John Carpenter’s Halloween: Does It Stand The Test of Time?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by PhenomenalTLD

It's interesting to think about how different things are now vs. 1978 when it comes to slasher cinema.

I don't think there is slasher cinema at the moment. Sure there is the usual ton of low budget supermarket shelf fillers but there aren't really any slasher films getting cinema releases.

After the boom in the late nineties early 2000's with Scream, Halloween H20, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend etc the studios went remake mad with some good ones - The Hills Have Eyes, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, My Bloody Valentine and House of Wax - but these were actually few and far between. Most of the releases were anemic PG13 films such as Prom Night and Boogeyman along with misfires like the Friday 13th remake which pretty much put a nail in the coffin for the slasher film at the cinema until someone decides the time is right to give them another go.

[Frankenhooker]

Some of the framing in Halloween is just sublime and it's still immensely atmospheric. It still holds up well today, its a classic of cinema, irrespective of genre.