John Carpenter Names His Two Greatest Films Ever Made
The legendary horror director reveals which two classic movies he considers absolute masterpieces, explaining how they shaped his approach to filmmaking and why no other films can match their brilliance.
Letterboxd has turned movie rankings into a cultural phenomenon. Everyone knows their favorite film now. The app's marketing team might have the coolest gig in Hollywood: showing up at red carpet events just to ask celebrities about their top four picks.
Most stars come prepared for the question. Kristen Stewart once noted, "You can tell a lot about a person from seeing them in Letterboxd." We're obsessed with knowing what our friends think about movies. So when someone who actually makes films for a living shares their favorites, maybe we should listen.
The Third Man: Carpenter's Perfect Crime Thriller
John Carpenter doesn't use the app, but he's been clear about his two all-time favorites. Carol Reed's 1949 release "The Third Man" sits at the top of his list. Writing for Criterion, Carpenter declared, "Oh, come on! You can't get better than this movie."
The international crime thriller carries noir elements with what Carpenter calls a deceptively simple plot: "There's an accident, a man is killed, and the third man turns out to be the bad guy, played by Orson Welles." Looking at Carpenter's own work, it's easy to see why this film resonates so deeply. Its dark, post-war atmosphere creates something almost horrifying.
"The chase scenes in the sewers of Vienna are astonishing, and the use of shadows is brilliant and inspiring. It's just an incredible movie," Carpenter explained.
Only Angels Have Wings: Hawks' Masterpiece
Howard Hawks released "Only Angels Have Wings" a decade before "The Third Man." This romantic adventure, set at a South American airmail outpost, earned Carpenter's ultimate praise: "Howard Hawks has always been a big influence on me and my work, and 'Only Angels Have Wings' is my favorite movie of all time."
Carpenter's passion for this film runs deep. He wrote, "If you sit down and watch it and you don't love it, then you can just forget Howard Hawks. Everything about him as a filmmaker is here: the relationships between men and women, the adventure, the mystery, the pleasure."
What Makes Hawks Special
Carpenter chose this Hawks film because it combines the director's usual approaches. Some Hawks movies focus on "daring men doing various adventurous things." Others are comedies where he takes his hero, usually Cary Grant, and "humiliates him or brings out his goofier side."
"Only Angels Have Wings" stands apart as "unique," Carpenter explains. "It's a movie in which men, in this case, pilots, risk their lives every day, with every flight, while darkness is all around them... they have their own codes and their own ideas of bravery."
World-building challenges every creative project. You need immersion, innovation, intrigue. Carpenter seems to have learned this skill directly from Hawks' work.