It is Halloween night 1963 in Haddonfield, Illinois. While two teenagers are making out on the couch in the living room, someone is watching from outside the windows. When the two go upstairs to finish what they started, the watcher enters the house and takes a butcher knife from one of the kitchen drawers. After the boyfriend leaves, the watcher proceeds upstairs where he confronts the teenage girl who is seated at her vanity, half dressed, brushing her hair. She turns, recognizes him and tells him to leave. Instead, the watcher proceeds to stab her repeatedly before exiting her room and leaving the house. A car pulls up outside and two people emerge, approaching the watcher who is now revealed to be their 6 year old son, Michael.
Despite recommendations from his court appointed psychiatrist, Michael Meyers is placed in a minimum security sanitarium. Fifteen years later, Michael escapes the institution and returns to Haddonfield. Dr. Loomis follows Michael’s trail and recruits the local Sheriff to help him find and capture Michael before any more murders can take place. In town, Loomis finds many clues that Michael has been there yet continues to fail in finding him.
Enter Laurie Strode.
It is Halloween 1978. Teased as being the perfect Girl Scout, Laurie is scheduled to babysit one of the neighborhood kids, Tommy Doyle. Annie, Laurie’s best friend, is also babysitting that evening for Lindsey Wallace who lives across the street from Tommy. Though Laurie has an evening planned filled with popcorn, jack-o-lanterns and scary movies with Tommy, all day long she has had the feeling of being watched. That feeling continues throughout the evening and is intensified when Tommy continually reports of seeing the boogie man. Laurie dismisses Tommy’s claims yet before the night ends she will discover that the boogie man really does exist.
Though it certainly wasn’t the first slasher film to be produced, Halloween is reputed to be the most influential for redefining the genre for the ‘80’s and ‘90’s and its themes are still being used to this day. Written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill and directed by John Carpenter Halloween introduces Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut as the lead, Laurie Strode. Halloween was the first of several horror films in her career and helped earn her the title of the Scream Queen. Donald Pleasence co-stars as Doctor Sam Loomis, the psychiatrist assigned to Michael Meyers as a child and the only one who sees Michael for what he truly is.
Perhaps it is the way in which John Carpenter filmed the movie that made this haunting thriller legendary. Or maybe it is the unnerving and unforgettable music score. Whatever the reason, there is no argument that Halloween is a classic horror film and is still revered over thirty years after its release. The film helped launch seven sequels, a remake, a sequel to the remake, a slew of novelizations, and a series of comic books (not to mention a plethora of merchandise associated with the movie).
Despite countless criticisms, in 2006 Halloween was selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the United States National Film Registry. Not bad for a movie produced on a budget of $325,000.
This concludes our 31 Days of Horror! I hope that you have enjoyed the month and I want to thank you for sticking with me through the end while I celebrate my favorite holiday of the year! Many wishes for a Happy Halloween to all!
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