You Should Fear the Reaper

Rating: 9/10 (5 November 2013)

As originally envisioned by Moustpha Akkad, "Halloween" wasn't much more then an exploitation film. Even the original title, "The Babysitter Murders," sounds like the kind of undistinguished schlock that would have played on 42nd Street for weeks and then be forgotten. Enter John Carpenter. His stylish direction, directly influenced by Hitchcock, Argento, and Hawks elevated "Halloween." It really is as good as everyone says it is.
Carpenter uses the tracking shot emphatically throughout "Halloween." It's a rare shot that isn't moving. The constant movement accomplishes several things. It establishes a sense of speed through the first half of the film, as the characters go through their everyday lives, living from one moment to the next. We are placed within someone else's world. The movement also implies a third party, a voyeuristic eye. Of course, there is a voyeur and it's not just Michael Myers. The audience themselves are spying on the cast. During the best of these early scenes, the viewer truly feels like we're snooping on the daily routine of ordinary small-town folks. Lastly, the camera constantly roaming makes the motionless moments more noticeable. The camera stands still to make a statement, a bold exclamation point on the preceding. Little Michael having his clown mask torn off. The Shape raising up from the floor behind Laurie. The final montage, noting the places where violence has taken place. "Halloween" is visually engineered to make an impact.
I'm going to talk about the early half of the film a lot, mostly because it's frequently overlooked. You could call those day lit scenes a couple of things. "Boring," to modern, ADD-afflicted youth. Yeah, it's kind of those things. However, these scenes establish our setting, Haddonfield, the typical Midwestern small town. They establish the autumn setting, leaves fluttering in front of the camera. They show the characters in their normal lives, contrasting with the horror the night brings.
What exactly is Michael Myers? He's not human. Watching the film this time, the word that kept coming to mind was 'wraith.' For those unaware, a wraith is a Scottish ghost that is exceptionally angry and takes it out on anyone that comes its way. Michael Myers is an entity, an embodiment of some inhuman force. This is why he comes into existence, fully formed. This is why Dr. Loomis insist the character is unknowable. His motivates are obscure and inscrutable. Actually observe Myers' behavior. He shifts through the darkness undetected. His mask appears in frame before quickly vanishing again. Over Laurie's shadows, in the doorway, he slowly fades out of the black of the night, a ghost phasing into perception. While the girls smoke pot in Annie's car, Myers drives behind them. And what's playing on the radio? "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." But you should fear the Reaper. Because you can't stop him. Michael Myers is a malevolent manifestation of death itself, inexplicable and indestructible. The indestructibility is about the only thing the subsequent sequels and remakes got right Carpenter and Debra Hill were working in archetypes. Laurie is the virginal, shy every-girl, a babysitter and obedient little daughter, who hasn't moved past schoolgirl crushes towards actual relationships. Is PJ Soles' Lynda the more interesting, likable character? Maybe. That might have to do with the boundless enthusiasm Soles brings to the part, an innate likability that should have made her a major star. It's not as if there's much to Lynda, a cheerleader stereotypically interested in fashion, school dances, beer, and her boyfriend. But what about Annie, by-far the least defined of the girly trio? She is hopelessly devoted to a boy who doesn't seem that invested, abandons the child she was supposed to protect, spills butter on her clothes, and gets stuck in a window. "Halloween" mostly avoids the broad clichés of later slasher films but Annie totally deserved to die. What a stupid girl.
Anyway, why Laurie? Why does she survive the Shape's inescapable power? Carpenter likes to say it's because she paid attention to her surroundings. Maybe. But then why does her off-screen teacher bring up destiny and fate? Laurie is forced on the path of survival, her encounter with pure evil destined to make her a fuller human being, to bring forth her indomitable will to survive. There's no way JC could have predicted the influence his little movie would have. Yet, of course Laurie is the original final girl. Her elevation to iconic status is buried in the bone marrow of the film. Even if she does need Dr. Loomis, who spends most of the movie just kind of hanging around, to save her.
The film is painted with shadows, crisscrossing faces and bodies. The blue tone not only suggests night and darkness but also a morbid, deathly pallor. No wonder Myers reigns supreme. He has recolored the entire night to suit him. Argento's influence on Carpenter is most obvious here, as John uses color to create a tone and atmosphere. The last act is a fun house thrill ride, designed to continuously ramp up the tension. Laurie falling down the stairs, running across the streets, knocking on a locked door, trapped in a closet, it's all escalation of the previous set piece. Bold-faced audience manipulation that works every time. Despite the famous theme music, most of "Halloween's" score is pulsating synth or pounding piano keys. Myers' leitmotif, a quivering, rising note, implies his presence even when he's barely glimpsed. The score is another tool in Carpenter's box to raise tension and get the audience's blood pressure up.
Am I reading too much into it? Or is "Halloween" deep? The film is a classic for a reason, a retelling of an urban legend that transcends those roots. The retelling becomes the new standard for the myth, the old routines reinvented continuously throughout the years. Wow, "Halloween," good movie after all.