Halloween (1978) (USA)

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One fateful Halloween night, a kid by the name of Michael Myers murdered his older sister for reasons unknown. He’s spent nearly 15 years in the psych ward under the care of Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance) who has given up trying to help the boy and has become convinced Myers is the essence of pure evil. Michael escapes, steals a car and heads to his hometown. Unfortunately for high schooler Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), she attracts the psychopath’s attention and puts the lives of her and her friends in danger. An evening of babysitting and boyfriend screwing leads to murder and Laurie having one hell of an awful Halloween night. Come on, it’s a classic… you know it’s a classic. Hardly original or deserving of that all-important first “slasher” moniker that everyone likes to lay upon it, it’s a genuine modern horror masterpiece whose inspiration is still felt all these years later. Let’s face it, the Italians had already been making “slasher” films for more than a decade by the time ‘78 rolled along and it can be argued Friday the 13th was far more influential when it came to how the American’s would present their psychopaths and manipulate the blood-thirst of American cinemagoers. In fact, it contains plenty of the pitfalls the bastard stepchild of the genre would often come under fire for. The sex to death comeuppance, the boneheaded decision making, paper-thin characters and plotting through convenience all show themselves but still, Halloween rightfully remains an acclaimed offering and casts one of the largest shadows of any film in the horror genre. So why does it work? Well, there’s a few things going for it that make it essential. First, John Carpenter knew how to weave some atmospheric terror on a budget. Fully utilizing the space offered by the widescreen aspect ratio and showing a masterful manipulation of shot composition, you can tell he and his crew gave a damn. Adding to the whole vibe is probably one of the most memorable and eerie themes to ever hit horror cinema. The central casting is stellar and makes up for any lack of meat on the supporting parts (which isn’t an issue when you have PJ Soles and Nancy Allen filling out the roles). Donald Pleasance offers up a career defining role as the obsessive doctor tracking the pure evil he has a history with and Nick Castle is imposing as all hell as the blank-slate-nightmare wandering around the small Illinois town with death on his mind. Most importantly, Jamie Lee Curtis plays what may be the most sympathetic of teenage girls ever caught on film. The fact that it was her first cinematic role is beyond impressive. Finally, and the thing that makes the movie so damn memorable, is the complete lack of motive behind its boogeyman. Before the sibling bullshit came along (thankfully retconned out of existence) we had a preternatural slab of nightmare meat striking with horrific efficiency because one poor girl dropped a key off at a supposedly abandoned home at the behest of her realtor father. That’s not fair at all, that’s just a chaotic universe at work and that’s far more terrifying than any motive ever could be.