Positives:

This movie is over forty years old so everything in this review has been brought up several times over the years, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to talk about it. This is simply one of the greatest horror films ever made. 

What makes this film so effective and scary is John Carpenter’s brilliant direction. From the very beginning of the film, you know something doesn’t feel right and that feeling doesn’t let up until the credits role. This movie was made with a small budget but Carpenter is able to make a thrilling movie that has stood the test of time. In modern horror movies, filmmakers seem to think using a loud sound effect will scare the audience. Carpenter knew better as he’s able to create some great, intense moments. The scene that always freaks me out is when Laurie sees her dead friends for the first time and out of the shadows behind her you see Michael’s mask appear. Whenever I watch this movie that scene always makes me jump. 

Another fantastic scene is when Laurie thinks she’s defeated Michael and the camera focuses on her in the foreground but in the background, you see Michael sit up. Once again, this scene would be done with loud sound effects to try and make the audience jump in modern horror films, but here, the simplicity is enough to scare you. 

This movie also gave us some great, iconic characters. For my money, Michael Myers is the scariest horror villain of all time. The way he doesn’t have any understanding of right and wrong and just kills without remorse makes him creepy. Michael Myers is truly the embodiment of evil. Another effective scene is when Michael kills the boyfriend by pinning him up to a wall with a knife. The camera lingers on him for an uncomfortable amount of time as Michael admires what he’s done. 

Another great character is Dr. Loomis played by Donald Pleasence. Loomis gets all the great, iconic lines in the movie, my favorite has always been “inhumanly patient.” Loomis is used in an effective way to warn us of the impending danger which adds to the unsettling atmosphere.

This was the movie that began the slasher craze of the eighties and started a whole bunch of horror cliches. Laurie is the good babysitter and virgin who survives by the end of the film while her friends who are irresponsible and like to have sex are killed off. 

Negatives:

My only negative is that some of the acting is pretty bad. Neither of Laurie’s friends are very good here, this is especially apparent in the scene when all three are walking home from school. I’ve always been able to forgive this problem because I love this film and it doesn’t bother me too much anyway. 

Overall, this is one of the greatest horror movies ever made that is unsettling and effectively scary. John Carpenter has a gift for taking a very simple premise and elevating it to a whole different level. A movie everyone should watch at least once.

(Turns out I forgot to mention John Carpenter’s fantastic score. Definitely one of the greatest film scores of all time.)

Score: A+