As a matter of fact, it *was* the bogeyman.

Rating: Null/10 (31 October 2011)

An hour and a half long exercise in style, atmosphere, and suspense by director / co-writer / composer John Carpenter, "Halloween" remains one of his finest works, a top notch slasher film whose incredible success opened the floodgates for scores of similar films. It's done in a true minimalist style, with utterly relentless automaton Michael Myers taking his time and putting much more effort into his stalking, ultimately, than his slashing.
"Halloween" is so well executed that, much like "Psycho" before it (to which "Halloween" is admittedly indebted) its murder set pieces can still grip the viewer. Carpenter and company try hard to create a true autumn feel as well as a sense of the American Midwest, despite filming this in South Pasadena in the spring, and sometimes they succeed and sometimes they don't, but overall their film is a classic that continues to hold up very well.
Making her feature film debut, young Jamie Lee Curtis makes for a likable, sympathetic "final girl". Nancy Loomis provides funny comedy relief as wise ass Annie. Sexy P.J. Soles is likewise a hoot as air headed cheerleader Lynda. Strong support is provided by Charles Cyphers as Sheriff Brackett, with long time Carpenter friend Nick Castle impressively creepy as Myers. Star attraction Donald Pleasence is wonderfully sincere and intense as Myers' persistent nemesis Dr. Loomis, really bringing Carpenters' memorable dialogue to life.
Fluid camera-work and Dean Cundey's striking cinematography are incredibly important assets. The use of the Panavision aspect ratio enables Carpenter to fill the frame with as much detail as possible while still allowing Myers to ominously linger at the edges. Carpenters' haunting score - reminiscent of Goblins' work for "Suspiria", and "Tubular Bells" from "The Exorcist" - has gone on to become one of *the* iconic horror movie scores, and the film simply wouldn't be the same without it; it makes even the day time scenes rather eerie.
Carpenter begins the film with a flourish, and gives it a mighty fine ending that basically shows us that true evil - whether personified in a bogeyman wearing a Shatner mask or not - will never ever go away. True enough that there are elements here that are not exactly original - the use of subjective camera-work to indicate the killers' point of view, the idea of the killer that keeps coming no matter what - although for better or worse "Halloween" *did* definitively bring them to the public consciousness. The screenplay doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, but overall the film is still so well made and compelling as to remain essential viewing any time of the year, not just tonight.
Eight out of 10.