Are you feeling stressed, isolated, down in the dumps, uncertain about the future, and a little scared? So, how about we put it all in perspective by watching some incredibly scary and downright horrifying movies by John Carpenter? Let’s watch his Apocalypse Trilogy.
What is the Apocalypse Trilogy, you ask?
The Apocalypse trilogy is a set of three fantastic movies made by the legendary John Carpenter. It consists of The Thing, The Prince of Darkness, and In the Mouth of Madness. Although their storylines don’t connect, John Carpenter himself refers to it as a set (The Apocalypse Trilogy).
Let me explain how this is a trilogy. Each movie is about the end of the world. In other words, the apocalypse. However, destruction comes from a different source each time. Each film also aims at destroying our beliefs, our individuality, or the way we view our society. Devastation hits us over the head until it’s too late. Inevitably, we all die in the end, and it’s our own fault.
The Thing, The First Movie in the Apocalypse Trilogy
The Thing, starring Kurt Russell as R.J. MacReady and Keith David as Childs, is a brilliant movie that explores the concept of destroying ourselves from within. Although, technically, John Carpenter’s movie is about an alien from outer space that mimics us perfectly, ultimately, the message in this film is more about how we will destroy ourselves.
In John Carpenter’s The Thing, an alien in Antarctica is slowly making its way from camp to camp, perfectly cloning itself. It’s becoming our friends. It’s becoming you.
Trusting anyone is not an option. Paranoia seeps in. Ultimately, the clone is so perfect that you may not even know if you’re really human anymore.
This movie, which flopped at the box office, is still an incredible film to watch today. It’s completely underrated and fun in all aspects. The special effects of the ’80s, the great actors, the intense paranoia, and the frigid setting make it a great rainy-day movie as well.
I don’t know about you, but this movie always makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Something about cuddling while watching a snowy movie.
The Thing follows a dog that is already infected by said alien. It comes across an American base camp and slowly turns each person into a suspect. Ultimately, our self-loathing and mistrust of our fellow man, along with a smidgen of paranoia, become our worst enemy. However, there’s always that thing that brings it out of us.
Even though one by one, each individual becomes an alien, The Thing can make your situation feel better, simply by comparison. Thankfully, we don’t have a monstrous parasite growing inside us.
At the end of the movie, we are left uncertain about who is human and who is infected. So we kill each other to save our planet.
The Thing 2011 is actually not a remake. It’s a prequel and an amazing one at that. The Thing 2011 follows a Norwegian base camp in Antarctica that discovers a ship buried deep in the Antarctic tundra. Upon excavating it, they find out it’s not dead.
Both movies are incredible and equally enjoyable. The Thing 2011 is different, modern, and simply brilliant. Watch the John Carpenter version first, then watch the prequel. It shows you exactly how everything unfolds before arriving at the American base camp base camp.
The Prince of Darkness by John Carpenter is the Second Movie in the Apocalypse Trilogy
My favorite of the three is The Prince of Darkness. Although this movie is less known and less liked than The Thing, I enjoy the intellectual side of how we’re ultimately destroyed.
In John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness, we follow several scientists who are trapped in a church with a green substance discovered by a priest who knows it’s the work of Satan himself. The priest understands that most people don’t believe in God anymore, and the only way to prove that God exists is to have scientists prove his existence scientifically.
The Prince of Darkness is twisted and very bleak. However, the main takeaway is how we will destroy our belief system, which ultimately turns against us and destroys us entirely.
The storyline is brilliantly told by the scientists. Discovering old testaments, Jesus himself wrote. They find that Jesus was an extraterrestrial who came back to warn us of this evil entity set out to destroy mankind.
Little by little, the scientists prove, scientifically, physically, and actually, that the devil exists.
However, that’s when things take a turn. As the evil becomes more potent, it slowly turns each scientist into a maniacal killer.
Meanwhile, the homeless themselves are possessed by otherworldly evil. Their leader, played by Alice Cooper, surrounds the church and kills the scientists as they attempt to escape.
The aim of the second installment of the Apocalypse Trilogy by John Carpenter is to destroy our belief system. However, even though the scientists win the battle, the ending sequence leaves it open to interpretation. And we all know that history often repeats itself. As human beings, we’re not smart enough to remember our past mistakes. In other words, we’re bound to destroy ourselves in the not-so-distant future.
The Third Film in the Apocalypse Trilogy: In The Mouth of Madness by John Carpenter
In the Mouth of Madness, directed by John Carpenter, attempts to destroy our reality. When reality isn’t real, then the world ceases to exist. He does this brilliantly as well. Actually, In the Mouth of Madness is the first movie that made me realize how lucky I am to have good mental health.
But let’s Get Into It, Shall We?
In the Mouth of Madness by John Carpenter is about an author, Sutter Kane, who goes missing. They hire a private investigator, played by Sam Niel, to find him.
Although Niels’s character believes it’s a publicity stunt, he soon becomes entangled in Sutter Kane’s web.
As it turns out, Sutter Kane is an author so big it makes Stephen King look like a nobody. Kane’s books gather an immense following. The following is so extraordinary it’s almost like a religion. As the characters discover in the movie, Kane’s novels are read more than the Bible.
In a sense, if we believe the teachings, stories, and power of the Bible, then surely we will believe the complete opposite.
Sutter Kane created a village called Hobb’s End, where all of these creepy things happen. Everything revolves around Hobb’s End. Ultimately, this is where the end of the world originates.
The monsters in Kane’s books destroy reality because if millions of people believe in the Bible and its happenings, then the billions who believe in Kane’s books must also be real.
John Carpenter ultimately destroys humanity’s reality with a tale of fiction. Our imaginations are our worst enemy. We believe in anything and maybe even in all the wrong things.
It’s this fiction that ultimately destroys us.
In the Mouth of Madness is also the most cinematic one of the three. It’s also the most modern of the three movies.
It’s definitely worth watching several times. However, I should mention that John Carpenter doesn’t leave the ending open for interpretation. The world ends. We either go crazy, we kill each other, or we commit suicide.
John Carpenter To The Rescue When We Feel Down
So, let’s watch these three movies. It will help us cope during a time of uncertainty. They will also put everything in perspective. So when times are tough, maybe even dire, we can’t help but think positively because, ultimately, we could be invaded by aliens that take over our bodies. Perhaps Satan himself will possess us and lead us to kill the world. Or maybe we’re all crazy, and we’ll end it all ourselves. But none of that is happening.
So, let’s all cozy up and be grateful for the little bit we have; sit tight and watch some Apocalypse Trilogy.
I love each one so much! And if I had to give each of these movies a rating, they are 5 Bloody Hatchets, all of them, in my eyes!
What do you think about these movies? I’d love to know. Leave a comment below.
