Halloween (1978) Directed by John Carpenter
Every year, I have to watch this on Halloween night, usually after watching Casper and or Hocus Pocus, because my wife loves those movies. I really wanted this to be my final review of the Halloween season, but I ended up getting really sick on Halloween morning and didn’t have the time to watch this and write a review in time to post it. Also, my puppy found it necessary to break open a bottle of ibuprofen and attempt to eat it. So my sick ass had to drive to the grocery store, buy peroxide and pour it down my puppy’s mouth in order to make her puke, thus saving her life. Fun Halloween right? Yeah…anyway I loved writing reviews so much and had a fair amount of readers throughout the month so I figured I would just continue.
On Halloween night in 1963 a six year old boy named Michael Myers murders his older sister Judith by stabbing her with a big knife. Judith just finished banging her one pump chump boyfriend, seriously the guy was up there for like 30 seconds, I was shocked she even had her clothes off when Michael stabbed her. Fifteen years later, Michael escapes Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where he was committed since the murder. He steals a car and somehow he knows how to drive.
The next day, Michael, now dressed in a blue jumpsuit and a white Bill Shatner mask returns to Haddonfield and stalks Laurie Strode. Laurie tells her friends Annie and Lynda that she thinks someone is following her but they tell her she is crazy basically or should I say “TOTALLY!” Michael does the pop up in places then disappear act that was copied a million times in the slasher movies that follow. Dr. Loomis anticipated Michael’s return home begins to search for crazy ass Mike. He goes to the local cemetery to discover that Judith’s headstone is missing, apparently Michael has Hulk strength cuz that sucker has to be like 800lbs, its solid granite dude! Loomis meets with Sheriff Brackett and the two search for Michael.
That night Laurie babysits Tommy while Annie babysits Lindsay across the street. When Annie gets a call from her boyfriend Paul asking her to pick him up, she drops off Lindsay with Laurie. Annie gets in her car to pick up Paul but Michael strangles her then slits her throat. At the Doyle house, while he plays hide and seek with Lindsay, Tommy sees Michael carrying Annie’s body and tries to tell Laurie, whom of course doesn’t believe him. Later that night, Lynda and her boyfriend go into Linday’s house and bang it out. Lynda makes Bob go get her a beer, and he goes downstairs, only to be attacked by Michael. Bob is lifted up with one arm and stabbed through the chest. The knife sticks Bob to the wall and Michael stares at him, tilting his head as if confused and intrigued. Michael then goes up stairs wearing a sheet over him with Bob’s glasses over the sheet, which is bizarre. I mean Michael is a killing machine, a straight up nut case, why would he even think of putting a sheet over himself to surprise Lynda. Lynda gets annoyed with Michael whom she thinks is Bob and calls Laurie. Laurie answers and hears Michael strangling Lynda with the phone cord, yes kids, phones used to have cords! She thinks her moans and gasps are sounds of sexual ecstasy, whoa that’s kind of a good descriptor, I’ll keep that in mind.
Laurie puts Tommy and Lindsay in bed and goes to Lindsay’s house where she finds the bodies of Annie, Bob, and Lynda. She is suddenly attacked by Michael and falls down the stairs. Laurie runs from the house and screams for help, of course no one answers her because she’s a crazy bitch screaming and slamming on people’s doors. I would think she was high on bathsalts or something. She runs back to Tommy’s house and she realize she lost the keys and the door is locked, Michael slowly walks up behind her and she screams for Tommy to open the door. Tommy takes his sweet ass time, but finally opens the door and Laurie runs in and locks it. Laurie tells Tommy and Lindsay to hide and then finds the phone line is cut (classic) and Michael came into the house through the window. As she sits down next to the couch, Michael appears and tries to stab her, she stabs him into the side of the neck with a knitting needle and he falls to the ground.
Laurie goes upstairs and tells Tommy and Lindsay she killed the “boogeyman” but Michael reappears and comes and cuts her arm with a huge knife. Laurie tells the kids to lock themselves in the bathroom and she opens the French windows to fake an escape and hides in the closet. Michael walks into the room and realizes she is in the closet and breaks through the door. Laurie grabs a wire hanger and stabs him in the eye causing him to stagger back and collapse again. Good thing this isn’t Joan Crawford’s house, otherwise she wouldn’t have had a weapon to use at all! She tells the kids to go find help, then just sits and cries. In the background Michael slowly sits up and turns his head, looking at Laurie. I wonder if the Undertaker got his signature sit up from Michael Myers? That would be pretty cool. Dr. Loomis sees the kids run out of the house and he enters. Michael gets up and starts strangling Laurie when Loomis shoots Michael multiple times, causing Michael to do the classic Cosmo Kramer overreaction and fall out of the window and land on the ground outside. Laurie asks Loomis is that was the boogeyman and Loomis replies that it was. Loomis goes back to the window and sees that Michael’s body is nowhere in sight. The movie ends with the sounds of heavy breathing in the background.
Did this movie create something completely new? No. Is Halloween the first slasher movie ever? No. Did it start the slasher craze that took the 80s by storm? Yes! This movie took heavily from Black Christmas with the psycho killer returning to his home, the stalking camera, and the overall atmosphere. Halloween mixed all these different pieces together and built what was to become the blueprint that every slasher movie was to follow. Michael Myers is one of the most iconic horror killers ever. The simple design of the character is genius. The extreme low budget on this film, somewhere in the area of $300,000, added to the simplicity and cheap look to the film. Cheap isn’t always bad, in this movie it works, it gives a dirty low rent feel to the film. The mask of Michael Myers was a William Shatner masked painted white and the blood is kept to a minimum, which you hardly even notice. The soundtrack is simply amazing; Carpenter was asked to make music for the film and did it as an after thought. What he created ended up being quite possibly the most recognizable horror movie theme of all time. The blank stare of the mask is creepy as hell and the fact that Michael shows no emotion only adds to the mystery of the character. Dr. Loomis played by Donald Pleasance is over the top and obsessed with Michael. He would continue to reprise the role in the sequels until his death in the late 90s. This movie really is a masterpiece and one of the most profitable movies of all time. Any time a movie comes out and creates its own genre you know it has substance and a great cultural impact. If you haven’t watched Halloween, what is wrong with you? Go out, find this movie and watch it! It is timeless and classic. There are a few scenes that are corny, but it really only adds to the charm of the film. Carpenter takes the time to build suspense and strong characters, which was lacking in later installments and copycats. I would give this movie nothing less than an A+, it is a staple in my Halloween movie watching. Even if you’re not a horror fan you will probably enjoy the movie for what it is and what it did to the film industry.
