Sunday 31 October 2010

Review: Halloween (1978)

This is one scary movie. A very, very scary movie.

Picture it: It's Halloween night, 1963, and six year old Michael Myers has dressed up as a clown to go trick or treating, only he has other ideas... After murdering his big sister, Michael is confined to a sanitarium. 15 years later, on the eve of halloween, Michael manages to escape custody, and goes on a murderous rampage in his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois.

"You've got to believe me, Officer, he is coming to Haddonfield... Because I know him - I'm his doctor! You must be ready for him... If you don't, it's your funeral!"

From the second you hear the chilling score, you know that this film is going to scare you, as the music alone is enough to make you jump out of your skin. The story of Halloween is simple; You could sum it up easily in no more than a few words (Psycho kills on Halloween?). The thing is, the story is written so well. It's not overwritten. It's not underwritten. It's bang on the mark. We only see what we need to see, only hear what we need to know. For a horror movie, that's brilliant! Simple is better. Why bog it down with meaningless details and pointless story arcs (Though there are a few of these in Halloween's sequels) that nobody cares about? That's not why we go to see horror movies. We go for the thrill of them.

"Scream Queen" Jamie Lee Curtis is very good as Laurie Strode in her first film role, the role she is still best known for. Donald Pleasence is excellent as Dr. Loomis, the only man who understands what Myers' is capable of. But for my money, the best performance, and most underrated performance, of the film belongs to Tony Moran - The man who played Michael.

"Don't you think it would be better if you referred to "it" as "him"?"

Michael Myers is the one film character that I am absolutely terrified of. He scares me during the day. He scares me during the night. The very thought of him is enough to make me sleep with my light on, something that I have, in fact, done. A couple of years ago as a sick joke, my sister bought me a poster of Myers. One night, while on a sleepover, I turned my head for a second, and when I looked back, Michael was staring me in the face. My friend was holding the poster up, and I screamed bloody murder. For a second, it felt like my worst nightmare.

Halloween manages one thing that every other horror movie I've ever seen has failed to do: It continues to scare me; even when I know what's coming. I love it for that. 10/10

Trivia: Michael Myers' imfamous mask was made from... A William Shatner mask! The only changes they made were 1.) the color, the mask was spray painted white, 2.) the hair, which they teased, and 3.) the eyes, which were widened. 


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