|
1. Because Mick Martin liked Halloween more than Friday the 13th - reviewers' opinions are always just that, but I would not listen to the likes of Martin for any reliable or informed critique on horror films: he hasn't got a fucking clue.
2. Halloween didn't start the whole slasher/bodycount theme - this is generally credited to Mario Bava's Bay of Blood (aka Twitch of the Death Nerve) 8 years earlier in 1971. Halloween did bring the genre to mainstream audiences, though.
3. Halloween has a lot of classic-making virtues, not least down to its simple hook (a faceless, indestructable bogeyman returns home to kill teenagers - not common at the time), John Carpenter's unusual and devastatingly effecting framing techniques (complimented by Ray Stella's steadicam work) and of course his unforgettable soundtrack.
Back in 1979, teens-in-peril did not need to be particularly attractive or hip, and films like this were made devoid of the humour and clever knowingness that plagues them today.
|