My favorite slasher film

Rating: 9/10 (25 June 2017)

The slasher genre is probably the most controversial sub-genre of horror movies. Many people instantly dismiss all modern slashers as garbage while other people find a few of them to be enjoyable. Most slasher films I've seen don't impress me that much. However, some of the earlier slasher films I've seen have blown me away. Before I watched "Halloween", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was my favorite slasher film of all time. However, this film has rightfully stolen its throne.
After a boy named Michael Myers is put in a Sanitarium for stabbing his sister to death on Halloween night, he escapes 15 years later to his hometown where he plans to murder people again.
As much as I loved it, it isn't for everyone as it takes a while to pick up. Normally, I would criticize its pacing and give it a 7/10. In the case of this film, however, I wouldn't say that its pacing was flawed, because the first half unnerved me just as much as its latter half did (this is extremely hard to accomplish). There were numerous moments where Myers would follow the protagonists around in broad daylight either on foot or while driving. These moments were well-executed, especially since I wasn't aware of what Myers' intentions were. I wasn't sure if he was going to wait until nighttime to kill people or lure people to uninhabited places and kill them during daytime. This uncertainty made its opening work as well as it did. Many of these moments were also well-edited as Myers would often disappear from view when a character would look away from him briefly, heightening the tension.
The 2nd half is equally intense. The reason it works so well is because Carpenter constantly teases us numerous times by putting the characters in several claustrophobic situations. There were several moments where a character would be in an uninhabited area, making it easy for Myers to kill that character off. Despite what I suspected, however, Myers didn't strike right away. It was almost like the movie was teasing me. These brilliant moments were so suspenseful that the film didn't feel predictable at all give or take 1 or 2 minor scenes at the most (however, even though I was able to predict Lynda's death, that scene didn't feel flawed, because since it went on for a while, it seemed to tease me like the earlier moments did). So, with that being said, I wouldn't say that predictability is a flaw with this movie at all as the few uncommon moments where I was able to predict the end result still felt unnerving to a great degree.
The movie also contained many memorable scenes. The best of which was the opening scene. It was both eerie and disturbing both in the way it was shot and the thought of what went on in it. The movie started off vague, and it left me asking questions about what was going on in the film. As the scene continued on, however, more and more information was revealed. The first person perspective was also a great addition to the scene as it made it more unnerving. Then, the disturbing final shot of the intro stuck with me long into the film. It's one of the most memorable openings to any horror movie I can think of.
There were also a few other aspects I liked about it. The first of which was with its soundtrack. Even though it was minimalistic, it was still a catchy and unnerving tune which sent chills down my spine (it was just as good, if not better, than the minimalistic soundtrack of one of Carpenter's later efforts, "The Thing"). I also liked that the 2 child protagonists weren't annoying (I often get this feeling with other horror movies for some odd reason). I was also glad that the movie never felt over-the-top with its violence. Finally, the ending was immensely chilling.
In conclusion, this is the best slasher film I've ever seen. It's likely going to keep this title for a long time as I doubt that any other horror movie director will top this film (or, at least, not for a long time). Carpenter used different techniques to build suspense to make this film a truly unsettling experience. With fantastic buildup and execution, this film left an enormous impact on me. I liked "The Thing" a bit more, but I'd say that both films are about the same in terms of quality.