Classically Terrifying

Rating: 9/10 (8 September 2016)

It's kind of a shame that this movie is grouped with all the other slasher movies that were inspired and popularized by its success. I would hardly even call this a slasher, considering the tonal and formal dissimilarities between it and all the others. You know, kind of like how Nirvana are constantly grouped as a grunge band because they rose to prominence around the same time in the same place, when in actuality they don't really sound anything like those other bands. Maybe it works in the film's favor through comparison, but I still don't like it.
The movie is terrifying not because we know Michael Myers is a hulking, killing machine; it's terrifying through suggestion, by using shadows, static cameras, unexplained motives, and that creeping piano score. It's terrifying because we see the peaceful suburban neighborhood during the day where later in the night we witness these events unfold. It's terrifying because we follow these regular high school girls as they're terrorized and mercilessly killed by this unknown figure.
The film doesn't glory in blood and extravagant death scenes. It treats the deaths seriously, like huge moments that we shouldn't be excited for, but rather dread. It treats the audience like empathetic viewers rather than eager and bloodthirsty voyeurs.
There are those moments that have become cliché by way of theft from lesser talents: the suggestion that sex and drinking and general shenanigans leads to death, but done without the self-aware winking. This results in a film that feels familiar, but not dated. The whole film operates this way, and if you give yourself over to the concept without the baggage the genre has reaped, it's just as terrifying as it was when it was first released.