Halloween (1978) - Lisa's Review

Halloween is a favourite of an awful lot of people I know.  I wouldn't say it was a favourite of mine, but it is a movie I would recommend any horror fan watch.  It was the first that spawned a lot of similar teen slasher style movies.  I'm thinking Friday the 13th / Nightmare on Elm Street.

The teenagers in these movies can pretty much be taken or left, replaced by the next young hopeful in the queue.  I think a lot of guys may disagree with me here seeing as Jamie Lee Curtis plays our innocent young schoolgirl Laurie in this movie.  The slasher is Michael Myers.  We never see an adult face, only that of his 6 year old self with the murder that started it all.

When Michael was 6 years old he murdered his sister on Halloween night with a very big knife whilst wearing a clown costume.  The murder scene itself in this movie is something that was incredibly weakened for me by the need for the sister to be shown naked after she'd been murdered, ok, so she'd just been shagging her boyfriend, but for me it turned what could have been a creepy, dark scene into something for the boys.  Also the ridiculous flailing about by his sister, the lack of any attempt to get up from her seat to get away or push her 6 year old brother over was a bit of a laugh.  It's sad really as the movies start is very strong, but would have been much stronger had these couple of elements been changed.
We skip forwards 15 years from this murder to when Michaels psychiatrist Dr Loomis (Donald Pleasance) is travelling to take Michael to a hearing to seal his fate, which is expected to be a life in prison.  Not surprisingly things don't go to plan and Michael escapes.  Dr Loomis is the one person who knows Michael better than anyone else.  He knows that Michael will head back towards Haddonfield to what he knows... and he's not wrong.  Oh I forgot to mention, it just so happens to be Halloween the day after Michael escapes.   The 15 year anniversary of his sisters murder.

As for the rest of the movie.  It's pretty much a case of Michael stalks Laurie, murders her friends and tries to murder her.  I'll let you work out whether he succeeds.

This movie is predictable now due to the incessant stream of these kind of movies that came after Halloween, but back in 1978, the concept was still quite fresh.  Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie and is still worth a watch today, but it doesn't pack the same punch as it would have back then.

One wonderful part of the Halloween movie is the very creepy soundtrack.  It's one of my favourites amongst horror movie soundtracks.  Any horror fan worth their salt will know exactly what the movie is if a few notes of this track is played.

Of course a fun fact that pretty much everyone knows is that Michaels mask is an old William Shatner plastic mask sprayed white, with the eyeholes cut a little bigger.  Apparently, even Michael Shatner didn't know this for a number of years.  Even more surprising given the movies success, is the fact that the reason this mask was the one purchased is because it cost a mere $2 and it was one of the cheapest masks on sale.  Due to the low budget, money was saved wherever it could be.

So, before I deviate any further.  This is an excellent movie.  It definately deserves a watch, but I sure wish I'd been old enough to see it in the cinema in  1978.  Recommended.