One of the few decent slasher films

Rating: 7/10 (3 February 2010)

I admit that I am not a fan of the slasher genre, I neither find it entertaining or scary. But I am a fan of John Carpenter's films and Halloween is meant to be the best of it's sub-genre.
The film starts in 1963 when a six year old boy Michael Myers murders his older sister who was babysitting him on Halloween. 15-years later he escapes from prison and returns to his old town on Halloween. He starts to stalk Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), and her two friends Annie (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda (P.J. Soles). They are normal girls, Laurie is smart girl who on Halloween is going to babysit a local child. Michael Myers starts to hunt them down. Only Michael's psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) can stop him.
With a budget of $320,000, Halloween was a massive financial success, making $60 Million in the US alone. It also had a good critical response, having 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was so successful that became a massive series and recently been remade by Rob Zombie. This was a film that also gave Jamie Lee Curtis her first film role. This film tells a basic story of a killer hunting the streets of a small town. A more realistic setting to say the Friday 13th series where the kids go to an abandon camp with electricity or phones, take drugs, have sex and end up getting killed by a killer with a knife. One of the best aspects of Halloween is that it doesn't try to explain why Michael Myers is a killer, he just does it because he is evil. That is a more interesting and scary then when a film tries to justify why the killer is the way he is. The other decent aspect is the film doesn't such too much violence, unlike modern films where they show everything. It's more effective when there is little violence. John Carpenter also does have some good shots and scenes during the film, particularly in the beginning when 6-year-old Michael kills his sister.
But there are sadly some problems. Except for the acting of Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence, most is weak. There is also weak characterisation, making out that of the girls is a sex-crazed cheerleader. There isn't much dept to the film. As well there is a leery nature to the film, with Michael spying on teenage girls being his targets. I also have to question did women just not wear bras in the 70s? Also if there was some real-world logic behind the film, surely wouldn't there be a bulletin to warn people that a there was a killer on the loose?
But it is possibly the best of it's genre.