Halloween Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Halloween
Year: 1978
Director: John Carpenter
Country: US
Language: English 

Born on January 16, 1948 in Carthage, New York John Carpenter would grow up to be one of the most respected horror/fantasy film-makers of the late 70's to late 80's. His film Escape From New York (1981) would make even George Orwell blush, it was an Orwellian picture regarding the shattered state of New York in the near future of 1997, thankfully 1997 was nowhere near like that. The film currently being reviewed, Halloween, changed the face of horror for the next generation.

In 1963 police are called to the Meyers house, only to find out that Judith Meyers has been stabbed to death by her bother Michael. 15 years after being institutionalized Michael breaks out the night before Halloween. Nobody knows what the killer will do on October 31st, 1978 besides his psychiatrist. Meyers is going back to his hometown, but by the time people realize it, it may be too late.

Carpenter's Halloween is the blueprint of all modern slasher flicks, in a good and and way. The meticulous use of lighting and claustrophobic cinematography create a perfectly eerie atmosphere full of tension and dismay. The suspense is unrelenting when combined with Carpenter's well regarded score. The villain of the picture, Michael Meyers, is well constructed. He is a creepy, demonic, monster of a man who cannot possibly be deciphered.

Unfortunately, like most slasher films, Carpenter focuses too much on the villain and not enough on the victims. Jamie Lee Curtis' character is a one dimensional heroine, her actions are that of the cliche horror victim and it seems like she only exists to heighten the intrigue of Meyers' character. Some of the dialogue is sloppily written and feels very campy when watching 30+ years later.

In conclusion, while Halloween does have many flaws, it is ultimately a very entertaining film that may have gained a bad reputation because off its many truly awful sequels like Halloween H20. It is definitely a scary picture that deserves to be seen at least once. 3/5