1h 31m
Director: John Carpenter

Michael is a murderer you see and he's just a boy so there's nothing uncomplicated about it. When we first meet him in Haddonfield in 1963 he has just killed his sister in what looks to be a fairly clinical affair. He's not full of rage or covered in blood or even slightly flustered, he just stands there innocently dressed in a clown outfit brandishing a bloody knife. It's Halloween.

After over 15 years in a mental home, Michael escapes and we follow what transpires on Halloween in 1978. Laurie Strode approaches his old house where he's apparently chosen to hide and he takes that as a cue that he must stalk her.

Michael is pretty unsubtle about following Laurie as we see several shots where he's driving his car behind the one she's in with no attempt to hide his stalking with distance.

Michael is described by his doctor as, "Pure evil..." and that is how this character is portrayed, he's relentless, lethal and seemingly invincible.

In the end, Michael arranges for a macabre display of dead bodies in his chosen house of murder including one with the headstone of the sister he killed earlier.

This is a slasher movie so expect a lot of 1st person, voyeuristic shots.

A few odd things happen in this movie. When Laurie's with her friend driving on the way to babysit for example, her friend spots her police officer Dad's car. They are smoking a blunt but for some reason her friend opts to pull over to speak with her Dad. There's even speculation as to whether or not he could smell the marijuana. I know what, how about you just ignore your Dad and pretend you haven't seen him then there's no risk?

I should mention the soundtrack by John Carpenter which is noted for its simplicity and also its effectiveness and is used liberally throughout. You'll recognise it no doubt, with it's piano hook and Moog sounding analogue accompaniment.

If they remade this film for Netflix these days it would no doubt be much gorier but they could iron out the plot issues. There's more than one moment too where a character is supposed to be hidden but you can see that other characters could clearly see them in the shot.

It's a bit schlocky, there's a few plot holes and it's tropey (seeing as it helped to define the modern slasher movie) but if you want a fairly unchallenging horror flick then I reckon you'll enjoy it!



Trailer: