Matt Connarton Unleashed: Erich Pilcher reviews John Carpenter's Halloween.

Halloween Night a small American town fifteen years ago, Michael Halloween. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply evil. I think he'll come back exploring on charted territory, totally charted us. The only way that the baby would have Halloween. Okay, come on out Halloween Night, he came home. Slasher films, without a doubt, are the most popular of all horror films.

The subgenre took root with the release of Bob Cook's nineteen seventy four film Black Christmas. However, it was in nineteen seventy eight where Novis director John Carpenter made the genre popular. In the flames of its popularity, Dal Flicker like a freshly lit candle in a jacket lantern on Halloween Night, Halloween introduces us to Michael Myers, a man that ten years prior had brutally murdered his sister and boyfriend on Halloween night. On this night, doctor Samuel Loomis, the late Donald Pleasance, is set to retrieve Myers for a hearing that will hopefully keep him in an insane asylum for the rest of his life.

When Myers escapes and goes home to hadd and Field, Illinois, where Lorie Strode, Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis in her first starring role, and her friends are subject to brutality and terror committed by Myers. This film is really what kicks started the slasher film subgenre. It is also the film that made John Carpenter a horror master. Our first two clips are going to be from Carpenter himself. First, in a brief clip, he explains his view on horror films, and then he talks about the premise of Halloween, including the idea behind Michael Myers, in what they were trying to capture and his now infamous mask.

You go to a horror film or a monster movie a sign you know something's coming. I mean, that's why you pay your ticket. The whole secret is when does it happen? And how long can you keep the audience waiting for that event to happen? And how long can you keep this mysterious character, Michael Myers alive and stalking people without ever having to do anything. And the longer that that can go on, the more anxious the audience becomes. All suspense is is you create anxiety in the viewer and they're upset.

They want the characters to pay attention to what's going on, because they're ahead. They're always ahead of the characters. Now, the original idea for Halloween. My job in making Halloween was to do an exploitation horror film. Then the basic premise was given to me by my distributor or when You Blonde. He said, let's do a movie about these babysitters who get stocked by a killer. He figured that everybody could identify with babysittings, so many teenagers had done it. And then a little bit later he came up with the idea of calling it Halloween.

Let's set it out Halloween. I didn't call it Halloween. Never been used as a title before, never been used at all. It was an underutilized holiday. So great, and I was a young director then. I was hungry for experience, hungry for features. I had done some work before then I said, sure, why not. Well, when we were making the film, I thought, Gee, it's Halloween at night and people get dressed up in masks. What better way to have a killer not be identified, they'd be wearing a mask, and we didn't have any money to make a mask.

So so my production designer, Tommy Lee Wallace, went up to a magic shop right here on Hollywood Boulevard and bought a William Shatner Star Trek mask Captain Kirk mask, spray painted it, cut the eyeholes a little bit different, fix the hair, and there we go. As I remember it now, maybe it was more, but I had about three or four days to do the score to Halloween, basically record the whole thing. I wanted something deadly simple and something that would just eat at you a little bit. And my father bought me a pair of bongos when I was really young for Christmas.

He taught me how to play five four time on them. Ba da da da da da Da Da Da Da Da Da da da da da da da da da. So all I did was too good on piano and do five to four with an octave then, and that that was where it came from. One scene that I'm particularly fond of, where after Jamie makes her discovery in the house, she backs into a corner and it's a dark corner back there, and she's kind of terrified and hiding for a moment, and then gradually you become aware that he is standing right behind her, and he just slowly turned the light up and it just s exposed, just exposed that mask on film, and uh, that was creepy that I that may be my favorite scene.

Was an odd experience on Halloween. It was released across the country, uh, in October and November of seventy eight, two not very good reviews. Somehow it caught on and began to develop a word of mouth. And I was off directing a TV movie called Elvis. So by the time I'd finished that, I was invited to New York to speak at some deal and they were screening Halloween and I was standing outside waiting to go in, and it was just the screams, over and over go over again. It was music to my ears. What makes this film so powerful and so scary, despite a horrible stereotype that slasher films can't be scary, is that us, the audience or viewer, does not fully see Michael until a quarter of the way through the film.

He stealthily moves in between the bushes and clothing, and he's never fully visualized his kills are done with stealth, brutality, and no remorse. This mystery is set up by Loomis. When he is described by the Doctor, we the viewer become more terrified of him despite not fully seeing him. To me, that is a credit to the performance of Donald Pleasance. Our next clip is an example of this. In this scene, Loomis is describing the hadden Field's sheriff what he saw in Michael and why he is fighting to stop him for good.

Any live here? I since nineteen sixty three when it happened every kittenhad and field thinks his place is haunted and they made the right What is there? A dog

still warm? He got hungry? He just kept my mind. Could have been a skunk could have him. Man wouldn't do that. This isn't another laugh it ha. And then here she she was sitting right here. He could have seen it through his window, standing on alone. He could have seen himself. Hm, you must think me very sentenced to doctor, Oh, I I do have perment. Seems to me you're just plain scared. Yes, yeah, I I am uh I met him fifteen years ago. I I was told there was nothing left, no reason, no conscience, no understanding, and even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong.

I met this six year old child with this blank, pale, emotionless face and the blackest eyes, the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up, because I realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply evil. What do we do? He's been here once tonight, I think he'll come back. I'm gonna wait for him. I still think I should notify the radio and television. If you do that, they'll see him on every street corner, and they look for him in every house.

Just tell your men to keep their mouth shut and their eyes open. I'll check back in an hour. A review of this film, would it be complete or do this film justice? Without speaking on Jamie Lee Curtis's performance of Laurie Strode. This performance is what the quote unquote final girl of horror films would be known for. The sweet girl next door that always does right and is yes, is virginal. Our last scene is an indication of this. Laurie and her friends are walking home after school. Two of them are talking about sex and people getting into trouble.

Laurie is more preoccupied with her chemistry book. This shows the traits that make the now classic horror film Final Girl, and it is all thanks to Jamie Lee Curtis's performance in this film. We have three new cheers to learn in the morning, the game is in the afternoon. I have to get my hair done at five and the dances at eight. I'll be totally wiped out. I don't think you have enough to do tomorrow. Totally as usual. I have nothing to do. It's your own fault, and I don't feel a bit sorry for you.

Hey, Linda, Laurie, why didn't you wait for me? We did fifteen minutes. It totally never shows. That's not true. Here I am that's wrong. I'm not smiling. I'm never smiling again. Paul dragged me into the boy's locker room, exploring charted territory, totally charged, just talk. Sure. Old Jerko got caught throwing eggs and soaping windows. His parents grounded him. You can't come over. I'll call your babysitting to me. The only reason she babysits is to have I have a place for that. I forgot my chemistry book, So who cares?

I always forget my chemistry book and my math book, and my English book, and my let's see my French book, and well, who needs books anyway? I don't need books. I always forget all my books. I mean, it doesn't really matter if you have your books or not. Hey, isn't that Devon Graham? I don't think so. I think he's cute.

Hey, jerk speak kills God? Can you take a joke? I could use many words to describe what this film means to not just horror films, but films in general. This film was the precursor to some of the most notorious film villains of all time Leatherface, Jason Vorhees, Freddy Krueger, Chucky Penhead, Candy Man, and many many more. If not for the success of this film, it's safe to say we would not have the others. Its worldwide gross was over seventy million dollars. As we heard Carpenter say earlier, this was done strictly on word of mouth.

This made it one of the most successful independent films of all time. It made Jamie Lee Curtis a star and John Carpenter into one of the greatest independent film directors of all time, and finally, it made Michael Myers the face or the shape of a holiday. The film spawned ten direct sequels. In Shock Rocker Rob Zombie out of his admiration of the films, did a remake and a sequel to his remake as well. Despite the hit or miss and disjointed nature of the film series, this does not take away from the greatness of this film.

It shocks, scares, and makes you cringe at its brutality. It is the ultimate slasher film and is a mussy because everyone deserves one good scare. I hope you joined me this Friday when we look at a high school senior living life to its fullest on one glorious day off, we will take a look at the John Hughes film Ferris Bueller's Day Off for WMNH and Matt Connorton Unleashed. This has been a classic film review with Eric Filcher incalculated silence, captivated by the violence, A replay fifteen years ago today, Oh, an evil evolution will bring a feeble institution through its niece, O doctor, can't you see that when the hands of fall of the Midnight Hour Highness mascots of the tevil scower These o the tevilses a formal portrait of profession, faded with the flag.

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Matt Connarton Unleashed: Erich Pilcher reviews John Carpenter's Halloween.

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