It's a classic

Rating: 8/10 (28 October 2019)

Halloween was released in 1978 and was made on an extremely low budget, about $300,000 (which even back then was extremely low).
It has since become almost a cultural phenomenon.
Directed magnificently by John Carpenter, Halloween is about Michael Myers, who in the opening scene set in 1963, murders his sister. The film then jumps to the present and we get to meet Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) a young college student who is very unlike her two friends, she doesn't like smoking and she isn't having sex. As I said, this is unlike her two friends who are having lots of sex and end up being the main victims of the movie. This actually began the horror movie trope of the people having sex being the ones who got killed of first, and the young 'clean living' virginal character outsmarting the villain and surviving to the end.
It's also here in the present time (1978) that a now-grown Michael Myers, escapes a mental institution and his doctor, Sam Loomis (played by Donald Pleasence) sets out hunting him down before he can kill too many people.
This is a stunningly directed movie. Subtle hints of menace, backgrounds out of focus, the brilliant use of the shadows. It could have been so much cheesier and have less of an impact had it been in different hands. On paper, it is an incredibly simple premise, but Carpenter elevated it into the classic it has become.
The iconic music, which was composed and performed by Carpenter himself, and the mask Michael wears are now almost as recognisable as the 'Jaws' theme or Darth Vader's mask.
Ok, this isn't by any means a 'perfect' movie, the acting isn't great....at all, and the best actor and the best performance in the whole movie comes from Pleasence. His speech about how he saw 'pure evil' in Myers' eyes is the best part of the film. Jamie Lee Curtis is, mostly, fine throughout, maybe a little whiny and over the top, in fact, Curtis was apparently horrified by her performance until Carpenter told her she did a good job.
Apart from that, the thing that stands out for me about the film is its core theme, I don't mean a 'slasher' movie, I mean it examines 'evil', how 'evil' can affect somebody and allow that 'evil' to take over their life. This for me is the fascinating aspect of the character of Myers and what drives him to do what he does.
This is a terrific movie and it is a fun watch on Halloween night. It is visually great, the score is amazing and it has become a timeless classic for those reasons.
I guess that today's generation will probably find it quite dated, and not as gory as they have become accustomed to, but for me, it is for this reason it is such a 'must-see' movie.
This is the movie that started the genre of a long list of imitators.
I like this film a lot.