Considering I am starting this column/blog on my favorite holiday, what better horror movie to give my first review for on TBHM than the 1978 John Carpenter classic Halloween.
Now I am sure this pic will make you want to go out and carve up... a pumpkin of course.
Although, if you're a true horror afficianado, then you're thinking giant butcher knives, a white William Shatner mask, dead sex starved teenagers and when you hear this music in your head, the goosebumps start.
I won't go into the actors who portrayed certain characters in the movie, I prefer to concentrate on the story and how the movie manages to gives us a good scare. You can check imdb.com if you would like more info on the actors/actresses.
Halloween set the standard for slasher/horror films for more than a generation! The original working title was " The Babysitter Murders" & Halloween is arguably one of the most successful and lucrative indy films ever made. This is one of those movies that still holds up. How many of us can identify that famous music from just the first 10 notes?
Why then, does this movie still inspire fear and a cult following after 33 years?
For those of you unaware of this GREAT flick here is a recap:
Halloween night 1963 in Haddonfield, Illinois, six year old Michael Myers spying on his naked older sister Judith brushing her hair post sex. Michael then grabs his clown mask and puts it on and brutally kills his sister. Teenagers take warning sex will get you killed and Virgins always survive! He then meets his parents on the sidewalk where they discover their six year old son covered in his sister's blood. That is the short and sweet of it
Michael is then admitted to an insane asylum for 15 years under the care of Dr. Samuel Loomis. All the good Doctor sees is pure evil behind Michael's eyes and makes it his mission to ensure Michael never sees the light of day of the outside world ever again. On his 21st birthday Michael escapes the asylum and heads back home...on Halloween. Then the fun ensues!
I think part of the fear factor fun, at least to me, was the way John Carpenter played the suspense along with our childhood fears of the boogeyman, the dark and what's hiding in the closet. You knew Michael was coming, but where the heck was he? Not to mention that we all know cute little kids that seem to just snap when things don't go their way.
So how could 6 year old Michael Myers just snap homicidal all of a sudden and slice up his sister with such a big freakin' knife. Could that happen with our siblings or kids for that matter? All you have to do is read the Internet or a paper if your hometown still prints one.
Of course in recent movies little kids are slicing up sisters, brothers, parents and anything else that gets in their way, but back then it was a novel idea. The Omen notwithstanding of course, but that is for another time.
Compared to more recent movies there really was not all that much much blood and gore.
John Carpenter effectively plays with our collective psyche on a variety of levels to give us the scare not truckloads of blood and guts. To paraphrase from The Shadow "He knows what evil lurks in the heart of men." Then rejoices in using it against us.
Part of Michael's eerieness is his intelligence and preternatural ability to know where we are hiding, how to camoflage himself so no one can see him, plus his attack style; you see him, then you don't and then you're dead.
Some of Carpenter's brilliance shines through in that we are allowed to get know the victims. They're not just Blonde big breasted blood buckets as we see in todays movies. He allows us to care about them. We see them as 3 cute school girls [thought P.J. Soles was such the babe when I was 11] strolling home and have the kind of chit chat I am sure most girls have had in a similar situation. Just girls from a small midwest town planning their night, drinking some beer, and getting laid and not in the least bit concerned that a maniacal killer will be paying them a visit later because of their, according to Michael and the horror rules in general, immoral proclivity.
It also taught us a lesson about 'crying wolf'. When Laurie really needed help and cried out for it the neighbors thought it was just a halloween prank and didn't pay any attention to her.
Because of the movie Halloween, just walking down the street at night you get the chills and wonder who or what is going to jump out of the shadows and get you.
When you go out Trick or Treating tonight or parents when you take your kids out and you walk past that row of bushes or you hear footsteps behind you and turn around and no one is there and you're ready to jump out of your skin and the hairs on your neck are standing up, remember to thank John Carpenter and his evil son Michael Myers for the treat that is Halloween.
Then when you get home and put the sweet kiddies to bed, go ahead and turn off the lights, get your popcorn and significant other, start the movie and after the first couple of scares and kills when that music starts and when you get the chills and the goosebumps start to rise and every little noise has you jumpy like little Tommy Doyle and Lindsey Wallace & wondering just who is outside your window maybe then you'll believe me.
Then when you crawl into bed for the night and all the little sounds of the night start up then you'll start to wonder are the porch lights on and did I lock the doors and windows? Then you think to yourself I shouldn't have watched that damn movie! Count yourself lucky if you wake up in the morning. Especially if you have kids. Ha Ha Ha Ha!
Mad Doc
Remember:
Writing is the socially acceptable form of Schizophrenia!
*FOOTNOTE* In 2006, Halloween was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
