John Carpenter\u2019s Halloween (1978) gave an entire generation the fright of their lives, even as it invented a new genre: the slasher. While some of the slashers this movie inspired (most notably Friday the 13th) went on to have superior sequels, the first Halloween remains the best entry in this long-running franchise. If you want to remind yourself just how good this seminal slasher really is, just grab some of your favorite candy and stream this seasonal classic for free on Plex.<\/p>\n
The plot of Halloween is as straight and to the point as its killer\u2019s blade: years after he murdered his sister, a young man escapes the loony bin and begins stalking the suburban jungle. He fixates on a high-school senior who just wants to get high and vibe out with her friends. But unless this escaped killer\u2019s obsessive psychiatrist can save the day, this girl will just be one of many to be murdered by the first official slasher of the silver screen.<\/p>\n
Welcome To The Suburban Jungle<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/aoJr6HlFIm_Godg9AWWZfg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/giant_freakin_robot_articles_628\/994697343f13d388c614d250ca68933e\"\/)
<\/span><\/div>\nThe first Halloween<\/a> was a massive hit, and it invented the modern slasher genre as we know it. That success led to more films in this gory genre, including Friday the 13th<\/a>, which was designed to take the Halloween formula (specifically, having a masked killer hunt down and murder young people) out of the suburbs and into the woods. In this way, it\u2019s fair to say that Michael Myers is the blood-spattered patriarch of later slasher villains ranging from Ghostface to Art the Clown.<\/p>\nOf course, Halloween\u2019s box office success (against a tiny budget of $325,000, the film earned $70 million) meant that it became a franchise that is thriving to this day. Unfortunately, it\u2019s hard to follow this franchise from beginning to end because there are sequels, reboots, and multiple films that tell you to ignore almost all of what came before. Each film has its own bloody strengths and weaknesses, but all these decades later, John Carpenter\u2019s first Halloween is still the best in the entire franchise.<\/p>\n
A Perfect Cast, Director, and Villain<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/NxkGjYH67XHnPRHoyUhZ_A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/giant_freakin_robot_articles_628\/7690a5f93ed86b8352f514f8f5740007\"\/)
<\/span><\/div>\nThe first reason the original Halloween remains the superior film is that its Michael Myers is like rage personified, a force of nature as unknowable as he is vicious. Later movies piled more and more bizarre lore on Michael, giving him a surprise sister, a sad-sack backstory, and even connections to a freaky cult. The first Halloween is free of all that, and its iconic killer is infinitely more frightening when he can simply roam the suburbs as a mysterious, masked murderer.<\/p>\n
The second reason the first Halloween movie is a cut above the others is that it has the perfect cast, especially Donald Pleasence as the crusading Billy Loomis and Jamie Lee Curtis<\/a> as horror\u2019s most iconic final girl. Both actors would reprise these roles to diminishing returns in later franchise entries, but none of those later films had the electric cast chemistry of the first. Rob Zombie\u2019s films are particularly miscast, though even David Gordon Greene\u2019s newer, better reboot has deeply uneven casting that often hampers its most dramatic moments<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/_Zwp8sD7XlicyilUKsSjMA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/giant_freakin_robot_articles_628\/60d70dcd68edd5b320b53140a74c1420\"\/)
<\/span><\/div>\n
The first Halloween<\/a> was a massive hit, and it invented the modern slasher genre as we know it. That success led to more films in this gory genre, including Friday the 13th<\/a>, which was designed to take the Halloween formula (specifically, having a masked killer hunt down and murder young people) out of the suburbs and into the woods. In this way, it\u2019s fair to say that Michael Myers is the blood-spattered patriarch of later slasher villains ranging from Ghostface to Art the Clown.<\/p>\n Of course, Halloween\u2019s box office success (against a tiny budget of $325,000, the film earned $70 million) meant that it became a franchise that is thriving to this day. Unfortunately, it\u2019s hard to follow this franchise from beginning to end because there are sequels, reboots, and multiple films that tell you to ignore almost all of what came before. Each film has its own bloody strengths and weaknesses, but all these decades later, John Carpenter\u2019s first Halloween is still the best in the entire franchise.<\/p>\n The first reason the original Halloween remains the superior film is that its Michael Myers is like rage personified, a force of nature as unknowable as he is vicious. Later movies piled more and more bizarre lore on Michael, giving him a surprise sister, a sad-sack backstory, and even connections to a freaky cult. The first Halloween is free of all that, and its iconic killer is infinitely more frightening when he can simply roam the suburbs as a mysterious, masked murderer.<\/p>\n The second reason the first Halloween movie is a cut above the others is that it has the perfect cast, especially Donald Pleasence as the crusading Billy Loomis and Jamie Lee Curtis<\/a> as horror\u2019s most iconic final girl. Both actors would reprise these roles to diminishing returns in later franchise entries, but none of those later films had the electric cast chemistry of the first. Rob Zombie\u2019s films are particularly miscast, though even David Gordon Greene\u2019s newer, better reboot has deeply uneven casting that often hampers its most dramatic moments<\/p>\nA Perfect Cast, Director, and Villain<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n