Halloween (1978)

So far during this challenge every film I have seen I had a base line understanding of what I am going to see. Be it Scream where a masked killer goes around killing people or Child's play where a murderous doll comes to life. However when it comes to the film Halloween I had not a spec of an idea what to expect. The poster made it safe to assume there was some kind of killer but aside from that I couldn't say anything and even that was a very weak premonition to start with in the first place. However after watching the movie it's safe to say I am still in the exact same boat I was before. Now I don't want to jump the gun so my thoughts and questions directed towards the plot/ characters will come towards the end. Instead I am going to start by discussing the music.

Firstly I feel I must apologise to the Halloween movie creators for all the mean thoughts I had for the first fifteen minutes of the film. As soon as I hit play I was greeted by a surprisingly quiet screen but I held out hope, I figured that maybe because it was a point of view shot that it was supposed to be quiet and draw in the creepy silence of being watched. But when the film continued after the flashback I was still finding myself stuck in this eerie silence besides the dialogue and was starting to get annoyed. I mean fifteen minutes and not so much of bird chatter in the background it was starting to get ridiculous. And then I realised I had my volume turned down. So I turned my volume on max (which was still relatively quiet even with headphones but perhaps that's my fault again) and rewound the film to watch from the start. It's safe to say there was ambient music and I simply just wasn't hearing it. But I am glad I learnt that early on as the first second of the film played the iconic piano chase sample.

For everyone that has watched Halloween (1978) you know the exact score I am refering to however if like me you are unsure on horror film lore then I encourage you to Google the intro and you will instantly remember hearing it at some point in your life. It is a situation I also found myself in where although I do not have a lot of knowledge on the films considered Halloween classics there are pieces of knowledge so universal that they transcend their media and become wide spread knowledge. Especially in the age of technology that we are in it is beyond easy to splice music into your own content or recreate popular scenes in your own way. Usually it is under the guise of finding other people who have seen that media and that can understand or appreciate your additions for example students making a short film and using the same shot as a popular film or parodying a specific scene. But once it is released into the world anyone can find it, particularly on social media. Which is where I have heard of this music before, not in direct correlation to the film Halloween but as a copy for general horror movie skits. So I recognised the piano as soon as it began but only truly connected the dots to this film when watching it. This also got me thinking about the virality of music in horror films. Coming from someone who is new to horror and even more new to the musical background that surrounds them this view may be very incorrect but it appears to me that almost all famous 'halloween' music generated from around the late 20th century.

Again I am sure this isn't the most accurate statement to make it is simply a thought that arose while listening to the start of Halloween. The theme song that seems to follow Michael while on his killing spree is such a famous piece of music that it has been used in hundreds of different videos as a way to universally symbolise a scary, suspenseful atmosphere. The same way that Phsyco (1960) has the iconic shower scene with screeching violins and cellos. One again I have never seen Phsyco and yet that shower scene and that music and well known beyond the movie world because it seems to transcend just that movie. It's music that creates a feeling a projects a message to the viewer that anyone can recognise without context which is what makes it so famous. And yet I feel there is no equivalent that has been made within the 21st century. Of course there is the context that film was such a new thing that it was being experimented with and explored which allowed for these big moments to become so world wide and yet film has come so far even from then but it all seems focused on the visuals. Graphics have improved, as has the cinematography and the way things are shown that we can see but sound wise I feel we have made very little development. That isn't to say music is bad, it isn't. There have been plenty of times where music is played sweet and soft to create a moment of warmth and joy or fast and high pitched to draw out action scenes and emphasize disorientation. But having a specific chunk of music that goes viral the same way it has in Psycho and Halloween (besides lyrical work) hasn't happened in recent decades and I find that particularly interesting. It also goes to show how popular the film has been and added to the culture of films.

Similarly, the conventions of what makes a horror movie all seem to converge here. The killer being an outcast to society, the girl being stalked but made to feel crazy, having characters die after sex TWICE, the "ill be right back" jinxing, the killer moving super slow and yet the victim is completely unable to avoid him and having the real hero of the movie be a man who recuses the girl. If I didn't know any better I would have thought the director had a checklist to tick off every know cliche like it was some kind of quota. That being said Jamie Lee Curtis was the main girl so that means any criticism towards her character as the typical virgin girl next door is immediately null and void. I would also like to give a round of applause for the ending as although it is another cliche to have the thought dead killer suddenly disappear the way it ended was fun. I liked the multiple shots of different places the killer had already been layered with his heavy breathing through the mask to add that spookiness that he could be anywhere. That was delicious to watch, simple yet affective.

Finally my thoughts on Michael Myers. I have never been more confused. Firstly I want to say I did like the twist that it was a child who killed someone back in the 60's, that was a fun twist even I didn't see coming. If I'm honest I was a little worried because when his arm reaches for that clown mask I did think it was a doll and got concerned. But it was just a child and that is something I was intrigued in. Initially I thought we would then have some kind of reason for him going on a killing spree such as him being bullied but it seems we never get a reason. That in itself isn't such a problem, I am all for having a killer be a killer just because however the lack of address to it always left me wondering. Similarly the motivation after he escaped the hospital gave me more questions as it was never clear why he chose the people he did. Michael appeared to be stalking Laurie specifically and since there was no clear connection made between her family and the Myers I assumed Michael had passed her on the way to his childhood home and was reminded of his old babysitter. It was at this point I thought maybe he had some kind of sexual obsession with her and that was his motive but if so his actions still don't make sense to me. If he was interested in Laurie in a romantic way I can understand killing the people around her so that she only has him left but after killing all her friends he goes on to kill her. An action which if you did have an interest in them doesn't make sense. On the other hand if he had a grudge against his old babysitter or even if he thought it may have truly been her and set on killing her why would he not have approached her first and then made his way through to her friends on the notion that they were all baby sitters. Creating a common thread that his motive is to kill all baby sitters because of something his own did. But once again that isn't a route that takes place which leaves me wondering why Laurie specifically did he stalk.

The only other assumption I seem able to make is that there was a silent connection he made with Tommy. The moment he saw Tommy he was being teased by some bullies in his school and after running away Micheal followed him briefly in his car. At first I thought he might kill him but instead he drove past which makes me think there was a reason for watching him. And perhaps that reason was because he saw himself in Tommy and that he also used to be bullied and since he was around the same age as Tommy when he first killed his baby sitter something similar happened to him and he felt the need to protect him. So in the same way he killed his baby sitter he tried to kill Laurie (Tommy's baby sitter) and her friends so that he was protected. But once again if this was some kind of projected story he placed on Tommy why not go after his literal bullies first before his babysitter. All of this to say I do not understand the motivation. Not to mention the random appearance of him having a mask. Did something happen at the hospital that resulted in him needing to wear a mask? From the flash back scene we are shown Michael's younger face and it doesn't appear as though he as a facial defect which I remember being a plot for the killer in scream the TV show and why they wear a mask. So if that is the case why wear a mask unless it was to hide their identity and even then where does one find a mask like that. Was it also lying randomly in the car of the man he killed to get his blue suit?

And let me not even start with the headstone. I didn't understand it when they first mentioned it was gone and I still don't understand why it was placed with the bodies of people he killed. Or how he was able to remove it so easily, he must have superhuman strength. To summarise it all, once again (as is tradition when watching these Halloween movies) I am left with unanswered questions. This time more than when I started which says something. After watching this I did get recommended Halloween 2 which could be the place I would get all the answers I am looking for and for that reason I will allow an ounce of understanding but that does not mean it is cleared of all uncertainty. If anything it lessens the affect because I wanted everything to be wrapped up neatly in a bow after the first, though it is more viewership for the film makers so it depends which way you look at it which is why I rated it the way I did. I look forward to day five where I will be watching The Thing (1982) and encourage anyone to comment with your own thoughts and opinions even if they counteract with my own.