‘Halloween’ and what makes a good horror film

We’re entering Halloween weekend, so today we’re bringing you a special episode about why we like to be scared, and what scares us! We are dissecting the 1978 horror classic Halloween, by John Carpenter. This week marks its 45th anniversary. The film follows a masked serial killer, Michael Myers, as he returns to his hometown on a killing spree, and is 19-year-old Jamie Lee Curtis’ debut. It’s become one of the most popular horror franchises in history. But how does it hold up now? We’re joined by FT magazine editor/scary movie aficionado Matt Vella, and executive audio producer/occasional horror fiction writer Manuela Saragosa to talk about the film and what makes a horror film work. They also try to convince Lilah that horror films are, indeed, important and good. Be sure to listen to the intro for a special announcement!

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We love hearing from you. You can email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We tweet @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.

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Links: 

– Manuela’s short story appears in ‘Six Scary Stories selected by Stephen King’ (2016). 

– You can find Matt and Manuela on X, formerly Twitter, @mattvella and @manuelasaragosa 

– Our film review of Dr Jeckell: https://on.ft.com/3Q9oBBD 

– FT’s video interview with Jamie Lee Curtis, ‘A Life in Acting in a Changing Hollywood’ (May): https://on.ft.com/3QdBJWl 

– Check out Luke Edward Hall’s column on how to host a pagan Halloween party (2021): https://on.ft.com/3QwpoxI  

– This isn't halloween related, but we loved this recent piece on how to cook a six-dish autumn feast (the formatting of the recipes really makes it easy to throw a dinner party): https://on.ft.com/3rXgzE0 

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Special FT subscription offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast.

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Clip courtesy of Sony Pictures.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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