Carpenter's Best

Rating: 10/10 (20 May 2008)

I consider this movie to be Carpenter's best movie. I'll admit that I've only seen three of his movies (Halloween, The Thing, and Assault On Precinct 13), but out of those three, Halloween is by far the best. Here on IMDb The Thing has a higher rating, but don't let that fool you as this is Carpenter's true masterpiece. The setting/atmosphere, the score, the scary yet quiet Michael Myers who's breathing you can hear through his mask, the fantastic performance from Pleasence, everything in this movie works perfectly. Critics of this film argue that the acting brings down this movie, as well as the lack of gore. Well, I personally disagree on both counts. I'll admit, the acting in this movie (besides Donald Pleaseance of-course) is pretty pedestrian, but it's a low-budget Horror Movie with mostly no-name actors ( at least at the time), what was everyone expecting? Award Winning performances? The acting was fine, in fact it was pretty damn solid. Certainly far superior to the acting in any Friday The 13th movie. As to the lack of gore, well that's what makes Halloween great, IMO. It doesn't need gore for it's scares, as the atmosphere/setting and Carpenter's amazing score is very creepy all alone. The lighting in this movie is also fantastic, specifically the scene where Laurie Strode is standing in front of a dark bedroom doorway, and slowly and steadily Michael Myers appears behind Laurie in a dim lighting. That right there is fantastic film making. Anyway, I recommend this to anyone who wants to consider themselves a Horror Fan, as this is a must see. It may not be as influential as Night Of The Living Dead (1968) or Psycho (1960), but it's just as great as both of them, IMO.