Overrated in some respects, but a fine movie nonetheless

Rating: 6/10 (23 February 2005)

HALLOWEEN
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)
Sound format: Mono
Fifteen years after he was institutionalized as a child for murdering his sister, psychotic Michael Myers escapes from custody and returns to his home town on Halloween, where he stalks and kills a group of teenage babysitters.
Dismissed by many critics on its original release as a routine quickie with few redeeming features, this low-budget shocker - director John Carpenter's follow-up to another cult favorite, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976) - established its reputation via word-of-mouth at a time when movies could sustain a prolonged release schedule, and it finally emerged as one of the most successful independent productions of the 1970's. Aided immeasurably by Dean Cundey's expansive scope photography - his autumnal color schemes and deep, deep shadows suggest a feature-length extension of the similarly-styled Halloween sequence in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944) - and an unforgettable music score (composed by the director himself), Carpenter's film is stronger on mood than narrative, and builds slowly - too slowly, for some - toward a climactic set-piece in which the killer pursues his final victim.
Donald Pleasence toplines an impressive cast (in a role turned down by Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, amongst others!) as an obsessive doctor who arrives in small-town America to convince local authorities that 'boogeyman' Michael Myers is nothing less than Evil Incarnate, while second-billed Jamie Lee Curtis - a little too old to be playing a frightened high-schooler - acts up a storm as the vulnerable heroine targeted for destruction by an unstoppable killer; her climactic face-off with 'The Shape' is a technical tour de force. An exercise in relentless terror for some viewers, an overrated bore for others, HALLOWEEN has nevertheless withstood the test of time, and its influence on the modern horror genre is undeniable. Followed by HALLOWEEN II (1981) and a host of increasingly lackluster sequels, until the franchise was dusted off and revitalized for a whole new generation in Steve Miner's impressive entry, HALLOWEEN H20: 20 YEARS LATER (1998).