Halloween Films Part 1: The Classics

Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)

Matching John Carpenter, Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance sounds like a winning combo in any book, but Halloween is one of those movies that has not aged well.  Sure it's a classic, but it does not deliver the thrills and frights as well as it did when it first came out in 1978.  The first time I watched it I knew exactly who was going to die and when.  Of course it is only predictable because it pioneered the genre.  Only watch this one if you are a die hard fan of John Carpenter, otherwise check out The Thing or even scarier, Nightmare On Elm Street.

Rating: 5/10



Nightmare On Elm Street (Wes Craven, 1984)

Johnny Depp's first film, Nightmare On Elm Street is almost as aged as the original Halloween is, but this one is less predictable.  Aside from Peter Jackson's DeadAlive, this film probably has one of the strangest ways to die captured on film.  Where Halloween is predictable and borderline boring, Nightmare On Elm Street leaves us with enough mystery to be a successful horror film.

Rating: 6/10






Night Of The Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)

For a really good time, be sure to watch Night Of The Living Dead.  George A. Romero pioneered the zombie film and a franchise with his 1968 film.  As strange as it may be to say, this film is more exciting than the original Halloween.  I don't mean to pick on John Carpenter, because I love his other films, but somehow he fell short with Halloween.  Night Of The Living Dead features some classic dialogue, of course the sort of dialogue only people who have seen the movie, or those people in their late 60s would understand.  Best line of the film, "They're coming to get you Barbara..."

Rating: 8/10




The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)

Of all the horror films, and actually all the other films, I have ever seen, this is definitely one of the best shot films around.  It simply looks gorgeous.  My dad told me this film was super disgusting and made Saw look like a happy musical.  Despite being rated R, this film has no gore, no profanity and no nudity.  However, the filmmakers were so adept at conveying the grisly horror that happens off-screen that it still got the R rating.  If you watch one movie this Halloween, make it the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  It really is that good.

Rating: 9/10





Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

With Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, we get some name actors Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles and Janet Leigh.  The horror of Psycho does not necessarily happen on-screen, but as with most Hitchcock it happens in your mind.  What sets Psycho apart from the other movies reviewed in this blog is the characters.  The characters in this film are developed to the max.  Just about everything about this film is perfect.  This movie spawned a remake and three sequels.  Anthony Perkins' performance is fantastic.  This is how horror movies should be made.

Rating: 10/10

John Carpenter Master of Fear Collection

I recently picked up a DVD set that has four movies on two discs.  There are no special features, save some audio options, but the films are there.  It contains The Thing, Prince of Darkness, They Live, and Village of the Damned.  All four films are by John Carpenter.

In lieu of a complete movie review of all four, I'm going to do an abridged version.

The Thing (1982):  This movie is the reason I bought the DVD.  Kurt Russell does an excellent job of being a leader, and a rebel.  This film is very much my Psycho of the 80s.  For a horror film, it has everything you need.


Prince of Darkness (1987):  This is probably the weakest of the four.  Which isn't to say it isn't good.  I quite enjoyed it, it just wasn't at the same level as the other three.  Donald Pleasence is the big star in this film, although he doesn't get a whole lot of screen time.  There are some good moments in this movie, but they are spaced too far apart.  Also, this film has a longer runtime than the others, which probably doesn't help.

They Live (1988):  Going through film school, I heard a lot about this film, and all of its criticisms of society.  Despite relatively unknown actors, this film was great.  John Carpenter really plays with perception in a border-line hypocritical way that at times is frightening, and other times is hilarious.

Village of the Damned (1995):  Kids can be really creepy.  This movie probably had the best cast of the bunch: Christopher Reeve, Mark Hamill, and Kirstie Alley.  In this movie, Carpenter focuses mostly on two or three families, and their experiences with the new 'children.'  It was good to see Mark Hamill in something where he wasn't swinging a lightsaber.

Basically, this collection is a good buy.  No, there are no special features, but, looking at the DVD for The Thing, you wouldn't really be missing much.  Unfortunately with some of these older movies, there's just not a lot in the way of special features.  Ultimately, if you're the casual movie watcher, and are looking to experience John Carpenter, this is the set for you.  If you're the film junky and you simply have to have all the features, you'll probably want to buy these seperately.

© Nate Phillipps 2010