Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)
The night he came home
The original classic, and I really mean classic horror film from the late 70s still thrills, spooks and chills after all these years.
I’m sure you all know the basic story: Mentalist Michael Myers escapes from a mental institute and returns to his home town to kill kill kill! Oh, and it’s Halloween. Jamie Lee Curtis screams a lot (and dresses like an old Grandmother) , and Donald Pleasence is desperate to hunt down Michael Myers, who, interestingly, wears a mask that was modeled on William Shatner (as James T. Kirk).
The neat trick Carpenter works with in Halloween is less is more. There’s a lot of horror you don’t actually see, leaving it up to the viewer to fill in the blanks as it were. Suspense-Wise, this is Carpenter’s trump card. Tease the audience, and don’t let them see too much. That, and a sprinkling of humour (and movie references) help made this a classic. And then there’s the fantastic brooding electronic score by Carpenter. It makes a huge impact.
Remade, re-ingested, regurgitated and really very good, this original version of Halloween is a blue-print of the modern ‘slasher’ sub-genre of horror films. This is one of the originals (although Bob Clark’s Black Christmas was made in 1974 and might even be better), and is still one of the best horror films of all time.
There are two Blu-ray versions in my archives: An original release from 2007, and the 2013-released 35th anniversary edition (pictured) which boasted a new film transfer and colour grade. The latter of which turns the film much darker, desaturating the pictures to a slightly alarming degree. That new transfer was apparently supervised by Carpenter & Director of Photography Dean Cundey. I have to say I really don’t ever remember Halloween being so dark and drained of colour.
Of course, since then there’s been a 40th anniversary edition, and expect a 45th and -HEY!- maybe even a 50th anniversary edition in the future. Horror cow. Milked.
