From confusingly endless sequels to remakes that don’t give the original justice, good horror movies have almost become a rarity in today’s society. Nothing though, can ever beat John Carpenter’s 1978 horror-classic, Halloween.
For those of you who somehow don’t already know the story of one of the greatest thrillers in cinema, Halloween tells a twisted tale that all plays out on one Halloween night. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee-Curtis) is an average A+ high school student whose Halloween plans are to babysit the neighbor’s kids and hang out with a couple of her friends, until all of that changes when word gets out that an estranged murderer, a.k.a. Michael Meyers, has escaped from the county insane asylum. Now, he’s returned to Laurie’s hometown to finish business from his past and kill anyone that gets in his way.
With the 9 Halloween titles/sequels amongst the years, the main story has become jumbled and confused along the way, making the originals less and less popular to today’s crowd. All that people want to see today is blood, gore, and over-the-top deaths, but Carpenter’s original simply contains none of the above.
The long and eerie shots of Meyers’ stalking his unknowing victim in plain sight can alone give the film its chill factor. So simplistic and yet so advanced for its time, you’ll start to wonder who will live and who will die next. And guess what kids?! No CGI included!
Even in the 80’s, so many directors sought out to create the scariest thriller of its time and most could simply not perfect the art. Then Carpenter comes along and creates one of the greatest horrors in cinema history, with many more to come including The Thing, The Fog, and Escape from New York. Though it may not be as popular today, with Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake giving some shame to the original, it will always be one of the greatest in my books.
All that’s needed to make a great movie is a man, a mask, and an unexplained need to kill. Halloween is simply, a horror like no other.
3 ½ out of 4
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