10 Things You Learn Rewatching Halloween (1978)

The final sequence of Loomis swooping in to save the day and shoot Michael Myers six times (SIX TIMES!) is great and there may not ever be a gunshot sound effect as aurally pleasing as the ones used here. And the first-and-final line exchange between Loomis and Laurie of, "It was the boogeyman?/As a matter of fact, it was." are some of the best final lines in cinema history.

But the real ingenuity of the ending is what comes immediately after. When Loomis looks back down to see where Myers' body was just laying, it is gone. After cutting to great reaction shots of both Loomis and Laurie, Carpenter cuts to location shots from previous locations all around Haddonfield. Over these visuals, the Halloween Theme blares and the sound of Michael's heavy breathing creeps into the soundscape, growing steadily louder and more intense.

From a filmmaking standpoint, it's such a simple way to express the fact that Michael is loose and that's exactly why it's so effective. It's haunting because of just how invasive it feels, as if Michael could be anywhere and everywhere. It's the ultimate keep-the-audience-scared-as-they're-leaving-the-cinema ending that reinforces one of the film's central theses:

"You can't kill the boogeyman."