[Daemonia]

I'm a big fan of Carpenter's Halloween (and was decidedly unimpressed with Zombie's remake) and it's always in my top ten lists. Is it Carpenter's best film? It's probably his most commercially successful film, but I prefer Assault on Precinct 13, which pretty much set the blueprint for all urban thrillers to follow - and the shooting of the child still remains shocking even to this day.

But, getting back to Halloween, it probably is one of the best slashers ever made. It's very clever in that it takes another step from Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which brought horror to domestic shores - no outer space monsters or rabid werewolves, these were human and that was terrifying. Carpenter took the next logical step and said that horror isn't even in your neighbour's house - it's right there in your own home. The final shots of the film are powerful in showing a home, a place that is supposed to be safe and secure, that is full of menacing shadow and unease. Home was no longer a safe place to be.