John Carpenter's Halloween broke box office records in 1978 and started a whole new subgenre of Horror, the holiday-set slasher film. Critics and audiences embraced Carpenter's film due to the craft he put into its creation. The director used artistic shot design and atmospheric music to create his proper Horror atmosphere but he also remembered to create interesting and relatable characters.

RELATED: 5 Ways Halloween Is John Carpenter's Best Movie (& 5 Ways It's The Thing)

Thought was put into Carpenter and Debra Hill's screenplay and the characterizations showed. Even in the film's sequels, there were well-drawn characters that were quite memorable. Here are 10 of the best from the Halloween films.

Budd- Halloween II (1981)

In 1981's Halloween II, character actor Leo Rossi played Budd, one of the two ambulance drivers who take Laurie Strode to Haddonfield hospital. The character isn't quite the comic relief but he does have some moments that make the audience laugh.

RELATED: 10 Excellent Horror Movies Set Around Halloween (That Don't Star Michael Myers)

Budd is smarmy and vulgar and alienates most of the hospital's nursing staff, save for the one he is currently dating. Budd and his girlfriend sneak off to have sex (a no-no in Horror films!) and become victims of Michael Myers.

Conal Cochran- Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1983)

Halloween III: Season of the Witch will forever be a polarizing film within the Halloween series. So many dislike it due to it moving away from the Michael Myers storyline and many love it for that and other reasons. Like it or loathe it, the film holds some great characters, one being Conal Cochran, a maniacal mask maker who is trying to pull the ultimate Haloween "prank".

Dan O'Herlihy plays Cochran as a seemingly friendly but inherently sinister owner of Silver Shamrock Novelties who creates three masks (a witch, a skull, and a pumpkin) that become big sellers. On Halloween night, at 9 pm, children are asked to tune in "for the big giveaway" with masks on. It is then that Cochran will kill them all. It is never clear why he is doing this or to what end but the character of Conal Cohran, and O' Herlihy's performance is one of the creepiest of the entire series.

Jamie Lloyd- Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (1988)

Set 10 years after Carpenter's original, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers isn't a good film. Michael Myers returns to Haddonfield to kill his 7-year-old niece, played by Danielle Harris.

RELATED: 10 Horror Movies From The '80s With A Shyamalan Twist

Harris was very good in her performance and is the one shining light in the film. Her work in the film is mature for a 10-year-old actress. Her role and performance have become one of the most popular of the series. Harris' character is involved in one of the most shocking twists in any of the Halloween films.

Sheriff Brackett- Halloween & Halloween II (1978/1981)

Laurie Strode's friend Annie Brackett is the pot-smoking constantly complaining daughter of Sheriff Brackett, played by Carpenter stock actor Charles Cyphers. His Brackett is a tough but fair man who loves his daughter. When Dr. Loomis comes to town searching for Michael Myers, Brackett loses patience with the eccentric doctor but listens to him and helps him search the town, as he doesn't want any murders in his town.

Brackett is always in uniform and is responsible for two of the original film's best jump scares. In Halloween II, the sheriff is unfortunately confronted with a tragedy and leaves the film in the first half.

Daniel Challis- Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1983)

In the much-maligned but ever-growing-in-popularity third Halloween film, Tom Atkins plays the lead, Daniel Challis. Challis is a father who stumbles onto Conal Cohran's plan to use his company, Silver Shamrock Novelties, to kill children all over America.

RELATED: 10 Classic Horror Movies Deserving Of The "Invisible Man" Treatment

Atkins dives into the role which was written as an homage to the great lead characters from 1950s Science Fiction/Horror films. Atkins directly channels Kevin McCarthy's character from 1956's Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the audience is with him every step. Challis is the audience's eyes and ears becoming more frantic from scene to scene, culminating in a classic final moment where Atkins shows his acting chops.

Laurie Strode at 57- Halloween (2018)

In the massive hit that was 2018's Halloween, the franchise received the rebirth it deserved. Wiping away all sequels, this film was intended to be the proper sequel to the original.

We find Laurie Strode as a recluse with understandable trust and safety issues. Unlike her role in Carpenter's 1978 film, Laurie is now a warrior, as she has taught herself survival skills. For 40 years Laurie waited for Michael to escape and now she is ready. It was great for the audience to see Laurie as such a strong-willed woman and her well-crafted role added to the film's critical and commercial success.

Lynda & Annie- Halloween (1978)

Two of the most fun characters in the entire Halloween universe also made for two of the most iconic kills. Lynda and Annie (played by P.J. Soles and Nacy Kyes, respectively) make up the trio of friends led by Laurie Strode. Lynda is the sex-crazed rocker-chick whose favorite word is "totally" while Annie is the daughter of the town sheriff and has to sneak to do all of the fun things that Lynda does so brazenly.

RELATED: The 10 Funniest Horror Characters Of All Time, Ranked

Each actress is given good material and both Soles and Kyes made the most of their roles, endearing them to fans of the film. Annie's stalking scene, where Michael Myers is outside the laundry room window followed by her eventual death inside her car gave audiences a shock while Lynda's death scene, with Michael Myers under a sheet wearing her recently killed boyfriend's glasses, is iconic.

Laurie Strode at 17- Halloween (1978)

The first official "final girl" and for many Horror fans, the best. Jamie Lee Curtis became a modern Scream Queen with her iconic portrayal of the somewhat innocent Laurie Strode, whose life is changed forever after the Halloween night attack by Michael Myers.

Laurie is sweet and a good friend to Annie and Lynda and, in retrospect, it is quite sad that her entire life takes a dark turn after her best friends are murdered by "The Boogey Man.

Dr. Loomis- Halloween 1, 2, 4, 5, & 6

Donald Pleasance was already a respected and popular actor and had done many Horror films, but when John Carpenter cast him as Dr. Loomis, the psychiatrist who is out to stop Michael Myers, he became a Horror film icon.

RELATED: Halloween Franchise: 5 Most Chilling & 5 Eye Roll Inducing Moments

Pleasance truly gives one of the best performances in Horror films as the determined doctor. Loomis carries a gun and never stops tracking Myers, as the doctor knows that his former patient is pure evil. It is the most important character of the entire series, save for one.

Michael Myers- Halloween 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and Halloween 2018

Michael Myers leans over a railing from Halloween

There would be no Halloween series without Michael Myers. A little boy that killed his sister and broke out of an institution to kill on the streets of Haddonfield, Illinois. Everyone tries to stop this evil. Even his doctor is trying to kill him.

The character is one of the 'Mount Rushmore" of slashers. Along with Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface, the Horror community worships Michael Myers. His mask design, his slow way of killing, his dedication to murder, and pure evil is absolutely frightening. Michael Myers is very much The Boogey Man.

NEXT: 10 Best Slasher Films That Aren't John Carpenter's Halloween