31 Days of Horror: Halloween (1978)

“Death has come to your little town, Sheriff.”

Filmology Rating: 3.17 out of 4

John Carpenter’s Halloween is the 1978 hit horror film that was saved from obscurity due to a glowing review from Roger Ebert himself. With fall on the way and the new Halloween remake coming this October, I will review the only good Halloween movie, the first one!

It is Halloween in Illinois and Laurie is babysitting for the night. However, Michael Myers is on the loose and he's out for blood, no matter who it is.

To movie goers nowadays, who are used to jump scares, extreme haunting and torture horror may find this film boring in comparison to the those, but this is a masterpiece of horror that has been copied since its release and popularized the slasher horror genre. Before this film, horror movies were limited to haunted mansions and castles, werewolves, Frankenstein, you know basic Halloween tropes. But this movie brought a revolution to the horror genre. It may be one of the most ripped off films ever made. Does this sound familiar: "Well mannered girl has sex loving friends and man in a mask with a knife is trying to kill them. All the sex loving friends die and the climax of the film is in a house." Almost every detail of this film was ripped off in some aspect. It's such a basic premise but it was executed so well and duplicated most successfully in films like: Friday the 13th. The Director of Friday the 13th has publicly admitted to copying Halloween's formula.

The film is so simple and yet so stylized that offers very creepy imagery with long unbroken takes to build suspense. The cinematography in the film is full of rim lit blues and shadows in corners of very room to build uncertainty in every moment. It also offers one of the most memorable horror film scores ever composed by John Carpenter himself through improv.

The only negative is Donald Pleasence's character who plays Michael Myers's therapist who runs around the town looking for Michael. But near the middle of the film he stands behind a bush at a house waiting for Michael but sits there for half the film doing nothing.

John Carpenter made the film for 300,000 which is dirt cheap and grossed over 70,000,000 making it one of the most successful independent films ever made.

Rating: See It

-Nolan