Influential masterwork - one of the best low budget horror films ever made

Rating: 10/10 (27 July 2016)

I'm not sure how much there is to say about this undisputed horror classic that hasn't been said already but here goes: John Carpenter's influential slasher movie is a superb example of low-budget film making. Despite being made on the cheap, with home-made synthesiser music from Carpenter and a lead of relative unknowns, HALLOWEEN still stands firm today as the pinnacle of the slasher genre. Many films have since tried to imitate the look and feel of this movie but all have failed, lacking skills in expertise film-making and instead preferring to show torrents of blood and gristle in an attempt to shock/disgust the audience instead of really frightening them.
The film's opening, with the P.O.V. shots from a killer as he goes about the murder of his own sister, may recall similar moments in BLACK Christmas but they are used far more effectively and copiously throughout the film, really putting us into the evil mind of the killer as he stares impassively at the people he is about to kill. The film is light on plot, with all of the events taking place within 20 hours; Myers escapes from the hospital, is pursued to Haddonfield by Dr Loomis, and begins to murder a bunch of teenagers. That's all there is to it. So simple, yet so effective, the film's casual simplicity is what draws you into the movie: the first half an hour is deceptively slow, introducing all the lead characters and inserting lots of little foreboding shocks and scares like the ace scenes where Laurie notices Myers watching her from behind a hedge or clothesline.
From then on, there are a protracted number of stalk and slash sequences, all played out slowly with lots of build-up and a sudden resolution as the victim is killed (apart from the finale, which turns into a game of cat and mouse between Laurie and Myers). Carpenter's camera-work is wonderful and unsettling, remaining totally unpredictable throughout, and his tinkly music score has been much imitated as well but never equalled. The main theme tune is an instantly recognisable and hauntingly atmospheric score that beats any rival tunes from the main studio guys.
The cast all do their darndest to make the film work, and succeed. Jamie Lee Curtis stands out as tough but human heroine Laurie, forced to face the evil head on and do her best to fight it, and found herself typecast for the next four years as a result of her efforts. Nancy Loomis and P. J. Soles are also good and realistic as everyday teenagers who unexpectedly meet their maker on that fatal Halloween night. The only really familiar face in the cast is Donald Pleasence as Dr Loomis, Myers' obsessed psychiatrist who has come to believe that his patient is pure evil and cannot be stopped or cured. Incredibly the role was originally written for Christopher Lee! However, Pleasence, always an undervalued horror actor I believe, is excellent as Loomis, going way over the top ("his eyes... the devil's eyes!") - he may be nuttier than the killer he's after! Seriously, Loomis plays a pivotal role and created such a memorable character that he too was forced to return in sequel after sequel with Michael.
The key secret to Carpenter's success is that he doesn't use gore as a method to scare the audience, realising that bloody prosthetics don't create real terror; instead, he relies on old fashioned jump-cuts, sudden bursts of music and shocking surprises, like characters stepping out of the darkness on to the screen unexpectedly. With at least twenty such scenes occurring within the film, this really is a frightening one to watch and not recommended for those with a nervous disposition (I remember watching it one night alone in the house as a kid... couldn't sleep that night... too busy looking and listening out for Myers). The finale is the best part of the film, with growing horror as Laurie realises that Myers may be an indestructible foe after all as he repeatedly rises from the seemingly dead to attack her one more time.
Although by now, many of the scares and methods that Carpenter uses have been diluted by the sequels that followed and the legions of imitators, HALLOWEEN still packs a punch and is miles ahead of any modern-day competition, such as SCREAM, which becomes over-complicated and too slick, self-referential and self-indulgent for its own good. What we have here is a simple tale of good vs evil, a classic horror story of the boogeyman coming home to kill, and one of the best horrors ever made!