HALLOWEEN (1978)

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The greatest horror movie of all time. Not even Psycho can beat it. The simplicity in the story is amazing! Why did nobody think of it earlier? Cuz it was the beginning of a whole new type of horror genre.

Who can forget the night that the fugitive mental patient stalked into a sleepy town and offed a few citizens? Or the weekend the Shape stalked into theaters and doubled it's gross box office intake for the first 3 days of release? Or how Irwin Yablans tricked Moustapha Akkad into forking over $300K by slyly insulting his pride? Or how it was submitted the first time without the chilling score and had meant nothing at all? And how John Carpenter composed the most memorable theme music that was inspired by playing bongos? Or the moments that the Shape disappeared from view entirely, only to make a surprising comeback?

I'll tell ya who: Wusses that couldn't stand to see the film even once after reading the reviews!! And those who THINK today's horror films reign supreme!!!!

It was Irwin Yablans who came up with the simple idea of babysitters being stalked and killed by the boogeyman, but this "boogeyman" wasn't like all the rest in the cheezy rip-offs of the '80s. The Shape reigned supreme, and was a stalker by all means, which is where the scare factor of the film comes from. For there isn't much scary AFTER the killer reveals itself, but in the suspense leading up to it, just as quiet and undisturbed as a stalker would be.

Same goes with the gore factor: There's ABSOLUTELY NOTHING SCARY ABOUT: blood/guts/gore. It's just repulsive to some, (not to me) and they don't wanna look, but that's just for that reason: it's disgusting, not scary. And HALLOWEEN is built on the fear of WHERE the Shape is, WHEN it'll strike, and WHY it's targeting people simply because one of them came to it's doorstep. (assuming you ignore the sequels).

So the plot is just that: a teenager drops off a key at the old abandoned house for her real estate agent father, and the shape hiding inside stalks and kills her friends on Halloween night. All the while she's right across the street babysitting 2 kids. And all would've been well for her had she not gone across the street to see what her friends were doing. Meanwhile, the shape's obsessive psychiatrist tries to hunt him down by hanging around outside the old abandoned house on Halloween night.

John and Debra wrote the script, and got together many of their friends to work on the film for free over the course of three weeks in south Pasadena, where many of the locations are still intact today.

And the power of the very word "boogeyman" is what also assisted in swaying Moustapha Akkad's decision to fork over the $300K, plus an extra $20K to get Donald Pleasence in the film. For Moustapha was moved by that word, in that the Shape wasn't just another thug in a suit, but was the boogeyman instead, which instilled in his mind something more threatening than just your average killer in an '80s rip off.

Donald Pleasence was great! He openly admitted that he didn't understand the script, and was only there cuz his daughter liked John's musical score for "Assault On Precinct 13." And it's a good thing that Donald took on the role, for it re-launched his career, and made him forever remembered for his role as Dr. Loomis in the Halloween series.

[Years after the film's release, actor Christopher Lee ran into producer Debra Hill and said that rejecting the role of Loomis was the biggest mistake of his career]

Jamie Lee Curtis makes a good debut in this film as the quiet and repressed teenage babysitter Laurie Strode, who's the main character that looks all too innocent to be offed by the Shape.

Nancy Loomis is my favorite character of the film, as she's sassy, open to almost anything, and represents the average up front '70s teenager. She's actually the only victim in horror films that you actually care for and would route for! Many fans of the series agree too!

P.J. Soles plays the preppy teenager with a boyfriend that only wants to play around with him and drink beer at a neighbor's house that Annie is babysitting at. So she obviously gets the boot.

Despite that, the victims in this film weren't set-up to die like in the '80s rip offs, but were characters that you cared for, and wanted to survive the mayhem. Barely any horror film takes the time in their scripts to add any sympathy anymore. And that's a shame.

Nick Castle plays the best Shape in the series, for his only direction was to walk from Point A to Point B, and that had him remembered for years. And to think he got the part cuz he lived nearby the locations and just wanted to hang around with his college friend John Carpenter, whom then insisted that as long as he was there, have him play the killer.

It was production designer Tommy Lee Wallace that scouted out the locations, and was given the most important task in the pre-production of the film: "Go find a mask for the Shape." And so, he returned from a costume store with an Emmet Kelly mask (a clown), and a Captain Kirk (William Shatner) "Star Trek" mask. So he took the Kirk mask and shaved off the sideburns and eyebrows, then cut out the eye-holes to be more round, spoofed up the hair to make it look demented, and spray painted the mask whiter than it already was. At the time, Nick Castle wasn't cast as the Shape, so a crew member came out of the bathroom with the costume on wearing the Emmett Kelly mask, and many agreed that it was certainly grotesque and strange looking, but when he went back in the bathroom to try on the Kirk mask, he came out and it sent a chill down everyone's spine!

[you can google image: "Emmett Kelly Mask" and decide for yourself if they made a good choice.]

This whole film is built on suspense, and the music makes it ever more chilling, which is why it is still hailed today as "the 'Gone With The Wind' of the horror pictures." (as Joseph Wolf put it[CEO of Compass International Pictures]).

So why don't filmmakers who hail this as the best make something that measures up to it???? I don't know why. It would be common sense. But I can't wait for it to happen!!!!! I wanna make movies as a career, so maybe that somebody will be me! {I'm shooting too high aren't I? Oh well, back to the review.}

The greatest lesson learned from the film was the sheer power of music, in that the executive from 20th Century Fox didn't find it scary w/out it, until John returned w/in 3 days with the completed musical score. Never before or since has music made all the difference in the world, such as most films would be just as dramatic/epic/romantic/and shocking without music, but not so for the horror genre. It seems to hold music as being something extra special to its' success.

At a preview screening at John Carpenter's alumni UCLA, a male student asked why they would stoop to make such a disgusting and unvalued type of film, and when told by the film-makers that they hoped it to be a classic one day, he criticized them again, saying it was too pretentious of them, and that they'd be fools to think it could amount to anything. Then he stormed out of the screening room. (The point in this bit of data?): You gotta imagine how stupid he feels now!

So don't watch this horror film in daylight, or with any lights on at all, for that could spoil the experience of HALLOWEEN, and how just simply by gazing beside the TV screen featuring the interior of the dark house that the Shape lurks in you can notice that you too are in the same type of location! Watch it alone to derive the ultimate scare factors out of it!

And remember to always keep your wits about you and be on alert instead of playing around with your bf/gf who have since always been the targets!

Oh, and one more thing, if you ever want this film to reside in your memory even more, then be sure to always venture to that dark unfrequented portion of your house where just about anyone or anything can be lurking, and be just as scary with the haunting memory of the Shape still in your mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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