Review #30: Halloween (1978)

Cast/Notable Credits:
John Carpenter (Director): The Fog (1980), The Thing (1982), Christine, J.C.'s Vampires, Ghosts of Mars (2001)

Donald Pleasence (Dr. Loomis): Halloween 2, Halloween 4, Halloween 5 and Halloween 6

Jamie Lee Curtis (Laurie Strode): Halloween 2

Charles Cyphers (Sheriff Brackett): Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog, Escape from New York, Death Wish 2 (1982), Major League (1989)

Nancy Loomis (Annie): Halloween 3, Assault of Precinct 13

P.J. Soles (Lynda): Carrie (1976), Stripes (1981), Devil’s Rejects (2005)

Kyle Richards (Lindsey): Eaten Alive (1977), National Lampoon’s Pledge This! (2006)

Tony Moran (Michael Myers): Halloween 2

Will Sandin (Young Michael Myers)

Trailer:


The night HE came home!

Plot:

In Haddonfield, Illinois, a disturbed little boy named Michael Myers, stabs and murders his older sister Judith Myers on Halloween night in 1963. Michael is placed in a mental hospital named Smith's Grove Mental Institute and receives psychiatric treatment over the next 15 years by a psychiatrist named Dr. Loomis.

Fifteen years later, on the eve of Halloween, Michael finally escapes and returns to his hometown Haddonfield. Pursuing Michael is Dr. Loomis. Dr. Loomis is desperate to find Michael because he believes that he is pure evil and something bad will happen if he isn't caught. Loomis also believes that Mikey is going to return to his hometown, but no one else would believe him.

Once in Haddonfield, Michael begins to follow and stalk a high school teenager named, Laurie Strode. Mikey follows and watches her from a distance, hiding behind trees and bushes along the way.

On Halloween night...the anniversary of his older sister’s death...Laurie is babysitting a little boy named Tommy Doyle. Laurie’s friend Annie is babysitting a girl named Lindsey in the house across the street. Annie convinces her to watch Lindsey so her friends can come over and party...drink...have sex.

Laurie agrees to watch the Lindsey so her friends can have fun. Laurie takes Lindsey across the street and watches the two kids at Tommy's house as Annie awaits for her friends to come over.

Mikey picks off Laurie’s friends one by one. As Laurie baby sits across the street. Eventually Laurie becomes curious about her friends after time passes and decides to venture across the street to see what's going on. Laurie finds her friends slaughtered around the house. Laurie encounters Michael and the fight for her life begins!

Villain:

Halloween marks the birth of the boogeyman...Michael Aubrey Myers...or also known as "The Shape". Mikey is a creepy, psychotic kid who grows up and escapes a mental hospital only to return to his hometown to kill people. He's a silent killer that lurks in the shadows waiting for his moment to strike. He's got black eyes...the devil's eyes and has no reason, conscious or understanding in the meaning of life or death.

Mikey hides behind a mask which is an altered spray painted Captain Kirk mask (William Shatner). Mikey's favorite weapon is a big kitchen knife which he uses to unleash hell on his prey. Halloween is the film that writes his name into the history books of iconic horror film villains. Michael is also one of very few killers that knows how to drive a vehicle.

Cast:

Along with the birth of the boogeyman, the film marks the birth of the first “Scream Queen”...Jamie Lee Curtis. Jamie does a great job in the film. Jamie plays the teenage character of Laurie Strode. Laurie's character is the horror industry's prototypical innocent, virgin girl who has a pure heart. She's the typical babysitter who gets caught up in something more than decorating Jack-o-laterns with kids.

Curtis is fabulous at being a damsel in distress as she puts on a Grade A performance as a terrified teen fighting for her life from a psychopath killer. Her performance in Halloween launches a successful movie career which early on involves a lot of horror movies.

In Halloween, Donald Pleasence is the man that creates the legendary character of Dr. Loomis. Dr. Loomis is Mikey's psychiatrist who spent 8 years trying to understand him and another 7 years trying to keep him locked up. Loomis understands that Mikey is no longer reachable and is evil.

I call Dr. Loomis...Dr. Doom N' Gloom. Loomis expresses his feelings about Michael in the way that he is the absolute anti-Christ...something other than human. Loomis believes that he's the only one who could stop Mikey...at least until the end.

The Dr. Loomis character will go on and be the secondary staple in the Halloween franchise as he survives life and death situations in the numerous sequels to come.

Laurie's two friends of Annie (Nancy Loomis...no relation to Dr. Loomis...I think) and Lynda (P.J. Soles) are very annoying and unlikable, but overly sex-charged. Hint: sex equals death in these films.

Annie is the worst of the two as her performance/character is lifeless. I just couldn't get a real good vibe that she was an average teenager. Lynda...well I just like the "juggular shots" she provided in the film.

SFX/Gore:

Halloween provided five deaths in the film while doing it in good taste...not overly gory...the use of blood is pretty rare. I think that this proves that blood, blood, blood, does not necessarily add up to make great horror movies. Sometimes it's better to leave it up to the viewer’s mind to imagine the gore rather than see it.

The low use of blood may also be explained by the film being really low-budget...I guess they couldn’t afford the effects for blood. Or maybe that's how Carpenter intended the film to be.

TNA:

Halloween has four hot chicks (Shark Factor) as the focal point of the TNA category. Besides the eye candy, Halloween gives the male audience two sets of boobies, and a sex act. Hell Yeah! The best rack is courtesy of P.J. Soles who has the best line to show off her rack:

"See anything you like?"

Now depending on what version of Halloween you sit down and see, this scene will vary. There's an Unrated NBC-made for television cut which has additional footage to make up for cuts...and you don't see P.J.'s "gifts" at all, they were partially seen on the DVD version of that cut. The widescreen version of the flick doesn't show the whole "lovelyness" either. But the full screen shows them the best.

T.Gun's Take:

Halloween is credited as the first "slasher" flick. It's the film to start all horror films. Plot is an original plot (at least back then it was), and has been copycatted many, many times since...or some variation to it. It's a simple formula of a psycho preys upon a lonely teenager and along the way her friends die.

Halloween has the classic formula (Villain vs. Heroine w/ advice from Old Wiseman) in which many horror films will use to “rip off” of. The formulic characters end up being the legendary characters of Michael Myers, Laurie Strode, and Dr. Loomis. Not bad for a film with no budget.

The setting and atmosphere of Halloween is great. The film uses a popular holiday associated with spooky and scary things and then incorporates that into a horror film. The season of fall is symbolic in many ways with death itself.

The director, John Carpenter wrote his own musical score for the film. Wow. That's awesome! The musical score for Halloween is such a CLASSIC jingle. The score will go on to be featured in many Halloween sequels to come.

Halloween is one of the best slasher flicks of all time! Many people will consider it as "THE BEST", but I don't because I'm partial to another franchise. If you've lived underneath a rock and have never seen it...then check it out!

Misc. Movie Trivia:
- Halloween released October 25, 1978 and made $47 million at the Box Office...on a budget of $325K
- Jamie Lee Curtis first featured film
- The Halloween mask is based on an altered Halloween William Shatner mask (Cpt. Kirk!)
- Cast used their own wardrobe due to no budget on the film
- No major studio wanted to pick up the film, so it was released independently
- There are multiple versions of Halloween; the theatrical and a NBC T.V. version