'Halloween' (1978): An Appreciation

I met him, fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left; no reason, no conscience, no understanding; and even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child with this blank, pale, emotionless face, and the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil."

Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis.

Hello one and all.

Well, this one's a given. Every year around this time, I make time for, as the movie trailer taglined: "The one. The only. The classic... Halloween!"

But first, a funny little story about that trailer. I was about six-years-old when an aunt of mine (not a favorite of mine) took me to the movies. Since multiplexes hadn't been really invented and marquee theaters were a dime-a-dozen in my hometown of Brooklyn, NY, I saw the live-action/animated Disney film, Song of the South from 1946 (a film that has officially been, for lack of a better euphemism, blacklisted due to its controversial subject matter). Because this was 1978, movie trailers weren't distributed to any one specific movie genre; basically, all films and their genres had every advertisement mixed in with whatever they showed. I thought it strange for a cartoon movie to show, of all things, a horror movie trailer. I had to admit, I was scared. I had never seen a horror movie, or any trailer, much less, knew of, or understood the concept. THIS was the first movie trailer to ever introduce me to the idea of scary movies. Up to that point, my life had been just Sesame Street, Disney cartoons, Tom & Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, Donnie & Marie, Captain & Tennille, Muppets and so on and so on. Being terrified by a film had never even occurred to me. So, you could say, Halloween was my Horror Movie Introduction 101. But, of course, my being six, barred me from seeing any sort of mature films (R-rated, Not 'X') at that age. But, after 1984, I was all caught up.

The year was roughly 1985. NBC had broadcast the movie probably for the last time on network television before moving to syndication. It was heavily edited for television, with a few extra scenes added to stretch it out during commercials. The second John Carpenter's eerie piano/keyboard theme began its bars, I was hooked. Although I had already seen my fair share of horror movies, it was this one that became my rite of passage. My coming of age, as it were. I was about to know true fear for the first time. And it was "Evil Personified." Its name... was Michael Myers.

CJG Artwork Reproduction of the Classic Iconic 1978 Poster!

Another CJG Artwork Piece Honoring The Film

CJG Artwork: The NBC Television Ad from 1979!

Here's the plot. It's Halloween in Haddonfield, IL, 1963. Two young teens are necking and being viewed by an unseen figure. The person enters the house, walks into the kitchen, and brandishes a large, sharp, butcher knife from a drawer. The necking had just turned to sex and the boy is now exiting. A clown mask is on the floor and the figure puts it on his face (assuming we knew the killer's gender all along) and enters the girl's room. She is semi-nude and brushing her hair. She's now aware of the figure in the room with her. "Michael!!!" she calls out.

The figure goes at it with the girl, stabbing her repeatedly with the knife and leaving her to die. He's flustered. He runs out the door and is met by a man and a woman. "Michael?" They pull the freaky clown mask off. We are shocked to see a boy, no older than five, in a Halloween clown costume holding the bloody knife. We know almost in an instant. The boy is a killer. They are his parents, and he had just stabbed his older sister to death.

Fast forward to 1978 (the present). An older, middle-aged, weary man (character actor Donald Pleasence in his iconic role) and his nurse assistant are driving to pick up a patient, possibly for disposal. They are shocked to see that the institution holding him is lax with its security. A man jumps onto the car, scaring the nurse, and driving off. The man (a doctor named Sam Loomis) is now petrified. "The evil is gone!" A scary Halloween is on the horizon for the town of Haddonfield. The mental patient escapee was the same one who killed his sister 15 years earlier: Michael Myers!

The next morning is Halloween. A pretty teen is on her way to school. She is Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut), a local teen who has got a long night ahead of her. She's got two girlfriends; a chronic smoker who says "totally" a lot (P.J. Soles from Carrie) and a surly, slutty friend (Nancy Kyes, billed as Nancy Loomis in the credits) who's on a mission to get laid that night. They're babysitting and for them, it's the perfect cover, but Laurie doesn't shirk her responsibilities. While we're getting to know these random people, Michael Myers is hiding out awaiting for the evening to set in. Dr. Loomis, along with the town sheriff (Charles Cyphers), who is the "slut's" father, are on a manhunt for Michael. The night looks and feels pleasant enough. Making Jack O' Lanterns. Making popcorn. Watching old horror movies. Smoking weed. Having sex. Scaring each other with stories about "the Boogeyman," etc. etc. Then... Myers claims his first victim... and the nightmare has begun. His target? Laurie.

Okay, that's it. What makes Halloween a masterpiece is its simplicity. No bells or whistles; no camera tricks, no special effects, not even a single drop of blood shed once, or at least gratuitously. Halloween uses music, light and shadow, choice dialogue and finally... a shocking climax. That's it. Done deal. It's clear that Carpenter and his then-girlfriend/partner in crime, the late Debra Hill were channeling Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, which is not a bad model for a modern horror film. The fact that they snagged Curtis, the daughter of Hollywood legends, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh (the star of Psycho) for the starring role was one of those happy accidents that became the stuff of the literal word, "legend." Even the late Donald Pleasence's character's name was a wink-and-nod to John Gavin's character's name from that seminal classic. It was made for a rough $325,000 budget and shot in under a month. Before the internet, smartphones, and social media took care of all our entertainment needs, a simple thing called "Word of Mouth" got this movie, which was indeed released in late October, the lines and crowds that would pack movie theaters for years to come. It invented (or perhaps, reinvented) the "slasher movie" subsection of the horror genre. It was one of the first movies to be released in the burgeoning home video movie market when VCRs were becoming all the rage in the late 1970s. It became the blueprint for any and all horror movies set on a particular holiday. Jamie Lee Curtis would make a career as a newly-christened "Scream Queen" with other films to her credit as Prom Night, Terror Train, The Fog to name a few. Carpenter's list of credits would grow to include science-fiction and action movies as well as horror. Titles such as The Fog, Escape From New York,The Thing, Christine, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, and In The Mouth of Madness are among his highlights.

In a nutshell, like a previous "appreciation" piece I wrote, Halloween was a game changer for horror movies and we were nightmared-up ever since. Thank you, Mr. Carpenter and G-d bless you... seriously!

My Two Cents: There's no need to get into the cash cow this film created with its large and expanding franchise, but if you must get my opinion of which Halloween movies are better than others, here's a brief list:

Halloween II, Halloween III: Season of the Witch (very underrated), Halloween 4:The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween, H20: Twenty Years Later and... no, none of the vomitous Rob Zombie remakes (Jesus, fuck, please!!!), Scream, perhaps, and any and all of the movies that included Valentine's Day, birthdays, April Fools, Mother's Day, proms, New Years, even Christmas (Silent Night, Deadly Night, anyone?) etc. etc.

Evil Personified, folks!

Fun Little Fact: The iconic "mask" was an old Star Trek: Captain Kirk mask that was painted over and the eyes tweaked to make it look scarier.

P.S. A new reboot is slated for 2018 in honor of its 40th anniversary! G-d help us all!

Next Up: An anthology movie... but, which one?