Halloween

(1978) *****

A few years ago I wrote an extensive summary of the Halloween movies and the various ways one can watch them. I really did, check it out here. This year I decided to kick off Horrorthon with a fresh viewing. I immediately regretted doing so because when it was over I realized, “I don’t feel like writing more about this movie, what hasn’t been said about it already?” Halloween is my favorite horror movie and everyone has seen it a million times. Therefore I thought I’d do something different with this review, I’m going to discuss the two nitpicky complaints I’ve always had about this film.

1. Just when did Michael steal that Halloween mask?

During the first third of Halloween Michael stalks Laurie throughout her day. She first sees him while daydreaming in class and looking out the window.



She later sees him as she’s strolling home with Lynda and Annie,



Once home she sees him standing in her backyard behind the clothesline



This suggests that, at the very least, Michael acquired his trademark mask some time during the early afternoon, right?



Yet later when Laurie and Annie are driving towards their respective babysitting jobs they come across Annie’s father, the sheriff, at a hardware store. We hear an alarm blaring in the background and the following dialogue occurs,

ANNIE: What happened?

Sheriff: Someone broke in the hardware store. Probably kids.

ANNIE: You blame everything on kids.

Sheriff: The only things missing were some Halloween masks, rope, a set of knives. What does that sound like to you?

So think about it for a second; Michael clearly had the mask in the early afternoon yet by late afternoon, say 4:30ish, the sheriff is still working the case at the hardware store and the alarm is still blaring? Conservatively this suggests that the alarm had been blaring for a few hours. This scene should have occurred when Laurie was on her way to school. Either that or we are to believe that Sheriff Brackett is very thorough.



2. Why does Laurie remain in the house?

During the tense climax of Halloween Laurie realizes that she’s dealing with something that is capable of surviving a knitting needle to the neck and a clothes hanger to the eye. After stabbing Michael in the gut with a butcher’s knife she walks out in the hallway and instead of telling Tommy and Lindsay, “We’re getting the hell out of here, now! Let’s race down the street to the MacKensie's, knock on their door, and tell them to call the police!” she tells them the following,

“Listen to me. I want you to walk down the street to the MacKensie's and knock on their door. You tell them to call the police and send them over here. Do you understand?”

Then this happens,



Turning her back on Michael despite knowing that he survived her previous attempts to thwart him makes little sense, but it makes no sense whatsoever that she would remain in the house while sending the children off ON THEIR OWN while she chills for a while. I understand that it was necessary to have her remain in the house for the final “scare” but any normal person, sprained ankle or not, would have hobbled the hell out of there lickety-split.

These are minor complaints, of course, because Halloween is just brimming with awesomeness. I was going to add a few others nitpicks (e.g., the actress who plays the Annie character’s atrocious acting and Lynda’s terrible adlibbing when the three girls are walking home from school), but this took me a surprisingly long time to put together so that’s all you get.