Halloween
Halloween was as a low-budget, independently made horror/slasher movie. It was directed by John Carpenter, who had previously worked on movies such as Dark Star and Assault on Precinct 13. Halloween stars Donald Pleasence as Sam Loomis and Jamie Lee Curtis as the babysitter, Laurie Strode. But the most celebrated character in Halloween is the killer, Michael Myers, who always has a white mask on. He is referred to in this movie as The Shape (!). The movie starts off 15 years before 1978, on Halloween night. Michael Myers, then 6 years old, decides that his older sister has to die, so he kills her with a kitchen knife. His parents then arrive home and send him off to the Warren County Sanitarium, where he is placed under the care of Dr. Sam Loomis (Pleasence). Fast forward 15 years, Loomis drives to the sanitarium to get Michael out for his prosecution. Michael escapes in Loomis's car and drives to Haddonfield. Loomis pursues him, knowing what he is going to do. Meanwhile, Laurie Strode has just been let out of school and is walking home with her friends. She sees a man with a white mask (really a William Shatner mask painted white) behind a bush and standing outside her house when she gets home. Unfortunately for her, she has to go babysit a boy named Tommy, and that is when the killings start to happen. I won't tell more of the plot myself, you will either have to watch the movie or read the rest of it online (which I don't recommend doing, as it spoils the movie).
This is considered to be one of the best horror movies ever made, and I agree. This movie basically started off the slasher movie theme. That's amazing, considering that the budget for Halloween was only $325,000. The music is awesome as well, so look below for the soundtrack.
Halloween premiered on October 25, 1978 in Kansas City. Even though it did well, many critics seemed uninterested until word of mouth spread. Tom Allen was one of the first to review Halloween, and he compared it to previous films like Psycho and Night of the Living Dead. Roger Ebert gave similar praise, and included it in his Top 5 Films of 1978. This review made many movie-goers go see Halloween, which in turn grossed $47 million. Think about that: a film with a $325000 budget grossing almost $50 Million. That's incredible. It deserved it though, and because of some interesting camera work done by Mr. Carpenter, such as the long beginning sequence, Halloween won the Critics Award at the Avoriaz Film Festival in 1979 and was nominated for a Saturn Award, also in 1979.
There have been seven sequels to Halloween, and a remake by Rob Zombie in 2007. However, none of the sequels have matched the charm of the first movie. All of them, excepting the 3rd movie, have had Michael Myers in them.
Summary: This movie is awesome. Go see it.
Rating: 8.5/10
Quote: Tommy: But I saw the boogeyman! I saw him!
Laurie: Okay, what did he look like?
Tommy: Ummm... (pauses and thinks) the boogeyman!
Theme:
mp3
Poster:
Hope you enjoyed this review. Next up: South Park.
EDIT: Merci beaucoups to gloomp, who pointed out some mistakes.
