Happy About Halloween

Since today is Halloween I decided it would be fitting to review a horror movie classic: John Carpenter’s Halloween. The 1978 movie was low-budget, but instantly became hit. It was also scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis's first film role. Here's the trailer for anyone curious. 

Halloween opens with a young, soon to be infamous, Michael Myers at home on Halloween. His older sister is supposed to be watching him, but decides to sneak her boyfriend into her house and up to her room instead. After her boyfriend leaves, Michael, stoic and silent, takes a large kitchen knife and goes upstairs, where he stabs his sister to death. 

The movie fast forwards to Halloween day fifteen years later. Michael has been institutionalized and is slated for transfer. However, during the transfer he escapes and   steals a car. He then makes his way back to his hometown in Illinois.

photo courtesy of imdb.com

The story shifts to focus on local teenage babysitter Laurie Strode and her two best friends Annie and Lynda. Laurie and Annie have plans to babysit, and Lynda has plans with her boyfriend. As the day goes on Laurie notices a strange man stalking her, but shrugs it off as Halloween weirdness. Too bad she doesn’t realize that her stalker is really Michael Myers and he’s out for blood.

I love Halloween. Plain and simple. I agree that it's a classic, and should be remembered as an important part of horror history. It has spawned several sequels and a remake, becoming a horror franchise. However, nothing will ever compare to the original. 

First of all the music score is classic in itself. The chilling melody cuts down to the bone and gives me shivers. Second, the idea of a villain with no rhyme or reason to kill is terrifying. The fact that he never says anything, even as a child, just adds to the mystery. Third, its basically the movie that solidified the idea that the virgin lives, and all of the teenagers getting busy meet their makers, which has become a staple idea in horror movies.

Another thing I love about Halloween is that it was low-budget, had many inconsistencies, but was still so chilling that it succeeded. The movie became a smashing success. 

However, I do have to address the inconsistencies. The movie is supposed to be set in Illinois at the end of October, but yet there is no snow, or gloomy looking weather. Instead, its sunshine for miles. Also, in a scene when Laurie is walking home from school her hair switches from curly to straight randomly. Another thing is that there is practically no blood, even though some characters are stabbed to death-with a huge knife. Those are just a few of the glitches. The list goes on, but the movie overcame them all.

Also, there is one scene that I just did not understand. Tommy, the little boy Laurie is supposed to babysit, is in the school yard and is about to walk home. Out of all the kids in sight, he’s the only one carrying a pumpkin. Not a Jack-O-Lantern, just a big pumpkin. I just did not understand why he had it. I guess I over think things.

Before I come to a conclusion, as an added bonus I just want to point out that Annie’s babysitting charge went on in life to be a “Real Housewife.” I’ll leave that up to you guys to figure out which one. 

In the end, I’ll say it over and over again. I love Halloween. It's a classic and always will be.