Still one of the best slashers

Rating: 10/10 (31 August 2017)

Is it any wonder why Halloween is considered a classic? This film will soon be thirty years old, and it remains, for me at least, the gold standard for slasher movies.
While most slashers made since this one focus heavily on gore and cheap scares, director John Carpenter creates an atmosphere of tension and dread. In fact, you don't actually see a lot of blood and guts, since the surprisingly small number of deaths are blanketed in shadow. And the iconic music, first heard during the opening credits, will always bring a sense of building fear in your mind.
The acting for this movie is superb. Jamie Lee Curtis' performance as Laurie Strode combined vulnerability with resourcefulness to make a likable heroine, and helped define the "final girl" archetype for future generations. And Donald Pleasence brings a great deal of sophistication to the film as Dr. Sam Loomis, who acts as the killer's unintentional hype man as he warns others of his great evil.
Of course, what makes this film is the character of Michael Myers, listed in the credits as "The Shape." Future films in the series turned him into a lumbering Jason-clone, but he is far from that in his original appearance. Myers is no mindless monster, but a clever hunter who stalks and kills without mercy or blunder. And his mask, an altered Captain Kirk face, leaves a haunting image.
Few films of the genre have come close to the standards that this film set, and likely few ever will. Hopefully future filmmakers will take inspiration from the techniques of this film rather than relying on gore for cheap shock value. Until then, we'll always have the original Halloween to enjoy.