(1978) *****
And so my Modern Classic Roundup begins. I've got all the Halloweens, Friday the 13ths, Elm Streets, Hellraisers, Child's Plays, Phantasms and Evil Deads coming to me from Netflix. I'm watching all those movies in the order they were released relative to each other, for some sort of historical perspective, I guess.
Ah, the original Halloween. So different from all its descendants. Once again I was knocked over at the delicious slow burn of this movie, the various elements mixing into such sublime suspense my heart was pounding by the time Laurie was staggering back across the street.
I realized this time that my favorite shot in the movie is the first time Tommy Doyle looks across the street. It's just Michael standing there, a sharp silhouette in the center of the strongly lit Wallace house. The house's bold, Colonial outlines reminded me of a Wyeth painting, but with this black hole in the middle of it, shaped like a man. That he's called The Shape made perfect sense.
Later, from the same angle, we see him slowly coming across the street towards us. I couldn't imagine a more perfect counterpoint. First, the Bogeyman terrifies just because he's there. Stage two is he's coming over here. The realization of the whole B-man myth/psychology is total. He even creeps up from behind the couch, for pete's sake.
And the music! Right from the beginning, it's almost ridiculous how well suited it is to the task. It's like John Carpenter found some cheat code to the human fear receptors, or something.
And the stalking! Loomis describes him as patient, and we actually get to see it. He waits and waits and waits for the right time to take Annie. He draws it out with all those glimpses -- I love that Laurie actually sees him earlier that day. I love that we're with him a lot of the time, too, getting a perspective on Michael the person, Michael the mental patient. It's a complicated, sophisticated way to build.
What else can I say? This one deserves the pole position.
5 comments:
Also worth noting that this is the best of the holiday-horror flicks. Silent Night, Deadly Night and Happy Mother's Day were such snoozers that by the time Terror on Arbor Day hit the theaters, I'd completely lost interest. Although, that'd make a great niche for this year's Horrorthon. And looking at the scoresheet right now, I could really use a niche.
One thing that bugged me about this movie was that when Bob carries Lindsay into the Wallace house, he leaves the door on his van open. Stuff like that drives me crazy. "Nobody ever goes back to pick up the oranges."
My favorite horror film of all time! The one thing that never made sense to me is why the hell Laurie didn't run out of the house with the children at the end? What did she hope to gain by just sitting there gaining her composure. Feets don't fail me now! I love the sound Michael makes when he hits the ground - it's that old sound used in countless cartoons when something smashes into the ground.
Halloween certainly deserves the ***** although I find that the potency of it has been diluted over the years by the hundreds of films it spawned.
Summerisle certainly has a point, especially when you consider that the Friday the 13th knockoffs all count as well, since F13 is itself a knockoff (would there even be a horrorthon without them?).
I was really taken by this viewing of Halloween, though. It's something else entirely.
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