John Carpenter's "Halloween"
| Published 10/29/04

Graphic by: Doni Neel

Today's moviegoers may find the film tame after being saturated with violent ../images for years. There's little blood in the movie, even less than "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," and there are no grueling death scenes. But Carpenter's film still holds up well 25 years after its release. The plot is familiar enough. Six-year-old Michael Myers kills his sister on Halloween in 1963 and is put away in a mental hospital. His doctor, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence), comes to the conclusion that Myers is evil and wants to keep him incarcerated.

But when Dr. Loomis is ordered to transport Myers to another facility with a nurse, Myers escapes and heads to Haddonfield, Ill.

Dr. Loomis has a dark persona, and this increases the anxiety factor in the movie. If Loomis believes that Myers should be incarcerated forever, something truly menacing must be coming to Haddonfield. Loomis is constantly anxious throughout the film and does everything he can to stop Myers. But Dr. Loomis also provides Myers with a psychology. Myers doesn't have a personality, he just kills. Through Loomis, the audience understands why Myers kills: it's because Myers is the embodiment of evil. Even as a little boy, the characters refers to him as "the boogieman."

When Myers gets to Haddonfield, he's always lurking around a corner, quietly observing and plotting when to attack. Carpenter used this as a technique to build tension and suspense by making the audience wait for Myers to strike. It was a popular technique to use in horror movies at the time. "Jaws," "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Alien" used the same technique. When it's used right, the results are fantastic.

"Halloween" also introduced Jamie Lee Curtis, who portrayed main character Laurie Strode. Curtis was perfect for the role. She gave the character authenticity. It really looks like Strode loves kids and is more concerned with academics than fooling around.

That doesn't mean Curtis' character is perfect. In the movie, Strode shares a joint with a friend in a car. This brings up another subject about the movie: its conservative morality. Anybody who's remotely familiar with slasher films knows that characters who smoke pot, have premarital sex or do immoral things die first.

"Halloween" is a film that defines its genre. It may not be as shocking as it was 26 years ago, but it's like any good horror movie: it reflects the time it was made. "Halloween" was made in the post-women's liberation and post- sexual revolution climate; undoubtedly, these anxieties are present in the film. Any fan of slasher films knows that characters that do drugs, have premarital sex or commit an act of immorality get killed. The villains in slasher films act as moral authority, reserving most of their rage for characters who indulge in such things.

There's no doubt that "Halloween" has had a huge influence on American horror films. It started the slasher genre, and however bad those movies typically are, "Halloween" is one worth saving.