Halloween (1978) Movie Review
Halloween (1978) Movie Review
Maybe I’m behind on life, but before last week, I had never seen the original Halloween. I hadn’t seen any Halloween movies, as a matter of fact. Now I’ve seen it and can review it. Halloween, directed by the great John Carpenter, follows high schooler Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) as she tries to outrun and outsmart Michael Myers (Nick Castle), the killer that is murdering her friends on Halloween night. Also on the scene is Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), who spent decades trying to understand Michael while he was locked up, and now has to warn the local sheriff (Charles Cyphers) that Myers is up to no good. Laurie has to save two kids she’s babysitting, Tommy (Brian Andrews) and Lindsey (Kyle Richards), and herself, from this seemingly unstoppable killing machine.
I haven’t seen many slasher movies (this, Scream, Scream 2, and that’s about it), but I know a lot about them, and I can easily see why this is hailed as a horror and slasher classic. It’s dark, surprisingly weird, very subtle, really artistic, and has some genuinely creepy moments. I’m not the kind of person who is scared by slasher movies, but there are some scary scenes in this, dude. One of the biggest contributors to Halloween’s sense of unease is how empty it feels. There are many shots of empty streets, empty lots, and there are like 10 characters, with only 4 or 5 major ones. The emptiness makes it seem like there’s nobody to save these characters; they’re on their own with a killer who is basically impossible to defeat. The artistic styles Carpenter uses in this movie are very interesting as well. Darkness and shadow come into play often, hiding Myers and making everything seem more mysterious and uncertain. You can tell that Carpenter has paid attention to basically every detail, and that’s a strong point of the film. There are so many interesting and well-framed shots – so good they could be paintings. My favorite shot is of Michael staring at one of his victims who he has stabbed into the wall with his head cocked to the side. Honestly that could be one of my favorite shots of all time. Anyways, another reason this movie is great is because it doesn’t spend hardly any time on backstory for any of the characters. For Michael, it’s a weak point, because in my opinion the killer needs a real backstory or else it all just falls apart. Luckily it didn’t fall apart! But yeah, exposition about the characters isn’t really there. This could be a problem for most movies, but it works surprisingly well here. All of the teens are just kind of thrown at you, and all explanation about them is told through dialogue. Speaking of dialogue, there actually isn’t much of it. It’s not a very talky movie. Dialogue is used only when necessary. Halloween is clean and cold. It’s a stone-cold classic, as I like to say.
Even though Halloween is an amazing film, I do have a select few problems with it. One of them is that the backstory of Michael Myers feels rushed and problematic, and then, like, how does he know how to drive? Myers isn’t realistic at all. There are also a few really weird and disturbing moments that, even though it’s a horror movie, don’t fit in well with the subtle, eerie tone of the film. In one scene, Loomis and Cyphers are inside the abandoned Myers house, and they come across the body of a dead dog. Loomis explains that Michael “must have gotten hungry.” Yeesh. Another criticism I have with the movie is that sometimes it seems a little dry. Maybe another small subplot could have helped? Or another character or two? I guess I can’t complain too much, because obviously Halloween would lose part of its magic if it was all cluttered and overblown.
Safety Chart:
Violence: 7/10 - Obviously there’s some violence, it’s a slasher movie. Mostly unrealistic. Stabbings, shootings, and chokings. Bloody bodies. Descriptions of death and murder. Description of a man eating a dog.
Language: 6.5/10 - Somewhat profane, but not too much. Mostly what you’d expect from an edgy 70’s teen movie.
Drinking/Smoking: 6.5/10 - Teens drink and smoke. Adults smoke.
John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween is a classic of modern horror (is it even modern anymore?), and deservedly so. It’s unsettling and sharply made, and it also jumpstarted an entire subgenre, which very few other movies have done. The atmosphere is tight and so is the plot. Even though the background of Michael is somewhat undercooked, I’m still giving it an A+ as a grade, which is what it deserves. I wouldn’t put it above The Thing as Carpenter’s best work, but it takes second place in my opinion. It’s still great! Everyone should definitely see this movie.
