Barely been on here for a YEAR! Sorry If I've not been able to respond to anything. Hope you are all...
Barely been on here for a YEAR! Sorry If I've not been able to respond to anything. Hope you are all doing very well x
Member since:24.05.2007
Reviews:51
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Halloween is an American Independent horror film which was made in 1978. The film centres around events occuring in the fictional midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night. The film is directed by John Carpenter, and also co-written by him along with Debra Hill.
At the beginning of the film it is Halloween night in 1963 and a six year old Michael Myers butchers his seventeen year old sister ,Judith, to death with a carving knife. As the audience we see a very interesting point-of-view shot of the young boy in the act, it places the audience in the uncomfortable first person perspective where you are placed in the shoes of the killer.
After the incident, Michael is sent off to a State Mental Hospital where he is kept under the strict supervision of Dr Sam Loomis (played by Donald Pleasance) who is a specialist in child psychology. The major problem is that on Halloween night in 1978, exactly fifteen years on from his previous murder, Michael escapes from the vicinity because of lax supervision. Michael heads for Haddonfield with murderous carnage in mind.
Loomis
is well aware of what kind of things that Myers will be looking to do and exactly where he is wanting to go, and therefore sets about pursuing him. Predictably enough Loomis heads straight for Haddonfield to alert the local authorities, however it becomes pretty obvious that they are not as concerned about the situation as Loomis is himself.
Teenage student Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) begins to see a figure with a white mask everywhere she goes. Sensing that she has a stalker, she mentions this to her friends and all they do is ridicule her which leads to a bit of paranoia. As the audience, we are well aware of the fact that this is Myers and we already know exactly what he is capable of.
Laurie and her teenage friends Annie Brackett (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda Van Der Klok (PJ Soles) are all involved with babysitting activities in the local area. At one stage Laurie ends up doing all of the babysitting so that the other two girls can be with their boyfriends. Cue a perfect opportunity for Myers to attempt to continue his killing spree.
The first half of the film (the opening sequence excepted) has relatively little bloodshed and is all about setting up the atmospheric feel of the film. The signature 'Halloween' theme tune plays whenever Myers is around so therefore acts as a sort of signal to the audience that danger is just around the corner. The tune is very simplistic but chillingly effective, much in the same way as the signature tune of 'The Exorcist'.
There is much conjecture over what is implied by the idea slaying of the teenagers in this film. The fact that the main heroine of the film, Laurie Strode is seen as the pure and innocent one whereas all of her friends are partaking in promiscuous sexual activities along with drug taking leads some people to the conclusion that the film is like a sort of critique of the youth of america of that day. The idea that Myers was, on a subconscious level, teaching a lesson. This notion has always been completely denied by Carpenter but nevertheless it set a precedent for the 'slasher film' genre. The idea of a pure innocent character being the survivor of such a movie (see Sydney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell) in Scream for an example).
This film was pretty much the beginning of the 'slasher film' genre because throughout the eigties and even into the modern day we see similar based films. Many such films are viewed as pretty cheap imitations because they use poor film-making techniques and are often just films filled with pure, mindless bloodshed. 'Halloween' is what most slasher films would probably be benchmarked to.
I am by no means an expert in the horror genre but 'Halloween' is always the film I would refer anybody to if they wanted to know what is in my opinion, the best horror film ever made. It is the sheer simplicity of 'Halloween' that makes it so chilling, and for me if I were asked to write up a guide on how to make a horror film, once again I would simply refer them to 'Halloween'. There is never anything extremely gratuitous or excessive in the film, and the killer is a human being just like anybody else (this gets ruined somewhat by latter films in the series, but that's another issue) and I suppose this is perhaps the scariest thing of all because it isn't some ridiculous supernatural angle.
Essential viewing. Is great viewing if it is the first horror film you ever see because of its sheer impact, and is also great viewing even if you have seen lots of more modern horror films because you can see Carpenter's mastery at work and see where modern films are infulenced.
Where can you purchase this from? How much will it cost? -------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
If you ust want to watch the film an are not concerned with the extras then you should to to play.com and purchase the dvd for £3.99. Here is the link: http://www.play.com
Alternatively if you wish to purchase the 25th Anniversary Special Edition version then go to amazon.co.uk and you can purchase this, albeit used, for £4.45. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.co.uk
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Production Year: 1981 - Horror - Director: Rick Rosenthal - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Lance Guest, Charles Cyphers, Jeffrey Kramer, Dana Carvey
Production Year: 1980 - Horror - Director: Paul Lynch - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie Nielsen, Casey Stevens, Anne-Marie Martin, Antoinette Bower
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