Halloween (1978)

"I met him, fifteen years ago.", 30 September 2007

The plot of Halloween is so simple and so well known that I hardly see much point in revisiting it here. What person with even a passing interest in horror does not know who Michael Myers is and his story? He is one of the true iconic characters is recent horror history. And who with even the slightest interest in either John Carpenter or Jamie Lee Curtis isn't aware of what Halloween meant to their careers? And finally, while it may not have been the first movie of its kind or even the first to churn out a sequel, there's little debate about Halloween's influence on horror for more than a decade. For an independently made movie with a shoe-string budget, Halloween is quite the remarkable movie.

Halloween works because John Carpenter was smart enough to realize something that most of the imitators fail to realize. That is, for a horror movie to be effective, it's not about the kill scenes - it's about the moments leading up to the murder. It's about creating atmosphere and tension rather than a geek show filled with blood and gore. Carpenter shows us Michael lurking in the shadows just waiting to strike, but he doesn't go into detail on what happens when Michael kills. It's a simple concept and I'm continually amazed that more filmmakers don't get it. Thank goodness Carpenter got it!

9/10