The document discusses the 1978 horror film Halloween, directed by John Carpenter. It was made with a small budget of $325,000 but grossed $47 million, making it one of the most successful independent films. Halloween helped establish common conventions for the slasher genre, including killings taking place in suburban America. It featured suspense through minimal violence and gore. Critics praised Carpenter's camera work and music score. The film reviewer found Halloween to be one of the best horror movies due to its scary masked villain and ability to build tension without drawn-out scenes.

1. Halloween (1978)
The film Halloween which was directed by John
Carpenter in 1978, was considered one of the most
influential films in the horror canon. Halloween was an
independent film with a budget of just $325,000. I
found this very interesting as the film was done very
creatively and looked professional. The film was
grossed $47m at the US box office which made it one of
the most successful independent films ever. It overtook
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as the top grossing
independent film ever.
Like Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Carrie,
there was a deliberate attempt to create suspense with
minimal reliance on explicit violence and gore. Debra
Hill who co-wrote the film commented that she and
Carpenter wanted the film to be like a ‘jack-in-the-box’.
The film is very influential as it is largely
credited with spawning some of the most
recognisable conventions of the ‘Slasher’
genre. Although the killer, Michael Myers is
somewhat sensational and mythical, his
killings are embedded in reality. They take
place in American suburbia – attacking the
average American way of life.
Critics were impressed by Carpenter’s choice
of camera angles, simple music, and surprised
by the lack of explicit gore and blood. Similar
to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Carrie,
the film explores the theme – kids in jeopardy.
The overriding theme is the ‘evil cannot be
killed’. This also became a convention of the
slasher/horror genre.

2. Film Review
I personally believe that the film was successful and
achieved the recognition that it deserved. It did make
me jump at various occasions and I personally think
that it is one of the best horror movies that I’ve
watched so far. I believe that having a masked villain
made it even more scary as they have a hidden identity
and you do not know what their intentions are because
you cannot see their facial expressions.
I enjoyed the way the film didn’t postponed anything
and got stuck straight into the movie and followed its
storyline. I think that this is what makes horrors even
scarier. I don’t necessarily believe that you need to
make a big build up before anything happens. In the
first five minutes you could already tell that Michael
Myers was the villain as he stabs his sister to death
with a kitchen knife, him being aged only 6. This creates
a sense of suspicion as you already are scared of his
character and want to follow his journey throughout
the movie.
You follow him throughout the movie as you watch him
get older and turn into more of a serial killer. He uses
his hidden identity to murder many different characters
in the film. He doesn’t die and is a standing villain at
the end of the movie.

3. Favourite Clip From The Movie
The scene when Laurie hides from Michael in
the closet is the scene that made me jump
the most. There was a lot of tension built up
for the scene and the range of camera angles
such as a low angle shot whilst filming
Michael which gave him great authority and
power over Laurie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN5ue_1vTXI
The fact that the scene is shot in the dark
also makes this scene even more scary
and makes you feel on edge as you do not
know what is going to happen next. The
creepy music being played just adds to
the effect of something bad about to
happen.