People in the Movie: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Loomis, PJ Soles, Nick Castle
Director: John Carpenter
Pigeonhole: Horror / Teen Slasher
The Basics: A 6 year old boy named Michael Myers stabs his 15 year old sister to death on Halloween night in 1963. He is committed to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium under the watch of Dr. Sam Loomis (Pleasense) where he seemingly remains in a state of catatonia, until the night of October 30th, 1978, when he escapes. Loomis believes Michael, whom Loomis has diagnosed as simply “pure evil”, is headed to his hometown of Haddonfield , IL
Recommendation: This is one of my all time favorite horror movies, and a true timeless classic. Even if you are not a horror fan, you should still see this. “R” rating is for brief nudity, drug use, and violence (which I would call mild to moderate); there is very little blood or gore. I highly recommend to be viewed in the dark, and in the month of October.
My Take: Halloween is a true indie film produced on a very modest budget, with many of the characters using his/her own clothing, and most props being hand made with cheaply purchased items. The only established actor was Pleasense, and Curtis would be making her film debut. The producers came to Carpenter wanting a horror movie made about babysitters being stalked and killed, and wanted to get an Exorcist-like reaction out of the audience. The scares of Halloween lie in the atmosphere and the simplicity of the movie – the music (mostly piano, which Carpenter played himself), the lighting (perfect mixes of light and shadows), and the simple movements of the killer while he is stalking and preying on the teenagers. It is all believable: the environment being Anytown, USA, the characters are people you can relate to, or possibly know someone “like” them, Laurie and her friends Annie (Loomis) and Lynda (Soles), the borderline obsessed psychiatrist, the somewhat dismissive police, and finally the emotionless murderer, all set to the backdrop of Halloween night.
**spoiler alert** The opening sequence is masterful; the camera takes the audience first person with young Michael as he spies on his sister and her boyfriend making out on the couch, the boyfriend leaving after a quickie upstairs, Michael pulling a carving knife out of the drawer, slipping on a clown mask (the view is actually 2 eye holes as if you are wearing the mask too), up the stairs to her bedroom, and finally stabbing her. What I liked even better was the look on Michael’s face when his parents unmask him outside, about a minute later, knife still in hand – it is not evil or anger or shock we see, it is almost a curious surprise. It is hard for the audience to accept this kid could perform this cold, hard act, especially on a family member.
The whole idea of the escaped mental patient has been done; however, there is something deeper at play in Halloween. In the theatrical release, we never actually lay eyes on Michael. The only information we are given is via Dr. Loomis, who refers to Michael as “evil”, or a close variant, and his only concern is keeping Michael incarcerated. The fact Michael was supposedly in a catatonic state throughout his stay at Smith’s Grove further lends weight to the idea that he is not just a garden-variety psychopath, but something else. I like the suspense that is built, because we never actually see a face to put with the name until the very end of the movie. Interestingly Michael’s masked persona is credited as “The Shape” (Castle).
Through the movie, the slow crescendo of the stalking of Laurie, Annie, and Lynda through Haddonfield, from early at school, to the girls walking home, and then finally through the shadows towards Laurie and Annie at their babysitting jobs, builds great tension. The masked (but seemingly faceless) man slinking in and out of the bushes, and staring at Laurie in her bedroom, then disappearing, was chilling, almost as if he is everywhere and nowhere.
An all-time classic sequence in this film rolls like this: Lynda and her boyfriend Bob have just had intercourse, Bob then ventures downstairs to get beer. Michael emerges from a closest stabbing Bob, suspending him to a door while Michael shifts his head side to side in wonder. Michael proceeds upstairs under a sheet, with Bob’s glasses on the outside then opening the door to the bedroom where Lynda is waiting. The audience, of course, knows this is Michael, and Lynda is about to be killed, but Lynda thinking this is Bob, continues to attempt to play sex games.
The movie climax, and the final confrontation plays out with Laurie injuring Michael multiple times as he is “chasing” her through a house. He continues his attacks eventually strangling Laurie face to face, but this ends with Loomis emptying his gun into Michael, who then staggers and falls off a balcony. The last scene of the movie is Loomis looking over the edge and not seeing Michael’s body where it should be, and Laurie crying as she realizes the killer is still at large.
Final Thought/Extras/For Fun: The now-famous Michael Myers mask was created from a Captain Kirk mask, bought for $1.98… It somehow seems fitting that Jamie Lee was cast as Laurie, being the daughter of Janet Leigh from Hitchcock’s Psycho… Of course many people have commented on the obvious moral factor playing into this movie – the teens killed were sexually active, and consumed alcohol, drugs or both, while the “good girl” Laurie survives (even though Laurie actually took a hit off of a joint with Annie). Carpenter dismisses this idea…
The direct sequels and reboots are: Halloween 2, 4 -The Return of Michael Myers, 5 -The Revenge of MM, 6 -The Curse of MM, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Halloween Resurrection, plus Halloween (Rob Zombie reboot) and Halloween 2 (Zombie). Halloween III : Season of the Witch had nothing to do with the Michael Myers storyline. Halloween III (reboot) is in pre-production, supposedly out next year.
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