HALLOWEEN
dir: John Carpenter
"No reason, no conscience, no understanding; even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, 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." - Dr. Sam Loomis
Brief Synopsis
A psychopathic killer named Michael Myers escapes from a mental institution on Halloween and proceeds to terrorize young people in his old neighborhood while his psychiatrist tries to track him down.
Why It's Here
Holidays are times when groups of family or friends often get together and watch classic films running on television into the night to feel the spirit of the season. So a film proclaiming itself as "Halloween" has a lot to live up to. Fortunately, John Carpenter's suspense horror lives up to it's high expectations, serving as the ultimate boogeyman story.
The film opens with a prelude to the main story featuring a young Michael Myers who murders his older sister in cold blood. The entire sequence is shot in first person, giving the audience a chilling participatory feeling. When we finally pull back and see Michael's face, he's staring into the abyss while his parents stand staring in confusion. Michael looks emotionless, empty. The traits of a truly terrifying menace. Our first indication that Michael is no regular lunatic, but a symbol of horror itself.
Fast-forward almost twenty years, the suburban neighborhood filled with adolescents too young to recall that fateful night, instead the tragedy is a piece of urban myth. Only this year Michael narrowly escaped from his mental institution to make his way back home, the only place he knows. From here on, Michael hides in the background almost like a "Where's Waldo" book. In nearly every scene, he is deliberately placed in the shadows behind the action, acting as a reverse voyeur to the audience. We look in on the events from one side, while he looks from the other.
In many ways, the film is the ultimate ghost story. It's simplistic in execution and Carpenter brilliantly crafts Michael into a recognizable enemy by giving him absolutely no character development. Our only guide to knowledge about Michael is from the overly cryptic Sam Loomis who is almost like a narrator to a campfire scary story. Loomis repeatedly refers to Michael as "the devil" or "evil" not in description, but as an entity of it. The audience initially sees Loomis as a zany quack whose hyperbole is laughable, but eventually we begin to realize that he was exactly right. The real horror sets in when this realization occurs and all of Loomis's warnings of Michael suddenly become valid. The audience, like the disbelieving characters in the film get a shocking wake-up call from the lumbering, unstoppable killer hiding in the shadows.
From the conclusion of the first scene, we are bombarded with questions about Michael. Why did he kill his sister? Why that night? Later we ponder further, how can he drive a car? Why is hiding his face? Why is he stalking these teenagers? His absolute ambiguity is unsettling because audiences tend to want all of the answers in front of them, or at least the assurance that they will unfold eventually. Instead, Michael is often referred to as a "boogeyman", even before admitting it our protagonist Laurie never confirms or denies that it is the boogeyman to the frightened children, only directing them to safety. The possibility that he is more than a human killer is finally confirmed when Laurie screams, "it was the boogeyman!" to which Loomis cryptically replies, "as a matter of fact, it was."
Staying true to the nature of the boogeyman, Myers is invisible for a large part of the film. Representing the best aspect of 1970-80's horror, "Halloween" is largely murder-less until half way through the film. It's all about suspense, evoking that creepy feeling of being watched, even in full daylight. Myers studies his victims, even when his many opportunities to kill are presented, he holds back, escalating the tension to an almost unbearable level. Michael's constant presence mixed with his patience throws the audience off, making them question when he will actually strike. Horror today is devoid of this sense of building suspense, but when Michael finally strikes, the build up is finally worth it. It's this pacing that makes "Halloween" difficult to simply label as horror, instead it acts largely as a suspense film.
While we often see Michael hiding in the background, some scenes force us to join him as he looks upon the teenagers he is about to slaughter. His presence and intentions are heightened from did-you-spot-him moments to indisputable awareness that Michael is right behind them, waiting and watching. This eerie voyeur moments also let us in on Michael's bizarre intentions. We see him grab a child briefly, who looks upset by his appearance (hidden from the audience) and runs off. Michael has no interest in him, but rather the boy whom he saw outside his house. While his lurking is creepy to say the least, he is obviously uninterested in the children. When Laurie has them hide in a room and lock the door, Michael instead hunts her. His motives are never clear simply because as a psychotic killer, we are never supposed to understand why Michael kills the way he does. Carpenter intentionally reveals child Michael as a disconnected empty vessel of a person.
Myers is told to be a human being, but by the time we see him as an adult he is more an entity of pure evil. Myers is an inescapable body of death who can drive a car simply because he is meant to kill, and not even logic of human skills and development can hold him back. The plausibility of Myers is constantly called into question, even his old psychiatrist asks how he could have driven. Later he is in one place, then emerges in a complete other, as if he is truly everywhere. He even ignores Laurie's decoy escape route and instead correctly lunges towards the closet where she is hiding. The final scene draws conclusion that Myers is no mere man, as he disappears from what should have been his death, the camera moves through familiar locations on the street with Myers breathing heavily behind the camera, reminding us that he can not be stopped, and that he is everywhere.
Last Updated
June 10, 2009
The film opens with a prelude to the main story featuring a young Michael Myers who murders his older sister in cold blood. The entire sequence is shot in first person, giving the audience a chilling participatory feeling. When we finally pull back and see Michael's face, he's staring into the abyss while his parents stand staring in confusion. Michael looks emotionless, empty. The traits of a truly terrifying menace. Our first indication that Michael is no regular lunatic, but a symbol of horror itself.
Fast-forward almost twenty years, the suburban neighborhood filled with adolescents too young to recall that fateful night, instead the tragedy is a piece of urban myth. Only this year Michael narrowly escaped from his mental institution to make his way back home, the only place he knows. From here on, Michael hides in the background almost like a "Where's Waldo" book. In nearly every scene, he is deliberately placed in the shadows behind the action, acting as a reverse voyeur to the audience. We look in on the events from one side, while he looks from the other.
In many ways, the film is the ultimate ghost story. It's simplistic in execution and Carpenter brilliantly crafts Michael into a recognizable enemy by giving him absolutely no character development. Our only guide to knowledge about Michael is from the overly cryptic Sam Loomis who is almost like a narrator to a campfire scary story. Loomis repeatedly refers to Michael as "the devil" or "evil" not in description, but as an entity of it. The audience initially sees Loomis as a zany quack whose hyperbole is laughable, but eventually we begin to realize that he was exactly right. The real horror sets in when this realization occurs and all of Loomis's warnings of Michael suddenly become valid. The audience, like the disbelieving characters in the film get a shocking wake-up call from the lumbering, unstoppable killer hiding in the shadows.
From the conclusion of the first scene, we are bombarded with questions about Michael. Why did he kill his sister? Why that night? Later we ponder further, how can he drive a car? Why is hiding his face? Why is he stalking these teenagers? His absolute ambiguity is unsettling because audiences tend to want all of the answers in front of them, or at least the assurance that they will unfold eventually. Instead, Michael is often referred to as a "boogeyman", even before admitting it our protagonist Laurie never confirms or denies that it is the boogeyman to the frightened children, only directing them to safety. The possibility that he is more than a human killer is finally confirmed when Laurie screams, "it was the boogeyman!" to which Loomis cryptically replies, "as a matter of fact, it was."
Staying true to the nature of the boogeyman, Myers is invisible for a large part of the film. Representing the best aspect of 1970-80's horror, "Halloween" is largely murder-less until half way through the film. It's all about suspense, evoking that creepy feeling of being watched, even in full daylight. Myers studies his victims, even when his many opportunities to kill are presented, he holds back, escalating the tension to an almost unbearable level. Michael's constant presence mixed with his patience throws the audience off, making them question when he will actually strike. Horror today is devoid of this sense of building suspense, but when Michael finally strikes, the build up is finally worth it. It's this pacing that makes "Halloween" difficult to simply label as horror, instead it acts largely as a suspense film.
While we often see Michael hiding in the background, some scenes force us to join him as he looks upon the teenagers he is about to slaughter. His presence and intentions are heightened from did-you-spot-him moments to indisputable awareness that Michael is right behind them, waiting and watching. This eerie voyeur moments also let us in on Michael's bizarre intentions. We see him grab a child briefly, who looks upset by his appearance (hidden from the audience) and runs off. Michael has no interest in him, but rather the boy whom he saw outside his house. While his lurking is creepy to say the least, he is obviously uninterested in the children. When Laurie has them hide in a room and lock the door, Michael instead hunts her. His motives are never clear simply because as a psychotic killer, we are never supposed to understand why Michael kills the way he does. Carpenter intentionally reveals child Michael as a disconnected empty vessel of a person.
Myers is told to be a human being, but by the time we see him as an adult he is more an entity of pure evil. Myers is an inescapable body of death who can drive a car simply because he is meant to kill, and not even logic of human skills and development can hold him back. The plausibility of Myers is constantly called into question, even his old psychiatrist asks how he could have driven. Later he is in one place, then emerges in a complete other, as if he is truly everywhere. He even ignores Laurie's decoy escape route and instead correctly lunges towards the closet where she is hiding. The final scene draws conclusion that Myers is no mere man, as he disappears from what should have been his death, the camera moves through familiar locations on the street with Myers breathing heavily behind the camera, reminding us that he can not be stopped, and that he is everywhere.
Last Updated
June 10, 2009