Has stood the test of time despite the bell-bottoms :)

Rating: 10/10 (25 October 2000)

I first saw "Halloween" as a child and it scared the kudos out of me. As an adult, I've bought it and watch it every year around Halloween ( I don't like the edited version, I like to see the whole movie in it's entirety.) I don't care what anyone says about this film, it has definitely stood the test of time and is still scaring the kudos out of children (and adults) today. I love the characters in this movie too, they are all realistic and they play out their scenes very fluidly and true to life, which is what makes this film so eerie, it's so very realistic (except for a killer that won't die, but what do you expect from a horror film?) Jamie Lee Curtis is the ideal actress for Laurie Strode, very intelligent and a fun babysitter, but kind of shy and sort of a door-mat until the time comes to fight off a knife-welding serial killer (woo-hoo!) I really liked P.J. Soles character, aside from the fact that she's cute she can play the ditzy cheerleader VERY well without making her look stupid and totally cliched, Soles is a great actress and was the perfect one to pull it off...TOTALLY! Nancy Loomis plays the smart-aleck Annie to a T, very believable-I really like her line, "Oh great! I've got three choices: Watch the kids sleep, listen to Lynda screw around or talk to you."
Dr. Loomis is also a very believable character, searching frantically to find Michael Meyers. The setting was so well done that until recently I had no idea it was actually filmed in California in the springtime, it totally looks like an Illinois town in October. No matter how many times I see this movie I still get that "Halloween/Fall time" feeling which makes the movie very eerie (things dying and everything's cold.) The houses used in this movie for the Doyle House and Wallace House are absolutely perfect, that Wallace House at night is scary as hell! Michael's mask is pure genius, hard to believe it's actually a William Shatner mask, the gleaming white glows eerily in the dark, and it's instantly recognizable as the Michael Meyer's Mask.
(SPOILERS AHEAD!!)....... The scenes that have the greatest impact on me personally are when Michael attacks Marion Chambers in the car at the beginning, when Michael murders Lynda while Laurie's on the other end of the phone listening to it thinking it's a joke; when Laurie discovers Annie, Lynda and Bob in the Wallace house all the way up to where she's trying to get Tommy to open the front door at the Doyle House with Michael crossing the street and the Wallace House in the background (very tense moments!); and the infamous closet scene (particulary where Michael's mask is visible just as the closet light comes on) which shows excellent cinematography on such a small budget. The music of course sets the entire mood and is synonymous with Halloween, I can recognize it instantly and it makes my pulse pound just listening to it. I definitely think this film has stood the test of time and I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet, watch it on Halloween alone if you really want the full impact. Very believable characters, very believable plot, and a very believable killer.