Halloween

I was 20 back in 1978, and saw this on opening weekend. I knew nothing of it, and after growing up on the old Hammer films, followed by a period of almost nothing, this was quite a nice surprise. It really worked! Had me checking the back seat in cars, gave me a sinking feeling when I lost my keys, etc. The low death toll and relative lack of blood, as compared to subsequent slasher films, has me really admiring how effectively it created the atmosphere & suspense that kept me on edge, and made me jump at the right places. I certainly don't jump any more at it, but I do have fun remembering what it was like watching it when the now-cliches were fresh & new. I laugh at the 'horror' flicks of the 30s & 40s, but when they were new, I bet they were something. And I bet in another 20 years, today's toddlers will find Scream/IKWYDLS, et al, to be tame and passe too, at least compared to what they'll (& I'll) be watching then!

I'm surprised at the number of people half my age who wish they could've been around to see this film when it was brand new!

Looking back, Halloween probably scared me more when it was new, than other horror movies have,when they were new. Horror films are indebted to Halloween for breaking some new ground, and I can't wait for the next horror film that will do something on a similar scale.

Halloween(1978)stars a very young Jamie Lee Curtis, the late Donald Pleasance, and, among others, P.J. Soles(the cap-brat from Carrie). The story centers around the demented/catatonic-schizophrenic Michael Myers and the brutal, cold-blooded murder of his oldest sister in 1963(done by him). Now it is fifteen years later and Michael has escaped the sanitarium and is headed for Haddonfield, Illinois, home of Laurie Strode(Curtis), his sister who was adopted shortly after the 1963 murder. Laurie has no idea about her past and wanders around with her friends, seemingly free of worry, and unaware that her every step is under careful watch from hiding eyes.

In the long run I am at a loss for words. Everything is here. And it's even terrifying...and a slasher movie, what a combination. Slasher movies, to me, usually aren't scary. But Halloween is. Seriously, if you haven't seen it yet you are really missing out. It's a rare achievement in film history and is one of the best horror movies ever made. It's a perfect 10/10 all the way!!!

John Carpenter's Halloween is quite frankly a horror masterpiece. It tells the immortal story of escaped mental patient Michael Myers, who returns to his hometown on Halloween night to stalk and kill a group of babysitters.

This was the first and without doubt the best in the Halloween franchise. Carpenter shows great restraint in pacing the story very slowly and building likable characters; unusual for a horror picture.

Even more unusual is the non-existence of blood and gore, and yet it remains the scariest Halloween to date.

Halloween marked the film debut of Jamie Lee Curtis and a defining point in the late great Donald Pleasence's career. A true classic.

Possibly the most influential of all slasher films, John Carpenter's Halloween is the reason why this particular subgenre of horror even exists in the first place. Although it wasn't the first of its kind, it certainly was the game-changer for almost every other slasher flick that followed this low-budget indie horror only ended up imitating the formula that this classic originated.

Set in Haddonfield, Illinois, the story of Halloween begins on the titular night in 1963 where we witness the 6-years old Michael Myers stabbing his older sister to death with a kitchen knife. The plot then jumps 15 years in the span of which Myers remained silent in a mental hospital he was confined to, only to escape from the facility and returns to his hometown to kill some more.

Co-written & directed by John Carpenter, whose innate ability to churn out quality pictures from mere scraps of filmmaking elements has earned him a place amongst world cinema's most influential filmmakers, Halloween is one of the finest works of his career that presents the director in complete control of his craft, and the way he sets the pace & eerie tone from the beginning is a delight to watch.

Carpenter creates an uncanny mood during the title sequence only which has nothing but a jack-o-lantern on the black screen, accompanied by the now iconic score, and follows it up with an expertly shot prologue which instantly brings the audience into the story. The script is equally impressive for the character of Michael Myers is handled with extreme care, and the writers leave no stone unturned to show him as an unstoppable force of evil.

The technical aspects are skilfully executed, and every dollar of its low budget is efficiently used in service of the story. Setting the plot in a suburban location turns the very openness of the area into a playground of mayhem. Cinematography is inventive for the camera stalks our characters at all times, benefits from some ingenious placements, and is further uplifted by clever lighting while Editing makes sure that the suspenseful ambiance is kept alive from start to finish.

But the biggest contributor, in my opinion, is John Carpenter's minimal, synthesised score for it elevates the tension to a whole different level and greatly amplifies the desired effect of its disquieting camera-work & editing. Whenever its main theme surfaces on the screen, there's an uneasiness felt in those moments & whispers of an ominous presence dominate those sequences. It's one of Carpenter's most notable musical pieces & is a major reason behind this film's success.

Coming to the acting department, Halloween features a budget-friendly cast in Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, P.J. Soles, Nancy Loomis & Nick Castle. The film marks Curtis' acting debut and she does a neat job as Laurie; a high-school student who's continuously stalked by Myers throughout the movie. Pleasence is in as Myers' psychiatrist and the only person who knows what this homicidal maniac is capable of. And Soles & Loomis do a fine job as Laurie's friends who are also pursued by Myers.

But it's the character of Michael Myers and how he's portrayed in this film that establishes him as one of the greatest antagonists in cinema history. Using nothing but a cheap mask that conveys no emotions, keeping him mute throughout the story & giving him an almost mythic strength that renders him invincible, Carpenter presents Myers as a devil incarnate who kills without empathy, and intelligently uses his presence in the film to build a sinister aura, not to mention the very aspects of this character has gone on to inspire many more villains.

On an overall scale, Halloween remains one of the genre-defining films of the 1970s whose narrative structure has been adopted as a blueprint for slasher films ever since and its vast influence on cinema & pop culture cannot be downplayed. There were a couple of moments that bothered me but for the most part, this is a thrilling, entertaining & satisfying ride from Carpenter that is every bit worthy of its legendary status. A lesson in horror filmmaking that downplays the elements of gore & graphic violence to show the lasting effect a consistently maintained tense ambiance can have on the viewers, Halloween is the very definition of a slasher film.

To begin, this is a twenty year old film. Few films remain as suspenseful today as they did when it came out. (see: Night of the Living Dead -- had people running from the theatres when released but is very tame today). Clearly a movie fan brought up on the standards of today's movies will fail to find enjoyment of such 'classic' films. But when watching Halloween today perhaps it helps to consider a few things: Halloween was a low budget film (read: bad acting, poor special effects) made for only $300,000. It was not a product of Hollywood but a bunch of 20 year olds. This was the first film to feature the Boogeyman that Wouldn't Die which has been ripped off time and time again in the Friday the 13th, Elm Street, Scream, etc. You're used to it now, but Halloween did it first. Even Scream ripped off the look of the villian in Halloween. The theme of teenagers being stalked by a madman has been ripped of numerous times as well (again, Halloween did it first) but what seperates Halloween from the imitators is that it plays on traditional fears: The Thing that Wouldn't Die; the Boogeyman coming to get you; being followed and stalked; the boyfriend returning to the room under a bedsheet -- and it's not really him; someone hiding in the car... all things that have made our skin crawl in real life at one time or another. Watching Halloween tonight again for the first time in years I found myself again on the edge of my seat. Classic? Hell, yes. Maybe not to a generation who feels Scream was a 'good' horror movie but a classic none the less.