“In France, I’m an auteur; in Germany, a filmmaker; in Britain, a genre film director; and in the USA, a bum.”

So says John Carpenter, one of the most influential directors of the late 20th century. A man ahead of his time, Carpenter mixed cosmic terror with the burning anger of class warfare, covered it in slime and set it to the sickest synth tracks you've ever heard. From infamous flops turned solid gold cult classics like The Thing to the rollicking fantasy-action jaunt of Big Trouble in Little China, Big John (and his avatar Kurt Russell) has created some of the most iconic images and soundscapes in cinema.