I have mixed feelings about this film. I like it and I've seen it around five or six times, but there's something about "Halloween" that I find dissatisfying.
Incorrectly regarded as the first slasher ever made, "Halloween" started a trend of low budget films about mysterious killers wearing a mask and murdering young people with no specific reasons. The truth is that "Halloween" changed horror movies for good and served as an influence for many horror films that came after. While "Black Christmas" came four years before this, and it is one of my favorite slashers, I think it is less known, because we never get to see the killer, while "Halloween" gives us a very frightening looking villain, capable of causing horror to the most experienced horror fans. Michael Myer's design is actually very modest: a white mask with black eyes, a blue overall and a big kitchen knife that make him very sinister, without having to appeal to something more brutal and explicit, like some of the slasher killers that came after him. Michael is a very well designed horror villain and he is probably one of my favorites too (keeping in mind that this isn't the only "Halloween" film). So what is it about "Halloween" that doesn't quite do it for me?
My main problem with "Halloween" is that I find it a little bit slow (there, I said it!) and I'm sure this is the main reason why other people dislike it as well, which automatically causes avid "Halloween" fans to accuse the detractors of only being capable of appreciating horror films with a lot of cheap-scares. I actually don't have a problem with slow films, but I feel like most of this film features the main character going on about her business, chatting with her silly friends about high school crushes and stuff, and we occasionally see Michael Myers appearing here and there. I do realize that this is intended to create a frightening atmosphere and it actually works well, but after a while, I find it a little bit tedious.
Those who want gory murders will have to skip this film. While I think gore is not always a requirement, I would normally expect the murders to have some kind of shock value and be disturbing, even if we don't get to see a single drop of blood (it can happen). Most of the murders are rather predictable and what we see on the screen isn't too disturbing or shocking, at least not by nowadays' standards. Fortunately, the music during the murders is so powerful and fear-provoking that it makes up for the lack of brutality. For the life of me, I can't understand how "Halloween" got an R-rating in so many countries. Not only there's barely any blood in it, but also, the nudity is very naïf and harmless.
Towards the last twenty minutes, "Halloween" displays a lot of suspense, mainly with Laurie Strode (the lead) being chased by the sinister Michael Myers. This part of the film is not only full of tension due to the fact that a merciless killer is out to get an innocent high school girl for no apparent reason, but also because two small kids are in danger and it's the lead girl's implied responsibility to protect them. The confrontation between Michael and Laurie is chilling, as the killer is apparently impossible to kill and Laurie, in all her nervousness, goes out of her way to make the worst possible choices when it comes to escaping the lunatic. While I find the night scenario and the dark in general to be fitting for a horror film about a mysterious killer, I find the excessive dark to also make it very difficult to fully appreciate what's going on at times.
The acting in "Halloween" is very solid, which is unlikely to find in slasher films, or at least the ones that came out during and after the eighties. The main three actresses are Jamie Lee Curtis (unknown back then), P. J. Soles and Nancy Loomis, while English actor Donald Pleasence plays Detective Sam Loomis. I have no complaints here, like I said, I found the acting to be rather convincing and spot-on. As for the characters, the lead is a mousy girl, named Laurie Strode, who mostly keeps to herself and behaves like a nice girl. Laurie's friend however, are nothing like her; Annie and Lynda (her two besties) are outgoing, popular and fun and yes, they have sex, they drink alcohol and smoke. Now guess which ones get killed and which ones get to live for several more sequels? Laurie is a good lead and someone the audience would normally care about. She's a very mature girl, responsible, hard working, great with kids and even though she doesn't follow her friends' life choices, she doesn't judge them either, which makes her a perfectly likable lead, which is important in a horror movie, because we are supposed to like her and root for her.
"Halloween" holds up pretty well as a solid horror film that manages to avoid the campiness or the unintentionally funny moments, which is crucial if we are hoping to see a genuinely scary horror film. There are some well created moments filled with suspense and the emblematic music (composed by Carpenter himself) intensifies the feeling of uneasiness during the climax of the film. All in all, a good horror movie that is simply not one of my favorites.
Incorrectly regarded as the first slasher ever made, "Halloween" started a trend of low budget films about mysterious killers wearing a mask and murdering young people with no specific reasons. The truth is that "Halloween" changed horror movies for good and served as an influence for many horror films that came after. While "Black Christmas" came four years before this, and it is one of my favorite slashers, I think it is less known, because we never get to see the killer, while "Halloween" gives us a very frightening looking villain, capable of causing horror to the most experienced horror fans. Michael Myer's design is actually very modest: a white mask with black eyes, a blue overall and a big kitchen knife that make him very sinister, without having to appeal to something more brutal and explicit, like some of the slasher killers that came after him. Michael is a very well designed horror villain and he is probably one of my favorites too (keeping in mind that this isn't the only "Halloween" film). So what is it about "Halloween" that doesn't quite do it for me?
My main problem with "Halloween" is that I find it a little bit slow (there, I said it!) and I'm sure this is the main reason why other people dislike it as well, which automatically causes avid "Halloween" fans to accuse the detractors of only being capable of appreciating horror films with a lot of cheap-scares. I actually don't have a problem with slow films, but I feel like most of this film features the main character going on about her business, chatting with her silly friends about high school crushes and stuff, and we occasionally see Michael Myers appearing here and there. I do realize that this is intended to create a frightening atmosphere and it actually works well, but after a while, I find it a little bit tedious.
Those who want gory murders will have to skip this film. While I think gore is not always a requirement, I would normally expect the murders to have some kind of shock value and be disturbing, even if we don't get to see a single drop of blood (it can happen). Most of the murders are rather predictable and what we see on the screen isn't too disturbing or shocking, at least not by nowadays' standards. Fortunately, the music during the murders is so powerful and fear-provoking that it makes up for the lack of brutality. For the life of me, I can't understand how "Halloween" got an R-rating in so many countries. Not only there's barely any blood in it, but also, the nudity is very naïf and harmless.
Towards the last twenty minutes, "Halloween" displays a lot of suspense, mainly with Laurie Strode (the lead) being chased by the sinister Michael Myers. This part of the film is not only full of tension due to the fact that a merciless killer is out to get an innocent high school girl for no apparent reason, but also because two small kids are in danger and it's the lead girl's implied responsibility to protect them. The confrontation between Michael and Laurie is chilling, as the killer is apparently impossible to kill and Laurie, in all her nervousness, goes out of her way to make the worst possible choices when it comes to escaping the lunatic. While I find the night scenario and the dark in general to be fitting for a horror film about a mysterious killer, I find the excessive dark to also make it very difficult to fully appreciate what's going on at times.
The acting in "Halloween" is very solid, which is unlikely to find in slasher films, or at least the ones that came out during and after the eighties. The main three actresses are Jamie Lee Curtis (unknown back then), P. J. Soles and Nancy Loomis, while English actor Donald Pleasence plays Detective Sam Loomis. I have no complaints here, like I said, I found the acting to be rather convincing and spot-on. As for the characters, the lead is a mousy girl, named Laurie Strode, who mostly keeps to herself and behaves like a nice girl. Laurie's friend however, are nothing like her; Annie and Lynda (her two besties) are outgoing, popular and fun and yes, they have sex, they drink alcohol and smoke. Now guess which ones get killed and which ones get to live for several more sequels? Laurie is a good lead and someone the audience would normally care about. She's a very mature girl, responsible, hard working, great with kids and even though she doesn't follow her friends' life choices, she doesn't judge them either, which makes her a perfectly likable lead, which is important in a horror movie, because we are supposed to like her and root for her.
"Halloween" holds up pretty well as a solid horror film that manages to avoid the campiness or the unintentionally funny moments, which is crucial if we are hoping to see a genuinely scary horror film. There are some well created moments filled with suspense and the emblematic music (composed by Carpenter himself) intensifies the feeling of uneasiness during the climax of the film. All in all, a good horror movie that is simply not one of my favorites.