Horror At Its Finest

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2001)

The greatest horror film ever made, John Carpenter's classic is a masterclass in suspense driven terror and resourceful film-making. Made on a shoestring budget of $300,000 it become the most successful independent film of all time and its easy to see why. Carpenter's masterful use of the Panaglide camera creates an atmosphere of unease as it stalks around the prey of serial killer Michael Myers. The framing is brilliantly dynamic; characters remain in darkness as the shape repeatedly interupts the frame to create sudden moments of terror and the claustrophopia closes in as the film progresses, culminating in a behind-the-sofa climax as the revelation of the ultimate personification of evil becomes apparent. Michael Myers becomes an iconic killer, the symbol of a serial killer that middle America had feared through growing media speculation since the 1950's and this coupled with Donald Pleasence's Dr Loomis as the oracle, and Jamie Lee Curtis' virginal but strong heroine Laurie you have the influential makings of the contemporary slasher.
Quite simply if you don't like horror you don't appreciate how groundbreaking and masterful this film is. If you want a pointless,run-of-the-mill slasher watch Friday the 13th, if you want an imaginative, brilliantly made film that delves deep into the human psyche, which also contains the most haunting score ever committed to celluloid then watch Halloween, the pinnacle of the horror genre.
10/10