Review: Halloween (1978)

Halloween (1978):

Synopsis – A crazy dude escapes from a mental hospital after years of being incarcerated, only to return to the town where he had killed his older sister, beginning a new spree of terror. He is totes cray cray!

Starring – Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes, P.J. Soles, Charles Cyphers, the guy who played Michael Myers, the kids, and the rest of the cast!

As I have said previously, I never used to watch horror movies. I think the first time I was exposed to any horror movie was when I was between the ages of 7-9. I was staying over at an older boy’s house, having a sleepover with all his friends, and they were having a horror movie marathon. I don’t know what Nightmare on Elm Street movie this is from, but I remember 2 things: One, Freddy saying “Let’s suck face” and then sucking on a girl’s mouth till she became a hollow husk; two, a giant Freddy head attached to a thick neck, like a huge worm, eating a girl who was in her bed.  The rest of the time I had my eyes closed shut very tightly. Whether these two scenes actually exist in any movie I don’t know; I haven’t bothered to seek them out to confirm their existence. Needless to say, those images became burned into my brain and while I don’t remember having any nightmares I certainly haven’t forgotten the exposure over the years. It started in me a fascination with things that go bump in the night which never carried over into movies until recently. I can remember sitting in the school library, reading Stephen King or looking through this awesome encyclopedia of monsters they had.  Over the last couple of years, I have been delving slowly into the horror genre of film, generally staying away from any movie that I know is only about jump scares; because if I’m going to be scared I want it to be a genuine feeling. A dog barking at you randomly as you walk by is the same as a jump scare, and there’s nothing terrifying about that after the fact. Halloween has been sitting on my shelf for a while now, and I finally decided it was time to get it over. The funny thing to me is, the only reason I wanted to watch it right when I did is because I had just finished Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and wanted something slightly schlocky to balance out the joy. I got what I needed, but it wasn’t as good as I had hoped.

What I Liked:

-Michael Myers, what’s not to like? They did a great job of making a guy in a mask seem super creepy. His slow and measured movements and muteness (with shots from within the mask, accompanied by breathing) were an excellent choice by the film makers. Nothing seems more alien than something that is alive but cannot be communicated with.

-I heard a lot about Donald Pleasence’s role in this movie and how he is amazing. While I think amazing might be a bit strong, it’s only because he isn’t really given much to do except run around explaining things. He is definitely the best actor in this film.

What I Didn’t Like:

-What the hell? If those are teenagers, then I’m a freaking teenager! Even Jamie Lee Curtis, who was actually the appropriate age during the filming of the movie, seems much older because of her voice. And when combined with those two ladies pretending not to be in their 30’s next, well, it comes off as pretty damn false.

-Everyone knows the theme from Halloween. It is iconic for a reason, and it really is perfect for the film. After a while though, I got pretty tired of the digital score just popping in randomly. I was jarred out of the movie a few times by it. I don’t think I like digital scores as a rule.

What I Hated:

-I was very much enjoying how Michael Myers seemed both very human (driving a car, being seen all over town but not just magically appearing everywhere) and very monster (silent, slow moving, strong, determined like the freaking terminator) at the same time. But when he begins to take a lot of hits, they don’t seem to slow him down at all. He comes off as nearly invincible by the end, especially with the ambiguous disappearance at the end. I thought that was preeeeety lame.

Verdict:

I think I might have had higher expectations for Halloween than I thought I did. It’s my friend Jose’s fault. He has been talking it up for a while. Well, and so has the rest of the internet. Either way, I am glad I watched, and I would watch it again if pressed to, but it really wasn’t anything too special.