Halloween (Original)
Always known forever as the film that turned the tide for American horror movies, this 1978 release from master director John Carpenter made for an extremely low budget of $325,000 wound up being the highest grossest independent film of all time and moreso created and inspired the so-called âslasherâ genre, where one filmmaker after another tried (often without success) to bring us a variation of the formula involving usually young people being stalked and killed by an usually indestructible killer, with Friday The 13th being the first to really knock it out of the park. The amazing thing about Carpenterâs work here is just how deceptively SIMPLE the whole story is, with Michael Myersâ rampage having seemingly no reasonable explanation or motive (outside of his doctorâs ramblings which make him come across as practically a nut to normal people he encounters) and that the victims he preys on are just regular people who suddenly have this tremendous force of evil just dropped into their lives and coming after them, notwithstanding the entire âsisterâ angle they went with in the sequels. In the three main female roles, we of course have first Jamie Lee Curtis (daughter of Psycho shower victim Janet Leigh and continuing the horror classic lineage) who became forever known as the Ultimate Scream Queen after playing the shy and innocent Laurie Strode (not to mention Curtis easily looked the hottest she ever had with lush long hair before she cut it short and became Miss Androgyny) preferring to stay away from boys and fornication in favor of studying and being a responsible babysitter, and it is her who ultimately represents Michaelâs ultimate challenge, unencumbered by teenage temptations like booze and sex in order to keep her wits about her and do battle with him in the filmâs most powerful scenes. Then thereâs Nancy Loomis as the brunette best friend Annie, unconventional in her looks but possibly having the most raw sex appeal of any of the female characters, and PJ Soles as the blond cheerleader member of the group Linda, hated by many viewers for her unapologetic bimbo charm, but nonetheless coming across as a likable goof which pretty much seemed to be the intention. Of course, the biggest star in the movie (at the time) was Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis, seemingly underused here as he only worked for 5 days on the original film and spends much of his screen time standing outside a house while staking it out, but of course famously stuck it out for 4 more sequels until his death and made the character an indispensable iconic figure not just for the series but in horror itself, with the coolest thing about him being the idea that he (a greatly respected child psychologist in his field) was tasked with examining and looking after Myers 15 years before (practically becoming a father figure to him of sorts), but, after discovering what Myers truly was as he watched him grow up and tried to get through to him, wound up going insane himself and tried to declare to everyone around him that Michael was truly pure Evil (a diagnosis that would be considered unethical in almost any psychiatric circles), even as certain segments of the fan base have felt that Michael is in actuality a (possibly possessed) low functioning autistic with a high pain threshold who only comes alive on Halloween night. As for Myers himself, itâs fascinating to look at the other âheroesâ of horror and be able to say that Freddy, Jason, Pinhead, and many others might be âcoolerâ, but Michael was the first, and Carpenterâs decision to have no one actor play Michael in the film, but instead have several different guys play him at certain points given who was available on set at the time (including his unmasking) shows that the character is for all intents and purposes NOT supposed to be an actor making his mark in a given role but rather a faceless monster who in the grand scheme of things could be anybody, human or otherwise, as his early actions in the film show him to merely be one of the worldâs most adept âcreepersâ, as he stalks our main girls around town and clearly shows his intent on meeting up with them later that night, and of course that mask, best known as a (very) cheap William Shatner mask which was then painted and altered to give it its own unique look, is terrifying when seen in the right context. Anyone that knows Carpenter of course is aware of his surprisingly fantastic abilities as a musician, and his score here might very well be THE best musical score in the history of horror, expertly building the mood when necessary and of course the main theme which trumps both The Exorcist and Phantasm as the most iconic instrumental music in horror EVER. Throw in a fantastic job at cinematography by Dean Cundey, and you have everything you need in one perfect package, the horror film that redefined horror films, the legend that will always be remembered, especially during the particular time of year that the title has always alluded to and luckily had never been used prior in the history of moviesâŚ
10/10