John Carpenter loves his endless Halloween paydays

Legendary horror and sci-fi director John Carpenter has been perfectly fine with all of the Halloween movies, good or Resurrection, so long as the checks kept coming in–which they still do, even if he doesn’t have to do a single thing.

In a new Variety interview marking both John Carpenter’s 75th birthday (January 16th) and nearly 50 years since the release of his first feature (1974’s Dark Star, also released on January 16th, interestingly enough), the director-writer-composer sat down to discuss some of his most famous movies. On his apparently preferred role in the Halloween franchise, John Carpenter said, “I want to just be real honest about it: They had to pay me every single time they made those movies, and it was wonderful. That’s my favorite kind of experience in Hollywood: I’m on a couch, maybe watching some TV, and I extend my hand and a check arrives and it rubs in my hand. That I’m talented at.”

Famously, John Carpenter’s original plan for Halloween was for there to be a new film released every year under the brand. Branching out with the vastly underappreciated Halloween III: Season of the Witch–which did not feature Michael Myers–proved to be the fatal stab. Regardless, the Halloween franchise continued (with the Shatner-masked boogeyman slicing his way through more than 90 victims), as did the swelling of John Carpenter’s bank account. Of course, John Carpenter hasn’t entirely just been sitting on his keister collecting checks. He had a hand in David Gordon Green’s trilogy, scoring them along with his son Cody and Daniel Davies.

John Carpenter previously said he’s not concerned one bit about how the new Halloweens are received, which checks out, considering he’s going to be getting a royalty payment regardless of its box office numbers or critical stance.

In addition to Halloween, John Carpenter also touched on some of his other iconic works, noting how proud he is of 1988’s They Live (and its fight scene), the challenges of the practical effects in 1994’s In the Mouth of Madness and the incredibly difficult shoot on 1982’s The Thing.

What are your favorite non-Carpenter-directed/produced movies in the Halloween franchise? Let us know in the comments section below!