Good but overrated

The Thing and Prince of Darkness are close, but I still put Halloween above those. I saw it first time at tender age of 13 or 14 on a VHS with a friend in the 80's and its the most frightening movie I've seen. I understand if people don't find it scary if they've seen genre movies before, the genre was beaten to death with ripoffs and sequels. I was lucky to see it with fresh eyes. Every generation has their own scary movie, Halloween is/was one of mine.

It's one of the better slashers for sure but I agree it is overrated. Some of the killing scenes look so fake even for the time it came out.

I've warmed on it the more times I've seen it, but can see how it's not for some.

It's meant to go for atmosphere a lot more than some slashers. I mean, a lot of it is Jamie Lee Curtis wondering around seeing a man in the distance, interspersed with Donald Pleasance losing his temper. You could argue, that for a slasher film, very little actually happens.

In the recent Halloween trilogy, well the first two of them anyway, Michael Myers is more of a traditional slasher villain, going on a rampage, endlessly killing. The 70s one is more about setting an atmosphere, making the unknown more scary than what you see.

Some will prefer that, some won't.

And really, the credit should go to the 1974 movie "BLACK CHRISTMAS" for paving the way for the movie HALLOWEEN.. I have The THING & Prince of Darkness on Blu Ray and they're both Fantastic.. Sort of surprised Carpenter didn't do a THING 2 revealing who had the monster in them: McCready or Childs??

I think a lot of people give props to this movie for being groundbreaking in the slasher genre... did things that had not been done in that very new genre up to then in cinema history.

I like this but I'll agree the Thing is the more impressive film. Those shots of the the thing at the end huge and looking terrifying with the giant dog head right before McReady blows it up is so impressive. If I could afford it, I'd buy the original prop of the thing in that shot. It ought to be in a museum.

My guess is that you have never seen it in a theater. Watching it on television diminishes its power, especially for first timers. Not saying that you are a first timer. It's just that watching it on commercial television ruins the sustained suspense.
I caught it at a local theater in 1978 and it blew me away. It was the first intelligently made slasher film after "Psycho" and made me a fan of Carpenter and Jamie Lee instantly. (In case you are wondering, I am 72 years old)

I like it but it's nowhere near my favourite Carpenter (The Fog). I give Halloween a 7.5/10. (Just by way of comparison I rate The Texas Chain Saw Massacre a 9.5/10.)