Halloween (1978) Review

It’s the 1970s now, cinema has changed drastically. When the medium had started to die down from popularity, studios started to lose money. Many businesses with no movie making background started to buy movie studios. To regenerate profit, studios started to hire young ambitious filmmakers to bring in more money. So what does Halloween from 1978 have to do with that?

I can say that it’s probably one of the best independent slasher films I have seen from the 70s. It was made with 300,000 dollars and grossed 40 million dollars. Directed by John Carpenter, who I will talk about his other film next week, introduces the moviegoing audience to Michael Myers. SPOILERS will appear in the review.

1.      Story

So the film starts in the fictional Haddonfield, Illinois in 1963. We see a one take point of view shot of someone killing a girl. We later learned that the killer is a kid. Michael appears with his parents that aren’t shocked, they’re like “Oh boy, again with this?” 15 years later, his psychiatrist Dr. Loomis played by Donald Pleasance arrives with the sanitarium’s nurse and notices the asylum’s inmates are wandering by the gate. The nurse is attacked by one of the patients and gets out of the car. Michael takes it to go back to Haddonfield.

Most of the film takes place on, well, Halloween. We follow the main character Laurie Strode being herself and hanging with her friends. Later in the night, she babysits as well as her friends but, I shouldn’t really explain since you know what’s going to happen. In between that, Dr. Loomis goes to Haddonfield to find and stop Michael.

2.      Michael Myers

This is probably one of the most intimidating villains and killers in film. It’s unique to have the film start in his point of view. More so with Dr. Loomis explaining to the local sheriff what Michael’s life was when he was in the sanitarium. The idea of someone being “Pure Evil” sounds about right to describe him, since he just kills with no remorse.

He doesn’t even speak any lines, he just breathes really deeply. I think the best scene or shot that really capture the essence of Myers is when he kills Paul the boyfriend. Michael kills him and has his body raised so high that Paul’s feet doesn’t touch the floor. Michael just takes a step back and tilts his head left and right to really admire his work. With no lines and just having it played completely straight, this is the most terrifying killer I have seen.

One tidbit that isn’t talked about is his mask. Few people know that his mask is the face of William Shatner from the classic Star Trek television show. It’s painted white and I always wanted to know if John Carpenter had other ideas for the mask or just picked it since it’s something that’s different.

3.      Laurie Strode

Played by Jamie Lee Curtis, she is the best normal character in the movie. She’s down to earth in comparison with her ditsy friends. Like Laurie is the opposite and gets teased by her friends when she spots Michael. She’s a good example of the final girl trope that appears in horror or slasher films. 

A trope is something that happens in a film. For instance, in a superhero film, the main superhero has a final battle with the villain. Its what’s expected with a movie since by nature they must follow the genre formula. Which leads to why this movie is so good.

One more thing is that she goes through a character arc. Meaning she changes when we see her in the beginning through the end. She thinks she’s seeing a figure but it turns out it is Michael Myers. She ultimately tries to escape but manages to stab and stop him from killing her.

4.      What Made it Good

If you have a movie with totally unlikeable characters getting killed, one would be glad that they’re dead and not really caring about the characters or be invested in the movie. A good film like Halloween has a good protagonist where you care. The moment when Laurie is in danger made me scared since I didn’t want her to die from Michael. The moment where she hides in the closet and Myers smashing the openers prompts her to stop him. She uses wire hangars to stab him which makes her character so much more likable. It makes her brave and not afraid of Myers.

Also, the overall myth of Michael is just short and to the point. We don’t have Michael explain his motive and what I said earlier, Loomis sums up Myer’s whole problem. If we had to delve even more deeper it would’ve just ruined just how Michael is just an enigma.

5.      Legacy or the sequels, reboots and, retcons

Just to get this out of the way, John Carpenter originally wanted the series to be an anthology series. After the first sequel, the third one didn’t have Michael, instead a corporate Halloween company kills kids with their costumes. While it’s one movie that I might look at next year, people hated it since it didn’t have Michael Myers.

Throughout the late eighties and the nineties, the Halloween franchise went back to Michael to be the main killer. The sequels tied Michael to a cult but it didn’t go anywhere and bombed. The first instance of the retcon is in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, where the film acts like a follow up with the first two movies. It ended with Halloween Resurrection, the only thing I got to say is Busta Rhymes, really? The series was remade by movie director and musician Rob Zombie, the first one was just okay. He instilled a grindhouse, white trash version of Michael Myers. The sequel just sucked.

In 2018, another Halloween film just titled Halloween (2018) is the second retcon, but this time acts as a sequel to the first Halloween. It was pretty enjoyable and it kicked off a new series that is supposed to continue next year and end in the following.

6.      Overall

This is one of the most enjoyable and fun horror movies that I have seen. It’s packed with so much suspense and the music really amps up the anxiety levels. John Carpenter really outdid himself and some consider this movie to be his best. I feel that everyone should watch it on October 31^st, as a traditional movie.

Halloween (1978) gets a five out of five.