Halloween (DVD)

With today being Halloween I thought that I'd write a nice topical review of one of my favourite horror films of all time, this of course being John Carpenter's 'Halloween', a film that I'm sure most of you have seen by now given that it tends to be shown on one channel or another pretty much every year. Tonight the film can be found on BBC1 at a quarter to midnight, so for those of you that have not yet seen the film then there is no excuse not ...
...That is until one cold Halloween night in 1963 when Michael Myers, a six year old Haddonfield resident picks up a kitchen knife before proceeding to go upstairs and brutally murder his older sister of 17. Coming home from a night out, Michael's parents then find him standing outside with the knife still in his hand and a clown mask covering his face looking ever the guilty culprit. As a result of Michael's actions, he is sentenced to Smith's Grove ... more

With today being Halloween I thought that I'd write a nice topical review of one of my favourite horror films of all time, this of course being John Carpenter's 'Halloween', a film that I'm sure most of you have seen by now given that it tends to be shown on one channel or another pretty much every year. Tonight the film can be found on BBC1 at a quarter to midnight, so for those of you that have not yet seen the film then there is no excuse not to now. While researching on the internet to see if the version that I have of the DVD is still available, I found that it was actually deleted a couple of months back. I wasn't particularly shocked to find this seen as the version I have was an apparent 'Limited Edition', however after searching around I found that the American version can be bought online from one website for £11.95 which I thought was a fairly good deal given that this edition has now been deleted. Obviously you will only be able to play this DVD if your player is a multi-region one which most should be these days, however failing that you'll always be able to play it on your trusty PC/Laptop so all is not lost. Given that this version of the DVD has now been deleted, I wouldn't usually tell you about the extras, however as it can still be bought in this form I will be taking you through these great extras at the end of my review. This is a 2 disc edition with 1 disc containing the original theatrical release plus extras, and the other containing the TV version of the film. Without further ado I will crack on with the plot.

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The Plot
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Haddonfield is a typical quiet suburban American town situated in the state of Illinois where as a general rule not much really happens. That is until one cold Halloween night in 1963 when Michael Myers, a six year old Haddonfield resident picks up a kitchen knife before proceeding to go upstairs and brutally murder his older sister of 17. Coming home from a night out, Michael's parents then find him standing outside with the knife still in his hand and a clown mask covering his face looking ever the guilty culprit. As a result of Michael's actions, he is sentenced to Smith's Grove Warren County Sanitarium where he remains for 15 years under the watchful eye of Dr. Loomis.

On the 30th of October 1978, a now 21 year old Michael Myers manages to escape while being transferred for a court appearance. When Dr. Loomis and Marion Chambers arrive in a car at the gates of where Michael has been staying, Dr. Loomis realises something is wrong when people are freely walking around the grounds on this rainy evening which they should of course not be doing. Dr. Loomis gets out of the car to have a look around, however while he is elsewhere, Michael clambers across the car and smashes the glass window with his bare hand prompting Marion to get out of the car and run meaning that Michael is able to get in the car and make his way back to the small town of Haddonfield.

Once back in Haddonfield, Michael sets his sights on the three teenage girls Laurie, Annie and Lynda who are all good friends. Halloween night sees Laurie babysitting young Tommy Doyle while Annie watches over Lindsey Wallace across the road. Both Annie and Lynda have Halloween night plans involving their respective boyfriends Paul and Bob, while Laurie is more of the studious sort and so has no Halloween plans other than to babysit and protect young Tommy Doyle, which later extends to Lindsey Wallace also as Annie goes off to meet with Paul. This is where things begin to go drastically wrong for Laurie as with all her friends gone, she is left alone to protect the children and it soon becomes apparent that murdering Michael Myers is on the prowl and she is his next target. With Dr. Loomis having followed Michael's trail back to Haddonfield, it is a race against the clock as he and local sheriff Leigh Brackett search high and low for any trace of Michael in a bid to save the day.

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My Opinion
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As I have already stated - John Carpenter's 'Halloween' is one of my favourite horror films of all time, and while there have been countless carbon copies of the film since its 1978 release, in my opinion, 'Halloween' remains to be the best of them all. This film saw the emergence of the teen slasher genre, conventions of which would go on to be used in latter years and do in fact continue to be used right to this day. If you're familiar with the 'Scream' films of the 90s and are also a fan of 'Halloween', then you'll have noticed the countless nods towards 'Halloween' that are given in 'Scream' such as the 'I'll be right back' line and the making of popcorn associated with the first notable death. It is a testament to the greatness of 'Halloween' that it gets referenced in 'Scream' I feel as 'Scream' in itself is a good slasher film, so to reference it is really a nod towards just how influential a film John Carpenter's 'Halloween' really is.

The opening sequence of 'Halloween' is probably my favourite in a horror film ever as we are given a point of view (POV) shot of the young Michael Myers (Tony Moran) as he stands outside the window spying on his sister and her boyfriend, before moving into the house and seeing her boyfriend leave at which point he picks up a knife from the kitchen drawer and proceeds to make his way up the stairs, picking up a mask that his sisters boyfriend has dropped on his way, concealing his face with it before moving on through the house to stab his sister repeatedly with the knife. I think that this is a really moving sequence where the music works exceptionally well to gradually build up the tension in this scene which when coupled with the POV shot really makes the film stand out from its peers right from the offset. We really feel like we are in the mind of Michael Myers at the beginning of the film and this works well as although we do not want him to do what he is about to do, we can't help but see things from his point of view and watch on helplessly as he commits this callous act. When I first saw 'Halloween' I was completely mesmerised by the way in which this opening sequence has been captured and to this day, I still love to watch the opening sequence and watch the 'pure evil' one commit his first murder of the film. While a lot of films take a while to get going, 'Halloween' gets right in the action straight away and I think that it is this quality that I love about the film.

Having been given our first sight of murder early on as a viewer, we have to wait a surprisingly long time until our second victim is taken. Despite the fact that this is the case, between the first and second killings I feel that the film by no means gets boring. The storyline alone here is enough to keep us captivated and with the knowledge that at some stage Michael will make his move and take his next victim we are kept interested and watch on with an eager eye to find out who will be next to face Michael's wrath. There are a number of moments where we see Michael and wonder if he is about to kill, however we are left to keep guessing which makes the film all the better as when he does finally pop up and kill, it is unexpected and provides us with one of the films many jumpy moments where you will feel yourself physically leave the seat no matter how many times you have watched the film through.

In this film we are given the virgin/whore dichotomy - that interesting concept where our innocent, virginal characters always seem to fair better than their more sexually promiscuous counterparts. While Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) remains with us for the duration of the film, her friends Annie (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda (P.J. Soles) suffer a much more gruesome end, one of which after an act of passion - the other while driving off to visit her boyfriend. The idea of the virgin/whore dichotomy is another of the conventions that 'Scream' would later dwell upon and is an interesting one as over the years we have learnt that more often than not this is to be the case, meaning that in the current age of horror cinema, conventions often need to be subverted in order for films to remain shocking.

If you're familiar with late 70s / early 80s horror flicks then you'll be aware of the soundtracks which often make the films so eerie. If you cover your ears then you will often find that the films aren't at all scary, however the low budget synthy sounds definitely add to the horror in films of this sort and 'Halloween' is no exception to the rule. Alongside this I think it's the grainy feel that draws me to films like 'Halloween' - slasher films with high production values just don't tend to work with me, low budget spooky sound effects and low production values by today's high standards are what make films such as 'Halloween' just so watch able. Although some would probably argue that in this day and age, films like 'Halloween' just don't scare any more, I would tend to argue that they are just as scary now as they were 30 years ago and this is a result of the great sound the films had back then which create the build up of tension perfectly in order to shock you with a scare when you're least expecting it.

Lighting can be extremely important sometimes with films in order to create the right sort of feel and I think that a good job was definitely done with 'Halloween' in terms of lighting. If you look you will see a lot of blue back light which works really well in order to give the film a truly spooky feel about it. I'm not sure what it is about blue back light, however when it is used it tends to go hand in hand with an ultimately eerie feel and I believe that this is exactly what we are provided with in 'Halloween'.

There are some great performances put in by the cast members here - most notably from our main protagonist Jamie Lee Curtis who plays her role as a nervous teenager well, probably because this is exactly what she was at the time with her being in her first major role. Others that play their parts well are the now deceased Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis, and I feel Brian Andrews as Tommy Doyle. Despite his young age at the time of filming, Brian Andrews really plays his part well and definitely provides the film with one of its stand out performances. With all of these three playing their parts well, 'Halloween' was never going to be anything but a success really despite the fact it took a mere 20 days to be made on a budget of $300 000. I think that for the time it took them and on the budget that they were given, 'Halloween' is a complete masterpiece as even if they had longer to come up with the film, I doubt they would have improved upon just how great a horror film 'Halloween' really is.

Although he has no lines whatsoever in this film, for me Tony Moran as Michael Myers puts in a great performance also and is another stand out due to his sheer presence. For a slasher film to work, the killer has to be believable, and playing a complete psychopath who has not spoken for 15 years, you really do have to put in a stunning performance in order not to come across as a complete fraud. Tony Moran has a great walk about him as Michael Myers and an ice cold presence which is of course helped by his featureless mask. I feel that Tony Moran was chosen wisely to play Michael Myers as he is great in his role, and what with the great mask selection - an amazing job has been done in making Michael as believable as possible as a killer.

'Halloween' will have you screaming at the screen for Jamie Lee Curtis to run for her life when Michael Myers is behind her however scream all you want as she just wont hear you. One of the worst moves that she makes is to hide in the wardrobe and lock herself into it, trapping herself in to a corner. Her stupidity here will frustrate you, however at the end of the day the frustration is all a part of the fun, with her emerging triumphant although possibly leaving you with slightly less hair than you had before. If 'Halloween' didn't involve Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie making a number of foolish decisions, then the film just wouldn't be half the fun that it is and 'Halloween' wouldn't be the complete package of a slasher film that it boasts to be.

You will find that horror films are often based around a common fear in society, and you wont find much greater a fear than that of death that's for sure. With Michael emerging from such a mundane, suburban town - this film presents the reality that this could in fact happen anywhere, it's not an isolated case to Haddonfield as there is nothing out of the ordinary about this particular town. This adds to the fear factor, as while watching the film we can live out our personal fears of something like this happening in our own town, a much better solution than finding out for ourselves what this would be like. Michael Myers is based around the premise of the boogey man, a common childhood mythical fear giving the film an underlying innocence despite Michael's murderous path.

The inclusion of Jamie Lee Curtis in this film I feel was a good choice as with her mother Janet Leigh having appeared in 'Psycho', it would seem that she was somewhat of an obvious choice for a film in which the Doctor's name 'Sam Loomis' was lifted from Janet Leigh's character Marion Crane's boyfriend in the film. It's interesting how the pieces fit together here and almost seems like fate that it would be Jamie Lee Curtis who would land the role in the film, someone who from interviews I have found is by no means a Horror fan.

The inclusion of the TV version of the film with this edition is an interesting feature I feel as with a couple of extra scenes that are not in the original theatrical release, this makes an interesting watch as even though I had seen the film on TV before investing in this DVD, making comparisons between the theatrical release and the TV version of the film can make for interesting viewing. Obviously not everyone is going to be inclined to watch them both through and spot out the differences, however i feel that this is an interesting process and having watched them both through many a time now, it is difficult to say just which version is my favourite. Both are great and although the TV version does have some extra bits, I wouldn't say that these make it better particularly, it just gives us a few more minutes to cling on to as we watch film through.

'Halloween' is classic horror at its finest and if you've not seen it by now then I strongly suggest that you check it out tonight, or failing that rent it out at the earliest opportunity possible as I'm sure that you will not be disappointed with what you find here. 'Halloween' really is a fine slasher film that John Carpenter has done an amazing job with as some 28 years after release, the film still remains to be as popular as ever and is still regularly being shown on terrestrial TV which is more than can be said about a lot of horror films, let alone ones of this sort of age. If asked to list top 10 favourite horror films of all time, I think that 'Halloween' would make the list of most who have seen it - it really is an amazing film.

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Extras
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◙ Halloween Unmasked 2000 ◙

At just under half an hour long this is an interesting documentary to watch through giving us further insight into the horror classic that is 'Halloween', revealing a number of interesting facts. It is interesting to find out just how quickly some of my favourite scenes were made - the opening sequence for instance was apparently filmed in a mere night. With the music for the film done in a mere 3 days, it is shocking to think just how quickly the film was done and how great the end product really was. For me, one of the biggest shockers watching this feature through was to see the boy that played Tommy Doyle, Brian Andrews - some 22 years later looking extremely old. I hadn't thought about how the characters in the film may have aged as other than Jamie Lee Curtis I knew very little about what became of the cast in the film and had never before really given the matter a second thought.

Jamie Lee Curtis in this feature reveals how nervous she was in this role, stating that she was constantly expecting to be fired what with this being her first major role and her feeling that she was performing extremely badly in this role. She states that after the first day of filming, she got a call from John Carpenter, at which point her heart leapt up into her mouth as she thought that this would be the moment where it would be revealed to her that her services were no longer needed, however it turned out that John was merely ringing her congratulate her on her great performance that day - something that Jamie Lee states she has never experienced since which suggests just how encouraging and friendly a director John Carpenter really is. She also states that being in 'Halloween' has to be the best experience that she has ever had and up until her appearance in 'True Lies' it remained to be her biggest part too.

Another interesting insight to be gained in this documentary is into the character of Michael Myers, of whom it is revealed that originally the plan was that he would be an antagonist force of evil with which there was no storyline attached - he was merely going to be an urban legend killer that came about at Halloween. I am glad that they decided to give him a storyline as had he been an urban legend then I feel that the film probably would have ultimately been an extremely cheesy offering and I doubt it would have gone on to enjoy anywhere near the success that it has done. The tilt of the head that comes about after Michael kills Bob is spoken about here - one of my favourite sequences in the film. The plan wasn't originally to do this, however John Carpenter decided to add it to the script whilst filming as he decided it would give the film an interesting edge to show just how evil a character Michael really is as he stops to admire his handiwork as a killer.

This is probably one of my favourite extras to be included in a film ever - it makes an extremely interesting viewing and I feel adds depth to the storyline as we further learn about the film that we have been witness to. Although not an instant success, after 'Halloween' was released it gained in popularity through word of mouth and went on to gross a large amount of money at the box office. Add to this the money the film has made in VHS/DVD sales over the years and you're looking at a small fortune, especially when you consider just how little the cast were paid for their roles in the film with Jamie lee Curtis herself only pocketing $8000 - 'Halloween' has been an absolute goldmine and for good reason.

◙ Trailers ◙

I feel that the trailer for the film was extremely cleverly produced as while giving very little away, it is enough to get you interested and wanting to see the film. A well put together montage of Michael Myers evil here comes across, with Dr. Loomis line of Michael being 'pure evil' used here to give us this understanding of his character. We see Michael going after Laurie, with the trailer culminating in her knocking at the door for Tommy to let her in and a feeling of will she/wont she be Michael's next victim is created here where the viewer must watch the film in order to find out. We are actually given 'two' trailers here - the original trailer and a re-release trailer, however the only difference between the original and re-release trailer is that the re-release one starts with the words 'The One, The Only, The Classic' coming up on screen and being said aloud.

◙ TV Spots ◙

Here we can find three 'TV spots' of the film - two at 30 seconds long and another at just 10 seconds. Given that the feature before this is the trailers, this is a fairly pointless extra as what we get here are cut down versions of the trailer. Having said that, it is still nice to see what went out on TV to advertise the film and is interesting to see how the film was marketed to TV viewers at the time and upon re-release.

◙ Radio Spots ◙

Here we have radio stations talking about the film and billing it fairly as the scary film that it proclaims to be. It is interesting to hear what radio stations were saying at the time about the film and although once again there are only three given here, it makes for an interesting listen as we learn some of the thoughts and feelings of those at the time about this great film that was gone on to become such a classic of the horror genre.

◙ Talent Bios ◙

In this section we are given biographies for John Carpenter (Co-Writer/Director and Music Composer), Debra Hill (Co-Writer/Producer), Irwin Yablans (Executive Producer), Moustapha Akkad (Financier), and some of the cast; Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, and P.J. Soles. This is an interesting feature as everyone included here has quite a large write up and we get to find out what they had done beforehand,and then what they went on to do after 'Halloween', current up until 1999. I felt that this was a nice touch to be added to the DVD as it is interesting to read through and learn about the team behind this horror classic and find out what other success they went on to have, and what they are doing with themselves these days.

◙ Still Galleries ◙

This is interesting to look through as here we get to have a look at 'Publicity Photos and Posters', and 'Behind The Scenes' photos. Although not exactly one of the most exciting of extras ever to be included, I did enjoy looking through these pictures and do feel that it was a good choice to include these as it is interesting to look through some of the publicity photos of the time, and see how happy all of the cast look in the behind the scenes pictures. With everyone so young who was working on this project, it must have been a really great film to be a part of and I feel that this is reflected in the way that Jamie Lee Curtis has spoken about the film in the 'Halloween Unmasked 2000' documentary.

◙ Trivia ◙

This feature is basically the 'Halloween Unmasked 2000' documentary written out into a presentation of facts where you can read through them if you would prefer rather than watch through the documentary. This provides an interesting and insightful read through of everything that was covered in the documentary and is a nice extra to have as having watched through the documentary, should you forget some of what you have watched and want to refresh your memory without having to trail through 30 minutes worth of footage, you can quickly have a look at this little extra and find the information that you are after easily.

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Final Thoughts
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This is a good edition of the film I feel as we are given the interesting option of watching the film as it was originally released, or watching the version that graces our screens when the film gets put on television. Although some will argue that the original release of the film is so perfect that they needn't have added extra sequences for TV viewing, it is still interesting to have both editions at your disposal, but at the same time - should you want a copy of the TV version then you could always record it when it is shown if you so wish so although not really an essential extra disc, it is still a nice little bonus that I was extremely happy to have. With the '25th Anniversary Edition' of the film out there, I would suggest that horror fans should really be looking at that version of the DVD if they are merely after one 'Halloween' DVD as although there are a few interesting extras to be found here that can't be found on the '25th Anniversary Edition', that version of the film has a lot more to offer and is pretty much a definitive edition for anyone looking to get their hands on a 'Halloween' DVD. Hardcore fans of the film may wish to get various versions however in which case this should definitely be one of them as in order to get all the extras you could possibly wish for - multiple formats are required as there is no stand alone DVD as of yet which includes all extras that have been released to date. With the 30th anniversary only a couple of years away however, maybe we will see a new Anniversary Edition released in 2008.

Director: John Carpenter
Year of release: 1978
Genre: Horror
Language: English
Runtime: 92 mins
BBFC Rating: 18
Price: £11.95 (http://www.store4dvd.com/Product/Region_1_DVD/786733/013131089691/Halloween_1_Region_1_DVD.html)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

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