The Night Horror Came Home

Rating: 10/10 (1 November 2017)

There are but a handful of movies in the history of film that could be said changed the very face of the horror genre forever. One of these is the 1978 immortal classic "Halloween" as directed by horror master John Carpenter. Set in the fictional town of Haddonfield, IL, the plot is so well known that it's barely worth mentioning here, other than to say an escaped mental patient named Michael Myers breaks out of the asylum he's been kept in for 15 years for killing his sister to terrorize the town's teenage girls on, you guessed it, Halloween night. Although the plot may not be the most complex, the film is elevated by that right mixture of talent, timing, and movie magic. John Carpenter is able to take what might have been an average slasher into a bona fide horror landmark. Almost everything great about this film is owed to Carpenter and his team, be it the camera angles, atmosphere, mood, the decision to use a creepy doctored up William Shatner mask for the killer (a mask that has gone into the annals of movie legend) and of course, who could forget that creepy music score composed by Carpenter himself. Without that piece alone, the movie wouldn't be anything near as infamous as it is. This is the film that launched the careers of so many Hollywood big wigs, from Carpenter and producing partner Debra Hill to Jamie Lee Curtis, and even the stardom of classically trained British actor Donald Pleasance as Michael's tortured psychiatrist who, in all honesty, is just as important to "Halloween's" success as John Carpenter is. This is the one, folks, the one that started the slasher craze of the 80's, the one that - for better or worse - launched the "Halloween" franchise, the one film you must see every Halloween. Miss it at your own peril. Happy Halloween!!!!!!