Slasher Masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (11 October 2016)

The slasher genre took off in the 70's and 80's, but perhaps none were as famous or impactful as John Carpenter's Halloween in 1978.
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho was an influential film for many reasons, but it specifically did things with its villain that transcended the horror genre. In many ways, Norman Bates and Hitchcock's vision are the reason we got so many slasher films a few decades later. With Halloween, it's easy to see the influence. Carpenter does a masterful job at hiding the villain, or strictly showing him in obscure places in the camera shot. These tactics, along with keeping the blood at a minimum, actually proved to make the film better in the long run. Even if some of those choices were made specifically based on a restrictive tiny budget.
The now infamous long-take when we first see Michael Myers kill is absolutely terrifying, and it helps set the tone for the rest of the movie. But these unique camera movements don't end there. I loved the way Carpenter chose to shoot Myers. Yes, some of the later shots of him masked up in the dark are scary, but I almost feel like seeing Myers standing in broad daylight by a bush or a car and stalking his future victims is equally as terrifying.
Some of the horror tropes this film falls into can be forgiven, because it was basically the first of its kind to do so. But I do wish they didn't depict all but one teenager as dumb promiscuous sex and drug addicts. It just seemed a bit far-fetched. It's also annoying how careless these characters seemed to be. I mean, how many times did someone blatantly leave a door or a window open in a house or a car? That's not realistic.
With that said, when the horror hits, it really hits. The simple premise of having a mentally unstable killer on the loose on a Halloween night is enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. Sure, we don't get a ton of reasoning behind the actions taken, but I never felt like the lack of that impacted the execution of Carpenter's story. To me, this is about as good as a slasher film can be.
+Looming presence of Myers
+Carpenter's directing choices
+Score
-Characters were pretty clumsy
8.5/10