Itself beholdin' to PSYCHO, this is where it started!

Rating: Null/10 (21 September 2002)

Reviewing HALLOWEEN is a little like being asked to review GENESIS! So many factors come into play here. Did you see HALLOWEEN the year it was released? What age might you have been then? Have you seen it multiple times since??? as a teenager? as an adult? Are you an intelligent person?
All these variables have relevance to your appreciation, understanding, and interpretive skills of this landmark film. Actually made on a remarkably low-budget, Carpenter really hit the jackpot with this one. It WAS eerie....it WAS frightening and almost ALL of this was achieved with suggestion...rather than graphic violence. The evil and malignant INTENT of Michael Myers filled the theater. Loomis' brave, almost unhinged pursuit of his nemesis was tangible and horror would never be the same again. Both FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH's Jason Voorhees and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET's Freddy Krueger were the willing and predictable descendents of Michael Myers.

As integral as anything else here was John Carpenter's own musical score which he re-arranged for both sequels, and other self-directed films of the 80's including ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and THE THING. The power of HALLOWEEN has not been diminished OR surpassed in any of the seven sequels. If you are a teenager and have never seen the original HALLOWEEN it might be an interesting learning curve for you. You might say that you've seen it all before.....but that's because it was here first!
A 9.4 out of 10 which is pretty good!