It'll leave you screaming for gore...

Rating: 6/10 (6 November 2006)

It's hard for me to gush about "Halloween" like others do...even seeing it during its recent nationwide, two-night engagement in a tiny theater jam-packed with college-age couples didn't much change my opinion of the film. While hailed as a masterpiece by the likes of Siskel and Ebert (among others, circa 1978), I can't say I've ever really understood why. It's not a 'bad' film, but it ultimately isn't all that good, either. The reason, and perhaps this is just my 25-years-later, misinformed opinion, but "Halloween" is just too damn SUBTLE for its own good. While I am of the notion that subtlety and atmosphere can produce more scares than gore (check out "Carnival of Souls"), director John Carpenter takes it to such a level that his shortcomings become painfully apparent. The chilly Midwestern setting sets an appropriate mood, and the scenes with the late Donald Pleasance possess an effective fearfulness; Carpenter knows how to frame a great shot (the scene of Michael Myers standing behind a tree watching his future prey is a fine example), and his score is minimalist and spooky. Unfortunately, the dialog is trite to the point of tedium (generic girl-talk from the girls; vague 'evil-speak' from Pleasance) and the characters are so ill-developed that it's hard to get excited, scared, or upset at their eventual demise. And it comes to a point where all the declamatory musical cues hinder the scares instead of heightening them; it's as if Carpenter had little confidence in his scares working on their own merits, and inserted the 'stingers' to make it blatantly obvious. Personally, I think Carpenter scored more successfully with "Assault on Precinct 13" and post-"Halloween" efforts like "Christine" and "Prince of Darkness."
After that long laundry list of complaints, there are some tidbits of quality to be seen: a young Jamie Lee Curtis, well-cast as The Final Girl; the subtle menace of Myers, when shown, is effective; Carpenter's establishment of the 'indestructible killer' clichÃ©; and during its most suspenseful parts, the director does put us on the edge of our seats. The widescreen print I viewed recently presented information I'd never seen in any of the cropped VHS releases (including Michael Myers ascending the staircase at the very end), which was cool. And watching it in the theater allowed me the pleasure to imagine that great ending being the ABSOLUTE end, and that no other sequels ever came about (it's a pity reality dictates otherwise). "Halloween" is well-made and highly influential, but in all honestly, its imitators ("Friday the 13th") and predecessors ("Psycho") hold more entertainment value.