Story: Halloween.  The night HE came home.  And murdered a bunch of babysitters, boyfriends and y’know, everyone else hangin’ around.

Scares: A’plenty.  Even when you see ’em coming.

Splat factor:  Though this is called a slasher movie, it’s more what you think you see rather than what’s actually onscreen.  Well done.

Closing scene “shocker”?: A’yup.  Hey, he’s got sequels to get to!

Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?:  The original, and the best.  (Though Halloween II is pretty chilling in it’s own right.)

Trick or Treat?:  Duh…treat!  Yayz!  So I took the easy way out of this month o’ horror?  Not really.  There are so many other movies I wanted to write up, but just didn’t have the time.  From crap (the student-film project throwaway Don’t Look in the Cellar, Paris Hilton in Nine Lives) to classic (Cat People, Night of the Demon) there’s so much out there to cheer and to throw rocks at.  But for my very first attempt at a 31 in 31 (awww Baby’s First 31) I’m gonna go with my favorite Halloween movie, Halloween.

Jamie Lee Curtis cements her status as horror movie queen bar none, Donald Pleasence as horror’s favorite Type-A psychiatrist, and Michael Meyers.  Plus, we all now know that William Shatner looks terrifying when he doesn’t brush his hair.  Halloween is the movie most folks think of when people mention the “rules of horror movies”: you drink, smoke, boink?  Buh-bye.  What’s even better than seeing it for the first time yourself is watching someone else discover this movie.  Ahh, memories.  Happy Halloween (and Halloween) to one and all!

Score: out of 5 pumpkins.