Day 26 - Halloween (1978)

 Day 26 - Halloween (1978)

PLOT - A psychotic murderer institutionalized since childhood for the murder of his sister, escapes and stalks a bookish teenage girl and her friends while his doctor chases him through the streets. 

LOWDOWN - Halloween, really what is there to say? Taking such a simple idea and turning it into a complete iconic classic. This was a huge door that opened for the world of horror as well as bringing us into the glory days of the slasher craze that lasted about ten or so years. What Carpenter and Hill did with such a low budget makes complete and utter horror history as the story of Michael Myers was born. Dispute all the sequels, remakes, and God knows what else...the original still and will always remain one of the most elegant, visually stunning, horror classics of all time!

My heart aches that I wasn't able to meet Jamie Lee Curtis last year for HorrorHound, but from what I heard from so many friends she was nothing less than amazing. Thankfully I was able to meet Carpenter a few years later who honestly besides Sam Raimi is one of my all time favorite directors. I decided to keep it classy for the photo...

Halloween is another movie that my mother first showed me and my sister way back when we were kids. In fact for years she said it was too scary for us and finally we talked her into renting it. I still remember like it was yesterday being a complete jackass with my sister until the killing began. From that moment onward you could hear a pin drop. The first four movies being my favorite, and of course enjoying Halloween H20, I feel the reason why I love these movies is because my mother loved them so much. In fact back in 78 my father took my mother to go see it in a drive-in and on the way home he picked up a hitchhiker, causing my mother to freak out. I still laugh over how awesome of a story that is.

The original Halloween is a must, with a simple storyline, like able characters, and that iconic score by Carpenter, it's no wonder the movie was instant gold when it was released. My favorite parts of course is the opening with that creepy Halloween chant, and the POV behind the mask. I sitll tell anyone who wants to get a Halloween tattoo to get that classic shot of Michael's clown mask being taken off by his parents as he stands there holding the knife and his parents stand in front of him confused. Then of course the ending when Loomis sees the children running screaming out of the course only to come face to face with Michael, shooting him six times. Love the ending line "It was the bogeyman." "As a matter of fact...it was." The epic ending of the score and his breathing still gives me chills. 

With an epic title, poster, and leading scream queen this movie seriously is utter perfection. It's just a shame so many cheap attempts to capture the magic didn't stay true to how this film worked. 

A little unknown fact about Halloween was the reason it really did come to be was that it was originally supposed to be a sequel!

Yep that's right, Bob Clark's Black Christmas which was released a few years before really was one of the first true holiday themed slashers to grace the silver screen. Originally, Halloween was planned to be a follow up to this movie with the same unseen killer returning, this time shedding more light on his back story as he wanders into a new neighborhood, stalking more young girls. Trust me, ever since I found that out I haven't been able to look at Halloween the same! Just to think...Michael was almost Billy!

So as the ultimate fall time horror movie, Halloween is a perfect example in how keeping things simple can end up being brilliant.

5 Stars!