Halloween
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Movie Reviews of Halloween
Movie Review: Classic Parts Are Much Better Than The Whole
Summary: 4 Stars
In my eyes there are two categories of people when speaking of favorite holiday slasher films: those that like 1974's Black Christmas to those who rather prefer 1978's Halloween. Count me a part of the former's category, as Black Christmas is a forgotten perfected-diamond that not only chills the marrow, but is also intentionally hilarious in spots. Halloween, however, is a pretty good movie, damn near great in spots, in fact. Although it features scenes not only worthy of Psycho, and of which have found their rightful place inside classical cinema, yet the parts are indeed better than the whole. Halloween's approximate first 11 minutes and final 36 minutes (yup, I checked the runtime) are truly the reason the film is held in high proverb-- it's too bad that that only makes up a little over ½ of the film's total length.
Halloween may in fact have a greater affinity for art-house horror fans like myself, than blood-and-guts fans, so I almost hate to say it, as Halloween I also remember fondly from my younger years, and it is one of those films that got me obsessed with horror, but nostalgia should never get in the way of being an honest and fair critic (or wannabe critic.) Halloween is a good movie, but damn that middle section sure is mightily flawed, and even seems cheesy in parts. Yet, the term arty can also be applied to the good parts of the film, as well.
Yet, I hate to use that term "art-house horror movie", as that implies that horror is on the contrary, but I believe when viewing Halloween that it does in fact fit. This is due to the way John Carpenter directs the movie: stylish and relying on Hitchcockian-like suspense and a real sense of horror, rather than bodycount. I also must first point out that the dialogue throughout the film is actually one of the best components of the script. Often the everyday conversations about normal day things that Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her school friends have does in fact seem natural, rather than boring. Though we don't necessarily "know" the characters all that well from a literary perspective, we do like them, as they seem like any real life type of girls that both you or I might know in high school.
Yet, the overbearing dialogue exchanges between Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) and the Sheriff (Charles Cyphers) seems necessary, it's also too bad it's not known until about that 55 minute mark. As the masterful opening scene, and its follow up "escape from the hospital scene" is long forgotten after about another 45 minutes of misstepping true scares. As although the mask-wearing Myers may be indeed a scary villain, not due so much to the ice-cold way he dispatches the characters, but much more due to the fact that he truly feels like evil incarnate. Yet, it also must be said that the way that Dr. Loomis perceives Myers in dialogue at first seems like it's overblown, lame, and not natural. What doctor really talks of a patient in high-strung, diabolical terms: "Death has come to your little town, sheriff." To the films credit, however, although it at first slips into this "only in Hollywood" jargon, yet that is later completely evaded and it even becomes justified when we do later in fact agree with him in that final act when this "bogeyman" character is finally put and secured into a menacing night backdrop.
Because, as good as John Carpenter is as generating suspense and menace in the terror scenes, in the initial daylight stalking scenes sadly lack that blood luster. As framing a character that your film makes out to the "The Bogeyman" not just in daylight, but also (hilariously) standing outside a school window just next to laundry, honestly brings a roll of the eyes, and a bad smile to my lips. Then having this evil character possibly hide behind bushes and a bed sheet makes me cover my eyes with my hands, shaking my head. Call me cynical, but it truly feels like two different kinds of films throughout the acts: a masterful frightshow, then a cheesy B-movie, and then back to a white-knuckle terror ride.
In conclusion, despite that I still like Halloween and even if its opening scenes and final act are amongst my favorites, I must admit that in parts I can't really take the bogeyman threat that serious. Sorry.
Score: 8.0 / 10.0 (In 0.5 increments)
Movie Review: Halloween...A Technical Review
Summary: 4 Stars
This review covers the Starz/Anchor Bay dvd release of Halloween with the slip cover. I have not seen the Divimax version of the dvd so have no experience with it. I will not go over the plot or its stars and director because that has been done so many times and most of us are already familiar with them. For those of you looking to purchase one of the myriad formats of the original Halloween, I hope this review will be of help to you.
First of all let's talk about the quality of the video. A new 35mm negative print of the film was used to transfer this onto the dvd format. Upon studying the picture quality, I think that this is as close to a perfect picture as you are likely to get out a 30-year old print. Let's be reasonable here, the entire movie was shot on a $300,000 budget ($20,000 going to Donald Pleasence's salary), and while I'm sure Dean Cundey and Carpenter got the best they could afford, with that kind of budget you can't possibly get the high-end film stock that the bigger budget films (James Bond for instance)can afford. With that in mind, there are the occasional film artifacts floating around during the movie (sparklies, a miniscule black spot, etc.) but they show up only here and there. Overall, the picture is clean and crisp making it look better than it did on my vhs version when it was brand new. The color timing issues some folks had were not present, at least not on my copy: fall looked like fall, and the creepy blue hue used during the dark scenes were absolutely there. All-in-all I would give the video a solid 4 stars.
Audio: It states on the back of the slip case that the original 16-track music studio master and 35mm magnetic dialogue and effects tracks were used to give this a 5.1 surround sound make-over. While I agree that the soundtrack really comes alive here giving the music a very wide sound field, you only get the occasional surround sound effect (a thunder crash here, or a bird chirp there), but over all the surround speakers are used very little. However, in defense of this I can't really count a whole lot of scenes where the rear speakers would be used because almost all the action is in front of you. Oh yes, you do hear Michael's breathing now and then in all speakers which is creepy in itself. I would give the audio a solid 4 stars, too, for effort if nothing else because of the original source material being almost 3 decades old.
Extras: Finally, the extras on this dvd are a-plenty. You have radio spots, trailers, trivia (you learn some really neat things about this film), a documentary loaded with interviews that should answer just about any questions you may have on this film (you even get an interview with the orginial "Shape", Nick Castle, which really (in my mind) was the highlight of the documentary), you also get some talent bios, and posters and stills. Plenty there for everyone. An easy 4 stars for that one.
I hope this long and in-depth review helps. For me, it was easy to give a high rating because I was very satisfied with the quality that was put into this version. I hope you find this, too.
Movie Review: A start to a great series
Summary: 4 Stars
A good, suspenceful movie that spawned one of the most popular and long lived slasher series ever.
When he was only six years old, Micheal Myers killed his sister with a large butcher knife. He spent the next fifteen years in a mental institution, where his therapist spent eight years trying to cure him before realiseing that he was "pure evil" and spent the next seven years making sure that he stayed locked away for life. But on October 31st 1978, Micheal Myers escaped, hellbent on a murder spree, climaxing in the one-by-one murders of Lorrie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends.
Althought it is not very violent (and not bloody at all) and the death scenes are quite tame by todays standards, Halloween is still a scary movie (made even creepier by the chilling musical score) and one of the first in the slasher genre. Deffinatly worth a watch, the start of a great series.
Movie Review: The Best Horror film of all-time !
Summary: 4 Stars
Halloween set the bar very high on horror films ! This is the best Halloween movie of all time in my opinion. The acting is great and the story is also great! Michael Myers is the ultimate bad guy/ killer.
"Halloween" is about killer Michael Myers, who on halloween night goes on a killing rampage.
I know this sounds a little over the top, but John Carpenter does a great job at directing this film.
Every Halloween I watch this film and when I do it always gets me a little scared.
Halloween is a classic movie that will/should live on far into the future.
Movie Review: Halloween
Summary: 4 Stars
On Halloween 1963, Haddenfield, 10-year-old Michael Myers, estranged and mentally unstable, is imprisoned in Smith's Grove Sanitarium under the care of Dr. Sam Loomis for the murders of his mother's boyfriend, his older sister, and her boyfriend. Now, 16 years later, he escapes and now in search of his baby sister Laurie and Dr. Loomis must warn the residents of Haddenfield and get to Laurie before Michael does. This movie does make for a very admirable companion piece to a horror classic, blending the old and the new into an entertaining and thought-provoking fright movie.