A brilliant and highly effective masterpiece of suspenseful horror!

Rating: 10/10 (4 October 2013)

Michael Myers (Nick Castle) murdered his older sister on Halloween night when he was six years old and has been locked away in a mental institution ever since. Michael's psychologist, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), has recently given up on him, as he seems to lack a conscience or any human emotion whatsoever. A few days before Halloween, the now twenty one year old Michael escapes from the asylum and goes back to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois where he steals a creepy looking white mask to wear over his face and hide his identity, along with a new outfit and some knives. Dr. Loomis follows him there in an effort to stop him, as he is the only one who knows what his former patient is capable of. The purely evil psychopath targets three teenage girls that consist of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), Annie Brackett (Nancy Loomis), and Lynda van der Klok (P.J. Soles). On Halloween night, Michael Myers begins stalking and killing anyone who gets in his path while Laurie and the other girls are babysitting young children. Can Dr. Loomis stop him before he succeeds with his deadly mission?
What can I say about this amazing movie that hasn't already been said a thousand times? Director John Carpenter is a truly a genius and this film alone is a testament to that. The Michael Myers character has to be the scariest villain in movie history, right down to every terrifying trait. He's just an unstoppable monster who has no remorse or grief about what he does. he is just pure evil in human form. I love how they kept him in the shadows for most of the movie and you never knew where he was, which upped the scares and suspense factor immensely. I applaud Nick Castle for his great portrayal as the mysterious masked murderer, who is the living embodiment of fear! Scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, who went on to star in several slasher movies in the early 80's, played a great lead girl. She seemed genuinely terrified throughout the film, making the happenings all the more believable. Donald Pleasence's excellent character of Dr. Loomis is one of my favorite horror protagonists of all time and luckily we got to see more of him in most of the sequels that followed. Speaking of the sequels, none of them were able to capture the eerie and ominous presence that Michael Myers had in this movie, which was perfectly done. I could go on and on about what makes this movie so chillingly effective, but the best way to appreciate its greatness is to simply watch it and see how a brilliant horror film should be made. Flawless filmmaking!