Halloween (1978)
So how can you celebrate Halloween without it's namesake movie? (Okay, maybe it's the other way around, but still...) It's one of the few horror films that has kept up it's appeal over the years. Most tend to burn out due to the vast amount of sequels they incur and due to changing attitudes over the years. While it may not be as fresh and original as it was when it came out, it's still considered one of the best by a large amount of people. It gave birth to a genre that misinterpreted the film, started two legendary careers, and gave birth to one of the most identifiable horror icons.
Halloween is a very simple film. A guy who killed his sister when he was a child escapes from a mental asylum 15 years later to kill some more people. Dressed up like a clown as a child, he now dresses in a jumpsuit and a blank mask as he kills babysitters. It's not a complicated plot in the least bit. To some, this means that a film is plotless, but really it means those people don't know what their talking about. They just want to hate on a film for taking it's time building up suspense. After all, the only onscreen murder after the first few minutes are in the last twenty five minutes. The bulk of the film is Dr. Loomis chasing around Michael Myers trying to find him and warn the sheriff... and us getting to know Laurie, her friends, and the kids she is babysitting. Sure, there's a few jump scenes of Michael coming into frame all of a sudden from the sides and some suspense as he waits and watches the teens from just feet away.
I'm not going to talk long about this movie, as I said most of what I wanted to say in my top 30 Films That Made Me Who I Am list, and you can go look at what I said there to find out more. Let's focus on why it's such a good horror film here. Besides it's simplicity and realism (except for Michael knowing how to drive quite well), it is, in the old Hitchcock fashion, a suspense builder. You know some people are going to get killed. The killer is within feet of them throughout most of the movie, but he waits until he's ready. I think one of the scariest things is that Michael Myers is so patient! Even when he loses his victim, he doesn't run after them. He walks casually. He knows he'll catch up eventually. The scene where Laurie leaves the house she found her dead friends in and limps along calling for help at the houses on the street is pretty suspenseful. We know Myers is right behind her. He's pretty far away at first, but she's limping, no one is listening to her, and when she gets back to the house she's babysitting at, she finds her keys missing.
The film is not about the death scenes. Those aren't particularly graphic. There's no blood to the death scenes except the first death, and that's not much. Even when Michael cuts the neck of one of Laurie's friends, there's no blood to be seen. There doesn't have to be. The movie is strong enough on it's own that it doesn't need it. That's something that slasher films that came later didn't really get. Of course, most of those weren't as well made either.
And let's not forget the music. Without the music, the movie doesn't work. John Carpenter screened the rough cut without music to someone at 20th Century Fox, and they didn't like the film. Thought it had no suspense and wasn't scary. He showed it to them after he had composed and recorded the music, and got the exact opposite reaction. Let this be known for those that disregard soundtracks. They do help convey emotion or feelings throughout films. The music here is iconic. The simple minor key melodies (there are like 3 of them used in different tempos, combinations and keys) do their work fantastically. It's not just piano as most think. To the main theme, there's also a metronome and a synthesizer. In fact, there's more synth here than piano. And it doesn't work without the metronome. I'm also in love with the chase music. It's basically just a thudding piano note, but then the synth comes in that sounds like a railroad crossing sign to me. It's pretty effective for suspense.
It's become quite a tradition for people to watch this one on Halloween. It's obvious why. The movie takes place on the day, it's named for the day, it's still an effective film... It's not scary to those of us who watch it at least once a year (it's a great film to study for those of us that like to do such things), but it's so entertaining, so iconic that it's still worth it.
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