3. Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978).
Channelling the ominous shadow of Norman Bates, John Carpenter's Halloween stands as the pivotal moment in the creation of the slasher film. Truly a horror for the Halloween season, Carpenter's masterpiece provides heebie-jeebies galore as the truly terrifying figure of Michael Myers stalks the sleepy town of Haddonfield on Halloween night, searching for attractive young babysitters to unleash his insatiable bloodlust upon. Regarding the film's voyeuristic villain, Carpenter keeps it playfully simple. Myers is pure evil. Unlike the disappointing Rob Zombie remake, which unsuccessfully attempted to explore Myers' childhood in order to explain his chilling motives, Carpenter's original merely implies that the killer is an insane individual who was simply born to kill. And we the audience may need know no more than that.
A variety of factors contribute to Halloween's legacy as a triumph of the horror genre. Perhaps most notable is its use of music. The strikingly simplistic theme tune, composed by Carpenter himself, remains a sound that, much like The Exorcist's Tubular Bells theme, has become synonymous with terror. Throughout the film, Carpenter's moody soundtrack helps to form multiple layers of fear to build within the audience's mind.
Another praiseworthy element of the film is its direction and ingenious manipulation of light and shadow. Carpenter's frequent use of long shots and steady tracking shots, often accompanied by the husky sound of Myers' breathing, add a voyeuristic aspect to the film, giving the impression that the protagonists are constantly under surveillance by the ever-present menace, while at the same time, drawing we the audience all the more intimately into the horror, as we are forced to observe the oblivious victims through the killer's eyes. Carpenter's direction also allows for the figure of Myers' to be almost constantly obscured, whether he be hiding behind a hedgerow in the distance, hovering behind billowing sheets on a washing line or lurking in the shadows of a dimly lit living room, the audience is constantly aware of the possibility that Myers may lunge from any corner of the frame. As Carpenter commends of Hitchcock's Psycho; "the scariest scene is where Arbogast comes up the stairs...that moment of [the killer] coming out of nowhere is what influenced me for Halloween". It certainly shows; barely a frame goes by in Halloween where we the audience are unable to convince ourselves that Myers may jump out from the shadows at any moment.
A further noteworthy element of Halloween is the fact that, despite the intensity of the horror, the film contains very little gore and a relatively low body count. Within the main body of the film, only three deaths occur, and each are incredibly drawn out, the majority of the horror being established through suspense. And when the killer finally does strike, barely a drop of blood is seen. Similar to Psycho's infamous shower scene and the much-discussed fact that we never see the blade penetrate the victim's body, in Halloween, even when Myers uses his knife to pin Bob to the kitchen door, the majority of the gore is merely implied. Instead we see two ghostly silhouettes - one with a knife hilt protruding from its torso - framed within a mass of shadows, further proof that clever use of lighting and framing can be much more effective in creating an atmosphere of horror than any amount of graphic violence or buckets of fake blood.
Ultimately, Carpenter's Halloween, with its favourable comparisons to classic Hitchcockian horror, it's impressive status as the origin of all slasher movies and the confession from Christopher Lee that his decision to turn down the role as chief protagonist Dr Sam Loomis was the worst decision of his career, must therefore be regarded as one of the most impressive horror films of all time. Its memorably chilling villain, its portrayal of suburban America as a principal setting for terror and its immeasurably effective use of sound, lighting and camerawork all contribute to the creation of a genuine horror masterpiece.
A variety of factors contribute to Halloween's legacy as a triumph of the horror genre. Perhaps most notable is its use of music. The strikingly simplistic theme tune, composed by Carpenter himself, remains a sound that, much like The Exorcist's Tubular Bells theme, has become synonymous with terror. Throughout the film, Carpenter's moody soundtrack helps to form multiple layers of fear to build within the audience's mind.
Another praiseworthy element of the film is its direction and ingenious manipulation of light and shadow. Carpenter's frequent use of long shots and steady tracking shots, often accompanied by the husky sound of Myers' breathing, add a voyeuristic aspect to the film, giving the impression that the protagonists are constantly under surveillance by the ever-present menace, while at the same time, drawing we the audience all the more intimately into the horror, as we are forced to observe the oblivious victims through the killer's eyes. Carpenter's direction also allows for the figure of Myers' to be almost constantly obscured, whether he be hiding behind a hedgerow in the distance, hovering behind billowing sheets on a washing line or lurking in the shadows of a dimly lit living room, the audience is constantly aware of the possibility that Myers may lunge from any corner of the frame. As Carpenter commends of Hitchcock's Psycho; "the scariest scene is where Arbogast comes up the stairs...that moment of [the killer] coming out of nowhere is what influenced me for Halloween". It certainly shows; barely a frame goes by in Halloween where we the audience are unable to convince ourselves that Myers may jump out from the shadows at any moment.
A further noteworthy element of Halloween is the fact that, despite the intensity of the horror, the film contains very little gore and a relatively low body count. Within the main body of the film, only three deaths occur, and each are incredibly drawn out, the majority of the horror being established through suspense. And when the killer finally does strike, barely a drop of blood is seen. Similar to Psycho's infamous shower scene and the much-discussed fact that we never see the blade penetrate the victim's body, in Halloween, even when Myers uses his knife to pin Bob to the kitchen door, the majority of the gore is merely implied. Instead we see two ghostly silhouettes - one with a knife hilt protruding from its torso - framed within a mass of shadows, further proof that clever use of lighting and framing can be much more effective in creating an atmosphere of horror than any amount of graphic violence or buckets of fake blood.
Ultimately, Carpenter's Halloween, with its favourable comparisons to classic Hitchcockian horror, it's impressive status as the origin of all slasher movies and the confession from Christopher Lee that his decision to turn down the role as chief protagonist Dr Sam Loomis was the worst decision of his career, must therefore be regarded as one of the most impressive horror films of all time. Its memorably chilling villain, its portrayal of suburban America as a principal setting for terror and its immeasurably effective use of sound, lighting and camerawork all contribute to the creation of a genuine horror masterpiece.
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