Halloween Review

Typically, I’m a huge 70s horror fan so I was very excited to finally watch Halloween. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed with a lot of different elements in the film. The acting was weirdly overdramatized at especially random parts, like when talking about school textbooks or smoking weed. To me, it made the film all the more peculiar, but I can see how it could make the film seem cheesy. Additionally, I literally felt grey hairs growing in while waiting for Myers to finish the job and off his victims. They showed him stalking, and stalking, and stalking…. I was astounded that the movie had such a short run time! Luckily, when Myers did eventually get around to the killing, the deaths were camp and very fun to watch. The score aided in the scary factor of the deaths, I had never seen Halloween before but I still instantly recognized the off key piano theme that plays whenever Myers is on screen. He had no lines, so the music spoke for him.
Regardless of my issues with the movement of the story, the film was still a super entertaining watch. I thoroughly enjoyed the mise-en-scène and the simple plot; it goes to show how movies do not need big budgets with overly complex stories to provide an entertaining film. I loved how Carpenter referenced the old horror movie, The Thing, as a way to foreshadow impending doom while hinting at Carpenter’s own version of The Thing, which had not been made yet. Clearly the film has elasticity and an enormous fan base considering there seems to be an endless supply of sequels. I am not complaining, I love seeing Jamie Lee Curtis employed! It was evident that John Carpenter loves the craft of filmmaking, and Halloween was his love child. From the iconic music to the bloody slasher deaths, this film set the bar for low budget horror, cementing itself as a cult classic. I recommend watching this on Halloween surrounded by friends, to not take it too seriously, and to have fun!

Caroline Lannes — October 5th, 2021