69 John Carpenter Movies, Ranked Best to Worst

A group of American researchers are shocked to find that a helicopter from the nearby Norwegian facility is shooting a sled dog, but it explodes shortly after without providing any explanation. They bring the dog in, only to realize that it is in fact a shape-shifting alien life-form capable of assuming the shape of its victims.

A six year old boy, Michael Myers, mercilessly kills his teenage sister, Judith on the Halloween night in 1963. He is imprisoned for fifteen years. Now 21, Michael escapes and returns to his hometown to figure out his next unaware victims – a female babysitter and her friends. The only person who understands his intentions is his psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis.

In an alternate reality, Manhattan Island in New York City has been converted into a maximum security prison following a 400% increase in crime in the United States. When Air Force One is hijacked and the President is crash-landed into the island, former Special Forces soldier and convicted robber, Snake Plissken, is coerced into launching a rescue initiative.

Trucker Jack Burton enters into the underworld beneath San Francisco’s Chinatown to help friend Wong Chi rescue his green-eyed girlfriend from evil immortal sorcerer David Lo Pan who needs to marry a green-eyed Chinese woman to reverse an ancient curse and become mortal again. Can Burton and Chi succeed in defeating an immortal sorcerer, his wicked martial art fighters, and mysterious monsters?

Ray Nelson’s 1963 short story Eight O'Clock in the Morning is the basis of this movie in which homeless John Nada discovers a pair of sunglasses through which he learns the frightening reality about the world. This truth is about the skull faced aliens who disguise as humans and influence the minds and senses of the population to keep them under control. Nada, now, has to save humanity. 

Exactly a hundred years after the mysterious sinking of a ship, an unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town, which brings with it the vengeful ghosts who were killed during the shipwreck.

When a bloodthirsty street gang assaults a defunct police station in Los Angeles, a group of individuals form an unlikely partnership, to defend themselves and fight off the gang members.  

Based on a novel of the same name by renowned author Stephen King, the film tells the story of Arnie, a nerdy boy who purchases an old car, unaware of the fact that there is an evil presence within it. Anyone who tries to come between Arnie and the car is not spared. 

Although Larrie had managed to escape narrowly from the serial killer Michael Myers four decades ago, she faces him again after he escapes from captivity. She tries to confront her worst fears, as well as to put a stop to the killings.

An alien, who is stuck on Earth, kidnaps the widow of a deceased man and inhabits his body. He makes her drive him across his country so that he can unite with a vessel which will take him back to his home planet. Although he eventually forms a bond with the widow, military officials try to stop them and kill him. 

The second installment in the Halloween film series, the story centers on Michael Myers and his traumatized victim Laurie Strode, whom he has earlier failed to kill. It describes how he chases Laurie into the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, on the way killing nurses and doctors, until he is engulfed in flame, yet continuing with his chase.  

In the Mouth of Madness is a 1994 horror film revolves around an insurance investigator John Trent, who starts investigating, after publisher Jackson Harglow claims that horror novelist Sutter Cane goes missing. 

This science fiction comedy film tells us the story of a small crew of astronauts who are on a mission to destroy rogue planets. However, after twenty years, things start to go wrong.

While cleaning the basement in the church, Father Loomis comes across a canister which is filled with a volatile green substance. He soon comes to know that the liquid is the spirit of the Devil. Problem arises when the container is opened, unleashing an evil force on humanity.

Eyes of Laura Mars is a mystery thriller film which tells the story of Laura, a well-known fashion photographer in New York City, who is known for her controversial work. Her life takes a turn all of a sudden when she gains the disturbing ability to see visions through the eyes of a serial killer. Although the police aid her, she is still unaware of the killer’s identity. Despite this, she tries to prevent the killer from targeting her friends and her associates.   

On their way to transfer crime lord Marion Bishop, a raging snowstorm forces the transport bus to be redirected to the soon-to-be-closed Precinct 13. However, when a group of masked gunmen start attacking the Precinct, emotionally compromised Sergeant Jake Roenick must form an uneasy truce with the criminals to save all of their lives. 

This action horror film revolves around Jack and his team of mercenaries as they hunt down vampires and attempt to retrieve the Black Cross of Berziers, an ancient relic, that could give the vampires the ability to endure sunlight. 

The Resurrection of Broncho Billy is a Western short film which revolves around a young man whose dream is being a cowboy in the old west, but he lives in the big city, in the present time.

An adolescent girl named Milly moves in next door to Eric Gibb, an autistic teen boy, who lives with his uncle, as he had lost his parents when he was just five years of age. Milly learns that Eric is obsessed with birds and spends a lot of time on rooftops posing like he is flying. She eventually saves him from a potentially deadly fall, but soon, it seems that Eric might really have the ability to fly.

Cuban terrorist, Cuervo, manipulates President’s daughter, Utopia, into stealing a vital detonation device and fleeing to LA, which now is an autonomous island for deporting undesirables. The President appoints former-soldier, Snake Plissken, for this mission wherein he is injected with a virus that would kill him in 9 hours, before which he has to find Utopia, stop Cuervo, and retrieve the device.  

A mysterious event takes place where all residents of a village fall unconscious at the same time. Ten months later, ten women give birth on the very same day. The children not only grow up abnormally fast, but they also show strange abilities, and eventually they start seeming like a threat.  

A mentally unstable Michael Myers murders his sister, her boyfriend and his mother’s boyfriend and is consequently sent to Smith's Grove Sanitarium for treatment. After years of confinement, he manages to escape and returns to his hometown to look for his younger sister. Dr. Sam Loomis, who was his doctor at the mental institution, follows him.

Laurie Strode escaped brother Michael Myer’s 1978 Halloween massacre. Later, feigning her death, she assumes new identity as Keri Tate, head-mistress of a North California school. Twenty years later in 1998, a vengeful Michael tracks her down to her new address. But now with her teenage son John’s life also at stake, she has to confront the evil once and for all. 

When a nuclear accident renders an evacuated building invisible, stock analyst Nick Halloway taking a nap inside, also turns invisible. As CIA agent Jenkins realizes Nick’s situation, he tenaciously pursues Nick to recruit him as invisible CIA agent. Alice Monroe, whom Nick had met just before the accident, helps him escape Jenkins while Nick desperately searches for a solution to his condition.

Surviving victims of the notorious killer Michael Myers, form a vigilante mob, after learning that he is still alive. They decide to unite and end his reign of terror once and for all.

Titled onscreen as John Carpenter's The Ward, this is a supernatural psychological horror film set in brooding Oregon psychiatric hospital. The story follows a young woman, who has been institutionalized for setting fire to a farm house and is now being terrorized by the ghost of a former inmate, a horribly deformed figure baying for blood.   

Quint is a professional thief who is hired by the FBI to steal incriminating tapes from a corrupt corporation. He is forced to hide the tapes in the back of a racing car, but things get complicated when the car gets stolen.

After lying in a coma for around a year, Michael Myers attempts to start another killing rampage. He goes after his niece Jamie who has been confined to a mental institution. Meanwhile Dr Sam Loomis, a psychiatrist starts suspecting that there might be a psychic link between Michael and Jamie.

Dr Daniel and Ellie Grimbridge uncover the terrible plot of an insane man who is planning a mass murder on the upcoming Halloween. 

Set in 2176, the film depicts the planet Mars 84% terraformed, having a huge human population. The plot thickens up when a police officer visits a remote mining outpost with her team and finds it deserted.  Soon, she discovers an underground doorway that allows the ghosts of ancient Martians take possession of human intruders.  

Six years after Michael Myers had terrorized Haddonfield, he returns in pursuit of his niece named Jamie who had managed to escape with her newborn child. He tries to hunt her down with a mysterious cult which has sinister plans for her child.

A vampire princess is seeking a legendary black crucifix, which can enable her to perform a ritual, which will give vampires the ability to walk in sunlight and be invulnerable. A vampire slayer named Derek Bliss is hired by a shady priest in order to stop her.

This comedy thriller film is a parody of the psychological thriller films ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ and ‘Pyscho’. The film revolves around Jo Dee Foster, a rookie FBI agent, who is on his first case, looking for a serial killer who is wanted for over 120 murders. In order to find the killer, Fostar enlists the help of a convicted murderer named Animal Cannibal Pizza.

Michael Myers returns to terrorize his sister before proceeding to his hometown Haddonfield. A reality show by Freddie and Nora is being broadcast live from the serial-killer’s abandoned childhood home. Six thrill-seeking teenagers are to spend the night there with cameras trained on them 24/7, and no one can leave the house. As the Halloween night deepens, Myers arrives to enliven the party!

The Fog is a horror thriller film which tells the story of Nick and Elizabeth, who experience supernatural events occurring in their town. They eventually discover that ghosts of a crew of sailors who were killed in a shipwreck over a 100 years ago have come for revenge.