Getting out of control, But the first is still a legend

Rating: 9/10 (15 October 2000)

What can we say about John Carpenter? From the beginning with 'Assault on Precinct 13' right through until 'Vampires', he has never failed to provide horror lovers with fantastic macabre stories and wonderful suspense-filled scenes.
Although there are a few indiscretions ('Christine' and 'Halloween 3' spring to mind), he is regarded to be one of the greatest horror filmmakers of the 20th century (and into the 21st we can only hope), and why is this you say? Because of a low-budget shock film made in 20 days in 1978, HALLOWEEN.
This film is what started the teenage horror films of the 80's and 90's rolling off the production line. From this film sprang some other classic film such as 'Friday the 13th', 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', 'Scream' and so on and so forth. Although the other three I mentioned are among my personal favourites none match up to the thrill ride I discovered when I first saw Halloween. The creepy setting, the well thought out background story, the vulnerable teenage girls and the fearful Dr Loomis who believed all too much what Michael Myers was capable of; these factors set the stage for what would become a legendary film for several decades to come.
People have said that the film has no merit and is a waste of time to watch as it has no blood or gore and the thrills are less than spectacular, but in the seventies this was the thrill that was required to kick start the horror genre which was taken over by the monster movies of the 40's and 50's and then the sci-fi alien movies of the 50's and 60's.
As for the many sequels that have been spawned from the original, with the exception of part 2; I believe that they are getting out of hand like the Friday the 13th saga. I am the type of horror lover that can watch a movie over and over despite it being thought of as "crap" and I do enjoy the Halloween sequels but I think that they should have left it alone with H2O instead of announcing that it wasn't actually Myers in that movie because it can't go on forever and if they are not careful people will start to forget Carpenter's original story. If John Carpenter decides to be a part of Halloween 8 perhaps the master himself believes that the story can be salvaged and it could turn out to be quite a good film. My one true wish is that no-one will attempt to make a remake of the original Halloween, because you can't redo something that is perfect as it is already. You can look toward the remake of Psycho for evidence of this.
I will genuinely enjoy the new Halloween movie without a doubt but i hope that it will be the end for the originals sake.