Halloween (1978)

Halloween (1978)
Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, P.J. Soles

It's a supernatural maniac with a knife. What an original idea for a movie, right? It should stink, but it doesn't. Somehow Carpenter takes this simple concept and makes it work and that's a credit to his considerable skill as a director (when he is on his game, which isn't always). It's creepy. It's suspenseful. Halloween works.

Halloween follows a small group of teens as they prepare for Halloween in a small mid-western town. Unbeknownst to them a terrifying killing machine by the name of Michael Myers has escaped an asylum and heading to town to strike some unspoken revenge. Jamie Lee Curtis is the siren that calls the maniac to town. Donald Pleasence brings a gravitas to the movie as the psychiatrist who somberly states that this "evil" should never be let out. Michael Myers works his way through teen after teen and then sites his targets in Jamie Lee.

Carpenter employs a Hitchcockian approach that builds suspense and keeps us watching for what comes around the corner. The treatment is simple, yet effective. Carpenter, while no Elmer Berstein, gives us a memorable score that elevates the tension throughout the movie.

If it's a good scare that you want, Halloween will fill the bill. If you dare.