A fine slasher flick, but one that unfortunately is sloppy in one or two areas

Rating: 7/10 (24 December 2017)

October 31st 1963; Mike Myers kills his sister and 15 years later on 'Halloween Night' he returns and goes on a killing spree after he manages to escape from psychiatric hospital staff that are transporting him to a mental institution. His doctor Loomis (Donald Pleasance) and the local sheriff are the only people in the area that know he has escaped and do their utmost to track him down...
Notable for being the film debut of established actress Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween is a very good film but this in largely down to Carpenter's wonderful ability in building up and creating suspense. Carpenter leaves us hanging for nearly an hour before Myers begins killing, but he does make good use of the time (the film is most effective when Carpenter uses the first person/POV approach as this is when the film is at its most chilling). The thing with Halloween is that it is largely carried by atmosphere and tension - in fact these aspects of the film are strong enough to cover many of the film's weaknesses. Waiting for Myers to strike and determining whom he will kill first is the main hook that keeps you glued to the screen for the first hour, but like I say despite Carpenter's strengths as a director some of his weaknesses do show through as a writer...
For a start, Myers escape at the start is totally ludicrous; aside from never learning how he escapes, one has to wonder why hospital staff would transport a high security prisoner in a station wagon or estate car as it's known in the UK? Surely in the real world he would be transported in a prison van? Laurie sees Myers on several occasions, but then dismisses one of the kids when they say that they have seen him on several occasions? Donald Pleasance is a fabulous actor, but in Halloween he is effectively a 'chocolate fireguard' up until the final 10 minutes - his presence along with the Sheriff seem unnecessary and I felt that the film would have been no different if both Sheriff and Doctor were omitted from the film entirely.
The final sequence of events (whilst relatively tense) did feel as though they undermined a lot of the suspense that Carpenter had built up in the first hour. A lot of what you see in the finale is cheap and predictable although I did like the fact that Laurie used a knitting needle and coat hanger to attack Mike Myers - who needs a knife...
I think the one thing that ruined this film slightly for me is the way that Myers was depicted as being 'superhuman' - he gets stabbed with a knitting needle, coat hanger and shot about 6 times and then falls through a window only to then be able to get up and run away (ridiculous in itself, but is a really bad way to set up a franchise in my opinion).
Yes there are huge problems with this film, but the wonderful way that Carpenter builds the suspense in the first hour makes the whole experience worthwhile overall.
SIDE NOTE; I also enjoyed the scene where Laurie and Tommy are watching the original 'The Thing' as John Carpenter directed a remake of this film 4 years after Halloween was released.