Halloween (1978) The Night He Came Home! - (Movie review and film summary) By @hectorjoachim

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At this time of year, the saturation of horror / horror films is inevitable in both cinema and television programming. The genre has had ups and downs over the years. For every good movie that comes out, there are at least ten more totally disposable.

In the last decade, the gore became fashionable in its maximum expression, with films like Hostal or Saw and its multiple sequels. His method rather than to frighten, was to displease, exhibiting violence so graphic that it was a challenge not to withdraw the view of the screen, which contrasts with the film that possibly gave origin or at least had a strong influence on the sub genre of Slasher film: Halloween (1978). A completely elegant tape in its execution, practically without a single drop of blood from beginning to end, cemented in the suspense and not in the violent images. Unfortunately it has been losing collective memory by mixing it and / or confusing it with the endless imitations, sequels, prequels, reboots and remakes that came later and that are far from the original.

The story is very simple, on Halloween night of 1963, in a place called Haddonfield, a teenager is brutally murdered, nothing more and nothing less than for his brother of 6 years: Michael Myers. The next 15 years he is locked up in an asylum where the psychiatrist Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) does everything possible that Michael is transferred to a institution of maximum security, considering it highly dangerous. But his efforts are useless, since after several denials by the authorities, Michael manages to escape.

Back in the village of Haddonfield, we have a group of teenagers, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), Annie (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda (PJ Soles) making Halloween plans, which are looking after children and looking for the opportunity to get away with his boyfriends; in the course of the day they realize that they are followed and observed by a stranger, but with the exception of Laurie, none gives much importance to the fact.

Once on Halloween night, teenagers are harassed and attacked by psychopath Michael, while police and Dr. Loomis track him down to try to stop him.

• The Importance of Halloween (1978) 'The Night He Came Home'

The Halloween movie was shot 36 years ago and in just 3 weeks, with a meager budget of $ 300,000 dollars, it is to marvel what Director John Carpenter was able to do. And is that although it is a fairly simple story, there are many elements to highlight. The management is top notch, and we must remember that master Carpenter makes two types of films: absolute geniality or total trash. This belongs to the first category. The handling of the suspense is masterful, simply the best I've seen. Precursor of the now murderous cliché that walks slowly approaching as its victim runs and screams desperately.

No doubt the soundtrack helps a lot, since despite being quite minimalist, (zero orchestra, just a piano and little more) helps to create the atmosphere. It is probably the most recognizable element of the film. By the way, the same director was in charge of composing and interpreting the main theme.

Dean Cundey's picture deserves a full article. I love the flat sequences, and this movie starts with one of my favorites, it's 4 minutes in subjective mode, where we see the action through the eyes of the killer. Great.

The escape from the madhouse in the rain is another highlight, as well as the contrast between the impeccable town of Haddonfield by day and the dark version of night, where we have an excellent handling of shadows and chiaroscuro, taking full advantage of the known white mask of Michael Myers, that appears lurking in different places of the houses where the young women are, often immobile, we only hear their breathing near them, increasing more and more the tension.

Such was the success of this film, that the sequels were not made to wait, but none managed to approach even the quality of this one. They became generic films, some entertaining (Halloween II, H20), others moderately decent (Halloween IV), while the rest were abominable. Of the new versions directed by Rob Zombie, it is not worth talking about. Also, some other stories would like to get on the train, like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Hell Street, and a little more recent Scream saga and I know what they did last summer. But again, none reached the level of Halloween. All of which do nothing but highlight how excellent it is, something that practically arose from nothing: at that time John Carpenter was not famous.

But who really looks in this movie is the character of Michael Myers, the silent killer of the white mask and the empty look. There was still a long way to go before it became one of the most recognizable faces in horror movies, but it was clear that the depth of this character was, paradoxically, in its simplicity, since its origins are not supernatural but merely psychological: Michael Myers seeks to be evil in its purest form, to completely erase his person. That is why, even as a child (in the initial scene) can not kill without wearing the mask. As for the rest of the characters, his arch-nemesis Dr. Loomis is who has the best lines, prophetic dialogues more typical of a mad scientist than a rational man of science. As for Laurie Strode, Myers' eternal pursued, she is the quintessential victim of this type of film, the "virgin in trouble", a heroine model that would be exploited to the point of exhaustion.

Jamie Lee Curtis is a sensational actress especially for this type of films, its performance is really brilliant throughout the trajectory of the film. Halloween is a movie with a harrowing atmosphere that transports you completely to the small town of Haddonfield. Its slow pace makes it an intense film with a soundtrack of the most iconic possible, who will not have heard that tune in more than one night of Halloween. Little more to say than one of the most obvious classics that horror movies could have, is really perfect in its simplicity, leaving an open end of the most intriguing possible.
Even after seeing all his imitators, it's good to see this film from time to time, not only in terms of its historical value for the horror genre, but because it represents yet another example of an increasingly rare cinema style. Absolutely recommended.

After watching all the sequels, remakes of the saga Hallowen would say that the original is the best in all aspects, undoubtedly some of my favorites films are also Hallowen IV, Halloween II and H20 others deal with interesting themes such as Halloween III (is out off the story of Michael Myers) and the sequels Halloween V, VI and the rest show alternative stories to the original version but with Michael Myers as the main protagonist. (I hope in my later posts to talk about some of the Halloween sequels more fully and give my critique and review of them).

• Enjoy this extra bonus

Movie Trailer

Halloween (1978) Cast & Crew

Produced by John Carpenter
Screenplay: John Carpenter, Debra Hill
Cinematography: Dean Cundey
Music: John Carpenter
Performances: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis

Documentary film

English Version

Spanish Version

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Source and credits by:
https://news.avclub.com/danny-mcbride-says-michael-myers-won-t-be-immortal-in-h-1798261834

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