Halloween (1978)

Haddonfield, Illinois, has a surprising number of palm trees for late October. Halloween cost a reported $325K, the leaves are suspiciously green, and P. J. Soles says "totally" so often it turns into a second soundtrack. Those cheap edges are part of the charm. John Carpenter’s own piano theme is simple enough for a kid to plink out and still makes grown adults check the back seat. He keeps Michael at the edges of the frame, half hidden behind a hedge or a line of drying sheets, so the scares come from spotting him before Laurie does. Jamie Lee Curtis makes Laurie shy, smart and nobody’s fool. Donald Pleasence gets the big doom speeches and delivers them like a man who already knows nobody’s listening. The middle sags with babysitting chatter. It made $47.2 million worldwide, which looks like a typo next to that budget. A 9.0 because it built a whole genre out of patience and a blank mask. $768.48 says you check the hedge outside your window tonight and then pretend you didn’t.

What works: Carpenter’s patient, wide-frame scares, his eerie piano theme, and Jamie Lee Curtis’ grounded, likable Laurie.

What doesn’t: The teen chatter in the middle drags, and the supporting performances are stiff even by low-budget standards.

Who it’s for: Horror fans who’d take dread over gore any night, and anyone curious where the modern slasher started.