An Average Movie-Goer’s Review
No spoilers! If you would like spoilers – check out the Spoiler post
I love horror movies and if I’m going to watch them anyway, why not write an entertaining/funny review from the POV of an average movie-goer and not a professional critic.
Today we’re looking at the 1978 classic, John Carpenter’s Halloween
An escaped mental patient, Michael Myers, returns home to Haddonfield, Illinois, and stalks Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) on Halloween.
Related Article: Halloween (2018) No Spoiler Review
Related Article: Halloween Kills (2021) No Spoiler Review
Is it Scary?
It’s been a few decades since Halloween and it’s been pretty influential for a lot of horror movies since then, because of this you might not be scared by it but it’s still pretty suspenseful. There are a couple of jump scares that may get you but what really makes the suspense is the music, which is not surprising given it’s from John Carpenter.
By the end, you might be a bit scared if you’re a babysitter in a small town and have noticed someone in a white mask watching you but in that case, maybe call the police?
Review:
Halloween is good, some might consider it great and I would agree if this was 1978 and Halloween hadn’t influenced the slasher genre. Sure, Halloween is great and one of the best slasher horror movies for what it’s done, but watching it in 2022 and seeing it as an average movie-goer, it’s just good.
The acting is good, and the dialogue feels very 70s teenager but honestly, if you add in some references to social media, it even passes for dialogue that would be seen in some movies today. The main antagonist story is effectively told so you end up pretty scared of what it can do and where it is by the end.
The best part of Halloween is the use of the music, it adds suspense that elevates almost every scene to the point where the scenes where you don’t hear music, you feel uneasy.
There are very few negatives and most of them are mainly because this is a movie from the 70s. My main “complaint” is the lingering shots, there are so many! In different parts of the movie, we watch characters just walking for almost a minute. Though the boredom of this changes pretty early in the movie when you know a killer might be around.
The only other negative I have is the use of one of the characters in this movie, feels like they didn’t know what to do with them for most of the movie until a certain point. Not a big deal because the other stuff happening is interesting but just feels like a bit of a waste.
In the end, I highly recommend Halloween, not just because it’s an influential movie in horror but also because almost 45 years later, while it’s not as scary, it’s pretty suspenseful.
Cast IMDB