The absolute very best in the genre

Rating: 10/10 (3 December 2006)

The reason for my 10 out of 10 rating is that this movie is the archetype horror movie, or, to put it another way, the movie that set the standard for the genre itself. Time has shown that this first one could never be equalled, let alone surpassed. The reason for this is probably that everything that makes a good horror movie (and there are a lot of components that have to perfectly work together) is all present in Halloween 1978 to an almost perfect degree. To sum it up: -There is the excellent acting (esp. the 'sqream queen' JL Curtis)that really portraits fear in stead of merely hysterical teenagers that can make those movies almost ridiculous. Jamie Lee Curtis is totally convincing and an important factor in making the watcher believe that what he sees is real. That of course is what horror tries to achieve, but only rarely happens. The Blair Witch is one of the very few other examples. -There is the brilliant music (which was composed by Carpenter himself in only a weekend!) that does so much to help build up the nasty atmosphere. No other horror movie has used music so effectively to build up the atmosphere than this one. Possibly only The Thing comes close, but it took Ennio Morricone to do it! Some movies use music too much, let it overrule, but in this movie it is in total harmony with all that happens. -There is also the excellent camera-work. An example is the almost misty white mask of the evil Michael Myers in the dark house when Jamie get's stabbed from behind in the end. It makes him almost look nonhuman, alien, like an idea, which in fact he is, the 'evil'. The white that apart from being innocent, can in some cases (white shark) indeed be the face of death. -Also camera angles and effects are there that go almost unnoticed but are highly effective. An example is when Jamie walks with her school friends home. One by one they turn left to their houses, until Jamie is alone on the lane. Suddenly he stands there in front of her, human, not human? Evil himself? Jut as sudden as he is gone, she bumps into..not him, but a police officer. Or later, when Jamie is alone in a room in the house and looks out in the garden. There is an almost mysterious wind, laundry waving in it, and between the white of the blankets and the trees is Michael Myers again, or, as you almost think, not? It almost appeals to the possibility that Michael Myers might not even exist, only in her mind. - Build up of the tension. Probably the most difficult to achieve. In Halloween the tension is built up terrificly, and slowly mounts into an incredible climax in only the last 15 minutes, which are now legendary. The truth that this movie wants to make us believe, is that Michael Myers is human, but at the same time a devil, not human, supernatural. The way he keeps erecting, and disappears in the end, together with all the items I described above, what actually makes you buy it as well. That is an incredible feat, that we all know after laughing at almost any other horror movie we have seen since! This is a serious one that gets in your system!