William Friedkin’s 1973 cinema adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s novel The Exorcist was one of the film events of the decade. Disturbingly powerful and superbly crafted, it chilled cinemagoers like no film before while surprisingly sparking huge interest in Mike Oldfields ‘Tubular bells’ which was used on the soundtrack. Even half a century later that film has lost little of
Read moreThe 2018 Halloween reboot tapped into horror fans’ ravenous nostalgia for the original 1978 film while delivering a strong storyline that gave the franchise a credible place in today’s world. That film’s unadorned visual style made the scares more convincing and effective while interestingly exploring the traumatic impact of knife-wielding murderer Michael Myers on heroine Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis).
Read moreJohn Carpenter’s original Halloween from 1978 is an iconic horror film because of its Hitchcockian suspense, clever use of creepy music and its memorable characters, particularly Jamie Lee Curtis’ heroine Laurie, Donald Pleasence’ hammy Dr Loomis and of course the indestructible, knife-wielding killer Michael Myers. While it didn’t originate the slasher genre it certainly set the modern template for it
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