"It's Halloween. Everyone's entitled to one good scare."
— Sheriff Brackett
Greetings Ghouls and Goblins!
If I didn't list this movie somewhere on the list, I would be totally off my head. Excluding the cruddy Rob Zombie remake (guy should stick to making music in my opinion), the first Halloween movie done by none other than John Carpenter is a classic film. Even people who aren't horror aficionados can recognize the staccato opening soundtrack and Michael Meyer's (the character, not the actor) snow white mask.
While not the first slasher movie, it certainly popularized the genre along with Sean Cunningham's Friday the 13th, and for good reason. Everything about the film is iconic, from the opening where we slowly zoom into a Jack-o-Lantern's eye as the credits are played, to the score, to the script. This is a film that like Friday the 13th or the earlier Texas Chainsaw Massacre that spawned not only a franchise, but opened the floodgates, letting horror films creep out of the grind houses and double features into mainstream cinema.
Now, horror movies aren't exactly known for their great acting, but this is the exception that proves the rule. Laurie played by the exquisite Jamie Lee Curtis is terrific in the role, as is Donald Pleasance in his role as Dr. Loomis. I've watched this movie more times than I can count, and hearing Dr. Loomis describe his inability to cure the young disturbed Michael Meyers still gives me the creeps.
Perhaps one of the most surprising things in the film is the lack of gore, instead Carpenter masterfully uses an atmosphere of unease and tension. Cinematography in this film is excellent, as Carpenter skillfully makes use of blank long and medium shots. When they are shown through Michael Meyers' eyes, they are laced with a lack of effect, the sort of way a fish would look at something. Seeing, but not comprehending beyond a vague visual level.
There is a tree I can hide behind.
There are houses.
There are streets.
That girl is a thing I can kill.
More than this I do not understand.
Michael can appear in a scene for just a moment, or on the edge of a shot, and when the camera returns to the spot where a sharp eyed viewer has seen him, he is gone as quickly as he appeared. Despite the fact he spends most of the film silently observing Laurie and her friends, there is a real sense of anxiety as they are hopelessly unaware of the danger that the audience knows is lurking behind every corner, even in the daylight.
Carpenter knew that he had a powerful character with Michael Meyers, and he does exactly what he needed to do - by giving him as little screen time as possible. When we are first introduced to Michael, we don't even realize it. The film opens immediately after the credits to a pov shot of the outside of a house in the middle of average-town suburbia. It is night. Two teenagers are necking on the couch. The guy and the girl head upstairs. We see exactly what the stalker sees, as he creeps through the house, slowly getting to the kitchen.
A hand reaches out. It is the hand of a young boy in a clown costume. He withdraws a butcher knife and hides in the shadows, as the guy leaves. We watch, powerless to stop as little Michael puts on a discarded clown mask and heads into his sister's bedroom. When she yells at him for coming into her room, he stabs her again and again and again. It is as if the audience itself is complicit in the murder. After his sister collapses on the floor, Michael walks his way outside to his parents. The camera zooms out as his father rips off the clown mask. "Michael?" he questions.
But little Michael just stands there, knife in hand, staring blankly off into space. The theme begins playing from the credits scene again, as his parents stare at him, totally confused as the camera pulls farther and farther away.
It is an incredibly powerful moment not only in this movie, but in cinema history establishing what was truly scary about Michael Meyers - he isn't out for revenge like Jason after being abused or neglected, and he isn't a total monster like Freddie. He's just some kid, an average kid who for no understandable reason whatsoever, snapped and killed his sister. There isn't a why for what he is, but rather he just is. He is the boogieman.
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