Best Horror Film Of All Time

Rating: 10/10 (1 November 2015)

Halloween directed by John Carpenter, the movie that started the decade trend of slasher films.
Halloween tells the story of Michael Myers( Nick Castle ), who stabbed his 15-year old sister on Halloween night when he was 6-years old. After being locked up in a mental institution for 15 years, he escapes and begins to stalk a group of high school babysitters. The only character who knows of Michael's capabilities is his psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis.
Loomis (Donald Pleasance) believes that Michael is not a human, but an incarnation of evil that will perform acts of murder of eternity. Loomis knows Michael better than anyone else. No one else understands Michael's true capabilities and thinks that Loomis is just being paranoid. Even though Loomis searches for Michael, he is unsuccessful in stopping Michael for most of the film and has little effect on story until the end. Loomis only exist to provide exposition and insight into Michael's actions.
Michael Myers is less of a man and more of a force of nature in physical form. Michael is shown to know how to drive or disable the power to a house, even though he has been sitting in a chair staring at a wall for 15 years. Michael moves in a mechanical fashion, every move Michael makes is done deliberately and efficiently. An injury only temporarily stops Michael, and he is shown to appear and disappear without reason. The original does not give a motive for his killings, giving Michael a kind of mystique. The mask he wears in a white Captain Kirk mask, a neutral face. Michael's victims are forced to die seeing a blank face that is indifferent about killing them.
The main character Laurie Strode (Jaime Lee Curtis) is different from her friends as she is shown to be caring and selfless. Laurie chooses to babysit on Halloween with her friend Annie who drops off the child she herself should have be watching, so that she can go out and have a good time with her boyfriend. Laurie was different though, she watched the child was supposed to and one she did not have to. Laurie even provides some Halloween activities for the kids she babysits. Laurie is a good friend and a good babysitter, so because of these traits in her character, Michael is unable to kill her.
Halloween isn't an isolated horror film. It does not take place in a far-off hotel or the middle of the woods, but in a far more relatable setting of a pair of neighborhood houses. Cries for help are ignored by neighbors who do not want to get involved. Halloween makes good use of the dark nighttime setting. Michael appears to dissolve and appear in the shadows.
The soundtrack by John Carpenter is a haunting, atmospheric soundtrack. It makes the ordinarily seem ominous and unsettling. The sound is what really makes the movie scary and sets the tone.
The film uses certain techniques to hide Michael. Most of time Michael is just a shape in the background, just watching. The opening is a seamless sequence of Michael's P.O.V as he enters the house and kills his sister. This opening leaves the impression that anyone is capable of murder, especially a young child.
The movie ends with Loomis preventing the death of Laurie Strode by shooting Michael out of a 2nd story window. When Loomis goes to check the body, it is revealed that Michael has disappeared. The closing statement is that evil never dies and that it is out there and can be anywhere.
Highly Recommended
10/10