Guest Author - Andy Boxall

In 1978, director John Carpenter released a micro-budget horror film that most industry insiders would have expected to disappear without trace. The film went on to hold the crown of highest grossing independent film ever for almost 20 years and introduced the world to killer Michael Myers. That film is of course, Halloween.

Most should know the plot: Child kills babysitter in opening sequence, child is locked up for 15 years before escaping to return and kill more babysitters. The babysitter in question was Jamie Lee Curtis in her debut movie role and she quickly became a horror favourite, returning for several of Halloween’s sequels.

Beautifully shot and making superb use of the darkness, shadows and the extremities of the picture, Halloween also boasts an inspired and memorable soundtrack by Carpenter himself. Killer Michael Myers (known only as ‘the shape’ in the movie) scares, mostly due to his non-supernatural ability to be hurt. His slow, clinical movements are a perfect juxtaposition to his victims panic and terror.

If you have already seen the film, then Myers’ mask will be familiar to you. The featureless skin and black eye sockets are as memorable as Jason Vorhees hockey mask or Leatherface’s homemade item. The crew on Halloween famously had difficulty selecting a scary enough mask for their killer and finally settled on a modified likeness of Captain James T Kirk from Star Trek!

Halloween is so much more than a great horror movie. A killer in a mask, a large glinting blade, teens in distress and genre referential humour are all legacies of the first Halloween. Films like Friday the 13th, My Bloody Valentine, Nightmares in a Damaged Brain and Scream all owe a considerable debt to it. In fact, for a great horror triple bill you should first watch Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, then Halloween, before finally Wes Craven’s Scream. A fantastic selection of horror spanning 30 years or so and all interconnected via character names, shooting styles and basic subject matter.

The movie turns up on TV occasionally, but it is worth seeking out the DVD release that includes the Halloween Unmasked documentary, plus the slightly extended TV version that is rarely seen. If you are either a new film fan or are just inquisitive about the horror genre, then Halloween is a great introduction. Don’t forget, it paved the way for most modern horror’s and is still superior to most of them, despite its 25-year vintage.