Movie review: ‘Halloween’ (1978)

FloridaGator80

Well, for me, there’s only one “Scream Queen” in horror films and she is the incomparable, indomitable and simply incredible Jamie Lee Curtis. I guess you can tell I like her work! Jamie Lee set the standard of the tough-but-vulnerable victim in the iconic “Halloween” of 1978. It was co-written and directed by the now legendary John Carpenter and ushered in a new era of horror moviemaking and jump started, if not gave birth to, what would be called the “slasher” genre in cinema. Even more than two generations later, it is the gold standard by which other horror flicks can compare (“Scream” – click here for my review – equaled it in all ways; surpassed it most especially in overall acting; but didn’t have Ms. Curtis). Today is Halloween. Watch and enjoy the day’s namesake film.

‘Halloween’
(1978; 91 minutes; rated R; directed by John Carpenter and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence and Tony Moran)

‘HALLOWEEN’ IS THE TRUE FRIGHT NIGHT

(NOTE: I expanded this review with additional trivia and opinion and the updating of links on Oct. 28, 2018. I again expanded the review on Oct. 30, 2021.)

Nineteen-seventy-eight was a year that offered thee seminal films to audiences: the horror flick “Halloween;” the comedy “National Lampoon’s Animal House;” and the musical “Grease” (click here for my review). All three became classics in their genre and we all knew each would from each’s premiere.

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Since today is Oct. 31, I’m going to take a look at that most special horror film: John Carpenter’s “Halloween.” It is after all, a horror masterpiece and Jamie Lee Curtis’ first feature film.

Directors used to have to get by with frightening their audiences with startling moments and tension and not anatomically-correct gore. As the 1980s progressed (with a seed planted in the 1970s by Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”), filmmakers began to increasingly rely on and gut-wrenching special effects that are today at a level that flight sickness bags might not be a bad idea for the squeamish.

However, with the emerging horror generation in 1978, Carpenter, on a shoestring budget of $325,000, brought “Halloween” to the public and the horror genre was never the same. Still, Carpenter didn’t have the stomach-churning level of gore that say, “Friday the 13th” (click here for my review) would have two years later or the explosion of gore in the 1990s and 2000s. Carpenter relied on good old storytelling, the killer appearing and disappearing from scenes and slipping out to strike again.

It’s not to say there isn’t any bloodshed in “Halloween.” But it is limited by horror film standars today and it’s always been the SCARE that matters. “Michael Myers” strikes out of the dark, of course, but he’s also a magician at appearing and disappearing. He follows Curtis nicely and has great timing (all the attributes of so many killers in so many copycat films would bring to the table).

In “Halloween,” a boy named “Michael Myers” kills his older sister in 1963 at home in Haddonfield, Ill. He puts on a clown’s outfit and mask to do it. The film then jumps forward 15 years and the boy, now a man, escaping from the psychiatric facility where he had been held (having never spoken a word after the murder). His psychiatrist gives chase because he knows what “Michael Myers” can do.

“Michael Myers” comes back to his hometown on Halloween and ultimately puts his attention on a boy who he sees being bullied and threatened that he will be visited that night by the “boogeyman” (if he only knew). The killer also begins following Curtis, too, and before night falls she sees glimpses of him at hedges and behind a clothesline (remember those?). He hits the jackpot when she babysits the boy.

The film then bounces from the house where Curtis and boy are to where her friend is across the street. The killer strikes there first and then chases Curtis back to the house where she’s babysitting. The in-and-out dodging of “Michael Meyers” is crisp and easily ratchets up the tension. His mask is great, too,

One-by-one the teenagers are picked off until Curtis manages to put up her trademark fight with the killer. She’s not “Michael Myers’” equal, but then the psychiatrist comes charging to the rescue and shoots the killer. The final disappearing act is when the killer is shot he falls from the second story of the house and is seen on the ground looking up. When the psychiatrist gets to the window, the body is gone. Roll the credits!

Here’s my look at our two headliners:

  • A two-time Golden Globe winner and five-time nominee (not for this one), Curtis as “Laurie Strode” was only 19 when she made “Halloween,” so she can reveal her lack of experience. However, although it was her first motion picture, she had five TV roles under her belt from “Quincy M.E.” to “Charlie’s Angels” and was a regular on “Operation Petticoat” (a TV series modeled on the film starring her father, Tony Curtis – click here for my review of the movie) and does a great job here. She is young enough here to bring the right talent to being the smart, good girl (although she does smoke some pot once with a friend in a car) who can’t get a date. Curtis was simply marvelous in “Trading Places” (click here for my review) and “A Fish Called Wanda” (she got a nomination for it) and she was simply outstanding in the equally outstanding action thriller “True Lies” with Arnold Schwarzenegger (click here for my review) and won one of her two Globes for it. Best yet, she was on an episode of “The Love Boat” with her real life mother, Janet Leigh (click here for my look at that series). Her other win was for the TV series “Anything But Love” with Richard Lewis.
  • The “name” actor here and headliner is Primetime Emmy nominee Donald Pleasence as “Dr. Sam Loomis,” who is “Michael Myers’” psychiatrist. Pleasence isn’t your garden variety doctor since he quite easily packs a gun and certainly believes in doing things himself. He is really good at being the harried, excitable doctor who has to stop his patient. In a prolific career (226 credits over five decades), Pleasence has also been in “The Great Escape” (click here for my review) as well as “The Eagle Has Landed” (click here for my review). Pleasence was nominated for his work on “The Defection of Simas Kudirka.” He died at 75 in 1995 of complications from heart surgery.

The supporting cast isn’t distinguished by what they had done or would do, although several including Nancy Kyes (who was billed as Nancy Loomis in “Halloween” credits) and Charles Cyphers would work with Carpenter on other projects including “Escape from New York” (click here for my review).

Here are some trivia notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Needing a mask for “Michael Myers,” a member of the production crew bought a mask in the shape of “Star Trek” hero William Shatner’s face. They painted it white, altered the eyeholes and junked up the hair. Shatner didn’t know until much later that the mask was of his face.
  • Curtis’ character is named “Laurie Strode” after a former girlfriend of the director.
  • Curtis was paid $8,000 for her work on “Halloween.”
  • Carpenter considered the hiring of Curtis a tribute to legendary director Alfred Hitchcock, who had Jamie Lee’s mother Janet Leigh in his iconic horror film “Psycho” from 1960 and another is that “Dr. Sam Loomis,” the psychiatrist after “Michael Myers,” is the name of Janet Leigh’s secret lover in “Psycho.”
  • “Halloween” was filmed in the spring at a California location so “leaves” were paper and painted (plus they were collected after each shoot and reused) and you can even spot a palm tree in a background.

“Halloween” would grab $47 million at U.S. theaters in 1978, keeping it just outside the top 10 films of the year at the box office, according to Wiki. Curiously, it was not the top-ranked horror film of that year. “Dawn of the Dead” was No. 8 with $59 million. “Dawn of the Dead,” which is an outstanding zombie film hugely more graphic than “Halloween,” is the follow-up to 1968’s “Night of the Living Dead” by another horror master: George A. Romero. The No. 1 film of 1978 was “Grease” with $159.9 million.

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • P.J. Soles plays Curtis friend “Lynda van der Klok.” She would go on to be one of the girlfriends (“Stella”) in Bill Murray’s 1981 comedy hit “Stripes.”
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “In an interview, Moustapha Akkad said that John Carpenter had envisioned making the movie for around $300,000. Coincidentally, Akkad said he was producing and filming a major motion picture at the same time starring Laurence Olivier which was costing his company roughly around $300,000 a day. When Carpenter told him the fixed price of his movie, he immediately funded it.”
  • Because of the miniscule budget, actors wore their own clothes in the film. Curtis is reported to have said she spent about $100 at a JC Penney store for “Laurie’s” wardrobe.
  • Carpenter was reported as saying it was his intent in making the movie for the audience to never have a chance to relate to “Michael Myers.”
  • Carpenter composed the score for “Halloween” in four days and the style of brooding, haunting notes became somewhat of a blueprint for other horror flicks.
  • Carpenter offered the role that ultimately went to Pleasence to Peter Cushing and veteran horror actor Christopher Lee. Both turned Carpenter down because of the low pay. Lee is reported to have said later it was the biggest mistake of his career.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “John Carpenter was quite intimidated by Donald Pleasence, of whom he was a huge fan and who was easily the oldest and most experienced person on set. Although Pleasence asked Carpenter difficult questions about his character, Pleasence turned out to be a good-humored, big-hearted individual and the two became great friends. Pleasence went on to appear in two other Carpenter films.”

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