Ted Munns Horror Film Reviews - Halloween (1978)

Rating: Null/10 (23 July 2011)

Where to begin with Halloween, It's simply one of the best films / horror films ever made. I have seen it time after time since I was a kid and have always loved it. It's almost perfect.
Plot:
After Michael Myers murders his sister as a child he it incarcerated in an asylum until one stormy night when he escapes and returns to stalk Haddonfield. Once there, he dons a white mask a huge butcher knife and and stalks babysitter Laurie Strode (Curtis) can Myers doctor Sam Loomis (Pleasence) save the residents of Haddonfield.
Hot or Not:
Halloween has everything you want from a horror movie. It is perfectly directed, from the chilling opening credits with the pumpkin to the mysterious ending.
The first 10 minutes are amazing and show great direction and camera skills and set up the rest of the film it opens the film to atmospheric brilliance.
Carpenter manages to make a mundane town, desolate and terrifying the long location shots instantly make the viewer un easy even in the day time scenes. No matter when you watch the film Summer, Winter or Spring, it makes you feel Autumy, it makes it feel like Halloween. Another thing that makes this film creepy is the way the shape can move around in the day, it suggests that you are never safe day or night.
The music in the film is brilliant, the piano is brilliant a score written by Carpenter and builds the tension amazingly. It is a score only rivalled my the Exorcist (1973).
There isn't much gore here and it is not needed. Its good to see how horror films use to be made before the excessive gore of modern films. It is by far the best film in the franchise.
Birds and the Bees:
P.J. Soles shows us her boobs.
Acting:
Jamie Lee Curtis (Laurie) is perfect for the role, she is unique and not an airhead like many of the leads today. She owns the title of top scream queen of all time. Shes also an excellent actress who has never down played her role in the film like many actresses who start of in horror films. Donald Pleasence (Loomis) gives a brilliant intense performance, his dialogue and one of lines are brilliant.
Bottom Line:
Halloween is a must for anyone who says they love the Horror genre. It is superb. Anyone who ignores this as just a slasher film is a fool. Yes it does have some faults but nothing to stop it getting a 10/10 rating. Brilliant film from one of the best horror directors out there.