Halloween

Carpenter had six weeks, twenty days of shooting and a budget that did not stretch to a proper mask, so the crew bought a Captain Kirk mask, widened the eye holes and painted it white. That is the most recognisable face in horror and it cost under two dollars.

The innovations are structural rather than gruesome. Michael Myers has no motive, no dialogue and no face, and the film refuses to supply any of the three. He is called The Shape in the credits. Almost nothing bleeds on screen.

The first cut tested badly and was reported as not frightening. Carpenter wrote the score himself in three days, in 5/4 because his father had taught him the time signature on bongos, and the same cut then played as terrifying. It is the clearest demonstration available that a horror film is assembled in the mix as much as on set.

Jamie Lee Curtis was 19 and it was her first film.