An impressive, highly effective, suspenseful, terrifying horror film which inspired a new sub-genre

Rating: 9/10 (29 October 2017)

I first saw "Halloween" (1978) theatrically, during the first week of it's initial release during October 1978. To this day, John Carpenter's "Halloween" remains a classic of the horror genre, with genuine suspense, terror and little blood. Though this independent film was shot on a small budget of only $300,000 in only 20 days, Carpenter's skilled direction is highly effective here, creating genuine suspense and terror throughout the film. The effective creepy stalking music score was composed by Carpenter himself in only four days. This film represents one of the first uses of the innovative Steadicam movie camera, which is used to excellent effect here showing the stalker's point of view. "Halloween" was hugely successful and became highly influential, as it created a new sub-genre of horror known as the slasher film. "Halloween" ranks as one of the finest suspenseful terrifying horror films of all time and the gold standard of all the slasher films which followed in it's success.