October Horror 2016 - Halloween 1978

“I met him, fifteen years ago; I was told there was nothing left; no reason, no conscience, no understanding; and even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face, and the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil.”

Last Halloween I decided to cover the cult-classic: “Halloween III: Season of the Witch”. So, it’s only natural that, for this Halloween, I should talk about the very first film of this troubled franchise. Looking back at the first “Halloween” film by John Carpenter is an interesting experience when you compare it to the many sequels and reboots that came afterwords. To think that a film so humble and inexpensive would later grow into a franchise that spanned several decades, chronicling this wide evolution of changes done to the Micheal Myers character, which involved all manner of craziness like cults, curses, and even a reality television show. Beyond just the 6 sequels (and the spin-off that attempted to steer the focus away from Myers), there was the two films of the rebooted Rob Zombie directed series that attempted to bring the character into the modern style of horror films, for better or for worse. All these films together became part of what’s often considered a very confused, poor franchise that, other than the first, produced maybe one good film in its sequel (or more, depending on your opinions towards entries like H20, Season of the Witch, or the first Zombie film). But all that stuff is best left for future October Horrors. Today is all about the humble classic that started not only this long list of films under its name, but a revitalization of the slasher genre we’ve grown to love. For were it not for old Micheal Myers, we wouldn’t have horror icons like Freddy and Jason.
So enough of this prelude of a tribute to this film and its franchise. To celebrate the holiday, here’s a review on its cinematic namesake. Here’s “Halloween”.

On Halloween night in 1963, a child named Micheal Myers is sent to a sanitarium for the brutal, senseless murder of his own sister. Years pass, and on the night before Halloween, 1978, Myers escapes, making his way back to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. Donning a mask and wielding a knife, Myers prepares to begin killing once again on Halloween night, all while his psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis, is hunting for this disturbed maniac. Meanwhile Laurie Strode is spending Halloween babysitting while her friends are out to enjoy the night, all of them unaware that a merciless killing machine is on the loose… ready to murder whomever it wishes.

The story is very basic, with little to no twists in the plot. The killer doesn’t have a grand reveal of his identity, his motivations are mysterious but not important to be worth talking about, and the protagonists don’t have any complex reasons for why they’re around beyond just being teens during Halloween night. Because of all this, the story knows where to keep its focus: on the killer going around hunting his victims, and Loomis trying to capture him. The character development is simple to keep you interested, as well setting up where the plot moves, but are only given enough attention so that you both know and care for these characters as the night progresses. In between moments where characters are given their time, we see Loomis and several officers try to locate Myers, while also giving purposefully vague exposition onto the psychology of the killer. A lot of this is kept in the first half of the film, with the latter half devoted to Myer’s night of killing. By the time Micheal starts killing, you’ve already gotten to know the characters before they meet him, and thus the film can concentrate on what is a surprisingly slow yet effective slasher film.
The night portion takes it time in setting up each kill, sometimes leading the audience astray for a moment before Myers finally strikes. With every scene bathed in darkness, we’re just as uncertain as the characters on where the killer is, and are just as surprised as them when he finally does appear, either slowly or suddenly. Unlike with a lot of horror films, the kills themselves have very little blood, and if there were it’s effectively hidden under the dark. Most of the death scenes are slow to the point of it being unsettling, especially when a lot of them are done through almost-realistic strangulation. The film is less about gathering a high body-count, and more about showing how sadistic Micheal Myers is with his kills, and possibly how he does it all with this emotionless, robotic performance that ups the creepiness of the film.

The acting is serviceable, but overall decent enough to make you care for the characters. Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode is great in how protective she is, while also being this survivor trying to do everything she can to outrun Myers. While not the most intense bit of acting, Curtis does a fine work in getting you to attach to Strode, as well a care for her when she’s up against such killer as Myers. In the scenes leading up to Halloween night she is caring, but fun enough to make her a believable teenager. Once the night comes, she is running and screaming while Myers pursues her, which never feels annoying and instead comes more as genuinely worrying. The same can almost be said for the supporting cast of friends, but they’re not given as much time and focus as Strode. They’re not bad, just adequate enough to also have some sympathy for.
Dr. Loomis is fantastic as this deeply scarred psychiatrist who has finally seen something truly evil as Myers, and has devoted himself to stopping it before anyone is killed. The way he speaks about how inhuman Myers was, even as a kid, is great. It not only gives you an idea of what kind of monster Micheal Myers is, but also how Loomis has caught glimpse of what cruel things he could do if left free. We can also sympathize with Loomis whenever he’s held responsible for what Myers does, despite him trying his hardest to warn everyone when they don’t listen before it’s too late. While we follow Laurie in her struggles to survive the night, Dr. Loomis is very much the Dr. Frankenstein to Myers: an educated man who will stop at nothing to stop this monster that he’s unfortunately become tied with.

As for the monster itself, Micheal Myers is perfect. He’s slow and robotic, but also vicious in his killings. He doesn’t say a word, or show any emotion for what he does, thereby turning him less of a man and more of a form of pure evil. The way he waits for his kills, even for long periods of time, is effective in the build up to his eventual strike. Additionally his movements, whether rising from the ground or just walking slowly towards his prey, says so much on the character in terms of how inhuman Myers is, especially when there’s very little moments where he shows any struggle. It was a great choice to limit his ‘voice’ to just this constant, heavy breathing, which keeps his haunting presence around even when you don’t see him. Seeing him is something that barely happens, or at least not enough as a lot of horror monsters. During the day segments he’s either far away or covered by something, with only the tiniest glimpse of his mask and overalls. In the night we see him more closely, but he’s always in darkness, which hides a lot of his body in shadow while his ghostly mask is all we can really see, even though it’s just as much in the shade as everything else about him. It’s no wonder that the movie credits refer to him as “The Shape”: Micheal Myers, in this film, is simply a murderous presence, with little to no qualities linking him to anything human. For this film, Micheal Myers is done masterfully, with zero fault that I can see.

The music and cinematography isn’t much, but it gets the job done. The iconic Halloween theme is at its best here in a very simply, though perfect opening to get you into the right mood. Meanwhile the shots and camera work do a great job in getting what it needs from both the night and day segments, with nothing too flashy when there is action being done. With everything being dark during the night, the camera is fantastic in its placement so that you get a good idea of what’s going on, while making sure you don’t see too much into what’s happening. They do a great work in this film, and I have very little complaints about them.

If there’s anything I can find issue with, it’s just my personal opinion that I wish Dr. Loomis had gotten more of a spotlight. It’s a very personal issue, and one that in no way affects the film. It’s honestly hard for me to find anything I have a problem with. For such a humble entry into the now expansive Halloween franchise, you can’t get much better what started it all in the first place.

Whether for Halloween night or any other, go see “Halloween”. To this day it’s a great horror film, with scares that I feel are great, while at the same time being certainly tame in comparison to today’s movies. Go check it out, I highly recommend it.