Halloween ---- ****1/2 (out of 5) (1978)
Cast: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Loomis, P.J. Soles, Charles Cyphers
Director(s): John Carpenter
Screenwriter(s): Debra Hill, John Carpenter
Released on: October 25, 1978
Reviewed on: December 27, 2003
Rated: R - for violence, frightening moments, and some sexual content
HALLOWEEN continues to be an inspirational horror film to this day by beating out modern-day slasher flicks in the category of scare factor. The horror genre has taken a huge decline all because of directors getting "horror films" confused with "slasher films." I'm sure most of us movie-goers can name countless films that tried to be scary, but turned out to be nothing more than mindlessly violent, teen murder flicks that are widely referred to as "slasher flicks." I don't mean to disappoint any of my readers, but HALLOWEEN is not slasher, by any means (Check out some its sequels if you want slasher). It is one of the original kings of horror and can scare the pants off of any unsuspecting viewer even by today's standards.
The story begins on October 31, 1963. The focal point of our story, a serial killer named Michael Myers, is six years old at this time. He finds his sister, Judith Myers, fooling around with her boyfriend in the Myers household. The twisted side of his young mind takes over, and he dons a clown mask, steals a butcher knife from the kitchen, and brutally stabs his sister to death. He is sent to an insane asylum in Haddonfield, Illinois, and 15 years later, he escapes from the institution on the night of October 30, 1978. His doctor, played by Pleasence, sees him as the epitome of all evil and will go to any lengths to see that Michael is found and taken back in before he has a chance to take the lives of any innocent Haddonfield residents. But the doctor is not quick enough. Michael has already sought out three young high-schoolers as his first targets...
HALLOWEEN delivers everything you'd need to make a movie scary, and there's no doubt about that. From the moment the opening credits start rolling and the eerie tune that HALLOWEEN is famous for begins to play, we the viewers know that we're in for one edgy nail-biter. I haven't seen a score this effective since that of Signs. The film continues to impress from here on out with the perfectly maneuvered camera scope, believable acting, and the nearly unbearable suspense as a result.
In the end, HALLOWEEN had a low body count of only 3, which just goes to show that Carpenter did not set out for his creation, Michael Myers, to go on a killing spree and reveal the graphic innards of everyone he slaughters. He only set out to frighten us to the fullest, and he accomplished just that. The scenes where Laurie Strode, played by a young Jamie Lee Curtis, is stalked by Myers are some of the most chilling moments ever. The scene where Laurie is daydreaming in class and just happens to glance out the window and see Michael staring back at her from across the street with his blank, emotionless white mask on, was thoroughly terrifying. The suspense built up until the final 30 minutes when Michael attacked Laurie and chased her throughout the dark, lonely Myers house. Almost every scene in HALLOWEEN was frighteningly memorable for us poor unfortunate viewers who laid in bed the night after seeing the film and jumped at every thump or creak, thinking that Myers would spring out from the closet at any moment. Give props to Nick Castle for playing a brilliant Michael Myers with his swift, inhuman movements.
But don't forget to award full props to John Carpenter for taking a low budget of $300,000 and using it to his advantage to create HALLOWEEN, a powerful and unforgettable horror masterpiece.
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