Halloween

My favorite movies are the ones I can watch over and over and continuously rediscover; the ones that upon a third, fourth or tenth viewing always hold something new. “Halloween” is such a film. On top of being historically significant, I think it is legitimately creepy. Perhaps a little tame considering the films that followed in its wake, but what’s good about it remains effective today.

It’s 1963, Halloween night. In the small town of Haddonfield, IL, six-year-old Michael Myers slaughters his teenage sister with a kitchen knife. The boy is taken to a psychiatric hospital where he remains in a catatonic state for 15 years. On October 30, 1978, Michael escapes from his psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance) to kill again, setting his sights on Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends.

When discussing “Halloween”, it’s important to note what it is, and what it isn’t. This film doesn't feature a lot of gore or a high body count. The characters in it are not dumb teenagers who split up when they should stick together and who trespass where they have no business going, “earning them” gruesome deaths. It contains many of the clichés of slasher films, but that’s because it’s been imitated over and over again. What I enjoy about this picture is seeing the origin of those tropes. Here, Laurie’s friends want to isolate themselves from parental supervision to have sex, to drink and to use drugs. When they do so, they are attacked by Michael Myers (or “The Shape”, as he is called in the end credits) It’s not that our heroine Laurie is pure and virginal, it’s that she doesn’t happen to have a date on Halloween night. This progenitor of the slasher film contains surprises, and it's also familiar all at once.

This is a low-budget horror flick that builds atmosphere with its music, a terrific score by John Carpenter (who also directs) That dread you feel comes from your affection for the characters. They joke around, they like watching horror movies, they blow off homework, they sneak out when they’re grounded. You relate. Then, in the background, you see the stark contrast of the Shape’s white face against the shadows, its lifeless eyes revealing nothing about its sinister agenda. You can sense the killer coming closer and closer to its victims until finally, all those nervous feelings you’ve been accumulating get to be released when he strikes.

Some of the performances show that the young actors are in their first roles (though Jamie Lee Curtis is quite good) and yes, if you’ve seen a lot of horror movies you can get a feel for where the plot is going early on… but that’s kind of what I like about "Halloween". There’s something about this first take at these elements combined together that changed EVERYTHING. Look at “Psycho” or “Frankenstein”. What do you see? Big-name, professional ADULT actors. This film’s got Donald Pleasance. Everyone else is unknown and young. Some of the characters put in peril even include children. Terror is no longer limited to adults; anyone can be a victim. Consider the ending of this film, how it makes it clear that the little town of Haddonfield will never be the same. The Shape has come to a little town where no one locks their doors, where Halloween is some goofy holiday for kids to dress up as cowboys or lions. The most frightening thing you’re expected to see are white-sheet ghosts or the witch from “Wizard of Oz”. Now, look at the world we’ve come to. Do you know anyone who would trust babysitters like they do in this film, who doesn’t lock their doors at night or who wouldn’t freak out at the sight of someone staring at them for more than 30 seconds? “Halloween” has crept out of the screen and into our lives.

At the core of “Halloween” core is a simple fear. “Someone crazy is stalking you. ” The film strips away unnecessary elements like an explanation for why and how Michael Myers is doing what he does. It doesn’t matter what his motivations are when he’s just a few steps behind you. In fact, that uncertainty makes it all that much more frightening. I like to look at the film both as a realistic story since Michael Myers is just a regular guy with a knife skulking around in the dark and also as a supernatural tale of an ultimate evil force setting its sights on an ordinary young woman. Either way, the randomness of it all and the little things – the soundtrack, the POV shots, the simple design of the killer – are what make this film iconic.

If you’ve seen "Halloween" before and you like it, you and I are on the same page. If you don’t remember caring for it because you thought it was slow or derivative of other films, look beyond what’s on the surface. Consider the details, the decisions that the people involved made when they had no influences like modern-day slashers did. “Halloween” is a special film. (On Blu-ray, October 21, 2016)