Why Halloween (2018) Is Scarier Than You Think

5. The Night HE Came Home...

In order to understand Michael as he is today, we must first understand the character as he was forty years ago - an institutionalised 20-something who returned to the town of his birth to relive his most impactful childhood memory, and terrorise Middle America in the process.

There are plenty of reasons for why Michael Myers is the horror genre's most terrifying figure - the fact he kills without rhyme or reason, his ghostly movement and that iconic mask - but one of the biggest stems from the fact this horrifying journey all began at the tender age of six. The murder of Judith Myers is so unnerving because it stems from the most sterile image of America that can be conjured - a young child, raised in a suburban town in the middle of the country, dressing up for a cherished holiday. Carpenter himself conceived of Halloween's story by drawing from the idea that every town has its secret - "there's always a house down the lane that somebody was killed in, or that somebody went crazy in" - and that's what makes it such an effective piece of cinema; Haddonfield, in essence, could be anyone's town. All that's missing is a freshly baked pie cooling on an open windowsill.

But there's another side of the coin with Halloween, and it lies in the genesis of Michael Myers. According to Carpenter, the idea for the character stemmed from a visit he'd undertaken to a Kentucky Institution, where he witnessed a young boy with a blank, expressionless stare. This would later inform Doctor Loomis' iconic description of the character during the second half of the film, although there's something just as important that should be noted.

Myers is institutionalised at a young age, and when he breaks out, he retains an almost childlike persona. The first thing on his agenda once he breaks out is to break into a halloween store and steal a mask, before he travels to the home of his parents. He literally retraces his steps, and then cruelly, methodically, stalks the first person he happens upon. He toys with his victims in a ruthless game of hide and seek, just as he did in 1963 with his sister, because it's all he knows, and all he's been waiting for.

It's also the chief reason for why Halloween is so terrifying, and though it may not seem that way at first, it too informs the new sequel in a pretty significant way.