Movie Review--Halloween (1978)

"I met him 15 years ago, I was told there was nothing left.  No reason, no conscience, no understanding in even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong."
--Dr. Sam Loomis, Halloween


One of the original slasher films, Halloween is a very simplistic movie.  It is nowhere near as complex as later horror films like Saw, but it also does not habitually waste viewers' time with irrelevant scenes.  This is one of the film's best elements--it doesn't go on longer than it needs to, and it doesn't spend time in gratuitous places, leaving the story at the forefront of the runtime.  This simplicity extends to the now-iconic villain, Michael Myers.  He is not complicated, multi-faceted, or moralistic.  Instead, the utter simplicity of his violence only makes him stand out as more unnatural.  Michael is now known as one of cinema's most popular psychopaths.  And he has a strong dislike of horny teenagers!

Photo credit: theglobalpanorama on

 Visualhunt.com /  CC BY-SA

Production Values

Considering the scope of the story, there is no need for elaborate practical effects, and the effects that do make an appearance are generally effective (the "arm" of Michael at the beginning of the movie looks terribly out of place).  The soundtrack is very limited, meaning much of the score gets reused at various points in the movie.  The theme music stands out, though.  On the acting side of things, one can definitely tell that Halloween belongs to an older era of cinema; the performances do not seem to fit modern norms.  Jamie Lee Curtis serves as the "final girl" Laurie, with Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael's former psychiatrist, being played by Donald Pleasance.  The acting of other characters is sometimes overdone or underdone, but Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance are the definite high points as far as the performances go.  Still, the writers make sure that Laurie fails to kill Michael when she has the opportunity on two occasions, which, of course, allows for sequels at the expense of making her a clear-thinking character.


Story

Spoilers!

In 1963, a couple begins amorously touching on Halloween night, watched outside by an unknown figure.  This observer enters the home, finds a knife, and stabs the girl, his own sister.  Michael Myers has become a murderer at an extraordinarily young age--he is not even seven years old.  The movie then skips to the year 1978.  Michael has escaped his sanitarium on the night before Halloween, his psychiatrist Dr. Loomis expecting him to return to the city of Haddonfield, Illinois, for a killing spree.  Michael appears multiple times to Laurie Strode, a student of a local high school.  Dr. Loomis and a police officer investigate the Myers house, Loomis insisting that Michael is devoid of conscience and rationality.

While Laurie babysits and children engage in Halloween activities, her nearby friends are killed one after the other.  Laurie finds their bodies in her friend Annie's house and is then hunted by Michael.  After thinking she killed him only to find that he is not dead, Laurie hides, but Michael quickly finds her hiding place, though she stabs him with his own knife.  Dr. Loomis enters, saving Laurie by repeatedly shooting Michael until he falls out of the second story of the house onto the lawn below--but when he checks the area, Michael's body is missing.


Intellectual Content

There are practically no directly intellectual themes in the entire movie.  In fact, director John Carpenter specifically dismissed claims about deeper themes being woven into the story, saying that he simply made a horror film for the sake of making a horror film.  Horror has the potential to be one of the most philosophical genres, but Halloween happens to merely be a movie made to frighten people.  Nevertheless, a work of entertainment does not need to be particularly deep in order to have a major impact on the industry.


Conclusion

Photo credit: junaidrao on Visual hunt 

 /  CC BY-NC-ND

Though it helped introduce the slasher sub-genre of horror, Halloween's distinctly older production style might distract modern viewers from immersion.  Fans of the franchise as a whole or of horror in general are the viewers most likely to enjoy this movie.  Just don't expect a masterpiece of horror characterization or moralistic or existential themes.  I can't wait for the new installment, which has been expertly marketed via trailers and which is supposed to serve as a direct sequel to the original.  May it live up to the promise of the trailers!

I will attempt to review the initial two sequels to Halloween before the release of the new film.


Content
1. Violence:  Several murders and assaults are shown onscreen.
2. Nudity:  A girl's breasts are visible in the opening scene, and another girl's breasts are shown later.
3. Sexuality:  Sex occurs onscreen, but under sheets, in one instance.