The most overrated horror film ever...

Rating: 5/10 (21 December 2006)

Halloween starts in th small town of 'Haddonfield, Illinois Halloween Night 1963' where a young 6 year old boy named Michael Myers (Will Sandin) brutally stabs his sister Judith (Sandy Johnson) to death... Jump forward to 'Smith's Grove, Illinois October 30 1978' where Michael myers has spent the last 25 years in a mental institution, until tonight as this is the night he escapes... Back at Haddonfield & everyone is preparing for Halloween including Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) who is planning to babysit for the night. However Michael travels back to Haddonfield where he stalks & murders various teenagers...
Co-written, co-produced & directed by John Carpenter who also composed the music I personally think Halloween is quite simply the most overrated horror film I've ever seen. The script by Carpenter & producer Debra Hill really is as simple as any slasher out there, there isn't a plot to speak of to be honest. I thought just about everything in Halloween was average at best, the character's, the dialogue, the situations, the story & the kills. It's an OK film, there's nothing spectacularly wrong with it but I found it a bit of a chore to watch, nothing particularly exciting happens & to an extent I suppose it's become a victim of it's own success as there were so many imitators & copycat films that probably just about anyone will know where it's going & pretty much everything that's going to happen. I don't even think it's a particularly good slasher either, there are others that I enjoy far more than Halloween.
Director Carpenter does a good job, there's a decent atmosphere & he likes to use the whole of the frame by having Michael pop-up in the background & then have him disappear. Halloween also features lots of long nice looking tracking shots rather than quick edits which I liked. A special mention goes the opening credits & the theme tune which are admittedly very cool. Forget about any gore as there isn't any, this ones all about the build-up rather than the pay-off.
With a budget of about $325,000 Halloween is well made & quite a classy little film for the money. When released it became the highest grossing independent feature film ever although I fail to see why it's so highly regarded. The acting as OK, I can't say I remember anyone from it though.
Halloween is an OK slasher for sure, but one of the greatest horror films ever? I'm not so sure about that. If people love it than great but for me it didn't quite do enough & it's entertainment value was almost none existent.