John Carpenter's incredible skill as a director, coupled with his frightening vision into the mind of Michael Myers was what made Halloween what is still considered today to be one of the most suspenseful and terrifying films of all time. Carpenter began his career as a director in 1969, however, it would be nine long years of hard and mostly unappreciated work until he struck it big with Halloween . After the success of Halloween , Carpenter kept one foot firmly entrenched in the horror genre, shooting such movies as The Fog, The Thing, Christine, Prince of Darkness, In the Mouth of Madness, and Vampires. Along the way, he has also created such masterpieces as Escape from New York, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, and the cult film follow-up Escape from L.A. Although he kept a hand in every Halloween "sequel," from writing to producing to composing, Carpenter’s only directing stint has remained that of the original story of the psychotic and still unaccounted for Illinois killer, Michael Myers.