HALLOWEEN (1978) 🤩

Autumn of 1978 introduced the world to its most iconic final girl and most iconic slasher killer in a film that created the template that would become the staple source of horror films for decades to come. In 1978 we were gifted the still-scary-to-this-day classic, John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN.

No film has ever quite captured HALLOWEEN’S essence, despite rip-off after rip-off. Even within its own franchise, which includes sequels, remakes, and reboots/requels (I could talk all day about the multiple confusing “choose your own adventure” timelines that came to follow in this series), it’s the original that continues to terrify audiences the most. While it isn’t technically the first slasher film, and it did borrow from a handful of films before it, it was HALLOWEEN that perfected the model and that’s why it’s still celebrated.

HALLOWEEN is a very important film to me. It isn’t the first horror film I remember seeing (I count 1933’s KING KONG as my horror “root”), but it is most certainly my favorite. I recall being both enthralled and terrified the first time I saw it as a child in its edited-for-content format on late-night horror host Joe Bob Briggs’ MONSTERVISION on TNT—so much so that I ran to the kitchen to fetch our green, plastic lettuce knife to clutch to for protection. (I was a very weird child, surprising no one.)

The film establishes tone with long, posting shots giving it a voyeuristic feel, as though someone is watching you from a distance. If released today, it might be considered a “slow burn,” but it’s the fact that the movie takes its time to get to the action that makes its climax so rewarding. We’re afforded time to get to know and care about these doomed characters, making their demises all the more effective. Of course, John Carpenter’s iconic score must not go unmentioned, as it’s instantly recognizable today even by non-horror fans.

It is mind-blowing to think that this film was made on a tiny budget, casting budding, then-unknown actors, would become the highest-grossing independent film of its time. (Daughter of Hollywood royalty Jaime Lee Curtis was convinced she’d be fired after her first day of filming—obviously that was never going to happen, she’s wonderful in the film.) The biggest name attached to HALLOWEEN, Donald Pleasence, signed on reluctantly but grew to love the role so much that he appeared in 5 films in the series, stating once that as long as the movies were being produced, he would agree to be in them. He’s the one that carries the series in both its good and bad sequels.

Movies don’t get made this way anymore. It’s guerrilla filmmaking at its best, and the passion and love for cinema itself are apparent throughout, partially due to producer/co-screenwriter Debra Hill’s influence.

To me, this is the perfect horror film, and no sequel or reboot will ever be able to live up to it. I wouldn’t want it to. If there’s one movie I watch every year on October 31^st, it’s HALLOWEEN. After all, “We’re all entitled to one good scare.”

HALLOWEEN is available to stream on SHUDDER.