Re-watching the original Halloween
The original Halloween came out in 1978. It was directed by John Carpenter, who also composed the theme music. It stared Jamie Lee Curtis in her first major role. (John Carpenter liked the fact that her mother Janet Leigh stared in Pyscho.)
The story is simple, a six year boy named Michael Meyers kills his older sister on Halloween night. He is locked up in an asylum but fifteen years later he breaks out and heads home to Haddonfeild, Illinois. He kills people and also visits his old home.
The impact of Halloween is hard to overstate. Made on a low budget it was a massive hit. There have been several sequels and a remake (which got a sequel) and its success inspired the Friday the 13th series. It led to Jamie Lee Curtis making other horror films like Prom Night and Terror Train.
It is interesting to rewatch this, I think it has been at least six years since I’ve watched it. I noticed how unhinged Dr. Loomis, played by Donald Pleasance, seems in this first film but that only is apparent in a few scenes. (I knew he was unhinged in some of the later films, so maybe I was looking for signs of it.) The movie is less violent or gory than you’d expect if you have never seen it.
The movie holds up. It is the best in the series. I liked Halloween IV and Halloween V but it has been a while since I’ve seen either. (It is very possible that neither film holds up.) Halloween 3 was an attempt to move the series into a new direction and make it maybe an anthology series.
The story is simple, a six year boy named Michael Meyers kills his older sister on Halloween night. He is locked up in an asylum but fifteen years later he breaks out and heads home to Haddonfeild, Illinois. He kills people and also visits his old home.
The impact of Halloween is hard to overstate. Made on a low budget it was a massive hit. There have been several sequels and a remake (which got a sequel) and its success inspired the Friday the 13th series. It led to Jamie Lee Curtis making other horror films like Prom Night and Terror Train.
It is interesting to rewatch this, I think it has been at least six years since I’ve watched it. I noticed how unhinged Dr. Loomis, played by Donald Pleasance, seems in this first film but that only is apparent in a few scenes. (I knew he was unhinged in some of the later films, so maybe I was looking for signs of it.) The movie is less violent or gory than you’d expect if you have never seen it.
The movie holds up. It is the best in the series. I liked Halloween IV and Halloween V but it has been a while since I’ve seen either. (It is very possible that neither film holds up.) Halloween 3 was an attempt to move the series into a new direction and make it maybe an anthology series.
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