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Halloween
(1978) |
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So much has been said about John Carpenter's supreme stalker film that it seems trite to even attempt to add anything more. This film along with The Exorcist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had a traumatisingly, exhilaratingly horrifying effect on this reviewer. Never have the senses and especially the nerves been given such a merciless jangling as in the 90 minutes or so duration of Halloween - Carpenter's masterly piece of terror poetry in motion. Rather than heap on the accolades one ought to do well to remember what most critics actually said about this great film upon its release. 90% of those very same critics who now claim the film to be the great classic that it is, were pigeonholing it along with such lowly crap as Friday the 13th. This however, was the film that started it all and the entire slasher genre owes its life to this masterpiece, though lets face it, Black Christmas arrived a couple of years earlier than even Halloween. The mesmerizing effect it had on the audience of around 700 or so the night we watched it was something one has rarely experienced. The collective sense of dread and tension was utterly tangible and the sheer gasp that the audience let out when He got up again was just an unparalleled collective audience response. This movie is sheer unadulterated terror and Carpenter goes for the jugular yet doesn't feel the need to exhibit a drop of blood in this relentless terror ride. What is perhaps even more a testament to Carpenter's superlative (now long lost) touch is that for three quarters of the movie nothing really happens as such, and yet the tension is just about unbearable. If imitation is indeed the highest form of flattery than Halloween would have no equal as it is probably the most imitated and influential film ever made. As if John Carpenter's directorial skills weren't enough to earn him a honourary spot in the Horror Hall of fame, he has forever underlined his immortality within the genre by providing one of the most simplistic yet utterly memorable musical scores to any horror film. The Halloween theme will haunt you forever. A sheer cinematic joy - a piece of motion picture poetry and one of the greatest movies horror or not, that we have had the pleasure of viewing. An out and out masterpiece of mammoth proportions and a horror icon for a generation or two. Let us also give due credit to the article in The Village Voice which was bold enough to stand up and point out the film as an exceptional piece of art where as most others had dismissed it as just another slasher movie. May have lost its potency to shock because of familiarity caused by countless clones, but can be forever admired for its fluid style and the camera's visual trick's and treats. One of the two best horror films ever made.
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