Well, so I just saw this movie for the first time yesterday. Almost 40 years after it was released. A bit late yeah, but it never really seemed interesting enough to check out. And what can i say? To be honest, I expected the movie to be pretty bad considering how much praise it gets (usually in horror that's a sure sign it's only trendy to like it somehow). But I never expected it to be this bad.

- The characters are just a big mess. The acting is atrocious and the casting choices are very weird. Everybody looks way to old for the role they play, and the dialogues are just some of the worst I've ever heard. My favorite being Laurie saying "was that the boogeyman?" which had me burst out in laughter. Great stuff. Anyway, none of the characters ever sound realistic in any way. And there is NO chemistry with any character and I mean zero. Michael Myers himself is just nothing special at all. The opening scene with him is pretty great tbh (when he's a little kid), but after that, it's all downhill, and we don't get to know anything about him at all whatsoever. He's truly lacking any character whatsoever. He doesn't speak or even have motives. He just goes around strangling people. Yeah very creative.

- The story is among the worst I've ever seen. Almost not a single thing makes sense, and it becomes very slapstick at times. It is the perfect example of all the archetypes everybody hates in horror movies like "go randomly into the closet" and "stab the killer and toss the knife away afterwards and sit and wait for him to get up" or my personal favorite "just give him the car". The main storyline itself is extremely narrow and it truly feels random. For like 70% of the movie there are no real interactions of any kind between anyone and some overgrown babysitters just sees spooky things and gets killed in (extremely) predictable and stupid ways. There is a doctor too, but that part is so ludicrous that it almost seems to be for comedic relief. He's sure funny when he breaks out his doomy and gloomy speeches, I'll give him that. Especially when he's peeking on the kids from behind the bush. That was hilarious. The ending is atrocious too. Worst end sequence I've seen in a while. And that brings us to...

- The directing is simply awful. Some shots drag out for a laughable long time, so much that it gets really awkward. And there is so much repetition too, and some parts that (I guess) is supposed to be scary just looks very funny. Like the times when Michael collapses. Or when they are being tailed by a car accompanying the "creepy music" for like the 5th time in like 10 minutes. The editing is poor also, like when Michael cracks the car window. And the movie is shot in such a way that not many scares are unexpected. It's a very predictable movie. Like the music will always let you know well before hand when something creepy is about to happen. Which brings us to...

- The score is very amateurish and very often plain bad. Yes the main theme is kinda good, but not after you've heard it slapped on like 50 scenes. It starts to get funny after a while to always hear that tune. Not very scary.

Overall, the movie felt like a very bad low budget horror of it's time. But would it have been better back in the days? Hell no. It's a bad movie, no matter what time period it's from. It's just a very trendy movie, and now that I've finally seen it, I can safely say that I wasn't missing out on anything. Phew.

When I heard good things about _Scream (2022)_, I decided that it was probably time to go back and watch the original, which somehow I have never seen. However, I also knew that the original _Scream_ was very influenced by and possibly included direct references to many classic slasher films; all of which I have also not seen. So, in order to fully appreciate whatever nuances may exist within the slasher genre, I must first catch up on all the classics, starting here, with John Carpenter's _Halloween_.

If I had seen this movie back in 1978, when it was considered a groundbreaking entry in the horror genre, perhaps I would have been more impressed and generous with my rating. Alas, here we are 44 years later, and what was once groundbreaking, is now a poster child for overused tropes and clichés. Of course, I understand this film likely invented some of those tropes/clichés, but at the end of the day, for a modern audience watching this movie for the first time, that doesn't really matter. Large swathes of the movie felt familiar because I've seen a dozen newer films that followed the same formula.

Now, that doesn't mean the movie isn't effective. It's a lean story with a simple set-up that very much accomplishes it's goal. Michael Myers is a truly creepy character; his heavy breathing and iconic mask an ever effective way to amp up the tension (especially when combined with the signature soundtrack). His overbearing presence throughout almost every scene in the movie does a good job of keeping the viewer on their toes, trying to anticipate how and when the next victim will meet their end. I will say, the violence is quite tame by modern standards, which somewhat deflates the payoff moments. Additionally, the ending was a letdown, providing an excellent example of one of my least favorite tropes: [spoiler]when the protagonist doesn't confirm that the villain is dead or at least restrain them, which happens, not once, but twice[/spoiler]. I'd also say that the acting was rough in many places.

Ending on one positive note, I think it's crazy that a movie this iconic was still able to take me by surprise with it's opening scene: [spoiler]somehow I wasn't aware of Michael Myers' origin story and so I was not expecting a child to be the initial murderer[/spoiler].

One of the best horror movies of all time. Halloween established the tone and cliches for a whole sub-genre, if I were in the 80s making movies this would definitely be one of the main movies to get inspiration. The scene with the pumpkin during the initial credits is awesome and it is complemented by the score so perfectly and the score is amazing not only in the beginning but throughout the entire movie. It is a tremendous job from John Carpenter in every aspect of the film.

I love Michael Myers' characterization, that emotionless pale mask is disturbing. I can see why some people would find this film boring or something like that, but for me it takes just the time it needs to set the story and the tone. The movie doesn't have a lot of kills nor are the kills gory, but they're definitely effective. My favorite part has to be the stalking by Mr. Myers, what a creepy dude, damn, poor Laurie and her friends.

PS: The scene that shows The Thing from Another World (1951) being watched by Tommy and Lindsey is super cool when you realize that this movie was going to be filmed again by Carpenter and become his masterpiece.

The whole movie survives on the fact Myers is creepy and the tension builds slowly. It's really simple but well made. Yes it's ridiculous at times but forgivable for the atmosphere. The jumps are well placed. The music may be OTT for some. This may feel slow but the story is paced well at the start and it's usually the horror that slowed right down.

The silly things:
After 15 years locked away, and presumably since a kid after the murder, Myers gets in a car and drives first time. The only time a door is locked in the town seems to be when Mike is after you. He pins someone to a wall with a knife whilst using super human strength. He survives a neck stabbing, eye jab with wire, multiple knives slashers, six bullets and high fall through a window onto the floor landing on his back. The Dr doesn't want the police to be aware of the insane killer Myers... for what reasons again? So on one level Myers is this very real escaped patient who preys (scary) and on the other level he's an almost invisible super human (not scary and takes away from the horror but I understand the need to flesh out the story). Is this movie full of cliches of did it create them? Killer never runs. Victims always fall over or hide in the closet. Always take your eye off the killer when you think he's dead... again.

I think the small world Carpenter creates is just good enough to not make the movie bad. I enjoyed it and I was forgiving but I don't know how may times I could watch it again.

“Some men just want to watch the world burn, Master Wayne.” – Alfred, The Dark Knight.

Yes, some men just want to watch the world burn because there’s not much to them other than a truly evil soul. That’s the general idea and consensus behind Michael Myers. He doesn’t need a reason to kill because he is simply put…evil. Except, I felt like I needed a reason because it wasn’t giving us much of anything else as an alternative. There’s no motive, there’s barely any violence, when there is actual violence, there’s no gore or any real idea of where the victim was even struck. Even the acting is atrocious. As a member of an audience, I would have no idea of what’s even happening. I get it, they just want to give you an idea of what’s happening, which is fine most of the time…but if I don’t know what’s happening or where, I rarely care why.

The movie does do something right – it created a memorable looking villain. That may be because this movie is nearly 40 years old, but even so, it is what it is. It also had a good idea of how to present general creepiness based solely on the location of the camera – which helps when Michael Myers is stalking his victims. The music, I could have done without, but who cares. That being said, this is a movie that, in a way, changed the way horror films are presented. For that reason alone, I respect this movie, but I don’t like it – there’s too much about it that goes wrong in my opinion, and that comes down to the completely absent storytelling.

So here’s how it is…Halloween feels like a classic horror film. A part of that may solely be reputation and simplicity, but it feels how it should. That being said, its biggest weakness lies with storytelling. The reasoning behind Michael Myers doing what he does is as cheap as the movie…he’s evil – which means these victims are suffering from a random selection…they mean nothing…how can you care about their lives? There is barely any violence, which in and of itself is fine, but when there IS, it doesn’t show anything…so I’m left wondering how they died…apparently they were stabbed…which I guess doesn’t matter where. If you get stabbed anywhere on the body…you die. Apart from that, the acting is atrocious and it is downright weird towards the end – mainly the tombstone and ghost costume. Those are things you’d expect with a 8th or 9th installment running out of ideas…not the first movie ever.

So there it is. I wasn’t a fan, and I tried to list why. What is your opinion on this film?