10/10
The year was 1978, and horror movies before hadn't yet broken in to the mold that was yet to come. In the decades before, there were movies like "Night Of The Living Dead," and "Psycho" that had struck a chord with audiences, but both of these movies had more of an offscreen suspense factor to them. In 1972, "Last House on the Left" came out, and it was one of the first true slasher films. In 1974, the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" came out, and this film took slashers to an even further level. But neither of these movies truly brought out true terror, and graphic killings in the way that "Halloween" did in 1978. This movie was the true forerunner for all slasher flicks after. Every film of the 80's has to give some credit to this movie. It was the first film to really innovate the formula of a psychopath murdering troublesome teens, and having one survive. Writers John Carpenter and Debra Hill were acclaimed like never before for this story. Carpenter's direction and score were also some of the greatest ever in a horror movie, because he did something truly different. To this day, Halloween has become one of the most acclaimed horror movies ever. It boasts a whopping 94% positive in Rotten Tomatoes. This is insane for a film of its genre, because critics usually pick on horror movies, especially ones that fall under the slasher subgenre. While I can't call it my favorite slasher flick ever, I definitely see it as one of the best, and it's legacy and influence on films to come can never be denied.
As the film begins, young Michael Myers is seen murdering his big sister in her bedroom after she makes love to her boyfriend. The film then implies that he is locked up in a psychological ward for his insanity. The film goes quite a bit to the future, where it is found out that Michael had just escaped the ward, and his doctor(Donald Pleasance) is on a search for him. The viewer then meets Laurie Strode(Jamie Lee Curtis), a high school girl that is very smart and shy. Laurie becomes paranoid as she is followed by a mysterious car. Her friends decide to hang out on Halloween, but Laurie has to babysit. The movie then goes into a huge slaughter as teenagers are killed by Michael. Laurie had to take care of the children, and attempt to save her life at the same time.
Being this was one of the first slasher films, it is definitely not as outrageous as some of the later films. The movie is still quite tame in the violence, aside from a couple semi-graphic killings. This does not take away from the terror that takes place in the film. Like I said in a past review, I don't get scared of these movies, because I just find them fun, but I know people that do get scared, and this is a film that will shake you if you're faint at the heart for horror. The opening scene is absolutely brilliant in the way the killing of Michael's sister takes place. You see a short child walking, but you don't see full vision; you see the surrounding through the tunnel vision of Michael walking. As you look through these eyes, you see the knife plunge in, and it makes the scene extremely tense, as you see the killing take place right through those small holes on the screen. This was a totally genius move in the direction, because it really gave so much more of a horrifying view; rather than if you actually saw Michael standing there to kill her. Little things in this movie are what really struck me, and are reasons why this movie will hold up forever and ever. This movie didn't overdose on gore like films in later years did, but it knew the exact buttons to push to ensure that audience got some real scares in. Michael is also not the most creative killer in slasher films. He sticks more to strangling and stabbing with a knife. While other villains like Freddy Krueger and Jason Vorhees went much more over the top, I think that the killings by Michael work, because they really just show him as a much more suspenseful character, and that his small killings are just as scary, if not more than the big killings of the others.
Another great thing about this film is the score. The theme in the intro is so fantastic, because it is such a chilling piece of music, and it is used very well throughout the movie. The score is just very dark, and almost repetitive, but I take the music as almost like a signal of something bad happening. It almost reminds me of "Jaws" in a sense, because of the way that whenever Laurie sees her stalker, the music starts up. A lot of the score ends up just being sounds though, and this works really well, because you get to witness jump scenes that get amped up even more by these random outbursts. Being John Carpenter also scored the film, you can really see that he was the creative genius behind its success.
The cast of this film works very well. I was extremely impressed by Jamie Lee Curtis' performance, because she was quiet, and shy, yet still very likable. I think that John Carpenter made her this way to help teens be able to relate to her character. A lot of the others in the film are loud, drug using and shallow teens, but she gives off more of the feeling of being a good girl, and one that tries to take her life in strides to be good for herself. I really like Donald Pleasance's performance in the film. You see that he has a darkness of his own, and he has a very bitter nature to himself. You can really tell that his job has taken a toll on him, and that he wants to just things with Michael over with. I really enjoyed Nick Castle in his role of Michael Myers in this film. He really did a great job of being subtle, and extremely creepy. The way that his character moves around and stuff is awesome, because he is very threatening to the characters, and he is seen as very intense and strong. I think the mask of Michael in this film is significant to the character, because the mask shows no expression at all, and I feel that this is how Michael really is. I feel that his insanity has almost taken away his soul. He seems to kill with no regret at all. You see this when he was a child especially, because even after his actions, he walks over to his parents like nothing happened at all. The supporting cast does a great job too. While their acting talents don't add up to the others, I see this as a good thing. The teenagers in this film are really fake people. They don't have much moral good, and the fact that their performance comes across as a little forced at times works very well. This way, you can see that the characters themselves try to forever themselves as something they really aren't, which is exactly what they were doing.
There are a few weaknesses in this film. The first one, in my opinion is the way the story goes back and forth from the doctor to Laurie. While I like the character of Doctor Loomis a lot, I feel that the switching through stories kind of throws off the flow of the film, and makes the movie feel like a mystery TV show. The last weakness in my opinion is that the film ends very quickly. It is almost too quick to the point where you feel unsatisfied. While they were most likely planning on a sequel already, I feel they should've at least put a little bit more substance in to the ending, and not made it so sudden. I think the scenes that take place in the outro are absolutely fantastic, high in energy, and iconic, but I just wish there was something more.
If you look at movies now and then you look back at a classic like this, you see how much more effort was put into this. Most people think of a slasher film and just think that it's pointless and violent, but if you really watch them and dig deep, you can find more. I see this movie as one that can be analyzed greatly, and it is one of the best horror movies ever. If you really want to sit back and watch a great movie, definitely pick this one up. It's definitely a great starter horror movie, because it's not as gory as some others, and it's truly innovative enough to make you want to dig deeper into the genre.
References
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1009113-halloween/
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