MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Halloween" (1978)

"I met him fifteen years ago, I was told there was nothing left; no reason, no conscience, no understanding, and even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil; right or wrong. I met this six year old child with this blank, pale, emotionless face, and the blackest eyes; the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply evil." - Dr. Samuel Loomis

The classic film that effectively began what we know as the Slasher film.  Sure, Black Christmas four years before this came out used a lot of the same techniques and established many of the tropes of the slasher film, but this is where the slasher film really began...ironically as more of a suspense film.  Yes, in spite of the belief of many, John Carpenter's magnum opus Halloween seemingly has very little in common with the slasher films that would follow it...including its own sequels.  Heavy on the suspense, and with a very, very low body count (five, if you could a dog), John Carpenter was more concerned with the suspense, and he certainly gave all of that and more for this holiday classic.

The film begins with an iconic point of view shot that is later revealed to be that of young Michael Audrey Myers on the night he takes hold of a kitchen knife and brutally murders his older sister, Judith.  Fast forward from that terrible Halloween night in 1963 to a few days before Halloween in 1978, fifteen years later.  We are introduced to Doctor Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance) and nurse Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens) who are transporting Michael for a court hearing.  However, Michael escapes and commandeers the vehicle, leaving Loomis behind as he returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois.

In Haddonfield, we are introduced to heroine Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends Annie (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda (P.J. Soles).  Laurie could swear she's being watched and followed around town as she goes about her business, but can't really give it too much mind as she has to focus on her job that night of babysitting young Tommy Doyle (Brian Andrews), the night where Laurie Strode's life will change forever...

This is a wonderful film that absolutely deserves its place as a horror classic.  John Carpenter and Debra Hill have crafted an excellent, suspenseful story that so many other films have tried and failed to follow up to.  The biggest example in my mind being the Rob Zombie remake.  Alas, as this isn't a comparison piece, I'll just stick to the original: you've got a dark, unknowable, unkillable evil, you've got suspense out the wazoo with very decent payoff, and you have very minimal blood and gore.

Though Halloween inspired the existence of many different films, including the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises, the horror comes from the suspense. When I watch it, I don't have the same mentality when I watch movies from either of the other franchises, where it's largely to lack at the cheesiness (or marvel at the creativeness of) the kills of the victims. Halloween also takes the time to establish its characters so you can actually care about them when they're in danger or are killed, something that most modern horror movies don't even bother to do.

If you're going into this expecting just a mindless gore fest, you're going to be disappointed. But if you're looking for a good, suspenseful horror film, then outside of Hitchcock himself you can't do much better.

"Halloween" is now available on DVD.

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