Released on October 24, 1978 with a runtime of 91 minutes. Directed by John Carpenter, written by Carpenter and Debra Hill, as well as produced by Irwin Yablans. Halloween has since become a cult classic within the horror community. Producing a new genre within horror called slasher, in where the killer goes on a killing spree usually with no reason. It spawned countless influenced or copycat films in the late 70s and throughout the 80s. The plot is simple, a crazed serial killer escapes from an insane asylum and goes on a killing spree. However, let’s jump into John Carpenter’s Halloween plot with more detail.
The film begins on Halloween night in 1963 using a first person point-of-view, standing in front of a house. Walking behind the house after peeking into a window of a couple making out before heading upstairs to have sex. Entering through the kitchen, our character grabs a knife and sneakily heads upstairs after the boyfriend leaves for the night. Grabbing a clown mask on the way, the character approaches the female who yells out, “Michael!” As she is repeatedly stabbed to death, Michael runs downstairs and outside the house. It is revealed that our killer is a young boy who appears to be in a trance. Jumping 15 years later, one of the leading characters is introduced as Dr. Loomis (played by Donald Pleasance). He and his assistant are en route to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium to ensure his patient Michael is securely locked away forever. Unfortunately, a breakout is occurring and Michael manages to steal the car and drive off into the stormy night. It is now Halloween in Haddonfield. We are introduced to the heroine, Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) as she is tasked by her father to past by the Myers house and drop off keys on her way to school. We are then introduced to a young boy named Tommy (played by Brian Andrews), it is revealed that Laurie is his babysitter. Making plans and talking about Halloween and the Myers house. The house is where in the introduction, young Michael killed his sister. A masked man in a mechanic suit is seen stalking Laurie and Tommy throughout the day. Elsewhere, Dr. Loomis alerts his superiors and urges local authorities on capturing Michael Myers priority number one. All except Loomis are skeptical and dismiss the severity of Michael. He makes a trip to Haddonfield, having studied Michael over 15 years and being confident in knowing what he’ll most likely do. Throughout the day, Laurie becomes the only one to notice the man in the mask stalking her at a distance. Despite urging her friends, Annie (played by Nancy Loomis) and Lynda (played by P.J. Soles) about him. As night approaches and Dr. Loomis having made contact with Sheriff Brackett (played by Charles Cyphers) as police are on the lookout for Michael. The masked man slowly begins his killing spree with Annie becoming the first victim from the group. Killed by strangulation then an implied sliced at the neck. Lynda and her boyfriend, Bob are also killed by Michael in different ways. One who is lifted with a single arm by his neck and then forcibly hung after being stabbed on the chest, the other strangled by telephone cable. During the spree, Michael manages to stealthily kill the teenagers but had been spotted by Tommy who is ignored by Laurie at first. She ends up looking for her friends who no longer communicated with her from the house of the girl, Annie was tasked to babysit. Michael attempts to kill Laurie and slowly but methodically pursues her outside the house. Laurie manages to return inside Tommy’s house but Michael had managed to enter inside too. Despite various attempts of taking down Michael by Laurie, stabbing at the neck and then eye. Michael repeatedly gets up somewhat supernaturally and attempts one last time to strangle Laurie to death. Dr. Loomis has since spotted the stolen vehicle, tracing Michael through the commotion and fires at him with his revolver. Six times. Michael falls off the balcony from Tommy’s house and is apparently killed. Dr. Loomis confirms to Laurie that Michael is indeed the boogeyman as he looks out from the balcony above. Michael has disappeared. The film ends with heavy breathing that is implied to be Michael being any and everywhere at once.
Despite showing its age, the film was produced on a very low-budget by a determined crew to have fun making a slasher film. John Carpenter ended up saving the film by creating the iconic score used to intensify the scenes used throughout. His music capabilities is what got him to cast Donald Pleasance after all for Halloween, who’s daughter was a fan of. Jamie Lee Curtis heritage as the daughter of Janet Leigh, who’d been recognized as a scream queen from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Michael Myers determination to just kill without reason or remorse, using a now iconic heavily-modified Captain Kirk mask. Halloween made a killing in its slow but growing release that then influenced other filmmakers and studios to follow suit. The film itself ended up spawning sequels, reboots and other related ties that now spawns nearly 50-years in its longevity as an icon in horror.
It earns a 4 out of 5.
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