October 1st - Horror Feature: Halloween (1978)

               

I was rather indecisive for a few days about when I would talk about Halloween. On one hand I figured it would be appropriate to wrap up the month with it on the titular day, but on the other hand I couldn't wait to talk about it. I would also hate for anyone who had not seen it run out of time to watch. Who wants to watch a movie called "Halloween" on November 1st? (I did once...because).

This entire month will not have a particular order save for this film. This is my favourite. This one is the best. Whatever I feel like talking about gets bumped to the top of the list from this point forward. So here goes.

Halloween is a low-budget independent horror film released in 1978 and was written and directed by the legendary John Carpenter. That's the guy who also brought us The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China and so much more. Carpenter and Debra Hill's screenplay begins on Halloween 1963 with a six-year-old Michael Myers who stabs his sister to death. Michael is admitted to a psychiatric hospital for fifteen years but he escapes in 1978 and makes his way home to Haddonfield, Illinois. He stalks Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her babysitter friends, all while being pursued by Dr. Sam Loomis. I'd hate to spoil any of the film for you, but I think it's safe to say that some people get killed and Michael Myers is to blame.

So, why Halloween? Why do I love this movie more than any other horror or slasher film in the history of cinema?

Many late 1970s and 1980s slasher movies took inspiration from Hitchcock's Psycho. Suspense and waiting for the killer you know is there has been a staple of the genre ever since its inception. But the films that poured out in 1980 and 1981 developed a predictable formula. Many audiences like these tropes, and I admit that I look for them in a good slasher, but there is an air of integrity in John Carpenter's unsettlingly still frames in contrast with his killer-POV, reflection of 1970s American immorality and minimal gore (akin to Psycho). Halloween made me forget about Psycho. It set the bar higher and made it nearly impossible for other films to overcome such standards. It's hard for any other slasher to use the halloween setting without coming up short in comparison. (Yes, slasher movies picking holidays and events is a thing, and Halloween wasn't the first).

Nick Castle as Michael Myers (The Shape) in Halloween (1978)

Michael Myers was the first of many unstoppable killers, treading slow and heavy, and taking a considerable amount of damage. The iconic mask, a human face (it's actually William Shatner's, you know!) painted white, made it just inhuman enough to distance Michael from the audience. Michael observes his kills, watching the victims squirm and fade. This is more effective than quick cuts of blood and gore. Rather than being overly animated in his actions, the procedural calmness than defines Michael Myers maintains the low tones of dread that makes a good killer. He truly was "The Shape" as he was referred to in the script and conception of the character.

Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978)

Jamie Lee Curtis is stellar as Laurie Strode, making her film debut and beginning her career as the ultimate Scream Queen (side note: you should watch the new Ryan Murphy show Scream Queens starring Emma Roberts and Jamie Lee Curtis, it's hilarious). She would star in a number of slasher movies in the years following Halloween's release, but nothing really matched the power of her performance in the face of Michael Myers. This has less to do with her and a whole lot more to do with the writing and directing of the films that wished they were Halloween. Laurie Strode's character is relatable and the audience can accept being placed in her shoes to watch the climax of the film unfold. She is the definition of "Final Girl": innocent, kind, moral, smart and she can scream.

One of the most important elements of Halloween is the atmosphere established by the simple and eerie score composed and performed by John Carpenter himself. To me, Halloween's piano theme is the slasher equivalent to John Williams' Jaws score. It has a no-nonsense attitude and a creeping tone much like the killer. Maybe it's not as well known as Jaws, but it serves the same purpose. Many slashers adopted the synthesized keys in the following years, but none have reached the level of iconic sound that Halloween's score has.

Watch Halloween this month. It's the perfect time of year. Maybe catch it on TV or find it elsewhere. If you're going to watch only one of the movies I recommend this month, make it this one. And don't mistake it for the 2007 Rob Zombie reboot. It's bad. (To his credit, Carpenter did tell him to make it his own film).

Honourable Mention: You should also give Halloween II a watch after seeing John Carpenter's original. He didn't direct it, but Rick Rosenthal does an okay job picking up where we left off in the first with some writing help from the original helmer. The sequel released in 1981 amidst a heavy bill of slashers and it is clear that in the three years that passed the franchise took a more frantic slasher turn away from the methodical and intelligent storytelling of Carpenter's original film. Nevertheless, Halloween II is the second best film in the series. There's also quite a story behind the franchise. Halloween II was supposed to be the final film to focus on Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, however Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) was received poorly (well, yeah, it was about an evil company with halloween masks that would kill kids when they watched a TV program while wearing them). The producers back-pedalled to follow it up in the hit-slasher franchise tradition of returns, revenge and curses: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) (they had to shove his name in there to get audiences back), Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989), Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) and Halloween: Resurrection (The Return of Rick Rosenthal) (2002). Once again, watch the first and wade into the deep sequel waters if you must.

Check in tomorrow for the next film that will surely receive much less attention and care than this has.