Last week John Carpenter turned 70 years old, and Rotten Tomatoes accidentally pronounced him dead in a now iconic tweet that has since been deleted. Thankfully, Mr. Carpenter is still very much alive and well, despite what the popular review aggregation website had claimed. 2018 not only marks the 70th birthday of one of horror cinema's greatest living legends, but it also marks an important anniversary for one of his most iconic films. That's right, Halloween turns 40 this year. Shot over 20 days on a budget of $300,000, which was considered pretty low at the time, Halloween was nothing more than a low-budget indie horror upon its conception, and nobody could have predicted how profoundly it would influence the horror landscape in the years that followed.
As most of you know, Halloween is a 1978 slasher film that follows the murderous Michael Myers (Nick Castle) as he escapes from a mental institution and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield on Halloween. Myers proceeds to stalk teenager Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends over the course of October 31st, while his psychologist Dr. Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence) attempts to put a stop to his murderous deeds once and for all. Dark, suspenseful, and filled with dread, Halloween became one of the most groundbreaking horror films of the 1970's, launching the acting career of Jamie Lee Curtis, and cementing it's director John Carpenter as a true master of horror. 40 years later, it is still a phenomenal horror film that has left behind a legacy of terror in the decades that followed it.
Now Halloween was not the first ever slasher film, it was preceded by a number of similar films such as Psycho (1960), Black Christmas (1974), and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), as well as the numerous Italian gialli that dominated horror cinema in Europe at the same time. In that case I suppose Halloween could be considered The Beatles of slasher cinema, in the sense that they weren't the first to do what they did, but they were certainly one of the most influential bands of their time. After Halloween's release in 1978, an influx in slasher films came about, with the likes of Friday the 13th and Prom Night following soon after. The next decade would be dominated by slasher films, all thanks to Halloween. A lot of subsequent slashers would attempt to put their own spin on the genre, building upon Carpenter's original idea with concepts of their own, Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street is a fine example as it introduced supernatural elements to the slasher formula. On the other hand, some slashers would simply follow the formula of Halloween almost step by step in order to cash in on its success, such as The Slumber Party Massacre, or even some of the Friday the 13th films, sorry Jason. Halloween certainly changed the game for the next decade or so when it hit cinemas in 1978, slashers were in fashion thanks to Carpenter and co.
While it spawned a large number of imitators throughout the 1980's, Halloween also spawned its own franchise as well. While Carpenter and the late Debra Hill only wrote the first two films, as well as producing the third, their original film spawned seven sequels overall, as well as a 2007 remake with its own subsequent sequel, and an upcoming follow-up to the original. Michael Myers, or 'The Shape' became an icon of horror cinema, returning again and again to wreak havoc on unsuspecting teenagers. However, the franchise could have been totally different. Initially, Carpenter and Hill envisioned Halloween as an anthology franchise, with each subsequent film following a completely new story, with the theme of Halloween linking them all together. However, after the huge success of the original film, production was already underway on a direct follow up, forcing Carpenter and Hill to save their anthology idea for the third installment, Season of the Witch. Now in my opinion, Season of the Witch is a really effective horror film in its own right, and the idea of a Halloween anthology franchise is extremely appealing, however it was just not meant to be. When people saw the Halloween title they were expecting Michael Myers, but in the third installment he is nowhere to be seen (unless you count a brief cameo on a television displaying the original trailer for Halloween). Fans and critics alike were displeased, forcing the producers to bring Myers back again and again in the films that would follow. While each film is a further step down the ladder from the last (except maybe with the exception of Halloween H20) the Halloween franchise is nonetheless an iconic one, and launched the careers of the likes of Danielle Harris, Paul Rudd, and of course, Jamie Lee Curtis.
It's clear that Halloween's influence is undisputed, but what about the actual film itself? How does it hold up 40 years on? Well, two years ago I was lucky enough to see it in cinemas on Halloween night and am thankful to report that it was still an incredibly intense and terrifying experience as I am sure it would have been way back in 1978. Halloween highlighted Carpenters talent for crafting slow-burning sequences of dread, set to his chilling, synthy score. One such scene involves Myers stalking Laurie's friend Annie Brackett (Nancy Kyes) while she babysits young Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards). The pacing is dead slow as we follow both Michael and Annie simultaneously, with the latter being unaware of the former's presence. We know he's there, but she doesn't. Carpenter isolates Annie a number of times, most notably when she goes out to the laundry shed in the back garden, but he knew not to spring Michael out too early, the timing had to be absolutely perfect. For a moment it seems as though Annie is safe as she drops Lindsey off with Laurie and sets off for a hot date with her man, Paul. That's when Carpenter takes action, straight after giving his character that false sense of security, he springs his trap and shocks the entire audience. No matter how many times I've watched Halloween, this scene always stands out as one of the most effective.
Of course, Carpenter's direction would be nothing without his score, and his theme song for Halloween has become something of a hallmark of horror cinema. However, it's how Carpenter manages to time his pieces to the action that really makes it effective. Towards the end of the film Laurie takes a breather after a struggle with Michael, believing that she had killed him for good. However, unbeknownst to her, Michael slowly gets back on his feet, and Carpenter's eerie score kicks off once again. She is unaware of what's happening behind her, but the audience is, and as Michael advances on Laurie we can't help but cry out just as Jamie Kennedy did in Scream. To be fair, it would be tense enough without any music at all, but Carpenter's score adds an extra layer of nuance to the scene, raising the tension to eleven. In terms of fear factor, Halloween still holds up reasonably well in the modern horror climate. Carpenter uses his skills of the craft to masterfully build this suspenseful atmosphere, culminating in highly effective, well-timed scares, that still work upon every watch.
After all these years, the influence of Halloween is still evident in the horror genre. Back in 2015 we were treated to David Robert Mitchell's hair-raising horror film It Follows, that owed a lot to Halloween. The use of wide-angle lenses and that synth-heavy score from Disasterpiece were direct homages to Carpenter's filmmaking style, particularly in Halloween. Similarly, director Jordan Peele cited the opening scene of his debut Get Out as a tribute to the film as well. The seemingly average suburban setting being interrupted by horrific violence was something that Halloween made popular, and Get Out and It Follows are only some examples of the films that adopted this theme. Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode became the archetypal 'final girl', the female protagonist who overcomes her male aggressor and survives the events of the film. The final girl trope lives on to this day, with some more recent examples being Erin (Sharni Vinson) from You're Next, and Mia (Jane Levy) from the Evil Dead remake. The image of the final girl painted by Strode became commonplace in horror cinema, and opened the genre to a new generation of female empowerment. As for Michael Myers, well, what more can I say about him? He remains one of the most recognisable horror film villains of all time and inspired a wave of similar antagonists such as Jason Voorhees and more recently, Victor Crowley of the Hatchet franchise.
The Halloween franchise may have went extremely downhill after the first couple of sequels, but the original still remains untainted. Later this year, Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle will return 40 years on, to reprise their roles as Laurie Strode and Michael Myers respectively. Directed by David Gordon Green, and written by both him and Danny McBride, the film is set to erase most of the sequels from the canon and will instead link directly to the first film. While Carpenter will not direct the film, he will be scoring it, and has given the script his blessing which is fantastic news. It gives us fans a lot more faith in the film and raises the anticipation significantly. While little else has been revealed about the plot, I for one look forward to returning to Haddonfield once more, and who knows, maybe this film will spark a new generation of slasher films for the next decade or so, just as the original did 40 years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment