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Halloween (1978)
A Work of Perfection
Directed By: John Carpenter
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, & P.J. Soles
MPAA Rating: “R"
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, & P.J. Soles
MPAA Rating: “R"
Here is another short review from yours truly. If you haven’t seen Halloween (1978), you have no doubt heard about its greatness and are, for some strange reason, choosing not to watch it. If you have seen it, then you know everything I’m going to say in this review. Halloween is an amazing low-budget film, one that has shaped the slasher genre in a very profound way. Though it was not the first so-called slasher flick (that honor goes to the 1974 Black Christmas), Halloween introduced the concept of a masked killer knocking off over-sexed teens, leaving the token virgin to survive for the sequel. The virgin is Laurie Strode (Curtis), the quintessential “final girl” who is the Luke Skywalker of the horror genre. Everyone knows her name and every aspiring horror actress is always trying to live up to her legacy. The same can be said for filmmakers trying to make a truly great horror film; Halloween is a flawless blueprint for a slasher flick and yet it still remains untouched by other genre offerings.
The plot is very simple, though the sequels obviously complicated things a bit more. With no signs of sibling rivalry or witchcraft or whatever, Halloween is just about the masked Michael Myers, an ominous and mysterious killer, stalking three young high school girls on Halloween night. The survivor of the proceeding massacre, Laurie Strode, must try to escape the clutches of the brutal villain, while his former doctor, Doctor Samuel Loomis (Pleasence), desperately races to rescue her and end Michael’s reign of terror forever. In this day and age, Halloween could be called predictable and perhaps it may have been in 1978, but the true terror comes in waiting. As we watch Michael stare ominously at Annie through windows and open doors, we know that things will not end well for the humorous teenager (after all, we saw what he did to his sister when he was just a little tyke), and the movie builds dread before unleashing the scene about which we were so nervous. Halloween is not about excess or violence, but about restraint and suspense.
Halloween ends with a foreboding and perhaps even haunting conclusion, when we slowly come to the realization that Michael may be far darker and more dangerous than we originally thought. This was a masterful ending, one that has never been recreated quite as effectively and, though it has been exploited to create countless sequels, it caps off a completely perfect film. This is the film that changed the horror genre, defined Jamie Lee Curtis as the one and only “Scream Queen,” and placed John Carpenter atop a pedestal. Nearly thirty years later, Halloween remains as perhaps the scariest film of all-time and one of the best examples of the greatness of the genre we all know and love. It is a film that connected with critics and audiences and is still studied and observed by film school students. Are there any problems with it? I don’t know...I don’t think so. If there are, I didn’t notice them. The only problem that one might associate with it is that, for every positive influence it has had on the genre, there have been ten shameless and awful rip-offs. Of course, one cannot blame this on the perfection that is Halloween. I am not sure why anyone reading this review would not have seen this film, but I can only say that, if you haven’t, make it a priority. Toss your copy of One Missed Call (2008) into the trash and experience real, unrelenting, and visceral terror in its purest form.
The plot is very simple, though the sequels obviously complicated things a bit more. With no signs of sibling rivalry or witchcraft or whatever, Halloween is just about the masked Michael Myers, an ominous and mysterious killer, stalking three young high school girls on Halloween night. The survivor of the proceeding massacre, Laurie Strode, must try to escape the clutches of the brutal villain, while his former doctor, Doctor Samuel Loomis (Pleasence), desperately races to rescue her and end Michael’s reign of terror forever. In this day and age, Halloween could be called predictable and perhaps it may have been in 1978, but the true terror comes in waiting. As we watch Michael stare ominously at Annie through windows and open doors, we know that things will not end well for the humorous teenager (after all, we saw what he did to his sister when he was just a little tyke), and the movie builds dread before unleashing the scene about which we were so nervous. Halloween is not about excess or violence, but about restraint and suspense.
Halloween ends with a foreboding and perhaps even haunting conclusion, when we slowly come to the realization that Michael may be far darker and more dangerous than we originally thought. This was a masterful ending, one that has never been recreated quite as effectively and, though it has been exploited to create countless sequels, it caps off a completely perfect film. This is the film that changed the horror genre, defined Jamie Lee Curtis as the one and only “Scream Queen,” and placed John Carpenter atop a pedestal. Nearly thirty years later, Halloween remains as perhaps the scariest film of all-time and one of the best examples of the greatness of the genre we all know and love. It is a film that connected with critics and audiences and is still studied and observed by film school students. Are there any problems with it? I don’t know...I don’t think so. If there are, I didn’t notice them. The only problem that one might associate with it is that, for every positive influence it has had on the genre, there have been ten shameless and awful rip-offs. Of course, one cannot blame this on the perfection that is Halloween. I am not sure why anyone reading this review would not have seen this film, but I can only say that, if you haven’t, make it a priority. Toss your copy of One Missed Call (2008) into the trash and experience real, unrelenting, and visceral terror in its purest form.
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