Do you think Halloween (1978) holds up? (Spoilers)

I rewatched it recently and I gotta say some of it holds up really well and other parts not so much. That opening scene from Michaels point of view was perfect in every way except the actually murder just feels badly executed and kinda ruins it for me. Besides that a the pacing is excellent but personally I feel like theirs too much build up (im sure some people prefer it that way). I personally wish they didnt have musi cues whenever Michael appeared in the background or showed up. I think itd be creepier if they didnt draw attention to him like that and allow it to just catch the audience offgaurd.

Also dont like the whole reveal of Michael Myers being immortal. I prefer the idea hes just so relentless and constantly manages to avoid death which to me is scarier than hes got some supernatural thing going off. Also one last thing that bothers me is at first he seems like hes supposed to be cold and calculated with how he waited all this time for the oppurtunity to escape and was able to learn how to drive but later on he feels clumsy like hes still driving around in the same private vehicle and has trouble going after Jamie Lee Curtis.

Not sure. I found the plot to be kind of repetitive as the killer, kills one teen, then another, then another, so in terms of plotting there weren't many surprises or twists that one might expect compared to a horror classic like Psycho for example, but the movie is very well made on a technical scale, like lighting, music, atmosphere, etc.

I actually like the immortal implication and felt it added more intrigue.

It's a slasher masterpiece. It's in my top 100.

When I last watched it a couple of years ago, I liked it more than ever.

I watched it just last month. Still one of the greatest films of all time. Nothing much made nowadays even holds a candle.

It's in my top 100 as well

Well most modern horror is just trash imho so I dont think thats saying much personally lol. I dont think Halloween is as strong as other horror classics like The Exorcist, Jaws, The Shining, Alien, and Carpenters mmagnum opus The Thing! Better than most of the copy cats it inspired though.

I think it's far superior to The Exorcist, personally. I've always found that very overrated.

I think I would agree that all those are better than Halloween accept for Alien maybe.

I would also add that Carrie (1976), and perhaps The Last House on the Left (1972) are better as well.

Good post. Agree completely. I think Halloweens very good. Some parts have aged although still very effective. Those others you mentioned, especially The exorcist, it is not on that level. I can't be more in love with the Exorcist at the moment - also I like the addition of the spider walk scene


Edit - I'd add the original Texas Chainsaw to the mix of movies mentioned. Just a level above Halloween in terms of how its aged.

F'in love it.

Yes it most certainly does and I will fight those that besmirch it's good name.

One of my favorite films of all time, it absolutely does. Jump Scares, or just scares in general, like jokes, stop being scary the more you see them. With Halloween, the mystery, the subtlety, the darkness, the amazing construction of those scenes, they still work so well. Michael creeping up behind Laurie from inside a dark room is truly frightening, the idea that a person would want to kill you for absolutely no reason beyond their sanity is still spine-chilling, those very tense chase sequences were Michael is just centimeters away from Laurie and she still can't find a way to escape, terrifying stuff!. It's a very simple story, which is why it works so well, the more simple a horror story is, the more cemented it is in realism, therefore the scarier it is; the original Halloween has always been effective in my book.

Damn i still havent seen that restored cut of The Exorcist. I really should as soon as i can. I agree with TCM. I read they originally wanted it to be pg hence the lack of much blood lol.

Havent seen Carrie in forever. Was the film that got me to seek out classic horror.

I rate it (the restored cut). Might be hard to watch though if you’re in love with the original but there are such minor additions imo. What movie did you say was trying to be pg?

I've only seen one version of The Exorcist, can anyone tell me which one? What's the difference?

The most telling difference is the spider walk. Where the possessed sort of crawls backwards down the stairs and snarls....I'm certain that wasn't present in the theatrical release.... There are other subtle things like the inclusion of the face of the demon in shadows where the in the original there was only darkness. There may be more stuff...maybe someone made a website or youtube video and can explain it better than I.

The Exorcist: Theatrical (full vsn) v Director's Cut

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was trying to be pg. Or maybe they gave up on that at some point but I know i read that somewhere.