Just as John Carpenter's Halloween is heavily influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, most horror films post-Halloween are, in some way or another, influenced by Halloween. A deceptively simple film not greatly imbued with characterisation, Halloween achieves greatness through other means, notably it's meticulous craftmanship, its methodical plotting, its brilliant casting, its creation of Michael Myers - we don't see much of the killer, a now towering figure of horror-pop-culture, and Halloween is stronger for it - and its overall sense of inescapable doom. Halloween plays on comforts, and by having Myers terrorise Jamie Lee Curtis (playing Laurie Strode in her best ever role) in her own neighbourhood, Carpenter finds horror where most people would hope - and wish - to find nothing but security and safety. The fact that the killer is virtually invincible (an idea that would be riffed upon and ultimately ruined in the many sequels and reboots) adds an extra sense of inevitability to things, which, when put together with the bone-chilling music, makes Halloween a classic, well, Halloween film.
