10 Things You Learn Rewatching Halloween (1978)

The most powerful aspect of Carpenter's direction in Halloween is the way in which the maestro orchestrates suspense.

Alfred Hitchcock famous described the difference between surprise and suspense as supplying the audience with information the characters are unaware of in advance. By Hitch's own estimations, the former gave the audience 'fifteen seconds of surprise' while the latter gave them 'fifteen minutes of suspense'.

Carpenter was a huge fan of Hitchcock's work at the time of making Halloween, to the point that he has often cited Psycho as his primary influence and even named Dr. Loomis after John Gavin's Sam Loomis from the film. And the way in which Carpenter puts Hitchcock's theory into practice is stunning.

Take, for instance, the sequence in which Annie Brackett meets her demise. It begins with her going out to the Wallaces' laundry shed. As she puts her clothes in the washer, Carpenter shows the audience that right behind her, Michael lurks outside, watching through the open door. So when the door inevitably shuts, locking her in, viewers know what is coming.

But brilliantly, Carpenter drags these sequences out. Annie doesn't die in the laundry shed, she lives onto take Lindsey over to the Doyle house and only meets her grisly end after ten agonizing minutes of suspense in which the audience knows Michael could be lurking around every corner.

In supplanting information for the audience within the film and keeping the characters unaware of it, Carpenter perfectly orchestrates a symphony of suspense and terror for Halloween's most affecting sequences.