Since Jump Cutz threw up the Wes Craven poll, I thought we could compare him against another horror master: John Carpenter. Who brings the better scares?

John Carpenter's filmography from IMDB:
The Prince (2010) (announced)
L.A. Gothic (2010) (announced)
The Ward (2010) (post-production)

"Masters of Horror" (2 episodes, 2005-2006)
- Pro-Life (2006) TV episode
- John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns (2005) TV episode
Ghosts of Mars (2001)
... aka "John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars" - USA (complete title)

Vampire$ (1998)
... aka "Vampires" - USA (original title)
... aka "John Carpenter's Vampires" - USA (complete title)
Escape from L.A. (1996)
... aka "John Carpenter's Escape from L.A." - USA (complete title)
Village of the Damned (1995)
... aka "John Carpenter's Village of the Damned" - USA (complete title)
In the Mouth of Madness (1995)
... aka "John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness" - USA (complete title)
Body Bags (1993) (TV) (segments "Gas Station, The" and "Hair")
... aka "John Carpenter Presents 'Mind Games'" - USA (cable TV title)
Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

They Live (1988)
... aka "John Carpenter's They Live" - USA (complete title)
... aka "They Live!" - USA (poster title)
Prince of Darkness (1987)
... aka "John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness" - USA (complete title)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
... aka "John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China" - USA (complete title)
... aka "Ghost Hunters" - Japan (English title)
Starman (1984)
... aka "John Carpenter's Starman" - USA (complete title)
Christine (1983)
... aka "John Carpenter's Christine" - USA (complete title)
The Thing (1982)
... aka "John Carpenter's The Thing" - USA (complete title)
Escape from New York (1981)
... aka "John Carpenter's Escape from New York" - USA (complete title)
... aka "New York 1997" - Japan (English title)
The Fog (1980)
... aka "John Carpenter's The Fog" - USA (complete title)

Elvis (1979/I) (TV)
... aka "Elvis the Movie" - USA (informal title)
Someone's Watching Me! (1978) (TV)
Halloween (1978)
... aka "John Carpenter's Halloween" - USA (complete title)
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Dark Star (1974)

Sorceror from Outer Space (1969)
Warrior and the Demon (1969) (as Johnny Carpenter)
Gorgon, the Space Monster (1969)
Gorgo Versus Godzilla (1969)
Terror from Space (1963)
Revenge of the Colossal Beasts (1962)



Wes Craven's filmography from IMDB:
Scream 4 (2011) (filming)
... aka "Scre4m" - USA (poster title)
My Soul to Take (2010) (completed)

Paris, je t'aime (2006) (segment "Père-Lachaise")
... aka "Paris, I Love You" - Hong Kong (English title), International (English title)
Red Eye (2005)
Cursed (2005)
... aka "Wes Craven's Cursed" - USA (complete title)
Scream 3 (2000)

Music of the Heart (1999)
Scream 2 (1997)
Scream (1996/I)
Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
... aka "Wes Craven's Vampire In Brooklyn" - USA (complete title)
New Nightmare (1994)
... aka "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" - USA (complete title)
"Nightmare Cafe" (1992) TV series (unknown episodes)
The People Under the Stairs (1991)
Night Visions (1990) (TV)
... aka "Chameleon Blue" - USA (alternative title)

Shocker (1989)
... aka "Shocker: No More Mr. Nice Guy" - USA (alternative title)
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
"The Twilight Zone" (5 episodes, 1985-1986)
- The Road Less Travelled (1986) TV episode
- Her Pilgrim Soul/I of Newton (1985) TV episode (segment "Her Pilgrim Soul")
- Act Break/The Burning Man/Dealer's Choice (1985) TV episode (segment "Dealer's Choice")
- Wordplay/Dreams for Sale/Chameleon (1985) TV episode (segment "Chameleon") (segment "Wordplay")
- Shatterday/A Little Peace and Quiet (1985) TV episode (segment "A Little Peace and Quiet") (segment "Shatterday")
Deadly Friend (1986)
Casebusters (1986) (TV)
The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985)
... aka "The Hills Have Eyes Part 2" - USA (video box title)
Chiller (1985) (TV)
... aka "Wes Craven's Chiller" - USA (video box title)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Invitation to Hell (1984) (TV)
Swamp Thing (1982)
Deadly Blessing (1981)

The Evolution of Snuff (1978)
Stranger in Our House (1978) (TV)
... aka "Summer of Fear" - Europe (English title)
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
... aka "Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes" - USA (LD title)
The Fireworks Woman (1975) (as Abe Snake)
... aka "Angela Is the Fireworks Woman" - USA (video title)
... aka "Angela, The Fireworks Woman" - USA (promotional title)
The Last House on the Left (1972)
... aka "Grim Company" - USA (16mm release title)
... aka "Last House on the Left" - USA (alternative title)

For me (and I imagine many others), Halloween/The Thing are enough to vote Carpenter without thinking much further about it.

Easily John Carpenter

Both have had very spotty careers.

But, just like cardsfan111, I vote Carpenter based on those 2 movies.

I'd vote for Carpenter just on The Thing, and I did.

Halloween is my favorite horror film, so Carpenter, easily.

Craven's best doesn't even come close to Carpenter's, so the choice is obvious.

Carpenter on the strength of Big Trouble in Little China alone. The Thing and Escape from NY/LA are just icing on an already delicious cake.

Wow. Carpenter is 17-to-0. I have mixed feelings about Carpenter's work, but I like some of his films very much. I realize now from looking at Wes Craven's filmography that I have never ever seen a single one of his films! How'd that happen? And I remember all the hype about LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT when that came out (particularly its connection to Bergman's VIRGIN SPRING, which I had seen), but I never went to see it.

Carpenter without hesitation.

Halloween, Escape from New York and The Thing; each one of those movies is better than Craven's entire catalogue.

J.c.

Craven is a hack. Carpenter slightly less so.

this....

Craven. Based on Scream's 1 and 2 which are better than anything I've ever seen of Carpenter's.

I really don't understand the reverence Carpenter gets. He's at best a competent B-movie director, who's made a couple of watchable movies but mostly dreck. I know a few guys who tend to be horror aficionados who put Carpenter up there with Orson Welles and Kubrick and I just don't see it. Maybe you just have to be wired to love shitty horror movies the way Tarantino loves shitty martial arts movies.

The ones I've seen-

Halloween- Mildly entertaining on a first viewing, but pretty much a boring slasher flick that isn't even very scary.

Starman- His best film that I've seen. Kind of touching and with some good acting, but an obvious cashing-in on the E.T. idea with a woman instead of a little boy.

Escape from New York- Fun, but cheesy and forgettable action flick.

The Wes Craven films I've seen-

Nightmare on Elm Street- Not a great movie at all, but with some fun cheese value. Great performance from Englund.

The Scream movies- So much fun, and very skillfully directed.

I'm a big fan of the Scream series. Nightmare on Elm Street is solid too.

I like Halloween better than any of those though.

I voted Carpenter.

Big Trouble in Little China:

[x] was directed by John Carpenter
[ ] was directed by Wes Craven

Easy enough choice.

I like Carpenter for Big Trouble in Little China and They Live. I like Craven for Scream, but never cared for Nightmare on Elm Street. Carpenter wins, but neither have done anything in the last decade that I find appealing.

Carpenter all the way. Assault on Precinct 13, The Thing and Halloween being my favorites.
The entire body of his filmography is much stronger than Craven's

I actually like Craven's crudely made early work. My favorite being the wildly uneven The Hills Have Eyes followed by NOES and TLHOTL.

I loathe his Scream movies with a passion.

Hold on just a second! Is this secretly a "The Thing vs. (something else)" poll?

Sneaky, very sneaky.

wait...you've never seen THE THING?! You...must get on that bandwagon pronto!

The choice was too simple for me to make (I voted Carpenter).

Halloween, Big trouble in little china, They Live

Those 3 movies kick some mighty ass!

This ain't even a contest. Carpenter/David Cronenberg (which I might've seen some other time as it sounds familiar) would be a better matchup.

yeah but it'd still be The Thing vs. everything else..or to be specific..The Fly.

That was my thread...unfortunately that was one of the threads that ignited the Director VS Director battles that populated the first page of Movie Talk a few weeks back and caused quite the user/mod uprising.