Best Horror Movie EVER !

There's a lot of debate that goes around this time of year about what the best horror movie of all-time is. Horror movies go all the way back to the beginning of film, so "all-time" certainly covers a lot of ground. You've got to consider everything from Dracula and Frankenstien through Psycho through the teen-slasher flicks of the 80s through the Scream trilogy through Saw 3...in theaters this weekend. It's a very subjective question with really no "right" answer...so I'll just give you MY answer...

HALLOWEEN.

John Carpenter made this movie on a budget of $300,000 - which is a ridiculously small amount of money - back in 1978. It ended up being the most profitable independent film of all-time. Why? It's a GREAT movie! Many people consider it the original "slasher" flick that paved the way for a slew of poorly done imitators trying to cash in on the same theme of a masked "boogeyman" stalking and killing teens. Where HalloweeN succeeds and the others fail, in my view, is that Halloween produces tension, suspense, and genuine scares while movies like "Friday The 13th" rely on gore for their entertainment value. In fact, there is VERY little blood in the original HalloweeN (the same can't be said for it's seven sequels).

For the unitiated - here's the low-down:

In 1963, on Halloween, in Haddonfield, Illinois, a 6-year old boy named Michael Myers stabs his older sister to death. He's locked away in a sanitarium for the next 15 years until he escapes and returns to his town on Halloween 1978 to continue his killing. His psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis, with the help of the town's sheriff, does his best to find Myers before...well, you know.

HalloweeN resonates with so many people for a number of reasons. First - every town has a house down the lane that everyone thinks is haunted. Maybe someone was killed there or someone went crazy there many years ago. That's the Myers house.

Secondly, Michael Myers is a blank slate. The pale white expressionless mask he wears is so much scarier than any other kind of "Halloween" mask or scary face you're likely to see. It lets us project all of our fears onto it. It's just plain creepy. Michael doesn't speak. We don't know his motivation. We don't know why he chooses to kill the people he does. It could be anyone. It could be YOU.

Most importantly, this movie could REALLY HAPPEN. To me, that's what makes this film so much scarier than horror movies about zombies, aliens, or supernatural occurances. Michael Myers is a real person, in a suburban town just like Galloway, or Northfield, or EHT, or "Anytown, USA". HalloweeN shows us that evil is lurking behind the bushes, standing in our backyard, and following us in the car. It's potentially everywhere. And most don't see it until it's too late. THAT is a scary concept!

As I said, there is very little actual on-screen blood in HalloweeN. The movie is beautifully shot, has the SCARIEST movie score of any film I've ever seen, and does a tremendous job creating SUSPENSE.

Check out the 4-star review from Roger Ebert. That's VERY rare for a horror movie!

Rent HalloweeN this weekend, watch it on AMC, - or better yet, see it on the BIG SCREEN at the Regal Cinema on the Black Horse Pike in Mays Landing Monday or Tuesday night! They're showing the movie each night at 8pm...so grab some popcorn...grab your main squeeze...and get ready to be scared! And this Halloween, watch out for the BOOGEYMAN!

What do YOU think? What's the best horror movie? What's YOUR favorite? Click on "Comments" below and let me know!

Paul