenter/Forbes boldly forges ahead with a wholly fictional scenario, wherein Wild Bill meets his Waterloo in a High Noon-style gun battle with one "Johnny Rebel" (played, naturally, by Carpenter). Though the film's cast (Helen Westcott, Virginia Gibson, Denver Pyle) is more impressive than usual for a John Carpenter production, the film betrays its cheapness through its heavy reliance upon mismatched stock footage. Warming the director's chair is ace stuntman Richard Talmadge, who despite his vast experience isn't quite in the John Ford or Lesley Selander league. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Westcott, Tom Brown, (more)
- 1955
Self-style western star John Carpenter is the "auteur" of the low-budget hayburner Outlaw Treasure. Carpenter not only stars in the film (billed as "John Forbes"), but also produced and wrote the picture as well; surprisingly, however, he handed over the directorial reins to Oliver Drake. The story concerns an Army scout (Forbes) who is assigned to get to the bottom of a series of gold-shipment hijackings. To make a long story short, he does. The Jesse James gang figures briefly in the proceedings, but they, like the heroine (Adele Jergens), are summarily dropped after serving their plot purpose. Modern viewers may be impressed at how closely John Carpenter resembles Montgomery Clift--at least, until he opens his mouth to speak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank "Red" Carpenter, Adele Jergens, (more)
- 1954
The redoubtable Johnny Carpenter is producer, author and star of the low-budget western Lawless Rider. Exploiting his slight resemblance to Montgomery Clift to the hilt, Carpenter plays a taciturn sheriff who disguises himself as a notorious gunslinger. His mission: to stem a series of violent raids on local cattle ranchers. As always, Carpenter surrounds himself with such rodeo-circuit cronies as trick roper Texas Rose Bascom and such moderately talented relatives as his brother Frank Carpenter. There are also quite a few seasoned cowboy-flick veterans on hand, including director Yakima Canutt, leading lady Noel Neill, and supporting players Douglass Dumbrille, Frankie Darro, Kenne Duncan and Bud Osborne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Carpenter, Frankie Darro, (more)
- 1953
Son of the Renegade was the first of a short series of westerns produced and written by John Carpenter (not the horror-film specialist), who also starred. The villain, a chap named Three Fingers (Jack Ingram) frames Red River Johnny (John Carpenter) for a series of bank holdups. While trying to clear himself, Our Hero crosses the path of characters with the names Valley, Dusty, Wild Bill, Cherokee, Baby Face Bill and the Long Haired Kid, the Australian Kid, the Texas Kid. Evidently Carpenter isn't taking any chances: he wants the world to know he's making a western. John Carpenter made one more of these low-budgeters before he began billing himself as John Forbes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Carpenter, Lori Irving, (more)
