Original Soundtrack Poster
Original Soundtrack Poster
This is the film that really kick-started John Carpenter's career into the stratosphere, and the film most people identify with him. I was about twelve years old when I first saw this, the old BBC2 series Moviedrome showed a pristine widescreen version that just made my eyes pop out. The sheer emotional and visceral impact of this film cannot be underestimated, I stayed awake all night after that first time. It still amazes me and has the power to draw me right into it, so I am still rooting for Laurie, gasping when Myers leaps into view, even now after seeing it so many times.
In 1963 a young boy callously murders his sister after witnessing her in bed with her boyfriend. He is in fancy dress because tonight is All Hallows Eve, better known as Halloween. The entire opening sequence is seen from the point of view of the little boy himself. We do not actually see the boy until his parents arrive home, when the shot switches to his face, we see him standing there, an innocent little boy with a bloody knife in his hands.
The young boy is taken into the care of Dr. Loomis, a psychiatrist who soon comes to realise the sheer evil present in his charge, Micheal Myers. On the night before Halloween Dr Loomis is travelling to the mental institution that has been Micheals home for 15 years. He has to take Michael to the review board, to see if he is fit to be set free. This is just a charade that he goes through every year, he knows that Michael is too monstrous too ever be set free. When he reaches the hospital he notices that the gates are open and the inmates are walking around free. This scene seems like a perfect homage to Night Of The Living Dead. The bodies seem to be floating around in their white hospital gowns, oblivious to the intense rain. Dr Loomis gets out of the car to investigate, a mysterious figure leaps onto the roof of the car, roughly removing the nurse inside. The car is driven off as Loomis bellows after it in the pouring rain, "The Evil Has Escaped!".
The Shape
These initial scenes are the setup for a terrifying Halloween night for Michaels home town. The Doctor knows Michael will return to the scene of his crime, but he cannot convince anyone of the danger so he sets out for Haddonfield, to catch Michael himself.
Haddonfield is preparing for the traditional Halloween celebrations, little children are getting dressed up as ghosts, pumpkins are being prepared. For the teenagers of Haddonfield Halloween is a traditional babysitting night, those with boyfriends really look forward to babysitting night. Unfortunately Michael Myers (The Shape) also has plans involving these teenagers.
Halloween was released in 1978 to huge commercial success. It was the most successful independent movie of all time (surpassed in 1990 by, of all things, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!). Though the initial idea was supplied by Mustapha Akkad, the executive producer, the full story was written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It spawned a whole genre of so called 'slasher' movies, young teenagers (usually sexually active) are preyed upon by an unseen psychopath and killed in various gruesome ways. Most of these sequels latch onto a certain date in the calendar, so we have Friday the 13th, April Fools Day, Prom Night etc. This genre has now evolved into a parody of itself, even the Halloween sequels show the slip in quality. At the time the idea was still relatively fresh and the public flocked to the cinemas.
Halloween is a terrifying film that builds tension and fear to an almost unbearable limit. The final part of the film showing Laurie's (Jamie Lee Curtis) attempt to evade Myers is the closest thing to a white nuckle ride that cinema has to offer. Halloween effectively launched the career of JL Curtis and turned Carpenter into a major hollywood player. A huge part of Halloween is the soundtrack. This was also written by Carpenter and is one of his best scores to date. It is such an intrinsic part of the film that is has become identfied as THE theme tune for psychopaths on the prowl. Just as the Jaws signature tune was used to terrify the audience, a little snippet of the Halloween theme is enough to make the hairs on the back of the audiences necks stand up.
Much has been said of the sexual aspect of Halloween. The victims are mostly sexually active teenagers, the main heroine Laurie is the only one without a boyfriend and is also the most virginal. This aspect was carried through in many of the films similar to Halloween, most notable the Friday the 13th series. Many critics see this as Carpenters personal assault on the morals of teenagers, which definitely is not the case (JC is well known for being a free-thinking, anti-censorship person). This gets away from the simple fact that as a horror movie Halloween delivers the goods by the truckload. It scares you and you leave the cinema looking over your shoulder.
To be fully enjoyed Halloween has to be viewed in its original intended widescreen format. Carpenter loves the widescreen and uses it to its full extent, many visual clues and scares are missed if you view the pan & scan (a technique used to convert widescreen movies for TV format) version. That said, when the film was shown on TV Carpenter shot some extra scenes, mostly centering on Micheal's incarceration and trial. These are not in widescreen.