"Halloween" Movie Reviews

By: James Southworth

Today in a special review, I am going to do full critical analyses of two different films: the original and 2018 versions of "Halloween"! It is fitting to do this because of course it is one day away from the titular holiday, and the 2018 version just out two weeks ago. So here are my reviews!

"Halloween" (1978)
Rating: 5/5 Stars

The late 1970s and 80s were key game changers for the horror scene, as what I would consider the "Big 3" of horror films came out during those years: "Nightmare On Elm Street", "Friday the 13th", and of course "Halloween". As of now, I've seen all of them, and you can see the mark that all of them left on modern-day horror films. It can be hard to truly appreciate any of them for what they are now because of how diluted and repetitive their tropes have become. That is especially the case for the first two films mentioned. But not for "Halloween". Even today, John Carpenter's classic film still holds up immensely well, and may possibly be one of the most enjoyable and legitimately scary horror movies I've seen.

Where this movie really succeeds is in its simplicity. At its core is a simple story about a babysitter named Laurie encountering the masked serial killer Michael Myers and never being the same again. There are a couple of subplots, such as Dr. Loomis trying to find Myers, and some of Laurie's friends have tiny story arcs. Still, it is really Laurie and Michael that are the focuses here. That is why this movie works. Some horror movies try to be convoluted with the explanation of their villains. They have to have some crazy backstory, or there needs to be a supernatural element, or there needs to be a plot twist. While I actually tend to like all of these elements, they are at risk of weakening a viewer's understanding of the plot. There isn't anything too complex to Michael. He is actually referred to as "The Shape" in the credits, which makes one thing abundantly clear: even though Michael looks human underneath his mask, there's nothing truly human about him. Dr. Loomis desires to understand him, but there is nothing about him to understand. Michael is just evil. There is nothing good in him; he is a cold-hearted, emotionless killer. Nothing more, nothing less. There is something profoundly frightening about that to me. What if a killer has no real motivations, no emotions driving them? What if they just kill because it's all they know? Director John Carpenter shows Michael through that lens repeatedly throughout the film, and it becomes more and more bone-chilling each time. The character also can't die; he's invincible and practically a demonic entity. The movie even calls him The Boogieman quite a few times. The Boogieman is real, and it comes in the form of Myers. It's interesting to see Laurie not wanting to acknowledge this throughout the film, but by the end she has to accept this reality, albeit in a very traumatized state.

Though this movie has a simple story, its cinematography is highly creative. I love the beginning of this film, which has a perspective shot of young Michael killing his own sister. We don't see his body, only what he sees. When he puts on a clown mask, we see his limited vision, which is a really cool and creative idea. You can see in this beginning shot the influences "Halloween" derived from "Psycho", as like Norman Bates, Michael Myers's signature weapon is a huge knife. This film is brimming with atmosphere throughout. The night shots are always done with a surrounding fog, and shots are illuminated by car lights or the moon. It creates a tense atmosphere where it feels like you literally have no where to hide. The movie makes a smart decision to not show Michael clearly until the end of the movie. For about half of it, we only see him from behind. Then we progress to seeing him from a distance, or in a window, or hidden slightly behind something. This makes his ultimate reveal that much more impactful, and the fright factor only increases when we see his mask taken off and that he is surprisingly human looking. The horror of the situation is that Michael is a human, and yet there's nothing human about him. Every shot in this movie feels like it's perfect for the fall season, as there's hardly ever a moment without a jack-o'-lantern present, or fall leaves all around. On top of the excellent cinematography is a pretty solid cast, as far as the leads go. Jamie Lee Curtis is impressive in her feature film debut, bringing a real likeability to her character. She makes her character realistically vulnerable in the face of pure evil, but she also brings a strength to Laurie that is not found in the other characters surrounding her. Donald Pleasance is the easy highlight here as the unsettling but interesting Dr. Loomis. He is not necessarily a crazy doctor, but there is something distinctly off in him, especially as he seems to have an infatuation with Michael. Pleasance gives his all to this role, and makes this character quite compelling to watch. Nick Castle as Michael doesn't have anything to say, and yet he still makes Myers very frightening just through his body movements. You can feel the menace and evil this character has, and that is all due to how interesting of a body actor Castle is.

There isn't a whole lot about this movie that's weak. I suppose the rest of the cast just isn't that compelling. You can predict easily that characters like Annie, Tommy, Bob, and the other teenage characters are just fodder for Michael Myers. They aren't very interesting, but I don't know if Carpenter wanted them to be. This movie is still excellent. It invented the tropes that so many other movies use now, and the tropes are used far more interestingly in this film. Plus, the music is SO good. Most of you have probably already seen "Halloween". If you haven't, do so now!

"Halloween" (2018)
Rating: 4/5 Stars

I had no real interest in seeing any of the other sequels to the original "Halloween" movie. However, I did some reading on them, and realized that I definitely didn't want to watch them. It seems as though the story became more and more convoluted, with some stories establishing Michael as being able to be killed, others setting him up as Laurie's sister, and others still giving him a tragic backstory. Basically, all these movies did exactly what Carpenter didn't want: they tried to humanize Michael. He's not a character that's meant to be humanized; he's a monster and a murderer. Director David Gordon Green's "Halloween" is meant to be a direct sequel to the original. It ignores all the other sequels, instead attempting to go back to the simplicity that worked so well in the first one, while still implementing new ideas. Laurie is now an old woman, traumatized by her experiences with Michael and locked up in a house gated off with electric fences. She has a family, but does not connect with them much. However, when Michael once again escapes a mental asylum, she knows that she has to face him once again in order to save her family.

While it obviously can't compare to the original, this movie is still quite good in its own right. You can see in every shot here the appreciation that Green has for the original film. In fact, in some ways I would compare this movie to "The Force Awakens", interestingly enough. Just like "Force Awakens" is meant to a homage to "A New Hope", in many ways this movie is a homage to the original "Halloween". Many parts of this film are shot for shot the same as the first one. There will of course be people who cry foul at this, and say how this proves there are so few original films out. I personally appreciated how many similar shots there were. This is partly because they do something new with them. Many of the shots are ones with Laurie in them, but the shots show how much she has changed. Some of the shots (such as a classroom scene) include a new character Allyson, the granddaughter of Laurie. This creates a clever sense of parallelism between the two films, as what once happened to Laurie and then happened to her daughter Karen is now happening to her granddaughter. Michael's terror is generational. This could also be considered a symbolic commentary on how many, many generations of people have enjoyed watching Michael Myers kill. This movie unfortunately does not have as many of the cool perspective shots as the original did, but it still does a good job at setting up its scares. There are very few false jump scares in the film, and there are many satisfying long takes where you are waiting for Michael to come out. You aren't even sure where he's going to show up, making the tension all the more palpable. There's also the surprisingly effective inclusion of comedy in this film. This movie is self-aware about horror tropes. There's this young kid in the movie that's particularly funny with pretty much every line he says, saying what pretty much everyone in the audience is thinking. The comedy in this movie doesn't feel awkward or misplaced, and it's not done in excess. The scary parts are still scary, and the funny parts are funny. It never feels like Green is making fun of the movie with comedy, as you can tell how much love he has for the original "Halloween" constantly.

The performances in this film are overall decent, though for the most part I wouldn't call them game changing. The only performance that I would say blew me away was Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie. She hasn't played this character in quite a while, and yet the way she has changed makes sense. She still keeps some of the traits of her character in tact while adding some new ones. Laurie's cold hard survival instincts make sense, and her constant paranoia is earned given how traumatized she was in the original film. Like in the original, Curtis brings both vulnerability and strength to her character. Her progression between these two aspects of her is awesome to see. Curtis also has some excellent lines to sink her teeth into, particularly a delightful one liner that appears at the end of the movie. Andi Matichak as Allyson is great in her first feature film lead role. She is thankfully not an exact replica of young Laurie. Green lets her bring her own charm to the character, so she is able to become her own unique persona. I really liked any moment she was on screen, and I wouldn't complain if she became a more prominent role in sequel films. Nick Castle is better than ever as the slasher villain we all know and love to be scared of. Michael is scarier than ever in this film, killing people in the most brutal ways we've seen. We get a sense of Michael's raw strength throughout the film, and his labored breathing is somehow even more menacing. Will Patton returns to this film reprising his role as Officer Hawkins from the original. I actually like him better in this movie than the original, as he has more to do and is incredibly likeable. There are some performances that hinder this film slightly. Judy Greer and and Toby Huss as Allyson's parents feel a bit too over the top and parodist in their performances. It feels like their exaggerating their characters' personalities for no good reason. I also find Haluk Bilginer as Dr. Sartain a bit too cartoonish. Whereas Dr. Loomis was only crazy to a degree, it feels like Sartain's insanity is the only thing defining him, which was disappointing.

If you like the original "Halloween", there's a good chance that you'll enjoy this one. It pays tribute to the original while not copying it. It includes the classic music with some interesting modern updates (the electronic flourishes in the title track are a surprisingly nice touch). Michael Myers is as scary as ever, and Laurie is even more awesome of a heroine. There are some parts this movie has that are actually better than the original, which makes up for some of the weaker performances and slightly cliched moments. This is a great movie to watch if you're into horror, and it's of course just right for the Halloween season!