John Carpenter's legendary horror film will stand the test of time

Rating: 9/10 (27 November 2019)

Halloween has since spawned a plethora of inferior imitators, but John Carpenter's original classic slasher simply cannot be beaten. A masterclass of suspense building, chilling imagery, and iconic music produced by the legend himself, Halloween shows what can be accomplished with a meagre budget when the right person is in full command of his craft.
The premise is so widely known its pretty much etched into the minds of anyone with a taste for films... Michael Myers escapes from a mental institution and returns to his hometown to torment and kill his sister, randomly killing anyone in his way. A figure of pure evil, Michael Myers is one of cinema's strongest villains: a voiceless, masked spectre who moves and kills with chillingly inhuman skill. One minute you see him, next he's gone, like a whisper in the wind, though a breeze that leaves a path of bloody carnage.
From the impressive opening sequence featuring an outstanding long take, to the creepy instances of glimpsing Michael poking out in the background, and then on to the bone-chilling climax as he wreaks havoc with vicious intensity, Halloween rides on its drawn out dread build-ups, ignores jump scares, and never forgets the audience its destined to frighten. It's a simple script, but its the imagery that Carpenter creates that linger long after the credits fade.
Strong performances from a young Jamie Lee Curtis and the ever-watchable Donald Pleasance ensure that while Michael stalks his prey there is still enough human emotion to ground the depravity, in what is one of the greatest horror films of all time.
9/10