Review: Halloween (1978)
Arguably the first mainstream slasher movie, John Carpenter’s Halloween set the stage for an entire subgenre of horror whose influence is still felt today. Having come into it several years after the fact I can’t deny that its impact has been lost over time, but the backbone of the bogeyman killer attacking people for seemingly no reason does keep the film in good standing and still hold up as a solid horror film
The film starts with 8 year old Michael murdering his older sister Judith for no reason other than she’s a shitty babysitter. Flash-forward 15 years to Halloween night 1978 and Michael escapes the institution he was locked in and makes his way back to his home town to wreck havoc while psychiatrist Dr Loomis follows Michael’s footsteps trying to get a head of him. At the same time, local student Laurie Strode and her friends are planning their night of babysitting for the neighbourhood kids while the parents enjoy the spooky season, with no knowledge of the sociopath that’s arrived, the night takes a slow, violent turn into a massacre.
It’s your standard masked killer plot but it’s made better by great direction and a good killer, it’s worth note that the plot takes it’s time, it shows Michael to be more of a planner than an attack, he does attack but he watched from a distance beforehand, getting a feel for his target, finding out when they are vulnerable and taking out any obstacles. By doing so the tension is built up more naturally, even more so by the fact that there’s no real motive for Michael, he returns to his hometown to kill but he has no reason to kill other than that’s all he knows how to do. And that’s still a scary element that a lot of horror movie haven’t managed to replicate yet.
In the main role we have Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis in what I believe is her first film role as Laurie Strode, Laurie is the typical horror protagonist, plain Jane, slightly boring, bookish. But that’s part of what makes her such a great character, she doesn’t start off as Tina Testosterone, she’s a simple babysitter - making her care for the kids even more because she knows them well - in a simple life with simple friends that gets fucked up by the arrival of Big Mike. Curtis makes it so easy to root for Laurie because – especially for the time of the film’s release – everyone knows someone like her, everyone knows the quiet, friendly neighbourhood girl that you can rely on and Curtis’ natural look of terror when being chased by Michael still helps her to stand out, her simplicity is what sells the character.
Her friends are a small group that are easily expendable but we do spend enough time with them so we do care a little when they die, but only a little. There’s Annie the sarcastic one that teases Laurie a lot but is a good friend, there’s Lynda, the typical airhead, amazingly, despite her constant overuse of ‘totally’ I never hated Lynda. I suspect her perkiness had a lot to do with that. And then there’s her boyfriend Bob who just serves to be slightly creepy and become one of Mike’s best kills. His Mona Lisa.
Dr Loomis is a suitable opponent for Mike, he’s the yin to his yang, the opposite of the monster Loomis knows exactly how dangerous Michael is and wants people to be careful, to know the danger they may face against him. Donald Pleasance brought a lot of gravitas to the role to keep the film very serious, not that Loomis was above some light-heartedness – as shown when he scares the kids away from Michael’s old house – but he was the only one fully aware of what awaited them if they didn’t catch Michael in time and did all he could to save the town.
And well we’ve said his name enough times, Michael Myers, the infamous masked killer. Credited only as ‘The Shape’ in this flick, Michael displays typical movie serial killer traits, mask, no talking, large strength, likes killing, but whereas people like Freddy or Jason are supernatural creatures, Michael is a man, a simple man but still a human man which means when he survives the attacks against him it’s all the scarier. It’s those little flashes of humanity underneath the expressionless mask that really get under you, the way he studies Bob after pinning him to the wall, his curiosity when hearing Laurie’s voice on the phone. Moments to remind you of the Scooby Doo reality, that the real monsters are the humans and humans can be terrifying when they need to be.
Now John Carpenter is a master when it comes to horror, and this is one of his best. Everything works perfectly, from the opening one take P.O.V. shot of Michael going inside the house, finding his sister and killing her, to the creeping around, stalking his prey - in the daytime no less. For the first hour of the film we’re shown Michael being just that, a creep, he doesn’t even kill save for convenience, these being a man for clothes and a dog to shut up.
The last half hour is when Michael starts killing and he does a great job at it, being a true predator, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and always doing it by surprise to catch his victims off-guard. He jumps from behind you in the car, he jumps from out of closets, he even stands directly in front of you wearing a sheet and he’s still able to sneak up on you, the dude is a killing machine and Carpenter shows this immensely. Carpenter rarely relies on jump scares and uses only a couple to remind the audience that danger could be anywhere, he gets to arguably his best during the ending which is perfect for this type of film, Michael is shot and thrown out a window but his body disappears, he’s still out there, it works because it doesn’t ask for a sequel but leaves it open for one - which we’ll get to later.
Even the music - Carpenter’s own - hints at Michael’s evilness, using the same technique Friday The 13th would in a couple of years it had the score of the film pop up whenever Michael appeared on screen so we would immediately associate the song with Michael. And it’s a score that’s simple but works amazingly, it’s only a couple of piano notes and maybe one or two other instruments in the background but it’s creepy, it’s moody and it’s great.
I still consider Halloween to be a great slasher movie, partly because it’s not a slasher film, at least not in the way you’d consider Freddy or Jason movies to be, there’s no cheesiness, no overt gore, it’s just simply a disturbed man killing teenagers and us watching them realise how terrible their situation has become. Over the decades the rip-offs and copy-cats and parodies have sullied the experience, but there’s no denying the film still has an effect, be it Michael’s soulless killer, Laurie’s recognisable terror or Carpenter’s simplistic but powerful direction that uses a less is more approach and comes out swinging.
8.5/10