Back in 1978, John Carpenter hit a horror home run with his low-budget, HUGE box office smash HALLOWEEN.
Watching it again this Halloween season, I was amazed just how great this scary little film is!
The film opens with a young Michael Myers stabbing his sister to death and standing slack jawed with a knife in his hand and a bloody clown suit on his body. (Those damn clowns...)
Flash forward 15 years and psychiatrist Dr Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance at his odd best) is on his way to make sure that Michael doesn't get out.
Unfortunately, our killer manages to escape and heads back to his home town, which is thankfully populated with horny teenagers and an innocent heroine ripe for the hunt.
Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut as young Laurie Strode. She's terrific in the part, showing just as much skill dealing with Michael as her real-life mother Janet Leigh did dealing with Norman Bates many years earlier.
It would be easy to dismiss the film as predictable and formulaic now, but its important to remember that Carpenter INVENTED those formulas with THIS film.
The long tracking shots.
The pulsing electronic score that carries you down every street and into every dark room.
The point of view shots from the killer's eyes.
Carpenter did it here first and best.
I was also surprised by just how little blood and gore there is here. It's suggested, its scary, its suspenseful, but there's very little graphic gore, if any.
It's a slow and careful build, with Carpenter manipulating you in your seat with great skill.
Did you know that Michael's mask is a face mask of William Shatner?
Did you know this film cost only $300,000 and grossed $47 million at the box office!?
After you watch "Halloween", check out last year's "It Follows". It captures the same "small town horror" feel and relentless terror thanks to some very clever filmmakers and a great story.
Followed by countless sequels, remakes and imitations, there is no matching the original HALLOWEEN. It still scares up an A.
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