Halloween (film)

The Halloween films are a series of horror movies, of which the first is considered one of the most important and influential of the genre.

The original blockbuster

The first film, Halloween, (originally titled The Babysitter Murders), was released in 1978. It was written by John Carpenter (who also directed) and Debra Hill, and was executive produced by Moustapha Akkad. It starred Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence. Shot on a budget of $300,000, it became the highest grossing independent film ever, and held that title until Dirty Dancing was released in 1987. It is still the most profitable horror movie title to date.

Related Topics:
1978 - John Carpenter - Debra Hill - Moustapha Akkad - Jamie Lee Curtis - Donald Pleasence - Independent film - Dirty Dancing - 1987

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Telling the story of an unstoppable psycho-killer wearing a white-painted William Shatner mask from the film The Devil's Rain, Halloween is generally considered the first of a long line of modern-day "slasher" movies descending from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). The movie originated a great many of the clichés seen in countless low-budget slashers of the 1980s and 1990s, although first-time viewers of Halloween may be surprised by the fact that compared to its many imitators and competitors, the original film actually has very few explicitly violent scenes. Many slasher buffs, however, also note that the lesser-known 1974 horror film Black Christmas, directed by Bob Clark, actually features many of the same motifs that Halloween is credited with establishing. For example, the film is a holiday-themed slasher that has shots from the killer's perspective replete with muffled breathing noises, much like those in Halloween. This, of course, does not deter from Halloween, as it is certainly the film the popularized such motifs, even if it did not officially "invent" them.

Related Topics:
William Shatner - The Devil's Rain - Slasher - Alfred Hitchcock - Psycho - 1960 - Black Christmas - Bob Clark

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Deeper meaning has been read into this movie by some film critics, including the idea that everyone who dies in the film is sexually promiscuous, while the "innocent" (chaste) heroine survives. Carpenter has been quoted as saying that inclusion of this sort of morality into the story was entirely unintentional, and he did not mean for the movie to be seen as a form of "punishment" for those who indulge in sex and drug use. Nevertheless the parallel between a character's moral strengths and their likelihood of not getting killed has become a standard slasher movie trope.

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Plot

Six-year-old Michael Myers brutally kills his older sister on Halloween night, 1963, and is locked in a mental institution. Fifteen years later, he escapes and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois (named after co-writer & producer Debra Hill's hometown of Haddonfield, New Jersey) to repeat his rampage. Pursued by his psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis (Pleasance), Myers sets his murderous intentions on babysitter Laurie Strode (Curtis) (after already killing two of her friends). Eventually, Loomis catches up with Myers in the upstairs room of a house, and shoots the murderer six times. Myers falls through a window and Loomis rescues Laurie. But looking out of the upstairs window, Loomis discovers that Myers is gone... Myers has "come home" (as the tagline on the movie poster mentions) and will return to kill again.

Related Topics:
Michael Myers - Halloween - Illinois - Debra Hill - Haddonfield, New Jersey

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