in any other director's hands, Williamson's script would be too clever for its own good, but Craven is in top form and manages to outweigh the meta with the immersive through his elaborate setpieces full of seamlessly cut together steadicam takes, perfect scope framing and super physical teen hi-jinx. the key idea of the script (horror movies becoming a reality for people who grew up on them) comes to life at its best when the Halloween OST gets integrated, some of the best soundtrack work of all time.

"I mean, you can only hear that Richard Gere gerbil story so many times before you have to start believing it"