The 2025 Hollywood Walk Of Fame class was announced this past Monday at a press conference held at Ovation Hollywood.
Prince (posthumously), Trey Parker & Matt Stone (South Park), Emilio “Captain Blood” Esteves (“QUACK-QUACK-QUACK”), and Depeche Mode are but a few of the thirty-six selected. Still, two individuals in particular deserve the loudest of praise long overdue.
Director John Carpenter and actor/director Robert Englund were also announced in the Motion Pictures category, and the horror world shrieked with delight. In a fandom full of favorites, this is a dream come true…or quite possibly a nightmare.
Robert Barton Englund was born in California on June 6th, 1947. He took an interest in acting at an early age and got into theater. After years of success in regional stage performances, he moved to film where he was originally type-casted as a nerd character.
However, the cycle would be broken when he was cast as the benevolent alien “Willie” in the classic science series V in the early 80s, but it wasn’t until his breakthrough role that audiences would forever remember his name…and never sleep again.
Wes Craven’s groundbreaking horror classic A Nightmare On Elm Street was released on November 9, 1984, with Englund as Freddy Krueger. The spirit of a vengeful child murderer who torments, and kills people in their sleep.
The film was a massive success, and Freddy became one of the most beloved horror movie villains of all time. Englund would go on to reprise the role seven more times before finally hanging up the glove and fedora.
That character was his most famous, but he starred in a handful of other awesome horror movies (the gory 1989 remake of Phantom of the Opera, The Mangler, Hatchet), and he even directed one (976-EVIL)
Englund went to his social media to comment on the news, and the fans exploded with joy.
Although this would only prime them for the next person to be announced.
John Howard Carpenter was born in northern New York State on January 16, 1948, the son of a music professor. Just like his predecessor, John embarked on the route to legend status in his adolescent years. It began with short films ranging from Horror to claymation Kaiju, and even Westerns.
Unaware of the concept of film school, Carpenter went to Western Kentucky University for a degree in English only to drop out so he could play bass guitar in a rock band. (A man after my rebellious heart, indeed.)
It was while slapping the fat four strings that he was made aware of institutions that cater to those looking to carve themselves a path in the art of filmmaking.
In 1968, John enrolled in the USC School of Cinematic Arts where he would meet future collaborators such as Dan O’Bannon, Tommy Lee Wallace, and Nick Castle. He dropped out in his final semester to make his first feature. Such a rebel…
He made his first major film, Dark Star, in 1974. This silly low-budget Sci-Fi/Comedy was followed up with a highly influential Action/Neo Western classic, Assault on Precinct 13 in 1976.
Carpenter then directed the made-for-television thriller Someone’s Watching Me, but the next feature film is what changed everything. Halloween, which he directed, co-wrote (with Debra Hill), and did the iconic musical score for, was released on October 25th, 1978.
On a budget of just over $300,000, it was a major success that’s considered by many to be one of the best horror films ever made and paved the way for the Slasher subgenre that pervaded the following decade.
Just like with his creation, Michael Myers, this was only the beginning of his legendary tale. With films like The Fog, Escape From New York, Big Trouble in Little China, and the superior remake of The Thing, there will never be a mark like the one he left on film in the 1980s.
Carpenter has arguably never reached the level of mainstream success desired, and well deserved. But that hasn’t stopped him from being more important and multi-talented than any blockbusting filmmaker in the past three decades.
None of them possess the DIY mentality, nor can they lift the viewer’s imagination off the floor on a shoestring budget. Not to mention that people don’t see James Cameron, Peter Jackson, or Christopher Nolan doing the music for their films.
John Carpenter’s abilities go beyond direction, and his music has always set the perfect atmosphere for the nightmares he weaves for all to experience – something that is more valuable than high box-office numbers, and garish golden statues.
After his name was announced, he tweeted his response in true John Carpenter fashion.
Horror has been the most enduring genre in all of film but has always been dismissed within the cinematic family. So many stars of the silver screen had their origins rooted in fright but quickly disassociated from it immediately after finding success.
Hopefully, this starts a trend for the years to come. It would be amazing to see the likes of Kane Hodder, Clive Barker, and Bruce Campbell get the same groovy Hollywood treatment one day.
NEXT: John Carpenter’s Filmography Ranked From Worst To Best