Halloween [1978] [DVD]

John Carpenter's Halloween was filmed over a period of just 3 weeks with a budget of just $300,000. A lot of compromises had to be made. The mask, for example, is a William Shatner one - all they did was spray paint it and widen the eyeholes, and to fantastic effect!
John Carpenter is such an excellent director. The first time I watched this movie I was about 12, and it is my favourit horror film. I'm 17 now and no matter how often I watch it still chills me!
Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis give outstanding performances in the film that started the "slasher" movie genre. Also PJ Soles and Nancy Loomis are very good as Laurie's naughty but unfortunate best friends.
It goes without saying that John Carpenter's musical score for the film is very catchy/nerve-shredding, in particular the deep piano "heartbeat" chords that start when The Chase begins.
Overall just the mere concept of an unrelenting force of evil, in the shape of a person who refuses to die, makes this film so creepy and a definite MUST for all horror fans. It hooks you!
It spawned seven sequels, and a ninth is in production I believe, but none of the sequels aspired to or ever will aspire to the same terrifying level as the original. I promise you that you simply must have this film!

If I were asked to list the top scary movies of all time, I would place John Carpenter's Halloween at the top of my list. It is much scarier than Psycho and The Exorcist, in my opinion, and the likes of Jason and Freddy pale in comparison to Michael Myers. Its influence on the genre can hardly be overstated; countless slasher films have been released over the last two decades plus, wherein each filmmaker consciously or unconsciously has tried to duplicate the force and power of this 1978 masterpiece of terror and suspense. It is this movie's genre-defining influence that earns it first place in my rankings.

Is the movie scary? Yes, emphatically so. All these years later, with audiences having a number of other slasher films under their belt, Halloween may not seem as frightening as it had to have been when it was released, but it is deliciously scary nonetheless. The groundbreaking point of view shots Cameron employs only adds to the incredible suspense of the story. Watching this movie alone in a dark room is probably a pretty bad idea, as is going to bed immediately afterwards. Nick Castle's portrayal of Michael is brilliantly subtle, and the photography and soundtrack are superb. The image of the featureless, pasty-white mask hovering above a dark set of clothes is unnerving, and the early sightings of him in Haddenfield are amazingly effective-even when you know he is there, it is sometimes difficult to spot him. One of the best scenes later on has Michael creeping out of a darkened room; it is as if the mask just somehow emerges out of nowhere from the shadows. Even Michael's walk and method of suddenly sitting straight up out of a prone position are amazingly impactful. He really does seem to represent true evil, a force of nature that keeps coming and coming all the time yet is entirely human. He is everywhere and nowhere. The musical score is beyond outstanding; the famous Halloween theme is immediately recognizable whenever you hear it, taking you directly back to Haddonfield. Halloween was the first true horror movie I ever watched. I was probably around twelve at the time, and I decided I was going to watch my first horror film the proper way-in the dark, late at night. I am embarrassed to say that I never even made it through the opening credits. That jack o'lantern and incredibly creepy music scared the daylights out of me.

While Michael is horror's most terrifying killer, Halloween would not have seen nearly as much success had it not been for Donald Pleasance's character Dr. Loomis. Loomis' brilliant acting and forceful presence gives Halloween something its imitators don't have, and his almost philosophical musings on Michael's innate evil give this killer a depth that other slasher villains just don't possess. Jamie Lee Curtis, of course, was also fabulous in this, her first movie role. No other scream queen can boast of such advanced acting skills. I didn't think the acting jobs of the other teenagers were very good, but those characters were in the movie for one reason only, and it wasn't to steal the show.

The extra features on the limited edition release are pretty good. The "Halloween Unmasked" featurette from 1998 delivers interviews with cast and creators (including an unmasked Nick Castle, who looks more like a professor than a "killer"). The extras also include several scenes shot in 1982 and added to the television version of the movie. The first of these provides more detail about Michael's original transfer to a minimum security institution and Dr. Loomis' attempts to prevent it from taking place. The second one is a great scene featuring Loomis telling the teenaged, pseudo-comatose Michael that he may have fooled the hospital administrators but he hasn't fooled him. The third offers a bit of unnecessary data on Michael's motivations. The fourth scene features some extended dialogue between the movie's three teenaged girls and is forgettable at best. What I found most interesting was the story of Halloween's origins. Many have forgotten or never even knew how much of a surprise hit this movie was in 1978. It was filmed over the course of just three weeks with a total budget of little more than three hundred thousand dollars. Donald Pleasance filmed all of his scenes in a mere five days. The history of Halloween is really remarkable, especially when you consider the importance and influence of this movie on the genre. John Carpenter managed to bring together everything a horror film needs to succeed, and the entire industry has been trying to match his efforts without complete success ever since.

Once Halloween was Samhain, the one night of the year when the dead returned to cause trouble for the living.

Well, Michael Myers wasn't dead, but on "Halloween" he returned to cause trouble for the people of his hometown, with all its dark houses and teenage victims. And John Carpenter's masterpiece lives up to its reputation: creepy, eerie, harrowing, and full of solid acting from Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis.

On Halloween, 1963, young Michael Myers lurked outside the house while his sister had sex with her boyfriend. After he left, Michael put on a mask, picked up a knife, and stabbed his sister to death.

Fifteen years later, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is about to take Myers to a legal hearing, when Myers (Nick Castle) breaks open the psych hospital and escapes in Loomis' car. On Halloween, teenage Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) notices a silent, masked figure popping up and disappearing near her school, house, and neighborhood.

Despite this, she goes about her babysitting duties, even taking care of another girl's charge overnight. The only problem is, the girl is dead, and so is another pal and her boyfriend. Dr. Loomis is staking out Myers' old home, unaware that Myers is now prowling the house where Laurie is staying -- and there seems to be no way to avoid the knife-wielding "evil."

It sounds like a thousand knockoff movies made since then, but "Halloween" formed the original mold. And like any other groundbreaker, it is the most stripped-down, intense example of the genre -- little gore, little graphic violence, but the way it's handled is enough to make your hair stand on end, and make you go to bed with a gun under your pillow.

And Carpenter handles the spookiness beautifully -- initially, the story is pleasantly average -- teen gossip, small-town atmosphere, and chatter about boyfriends, dances and babysitting. It has the occasional spooky moment -- such as Myers popping out of a hedge to stare at Laurie -- but isn't really scary just yet. But as Myers starts bumping off teenagers, the plot darkens and twists.

Carpenter spins up a claustrophobic, trapped feeling, partly due to a shadowy old house full of windows and doors, any of which could be Myers' way in. You can't help but jump with every shadow. And Carpenter sprinkles the plot with unspeakably creepy moments -- Myers quietly slithering in a window above Laurie, or dressing as a ghost with only his heavy breathing to identify him.

Curtis was the original scream queen thanks to this movie, and she does an amazing job -- even when she's racing around pounding on doors and shrieking, she seems realistic. Pleasance is just as good as Loomis, who is determined and full of dread at what his patient is, but also has his moments of humour (like when he frightens some pranksters at the Myers house). And though we only see Myers' face a few times, his masked face, silent movements and heavy breathing are the stuff of nightmare.

"Halloween" was a more psychological, atmospheric kind of horror, and it did its job almost too well. The original slasher movie -- harrowing, eerie, and petrifying.