The Original Halloween

Ever since the release of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” no other sub-genre of horror is copied more often than slasher films. So much so there are those who equate horror films with slasher films. This attitude isn’t unjustified.  After all, most slasher films, which peppered the ’80s, had the same basic plot:  a brutal murder (or some other tragedy) prompts someone to kill people years later, usually the incident’s anniversary. These unfortunate people were almost always teenagers who just had – or were having – sex.

It wasn’t “Psycho” which brought teen sex into the equation. It was “Halloween,” the film that basically reinvented this horror subgenre. Ironically, “Halloween” wasn’t the first slasher film to involve teenagers with a strong sexual appetite. It was predated by “Black Christmas,” both in tone and production. Limited distribution kept it from making the same impression as “Halloween.”  This was a decade before the lucrative direct-to-video market.

With “Halloween,” rules of slasher films that would impact the genre were set in stone. The biggest being “have sex and die.”  In addition, those deaths should be as graphic as possible.

This is what ultimately made slasher films what they are: mean-spirited movies whose reason for existing is to intercut flesh and blood. In order for these death scenes to have the effect, it’s important for victims to be as unlikable or unintelligent as possible. If they displayed any good qualities, people might not like them being butchered.

What makes “Halloween” an exception to the genre it reinvented?
First and foremost, “Halloween” is a simple story with a hell of a lot of heart and technical skill put into it. Strip those assets away, and “Halloween” could hardly be simpler.

Another asset to “Halloween” is the goosebump-inducing music John Carpenter composed.  It is one of the most memorable scores for a horror movie.

Of course, we must thank William Shatner as well, as it was a mask of Captain Kirk, which, once redesigned, became the Michael Myers mask. 

Another aspect of “Halloween” is the characters.  Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance are the actors most remembered when people think of the film. Curtis’s Laurie is instantly likeable and why we hope she survives. In future slashers, virginity is the only requirement for one to survive a killer. Pleasance plays a fascinating Van Helsing-like character whose mission is to stop someone who is “purely and simply evil.”

Another cliché “Halloween” set up is the infamous “final girl doesn’t
kill the killer when she has the chance” motif.

This occurs when Laurie obtains access to Michael’s knife twice, but discards it. The first time, she stabs him with a sewing needle after he breaks into the Doyles’ house. Then she uses his knife on him in the bedroom closet. Laurie’s refusal to settle everything immediately brings nothing but hair-pulling and cries of “No!” In addition to imitators, “Halloween” inspired sequels, the first of which came out
three years later. 

The most infamous “Halloween” imitator was “Friday the 13th.” Though the film has a nice around-the-campfire feel, it has none of the disturbing imagery, or the subtle character moments of “Halloween.” It was a huge hit that spawned many sequels, which did more than its share of about-faces regarding its killer, his origins and next of kin. “Friday the 13th” became to horror what “Star Trek: Voyager” became to science fiction:  it has its moments, but is too nonsensical to be good.