| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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Horror Masterpiece
by Brando (movies profile)
Feb 22, 2008
14
of
18 people found this review helpful
John Carpenter started the slasher trend with this low-budget, suspense-filled masterpiece. At the same time he transcended it, avoiding all the pitfalls that would eventually become cliches. Sure, some of the characters are one-dimensional, and yeah, it has nearly dated itself with goofy expressions and cheap 70's clothes. But it relies on suspense and tension rather than spilling buckets of red stuff all over the place.
STORY: Is very simple. Crazed Michael Myers escapes from insane asylum and goes after baby-sitters. His psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis, runs around Haddonfield looking for him. Jamie Lee Curtis plays the baby-sitter who survives.
ACTING: Donald Pleasance is great. He does the slightly creepy philosopher obsessed doctor thing very well. Jamie Lee Curtis cries and screams a lot, and thus carves herself a niche in the horror genre.
DIRECTION: Carpenter really knows how to create the mood of terror. For modern audiences used to MTV-style editing and intestines flying all over the place, the original "Halloween" may seem a little slow ... but that's because it's a meticulously crafted suspense film. The opening sequence, shown from the perspective of a young Myers, originated the killer's point-of-view technique that was subsequently ripped off 1,000 times. Carpenter's score is easily the best in a horror film, or at least closely tied with the original "Psycho."
VISUALS: Due to the low budget, there aren't any gruesome special effects here. Instead, we get some amazing nighttime cinematography by Dean Cundey. The need for fancy special effects evaporates.
OVERALL: This movie is a testament of its time. Instead of relying on outer-space creatures to provoke fright, Carpenter chose a single human villian. Myers killed for no reason. His victims weren't chosen for any particular reason (that we know of in the original); they were just picked. The question of fate is brought up here, and may cause a thoughtful watcher to stop for a moment and consider the fragility of life. That is if said thoughtful watcher can get their heart beating again.... |
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