A Classic, The One that Started it all and changed horror

Rating: Null/10 (13 August 2002)

What can be said about Halloween that hasn't been said time and time again. It is, in the simplest of terms, a classic...the finest horror movie of all time. Halloween was the singlest most influential force in all of horror movies...ever. It is the origin of 'the slasher flick'...and Michael Myers is the father of very Freddy Kreuger, Jason Vorhees, and every other too bit knockoff.
Halloween was directed by one time horror master, and genre veteran John Carpenter, and easily his masterpiece. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis, in the film that would catapult her from little known actress to the crown princess of horror, and genre favorite for many years to come.
The film takes place of course, over the course of two Halloween nights, set nearly twenty years apart. The film opens with a young child, named Michael Myers dawning a clown costume, to which we are treated with an excellent and atmospheric third person view. The young boy walks into his sister's room right after she has finished making love to her boyfriend, and inexplicably stabs her to death. His parents come to find the boy in a near catatonic state. The film then fast forwards about fifteen years later, where and adult Michael Myers has espcaped a mental institution, and is in route home to once again kill, with his dr. in pursuit. The rest of the film revolves around Laurie,(Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends, and their night of terror on Halloween as they are stalked by the stealth assassin that is Michael Myers.
What makes Halloween such incredible film is the way in which every scene is handled. To truly appreciate the film, it will more than likely require more than one viewing to catch all the scenes in which you are treated to Michael Myers stalking his prey in the background...with him looking through windows and doorways at his prey in the background of the shot. John Carpenter does a good job of making Michael Myers, or 'The Shape', appear just as that. At some points alomst like an extension of the night, a pure entity of evil that seems to appear from nowhere and attack with ruthless aggression.

The film proceeds until only Laurie is left with Micheal...and despite several attempts to kill him, is unsuccessful as The Shape is portrayed to be seemingly impervious to pain.
As with all of my reviews i try not to give any significant plot details away, and will uphold to that here.
John Carpenter directed this film in a manner where the viewer is kept on the edge their seats, even when they can see The Shape within plain view. Carpenter also is credited with the films perfect and eerie musical score, and in the process, crafted the most memorable movie theme ever.
This film is seemingly the inspiration for all slasher films...breathing life into the horror genre, and dollars in the box office at the time of it's release. To truly enjoy this film, go out and get the 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition VHS or DVD...containing extra footage and tons of other goodies.
Also, I almost kicked myself for forgetting this, be on the look out for Donald Pleasance as Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael Myers doctor and the only man who truly knows just how evil and inhuman Myers truly is. It is his character alone that transcended many of the half hearted, ill conceived sequels that inevitable destroyed the legacy Carpenter had crafted.