10 Amazing Scenes In The Halloween Franchise

By Reece Donnell / December 4, 2020

Back in 1977, producer Irwin Yablans teamed up with independent filmmaker John Carpenter and his girlfriend Debra Hill. Their intent was to make a small suspenseful horror film that would frighten couples at drive-ins and possibly turn a small profit, but they did so much more.

Halloween has since spun off into a franchise consisting of eleven movies, the most recent being 2018's blockbusting revamp of the same name. Michael Myers became the leader of a flock of antagonistic icons, as over the proceeding decades he'd be joined by the likes of Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Ghostface, and although often imitated, Michael just can't be duplicated. He was the first, and most argue, he's still the best.

Much like the franchise's central villain, the Halloween brand seems to never die. Despite its fair share of mediocre films, bad reviews and sometimes long hiatuses between installments, the series always manages to reinvent itself and remain relevant. With the 12th film, Halloween Kills, due in theatres in a little over a year, the series shows no signs of slowing down.

As we build up anticipation for 2021's return, let's revisit the ten most amazing scenes from the Halloween franchise.

10. The Reveal - Halloween (1978)

There's no better or more suitable way to start this list than with the scene that started it all.

It is Halloween night,1963, and we begin a silent tracking shot around a quaint suburban home as we watch a young couple cavort. The silence is broken by a jarring musical sting that seagues into an eerily unsettling piano score. A hand pulls a knife from a drawer finally revealing that this is someone's point-of-view and that the couple upstairs are in danger. The scene expertly gives us all the information we need to know without a single spoken line of dialogue.

Heading upstairs, the same hand reaches for a mask laying on the floor. With it over camera, the shot is limited to two small eye holes as the vision of a topless, unaware young woman comes into view. Suddenly we find ourselves stabbing the young beauty until she lays lifeless on the floor. Running back down the stairs and out the front door headlights fill the lens. Only after this three and a half minute shot is the mask torn away and we are revealed to be an angelic looking child dressed in a clown costume.

This opening scene is a masterclass in tension, but it is the final shot that offers the most truly shocking moment of all. Until this, the viewer has been completely unaware that they are seeing a young child's actions. We are left speechless as the music crescendos and the screen cuts to black. It is truly a masterful way to begin a film and shows off Carpenter's ingenuity with the limited budget.