What is admirable is that he sometimes has brilliant ideas and he makes his own soundtrack. There is a substantial value to his filmography and perhaps it was Carpenters intention to be exactly what he is.The Thing is an absolute masterpiece. The rest is kinda bad. Most of the acting is on par with porn acting, except for Kurt Russell and few others. The dialogues are some of the worst B movie lines I've ever heard. The plot is often...well....just watch Big Trouble In Little China. But overall, the movies are bad and always require a gigantic suspension of disbelief to watch them till the end. He's a cult director and his movies can be both intentionally and unintentionally entertaining, but from the perspective of a craft, his movies are a bad job. But honestly. If your following develops several drinking games watching your movies, I think you're not the best in your field. Carpenter is for the cult, for the nostalgia and that's where he is adequately rated.