Halloween - 1978

There's so much to say about Halloween. First of all, my personal history. Well, I don't really know if I saw this before middle school, or possibly even late middle school / early high school. I didn't have any cool older cousins or anything that showed me horror movies as a kid. Neither of my parents watch horror either, from what I could tell then and what I can tell now. So, far as my memory goes, it was my sister and I, her getting some weird hankering for horror movies, and us watching these and the Fridays. She was always Michael Meyers over Jason, and I will say, I am too.

Halloween really cemented together the slasher as a subgenre of horror in general. I know there's a ton of debate about precursors to this movie, but really this took all of them and put them all in one place, including what I think was the biggest choice; an unknown and never revealed killer with no motive, no lines, and no sympathy. Michael Meyers truly is evil incarnate in this movie, both in dialogue by Dr. Loomis, and in action as we watch.

I barely need to touch on the plot, but one thing that I thought of early on is that it's funny how it's never stated in any way that Michael causes his escape from the institution he was in. Early on, they're driving to the institution and happen upon a bunch of patients, wandering around in the dark, and we never really find out wtf happened there. Plot from there is that Meyers heads home to Haddonfield and stalks a bunch of teenagers including Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Another thing I thought was funny on this rewatch was 1: to play a game where you decide what was Michael and what was not. There are constant "ominous signs" of Michael's presense, whether it be a sound or a figure or whatever. It's clear that in the idea of the movie, some of these are Michael and some of them...well, it wouldn't make much sense if it were him. Make it a drinking game.

Another thing I noticed (all of these come from love, please, trust me, this is my fave horror slasher movie) is 2: in the end, Laurie walks around her neighborhood in a light open neck shirt, buttons all undone to look pretty. It is late October in Illinois, it could be below freezing! She should certainly be looking for a coat, or at minimum buttoning that up!

Donald Pleasance wasn't in this movie as much as memory serves, so his screen time is really good. He's actually very good in this, and again I think his overacting and his insanity is more a trope of the later installments, instead of this one.

Halloween is virtually my favorite horror movie, or it's in the rotating top five. It's my favorite slasher for sure, and the music is so great. The acting is good, the kills are good, and the tension is good. Halloween is one of the classics, and it needs to be watched by everyone.