True terror doesn't need gore
If you want the ultimate Halloween movie, John Carpenter's Halloween - the 1978 independent horror film that gave birth to the genre of teen slasher movies - is the one.
The story is straightforward: a masked serial killer escapes from the asylum on Halloween, returns to his hometown and stabs teenagers (including a babysitter played by Jamie Lee Curtis) with an oversized kitchen knife.
But Carpenter, a masterful storyteller, turns the simple story into a genuinely frightening experience. The composition of every single shot (especially the groundbreaking use of the steadicam in the opening), eerie electronic soundtrack composed by Carpenter himself, minimalist lighting and precise editing combine to terrify viewers.
By today's standards, the bloodshed is tame. But like Alfred Hitchcock, Carpenter knows it is taut suspense rather than explicit violence that really gets under the skin. He rarely lets the tension level drop and the movie is a roller-coaster ride from the first minute to the last.
The ending is another masterstroke. By portraying the killer as the human incarnation of evil, the film hints at something more sinister than murder. It is not the bogeyman we should fear, but the darkness some people harbour in their hearts.
