THE Classic Slasher

Rating: 8/10 (18 June 2008)

"Halloween" of 1978 must be among the most popular and widely known Horror films ever brought to screen, and it also is a very good, scary and highly influential one. The film earned director John Carpenter the reputation of having single-handedly invented the Slasher-sub-genre. This is not quite entirely true. The (superior) Italian Giallo can be seen as the sub-genre that inspired the Slasher, especially films like Mario Bava's "Reazione A Catena" (aka. "Bay Of Blood", 1971) were inspiring for the genre, as even Carpenter himself has stated, and Canadian director Bob Clark's "Black Christmas" of 1974 can also be seen as a precursor of the slasher film. It is undeniable however, that "Halloween" is THE film that defined the Slasher-film, and furthermore one of the greatest and scariest films the sub-genre has ever brought forth. Generally speaking, Slashers are not among my favorite sub-genres in Horror (as stated above, when it comes to serial killer films, I prefer Gialli), but I have seen "Halloween" plenty of times (as probably most Horror-buffs have) and watching it is still an enormous delight. The simple and yet so ingenious and eerie theme tune composed by director Carpenter himself already marks the beginning of a Classic, and the ingenious score is certainly not the only thing recommendable about "Halloween". This film has an enormous cult-following, and it is understandable why. The film is suspenseful from the first minute onward, the yummy young Jamie Lee Curtis shines in her first leading role of Laurie Strode (still her most memorable role to date), the great Donald Pleasence (one of my favorite actors) is superb as Dr. Sam Loomis, and the film introduces one of cinema's most memorable psychos - Michael Myers.
Sadly, it is nowadays almost impossible not to know about the film's plot, which lessens the shock-effect of the ingenious first surprise in the beginning of the film. 6-year old Michael Myers slaughters his teenage sister for no apparent reason in the little town of Haddonfield, Illinois. Fifteen years later Michael escapes the psychological institution in which he has spent his life ever since, and heads to Haddonfield in order to pursue his only passion - the butchering of teenage girls. Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), the psychiatrist concerned with Michael follows him, aware that his patient is pure evil. In the meanwhile, Haddonfield teenager Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends are preparing to spend Halloween babysitting...
The unforgettable score, the great cinematography, the scary appearance of the masked Michael Myers - everything works together in "Halloween" and that makes it a true Classic of pure suspense. Young Jamie Lee Curtis is very beautiful and she delivers a stunning performance in her first leading role of Laurie Strode. Laurie is a very lovable character, which makes the viewer actually fear for her, and I couldn't imagine any other actress to fit the role as well as Curtis does. The great Donald Pleasance is brilliant in the role of Dr. Sam Loomis. Horror Icon Christopher Lee (another favorite actor of mine) turned the role down, which he later considered his biggest mistake in his career. As much as I am a fan of Christopher Lee, however, I think that Pleasence is outstanding in the role, and I could not imagine that anybody else could fit the role even nearly as well as Peasence does. Pleasence would play the role 4 more times before he passed away in 1995. Overall "Halloween" is a great, stunning film that delivers in all regards. The film is an absolute must-see for every Horror fan, and every lover of cinema should see it at least once. Not to be missed!