THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Slashers are an iconic backbone to the horror genre, making the serial killer antagonist the lead character from their debut to the ongoing sequels. There have been countless films of the sub genre and I don’t think anyone could do ever do it better after director John Carpenter introduced us to Michael Myers in 1978’s Halloween.
PLOT
The film takes place in Haddonfield, Illinois. It opens up in 1963 of the titular holiday, showing Michael murdering his sister Judith (Sandy Johnson) when he was a child. Because of his age, he would be admitted to Smith's Grove Sanitarium. 15 years later in the film‘s present, he is scheduled to head to a hearing, that would determine the future of his incarceration. The night before he is supposed to go, he breaks out and steals a car from a nurse. This worries and infuriates his psychiatrist Samuel Loomis because he warned the institution many times that there should have been maximum security to prevent this from happening. As returns to his hometown, he doesn't hesitate plaguing it: He kills a truck driver and takes his clothing, breaks into a hardware store to steal a pale white mask, ropes and knives. When briefly hiding in his childhood home, he would stalk three teenage girls: Laurie Strode, Annie Brackett (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda Van Der Klok (PJ Soles). Laurie and Annie are planning to babysit children named Tommy Doyle (Brian Andrews) and Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards) at night, whereas Lynda plans to have sex with her boyfriend Bob (John Michael Graham) when the parents go out of town. As Loomis heads his way to Haddonfield, he finds a set of cigarette matches similar to the one that was in the car Michael stole, which confirms that he is heading home. He heads to the local cemetery to visit Judith's grave, it is further proven that he is close when discovering that her tombstone has been taken. Loomis does met Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers), father of Annie, and shares his worry that Michael could kill people tonight. They search the Myers house and only find a dead dog, implying that the killer must've ate it when he was hungry. During this search, Loomis shares with the sheriff that during his time studying him, he only got one result that Michael has nothing but 'pure evil' inside him. He plans to stay near the house and wait until he comes back. However, he gets moving again when he finds the stolen car which means he is not that far. Annie convinces Laurie to watch Lindsey as well, planning to have sex with her boyfriend Paul. Before she could take off in her car to pick him up, Michael (who snuck in) kills her by strangling her neck and slitting her throat with a knife. Lynda and Bob arrive at the Wallace's house and move forward with their plan to have sex when they heard from Laurie what Annie was up to. Afterwards, Bob gets impaled by Michael onto the wall, when planning to get Lynda a beer from the fridge. Michael would then disguise himself as Bob pretending to be a ghost, before strangling Lynda as she was calling Laurie. The latter goes over to the Wallace's house to check on them, just as the kids are sound asleep. She only finds the bodies of her dead friends and the tombstone of Judith, leaving her in complete shock. Michael appears behind her and when he cuts her arm, she falls into the stairs. She does get back up however and returns to the Doyle's house to take cover. She does try to call the police, but the phone line is dead. Her attacker breaks in, but she defends herself by stabbing him in the neck with a knitting needle. He would only get back up and follow her to the master bedroom. She hides in the closet and as he breaks through, she stabs his eye with a wired hangar and stabs his chest with his knife. Just as he drops, she tells the kids to run to another neighbor's house and have them call the police as she waits. Just as they leave, he gets back up again and attempts to strangle her too. Luckily, Loomis passes by and notices the kids screaming to the other house. When he enters the Doyle's house, he saves Laurie by shooting Michael six times which causes him to fall off the balcony. Just as he looks away from his body, the film ends in a shocking cliffhanger revealing the killer to escape by the time Loomis looks down again.
THOUGHTS
This has been I have been watching every October since 2006 and with each viewing, my opinion remains the same that this is one hell of a film. Carpenter and co writer Debra Hill succeed in crafting the scariest of horror films I've seen. It remains so because we're in this atmosphere where it all feels real. We know that there have been neighborhoods that suffered the presence of serial killers, and the fact that we get a perspective of that makes the film all the more terrifying. Carpenter's fantastic score puts us in this mood, constantly reminding us that the night won't end well. And Dean Cundey's cinematography successfully creates a claustrophobic feeling where you cannot escape from what's coming. The true reason that we are all here talking about this movie is because one character keeps us coming back is the unexpected star that is Michael Myers. He forever remains iconic to this day because he is unpredictable. When you don' know someone's goals, it makes the person even more scarier. At first, a young Will Sandin depicted him to be a confused young boy, Nick Castle is able to represent him as one who has grown to have no soul left to be justified. He proves how deadly silence can be as the character hasn't spoke in 15 years and continues not to during his reign of terror. He is credited as 'The Shape' because it defines how he can hide in the dark to stalk the prey. What scared me the most about him is how he is unstoppable. Every time he rises up after taking a fatal blow, my anxiety does as well. When he disappeared after the balcony fall, I feared he would be lurking in my neighborhood. Putting that in thought, he really does qualify as a boogeyman. Since this movie gave us an iconic antagonist, there obviously has to be protagonists as well. Donald Pleasance is electric as Dr. Loomis. He is truly an unsung hero because no one listens to his warnings of his patient, resulting in his escape. He knows how dangerous he is and must be goal minded to protect others from his wrath. He may have been too late to save many lives, but at least he saved one in particular. Breakout Jamie Lee Curtis is without a doubt incredible as Laurie Strode. Although she qualifies as a scream queen, she will be truly remembered as the original 'final girl'. She starts off relatable as an introvert teen, only to become an aspiring figure when she becomes brave as she defends herself against Michael. Of course she is scared, but she doesn't let that slow her down. Seeing her go from victim to survivor is just an incredible transformation to witness. Since we spend a lot of time on her during this film, this would begin our growth to care for her so much, that we want her to make it. Many people have had home invaders and ever since we saw Laurie, she inspires them and many more to take a stand. While I will never stop enjoying this movie, that does not mean I haven't noticed some flaws during multiple re watches. First off, what happened to the potential home buyers who wanted to buy the Myers house? Michael does take residence there for a while and even eats a dog at some point, so what was the time frame of him leaving in time to stalk the girls before being spotted by the home buyers?I know the mystery is the best part about this movie, but it didn't have to go that far with it. Also, 15 years go by and no one decided to clean it up if they planned to sell it? Had they done it immediately after the Myers family move out, there probably would've been an immediate buyer. It is a creepy moment when Michael briefly stalks Tommy at school, but why does he anyway? His only targets are teenage girls, so does he have a connection with him where he sees himself in him? That would be cool to explore, but they sadly don't. And when did he cut the phone line within the time he killed Annie, Lynda and Bob? Was it after he killed Annie or after Bob? I'd enjoy the suspense more if I knew his time frame. It is cool where Loomis figures out Michael is close when noticing the cigarette matches that were once in the nurse's car, but why didn't he look any further? Had he found the bodies, then he would've called the cops and more people would be on his side to pursue the killer. If we're talking about continuity errors, what bothered me a lot was how the school sign says 'Tickets for Sale', but doesn't finish the sentence. Yes it does imply a dance is coming soon, but it wouldn't hurt adding 'Winter Formal'. Also, Annie takes all of her clothes when the spill only hit her pants. Either she is overreacting or that was a bad take. And to top that off, I can't be the only one confused of how kids started trick or treating in the afternoon. If it is because of Judith's death, that should've been explained too, like when Tommy tells Laurie that the house is haunted. Speaking of Laurie, why doesn't she call the cops and report the man stalking her? If that had happened, Michael would be cornered and would have a harder time completing his task. And aside from ignoring Tommy spotting him at night, the fact that she is the only one to have seen him all day insane. I don't want to come off like a jerk, but why would Tommy hide his comics under a living room couch? That's something you should hide in a bedroom, because there is no way your parents don't vacuum that area once in a while. Lastly, the weirdest thing Annie does is go to her car without the keys. Yes she goes straight to open it because she thinks it's open, but she should know you'll need the keys to turn that thing on. I know this helps build suspense for her death, but she could've forgotten anything else that would be more realistic than keys. However, I still think you can enjoy this movie for what it is once you ignore all said flaws. In conclusion, 1978's Halloween is a fascinating horror film for putting us in a presence of pure horror. If you love slashers and somehow haven't seen this movie, do it now.
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