Reel Views: Essential Halloween viewing
Halloween (1978)
Every year on October 31, cinephiles look for something to satisfy their Halloween movie urges. Each time the spooky holiday rolls around, a batch of new flicks pops up, but lately with hits such as the Saw franchise and the Human Centipede films, it seems like horror flicks have taken a turn for the worse. This year, if you're looking for something to hit the Halloween movie spot, look no further than the quintessential slasher flick Halloween. The 1978 original, that is....
The flick opens with a chilling scene; one Halloween night, a young Michael Myers witnesses his older sister getting frisky with her boyfriend and brutally murders them both with a butcher knife. He is institutionalized, but exactly 15 years later on Halloween night, he escapes and returns home to finish what he started, wreaking havoc and bringing terror to his hometown on the most frightening of days.
The story points of Halloween set the scene for nearly all slasher flicks to follow and laid down the "rules" for horror films. Teenagers having sex, drinking and doing drugs are all doomed to die at Michael's knife. The good girl has a better chance of making it to the end, but nothing is guaranteed.
The cast of this classic scary movie is helmed by Tony Moran as the psychopathic Michael Myers. Moran's walk is really what makes him so terrifying: he is a hulk of a man who saunters slowly towards his victims, giving them a terrifying anticipation of death as he approaches.
Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of scream queen Janet Leigh of Psycho fame, more than lives up to her family legacy as the female lead. Curtis plays the token "good girl" in Halloween, although she is tormented by Myers all the same. Curtis gives a strong performance punctuated by ear-piercing screams that would make her mother proud.
British great Donald Pleasence brings to life Dr. Sam Loomis, Myers' psychiatrist who is frantically trying to get him back to the institution. Pleasence has some serious acting talents, all of which he displays powerfully in this flick.
What makes Halloween the perfect movie for the holiday of the same name is that this movie is truly frightening in every sense of the word. In that classic slasher movie style, death spares no one, the tension is high and scary moments will have you jumping out of your seats.
This Halloween, grab a friend, put on a fun costume, make some popcorn and sit back and watch this classic scary movie.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Every year on October 31, cinephiles look for something to satisfy their Halloween movie urges. Each time the spooky holiday rolls around, a batch of new flicks pops up, but lately with hits such as the Saw franchise and the Human Centipede films, it seems like horror flicks have taken a turn for the worse. This year, if you're looking for something to hit the Halloween movie spot, look no further than the quintessential slasher flick Halloween. The 1978 original, that is....
The flick opens with a chilling scene; one Halloween night, a young Michael Myers witnesses his older sister getting frisky with her boyfriend and brutally murders them both with a butcher knife. He is institutionalized, but exactly 15 years later on Halloween night, he escapes and returns home to finish what he started, wreaking havoc and bringing terror to his hometown on the most frightening of days.
The story points of Halloween set the scene for nearly all slasher flicks to follow and laid down the "rules" for horror films. Teenagers having sex, drinking and doing drugs are all doomed to die at Michael's knife. The good girl has a better chance of making it to the end, but nothing is guaranteed.
The cast of this classic scary movie is helmed by Tony Moran as the psychopathic Michael Myers. Moran's walk is really what makes him so terrifying: he is a hulk of a man who saunters slowly towards his victims, giving them a terrifying anticipation of death as he approaches.
Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of scream queen Janet Leigh of Psycho fame, more than lives up to her family legacy as the female lead. Curtis plays the token "good girl" in Halloween, although she is tormented by Myers all the same. Curtis gives a strong performance punctuated by ear-piercing screams that would make her mother proud.
British great Donald Pleasence brings to life Dr. Sam Loomis, Myers' psychiatrist who is frantically trying to get him back to the institution. Pleasence has some serious acting talents, all of which he displays powerfully in this flick.
What makes Halloween the perfect movie for the holiday of the same name is that this movie is truly frightening in every sense of the word. In that classic slasher movie style, death spares no one, the tension is high and scary moments will have you jumping out of your seats.
This Halloween, grab a friend, put on a fun costume, make some popcorn and sit back and watch this classic scary movie.
Rating: 5 out of 5
