Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter's low-budget classic wrings every possible chill
out of its story of a psychopath called Michael Myers (not the
Austin Powers one) terrorising Jamie Lee Curtis and her fellow
babysitters on Halloween eve.
Carpenter was only 24 when he shot Halloween in just 20
days on a budget of just over $300,000 (for the meagre salary of
$10,000, a cut of the profits and his name above the title.) it
was probably the best deal he ever made!
After a faltering opening run, Halloween quickly became
a critically acclaimed box-office smash that went on to gross over
$50 million and spawned a raft of sequels and an entire industry
of (mostly inferior) slasher movies. It also made Carpenter the
hottest young director in Hollywood, although the relationship
quickly soured after a series of costly flops.
Halloween is a masterpiece of sustained tension and
looming terror, notable for its pioneering use of Steadicam,
brilliant simplicity - babysitters in peril! - and the sheer
audacity of the direction.
There are plenty of violent incidents, but no lashings of
pointless guts and gore. What Carpenter at his best did better
than anyone was create an atmosphere of dread in which lurked
suggestions of even worse things to come.
In other words, he kept the audience in a state of permanent
fright - and this movie still has the power to make you scream out
loud.
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