John Carpenter’s Halloween is one of the most influential and imitated films of all time. Released in 1978 to at first very small release. It wasn’t until word of mouth and notable film critics such as Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, Dave Kehr and Tom Allen praised the film stating it deserved to be held in the same regard as Psycho. Although not the first film within the slasher genre. It has proven to be the one that has garnered the biggest legacy (Empire magazine even amusingly referred to it as the Elvis Presley of slasher films).
Beginning in 1963 in the fictional suburb of Haddonfield Illinois, the film opens with the then 6 year old Michael Myers brutally stabbing his sister Judith to death on Halloween night. No reason is given for this and Myers remains in a psychiatric hospital for the next 15 years under the watchful eye of Dr Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) however 15 years later on the anniversary of the murder, Michael escapes and heads back to Haddonfield to reek havoc once more, preying on shy and sensible teen Laurie (Jamie lee Curtis in her debut role) and her more ditzy promiscuous friends While Loomis is determined to hunt him down.
So after all the sequels and imitators what makes Halloween work better than most films of this ilk? Well for starters unlike many slasher movies Halloween features little to no blood or gore. Instead it focuses on old school techniques such as suspense and atmosphere as its selling point. The cinematography from the always excellent Dean Cundey is stunning making this small budget movie look more big budget (The opening POV shot which lasts nearly 5 minutes is a real highlight). The performances from Curtis and Pleasence are also standouts. Loomis can even be seen as a modern day take on Abraham Van helsing. Coincidentally enough Van Helsing himself Peter Cushing was considered for the role. However as Halloween was an independent movie and he had just appeared in one of the biggest blockbusters of that era with star wars he wasn’t available. Dracula himself Christopher lee was even offered the role but turned it down (he would later go on to say it was the biggest regret of his career). For her debut role Jamie Lee Curtis does a fine job as the archetypal final girl who uses her wits to avoid the killer while all her friends are mercilessly taken down.
Then of course there’s the music. Along with Bernard Hermann’s score from Psycho and Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells from The Exorcist, the score for Halloween written by Carpenter himself adds an extra layer to the movie and is still recognisable and distinctive all these years later. At the time of it’s release Halloween was the highest grossing independent film ever made (before the 1990 live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film took it’s place).
Halloween is a film that has still stood the test of time very well and has the distinction of being one of the few slasher movies that can actually be called classy. That’s not an easy task and it’s a true testament to Carpenter’s talent.
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