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Halloween (1978) Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence by Richard Leigh 
'Halloween' is without a doubt one of my favourite horror films of all time. Every year either the original or one of the films many sequels is shown on TV to mark the occasion of Halloween, an event that I enjoy greatly. I have all of the Halloween series on DVD, but it is this original 1978 tale that is my favourite of them all. So without further ado, here is my review of the horror classic that is John Carpenter's 'Halloween'.
Haddonfield is a typical quiet suburban American town situated in the state of Illinois where as a general rule not much really happens. That is until one cold Halloween night in 1963 when Michael Myers, a six year old Haddonfield resident picks up a kitchen knife before proceeding to go upstairs and brutally murder his older sister of 17. Coming home from a night out, Michael's parents then find him standing outside with the knife still in his hand and a clown mask covering his face looking ever the guilty culprit. As a result of Michael's actions, he is sentenced to Smith's Grove Warren County Sanitarium where he remains for 15 years under the watchful eye of Dr. Loomis. On the 30th of October 1978 however, a now 21 year old Michael Myers manages to escape while being transferred for a court appearance. Dr. Loomis knows of the evil which Michael possesses and as soon as he learns of Michael's escape is quick to get looking for him. Where will Michael go though? Dr. Loomis sure has a good idea of this and swiftly heads in the direction he believes Michael Myers to be heading. As I have already stated - John Carpenter's 'Halloween' is one of my favourite horror films of all time, and while there have been countless carbon copies of the film since its 1978 release, in my opinion, 'Halloween' remains to be the best of them all. This film saw the emergence of the teen slasher genre, conventions of which would go on to be used in latter years and do in fact continue to be used right to this day. If you're familiar with the 'Scream' films of the 90s and are also a fan of 'Halloween', then you'll have noticed the countless nods towards 'Halloween' that are given in 'Scream' such as the 'I'll be right back' line and the making of popcorn associated with the first notable death. It is a testament to the greatness of 'Halloween' that it gets referenced in 'Scream' I feel as 'Scream' in itself is a good slasher film, so to reference it is really a nod towards just how influential a film John Carpenter's 'Halloween' really is. The opening sequence of 'Halloween' is probably my favourite in a horror film ever as we are given a point of view (POV) shot of the young Michael Myers (Tony Moran) as he stands outside the window spying on his sister and her boyfriend, before moving into the house and seeing her boyfriend leave at which point he picks up a knife from the kitchen drawer and proceeds to make his way up the stairs, picking up a mask that his sisters boyfriend has dropped on his way, concealing his face with it before moving on through the house to stab his sister repeatedly with the knife. I think that this is a really moving sequence where the music works exceptionally well to gradually build up the tension in this scene which when coupled with the POV shot really makes the film stand out from its peers right from the offset. We really feel like we are in the mind of Michael Myers at the beginning of the film and this works well as although we do not want him to do what he is about to do, we can't help but see things from his point of view and watch on helplessly as he commits this callous act. When I first saw 'Halloween' I was completely mesmerised by the way in which this opening sequence has been captured and to this day, I still love to watch the opening sequence and watch the 'pure evil' one commit his first murder of the film. While a lot of films take a while to get going, 'Halloween' gets right in the action straight away and I think that it is this quality that I love about the film. Having been given our first sight of murder early on as a viewer, we have to wait a surprisingly long time until our second victim is taken. Despite the fact that this is the case, between the first and second killings I feel that the film by no means gets boring. The storyline alone here is enough to keep us captivated and with the knowledge that at some stage Michael will make his move and take his next victim we are kept interested and watch on with an eager eye to find out who will be next to face Michael's wrath. There are a number of moments where we see Michael and wonder if he is about to kill, however we are left to keep guessing which makes the film all the better as when he does finally pop up and kill, it is unexpected and provides us with one of the films many jumpy moments where you will feel yourself physically leave the seat no matter how many times you have watched the film through. In this film we are given the virgin/whore dichotomy - that interesting concept where our innocent, virginal characters always seem to fair better than their more sexually promiscuous counterparts. While Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) remains with us for the duration of the film, her friends Annie (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda (P.J. Soles) do not fair so well at the murderous hands of Michael Myers. The idea of the virgin/whore dichotomy is another of the conventions that 'Scream' would later dwell upon and is an interesting one as over the years we have learnt that more often than not this is to be the case, meaning that in the current age of horror cinema, conventions often need to be subverted in order for films to remain shocking. If you're familiar with late 70s / early 80s horror flicks then you'll be aware of the soundtracks which often make the films so eerie. If you cover your ears then you will often find that the films aren't at all scary, however the low budget synthy sounds definitely add to the horror in films of this sort and 'Halloween' is no exception to the rule. Alongside this I think it's the grainy feel that draws me to films like 'Halloween' - slasher films with high production values just don't tend to work with me, low budget spooky sound effects and low production values by today's high standards are what make films such as 'Halloween' just so watch able. Although some would probably argue that in this day and age, films like 'Halloween' just don't scare any more, I would tend to argue that they are just as scary now as they were 30 years ago and this is a result of the great sound the films had back then which create the build up of tension perfectly in order to shock you with a scare when you're least expecting it. Lighting can be extremely important sometimes with films in order to create the right sort of feel and I think that a good job was definitely done with 'Halloween' in terms of lighting. If you look you will see a lot of blue back light which works really well in order to give the film a truly spooky feel about it. I'm not sure what it is about blue back light, however when it is used it tends to go hand in hand with an ultimately eerie feel and I believe that this is exactly what we are provided with in 'Halloween'. There are some great performances put in by the cast members here - most notably from our main protagonist Jamie Lee Curtis who plays her role as a nervous teenager well, probably because this is exactly what she was at the time with her being in her first major role. Others that play their parts well are the now deceased Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis, and I feel Brian Andrews as Tommy Doyle. Despite his young age at the time of filming, Brian Andrews really plays his part well and definitely provides the film with one of its stand out performances. With all of these three playing their parts well, 'Halloween' was never going to be anything but a success really despite the fact it took a mere 20 days to be made on a budget of $300 000. I think that for the time it took them and on the budget that they were given, 'Halloween' is a complete masterpiece as even if they had longer to come up with the film, I doubt they would have improved upon just how great a horror film 'Halloween' really is. Although he has no lines whatsoever in this film, for me Tony Moran as Michael Myers puts in a great performance also and is another stand out due to his sheer presence. For a slasher film to work, the killer has to be believable, and playing a complete psychopath who has not spoken for 15 years, you really do have to put in a stunning performance in order not to come across as a complete fraud. Tony Moran has a great walk about him as Michael Myers and an ice cold presence which is of course helped by his featureless mask. I feel that Tony Moran was chosen wisely to play Michael Myers as he is great in his role, and what with the great mask selection - an amazing job has been done in making Michael as believable as possible as a killer. 'Halloween' will have you screaming at the screen for Jamie Lee Curtis to run for her life when Michael Myers is behind her however scream all you want as she just wont hear you. Her stupidity here will frustrate you, however at the end of the day the frustration is all just a part of the fun. If 'Halloween' didn't involve Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie making a number of foolish decisions, then the film just wouldn't be half the fun that it is and 'Halloween' wouldn't be the complete package of a slasher film that it boasts to be. You will find that horror films are often based around a common fear in society, and you wont find much greater a fear than that of death that's for sure. With Michael emerging from such a mundane, suburban town - this film presents the reality that this could in fact happen anywhere, it's not an isolated case to Haddonfield as there is nothing out of the ordinary about this particular town. This adds to the fear factor, as while watching the film we can live out our personal fears of something like this happening in our own town, a much better solution than finding out for ourselves what this would be like. Michael Myers is based around the premise of the boogey man, a common childhood mythical fear giving the film an underlying innocence despite Michael's murderous path. The inclusion of Jamie Lee Curtis in this film I feel was a good choice as with her mother Janet Leigh having appeared in 'Psycho', it would seem that she was somewhat of an obvious choice for a film in which the Doctor's name 'Sam Loomis' was lifted from Janet Leigh's character Marion Crane's boyfriend in the film. It's interesting how the pieces fit together here and almost seems like fate that it would be Jamie Lee Curtis who would land the role in the film, someone who from interviews I have found is by no means a Horror fan. 'Halloween' is classic horror at its finest and if you've not seen it by now then I strongly suggest that you check it out tonight, or failing that rent it out at the earliest opportunity possible as I'm sure that you will not be disappointed with what you find here. 'Halloween' really is a fine slasher film that John Carpenter has done an amazing job with as some 30 years after release, the film still remains to be as popular as ever and is still regularly being shown on terrestrial TV which is more than can be said about a lot of horror films, let alone ones of this sort of age. If asked to list top 10 favourite horror films of all time, I think that 'Halloween' would make the list of most who have seen it - it really is an amazing film.  Rating: 5 out of 5 Details about the film: |
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