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The evil devil eyes speech was inspired by a field trip John Carpenter took to a sanitarium. He claimed he saw a dude with a look that chilled him right to his core, and hence michael myers was born on screen years later.
The pureness of this movie is what makes it such a classic for me. No long winded backstory of the killer, no long winded backstories the characters have to work through. Just babysitters babysitting and then a killer shows up. It lets you just experience the film itself purely in the moment.
Its a movie thats in the moment. No context for what comes before or after (except the opening). It centers fully on the current moment in each scene. Worries about schoolbooks or popcorn oil and monster movie marathons...all the while an unstoppable horror watching you from a distance.
The nickname for Michael Myers by the crew was "the Shape". Michael's mask is actually a cheap William Shatner mask painted white. I can't believe you haven't seen this yet, but better late than never. I am glad you liked it and can see the elements that make this a great film, not just schlock.
Funny how budget and technical limitations actually helped some of the best horror films. Like the shark in jaws, much is left to the imagination. You sense a sinister presence in the shadows or beneath the waves but you only catch glimpses of it until the final act.
At the end when Loomis shoots Michael and Loomis sees that the body is gone, Donald Pleasance asked John Carpenter what his reaction should be and Carpenter said "I want you to either look like 'I knew that was going to happen.' or 'What happened to the body?' (I'm paraphrasing, of course) After shooting, Carpenter asked Pleasance what reaction he went with Donald basically told him "That's for you and the audience to figure out." Such a subtle, yet high-effective moment of the film.
I love that Nick Castle is credited as "The Shape" in the end credits instead of Michael Meyers. That's how Carpenter referred to him in the scripts' stage directions and when describing the mask. I always thought it referred to "pure evil in the shape of a man". And the low budget, independent film feel adds very much to the chilling nature of the movie. Loved the reaction as always man. Keep them coming!
Also directed and wrote The Last Starfighter. Very cutting edge computer graphics at the time. It may look dated and simple computer graphics these days, but for the ship flight and space battle it was unique and on the cutting edge.
One of the things I love is that Michael isn't written as a simple killing machine. There's a mind behind the mask. From using the other inmates as a distraction so he could make his escape, needing a change of clothing to not be running around in a hospital gown, to taking the time to find a sheet and cut out eye holes to help disguise himself as the boyfriend. His size, strength, and endurance make him dangerous, but the intelligence is what makes him terrifying
The theme song is actually a bongo beat that Carpenter's father taught him as a kid. He translated that beat to piano and dropped the bongo completely, adding hi-hats later. This song was the result.
I love the build up that Loomis gives of Michael. Like he never refers or acknowledges Michael as a human being but as either “it” or “the evil” which shows that our characters are dealing with a monster.
Fun fact, the movie was originally set to be made for $300k. It was increased to $350k in order to get Donald Pleasance in the film. Mustafa Ackad paid for Pleasance to have a personal trailer during filming, but he was only there for i think 3 days out of the 28 days of filming. When he left he made sure that Jamie Lee Curtis got his trailer for the rest of filming. Game recognize game, he saw her talent and potential and wanted her to be treated like a star to know what she was worth and had coming to her later. If you can find the documentary about making this movie or even the special feature commentary they did SOOOOO much with so little. 8 trash bags of autumn leaves they bagged up after each shot. An abandoned house they first shot the Loomis and sheriff bracket scenes in then the whole cast and crew painted the house to do the long tracking shot from the opening scene. They shot it in summer so only 6 pumpkins total could be found. Just a beautiful example of meticulously thought out filmmaking with barebones resources and an outright passion from the whole crew and cast.
I love how mysterious Michael Myers was in this one. You never know for sure what are the full capabilities of Michael. This movie is the definition of a slow-burn.
Dean Cundey shot the hell out of this film! His work doesn't get enough credit! And he got to use the first Panaglide system, which took a ton of their budget, but Carpenter knew it would be worth it! What I love about this film is that it isn't shot like a schlocky monster movie or cheap drive-in horror flick. It is elevated by a director who saw it as something more and with a cast and crew that believed in his vision! My favorite horror film ever! So much atmosphere in every frame! So glad you loved it, too!
One of the aspects I love about this film is that there's little to no blood at all and yet they do a great job of making us terrified of Michael. John Carpenter nailed this.
Fun fact: That iconic, terrifying mask is from a dollar store William Shatner Halloween costume. They had a tiny budget but thought it looked creepy, so they bought it, spray painted the mask white, and the rest is history.
According to Debra Hill, the script for Halloween took between ten days to three weeks to write, and much of the inspiration behind the plot came from Celtic traditions of Halloween such as the festival of Samhain. Although Samhain is not mentioned in the plot of the first film, Hill asserted that the idea was that you couldn't kill evil, and they went back to the old idea of Samhain, that Halloween was the night where all the souls are let out to wreak havoc on the living, and then came up with the story about the most evil kid who ever lived. Carpenter used the fable of a town with a dark secret of someone who once lived there, and now that evil has come back, using the old "haunted house" folklore. Carpenter wanted Halloween to be like an old haunted house attraction, with something always jumping out and scaring you every few minutes.
You bring such a unique take on every movie you react to. We see your shock awe appreciation & understanding...Makes me excited to watch a film one day and see your name up on the screen❤️You definitely have a very bright future ahead of you.
Thanks Sharon! That means a lot, I’m super excited to bring something like that in the future. Racking in LOTS of knowledge! Excited for what to bring you guys!
Over 40 years later and there’s still a lot we don’t know about Michael. The only exposition we get is from Loomis. The speech he gives about evil is in my top 10 scenes of all time and honestly Oscar worthy.
One of my oldest memories is seeing this film. I can't remember what age I was, younger than eight at least. My uncle had showed me Jaws before (which did not give me Galeophobia, that goes to Bruce, that Australian prick) and then he showed me Halloween. This is the movie that installed my love for horror. That kitchen scene, where you see Michael standing in the background behind the backyard doors, to this day gives me chills that no other movie has.
Watching Halloween for the first time is so surreal to us cause it has all the tropes of every slasher movie. We know the characters are in a slasher movie, but they don’t - and the viewers who watched it back in 1978 wouldn’t either. Imagine how it would’ve been to that audience.
When they shot that scene where he pins that dude to the wall, the actor just stood there motionless for a while, and it just felt kind of weird, so John Carpenter set up another take and asked the actor in the mask to tilt his head as he looked, and when he saw the new take he said "OK, I get it now. He's admiring his work."
Just a heads up: there is an episode about this movie on the netflix documentary series “the movies that made us”. It does give you a little glimpse on what was going on behind the scenes of this absolute masterpiece.
Love that you single out his fascinated(?) body language after pinning the dude to the wall; that's one of the best images in the film. Like a cat batting around a mouse it just killed, just to see if it's really dead. What a brilliantly frightening movie.
Simplicity done perfectly: Simple plot, simple but mancing tune used perfectly. The play with shadows and light. You don't need much to create the haunting mood. Its done just so well. Carpenter understands so well how music create's the mood and cinematography in this is: Basics done so well that's why this film works even today. And that first long shot. Its just so good.
Carpenter also helped create the theme music. He actually does these live events where he plays the keyboard in front of a theatre audience, while the movie plays on a big screen.
this is absolutely one of my favorite scary movies! such a classic fun fact: john carpenter helped compose the theme song along with orchestrator dan wyman (apocalypse now) and engineer alan howarth (big trouble in little china) in two weeks because he was on a budget. the story of filmmaking.
The mask worn by Michael Myers/The Shape was a Star Trek William Shatner/Captain Kirk Halloween mask that second unit director Tommy Lee Wallace fashioned into the now classic Michael Myers mask, widening the eye holes with scissors, adding dark hair and removing the sideburns, and coating the skin with white reflective spray paint.
That opening shot was insanely innovative for filmmaking. A little messy, but still just so bold and effective. According to RLM too, Roger Ebert is the one who saved this movie from being forgotten
This was the first Halloween movie movie I saw with my sister. My parents and I left on a Friday and came back on Sunday, as we were going to see her ROTC training up near Flagstaff. We spent the night in a hotel. It was a week before my 10th Birthday in October 2000. This movie scared the hell out of me.
@@JamesVSCinema with the Halloween Franchise where The Shape is the killer there are earlier timelines of the Original Michael The Boogeyman/The Shape Myers with The Original Timeline being the Dr. Samuel James Loomis Timeline (Halloween 1978, Halloween 2 1981, Halloween 4 1988, Halloween 5 1989, Halloween The Curse of Michael Myers 1995) then there's the Halloween H20/Halloween Resurrection Timeline AKA the 1st Reboot Timeline (Halloween 1978, Halloween 2 1981, Halloween H20 (Halloween 20 Years Later) 1998 & Halloween Resurrection 2002) which completely ignores the events of Halloween's 4, 5 & 6 after Halloween 2!
I had a similar experience with Halloween II. One of my mom’s friends took me (I was 12). By the time we got back, it was like 11:30, everyone was in bed & the house was all dark. I spent half the night staring at my closet door, waiting for it to open & ol’ Michael Myers to come plodding out, knife in hand🤣
Halloween was inspired by Black Christmas. In fact when Carpenter first started writing it, he invisioned it as an anthology with BC. But the guy that did BC died so eventually Halloween became its own thing.
This is probably my all time favorite horror movie. It’s fucking amazing. Watching “The Movies That Made Us” on Halloween is the first thing to ever make me care about what’s going on behind the camera. I was geeking out learning about the cameras they used, how he created the music for the movie. My favorite part is in the beginning when they are driving in the rain at night and Michael attacks the nurse - YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE WRENCH TAPED TO THE HAND USED TO BREAK THE WINDOW 😂 ITS JUST PERFECT I highly recommend the Movies That Made Us on Netflix
Now you gotta check out Halloween II (1981). It continues on the same night, right after this one. This is one of the greatest films of all time, it's in the congressional library's film registry board. It's a list of films deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" that are recommended for preservation by those holding the best elements for that film, be it motion picture studios, the Library of Congress and other archives, or filmmakers. Around 830 films on that list, out of millions made. Carpenter wrote Myers to be the actual boogeyman. He said he's a human, but he has a supernatural edge. He was only gonna do this one film, and the ending was supposed to scare people as it implies that you can't kill the boogeyman, with them showing all the places he's been in the movie, and his breathing getting heavier. It suggests that he can be everywhere, and nowhere. Another fun fact is that the movie cost $325,000, half of it went to the camera and lenses. I think this was the first movie to use the panaglide system which people call stedicam. One more thing people will say and you might be thinking, the trope of teens doing drugs, having sex started in this movie, but John Carpenter, and his GF at the time who helped with the movie Debra Hill (the hand you see pull out the knife in the drawer at the beginning) both said that was never their intention. I mean hell Laurie smokes weed. I don't know why other slashers in the 80s picked up on that, and ran with it. Loomis never looks at him as a human, he's pure evil, a thing. The Myers house is in Pasadena, CA, they were gonna demolish it in 1987 but a guy who is not even a fan of the movie, but realized what the house meant stopped it, and they actually designated it as a historic site. So they moved the house down the street as they were building condos there. The street where Myers is looking at Laurie as she sings walking away it's all the way down there at the intersection. It's a dentist/insurance office, right across the street from the the hardware store that was broken into in the movie.
The fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois is based on co-writer/producer Debra Hill's hometown of Haddonfield, New Jersey. The Haddonfield depicted in the movie was actually filmed on location in Hollywood and Pasadena, California. The scenes at Laurie's house, Laurie and Tommy at the Myers house, Laurie's high school, Tommy's elementary school, and Laurie walking with Lynda and Annie were all filmed in Pasadena, California. The scenes at the Doyle house and the Wallace house were filmed on Orange Grove Ave. in West Hollywood, between Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. The scenes at Smith's Grove sanitarium were filmed at Altadena California and Lake Hollywood Dr., Los Angeles. Smith's Grove was named after the real-life town of Smith's Grove in Warren County, Kentucky, John Carpenter's home state.
The lighting and cinematography for Halloween was done by Dean Cundey, who created the signature John Carpenter look and atmosphere in films like Halloween, The Fog, Escape From New York, The Thing, and Big Trouble In Little China, often using blue-lit background color schemes.
"It Follows" is a spiritual successor to this in my opinion, and takes all the lessons from this movie that all the other copycats missed: Long, lingering shots and being relentlessly, slowly, pursued.
The thing I still appreciate about this film is that, unlike all of the genre to follow, you don't really see any blood. It didn't rely on gore to get to you.
I love the suburban safe environment of this film, and how it’s was filmed in the Spring of 78’ in South Pasadena, California, but supposed to be a small town in Illinois in the fall of 78’. I love that they imported leaves and tried to block out every palm tree. Great filmmaking on a budget:)
The screenplay for Halloween was co-written by director John Carpenter and his then-girlfriend, producer Debra Hill. Hill, who had worked as a babysitter as a teenager, wrote all of the scenes and dialogue for the female characters, Laurie, Annie, and Lynda, while Carpenter wrote the scenes involving Dr. Loomis and Michael Myers. Carpenter's inspiration for the soulless persona of Michael Myers came from a visit he had taken during college to a psychiatric institution in Kentucky. There, he visited a ward with his psychology classmates where "the most serious, mentally ill patients" were held. Among those patients was an adolescent boy, who possessed a blank, "schizophrenic stare."
I remember the film makers saying they showed it without the music and were told it wasn't scary. Carpenter is a genius film maker and musician. LOVE this theme and his music for The Fog also. And as a film maker yourself, it's fabulous how you understand just how good this film is !! I hate how some have said it's boring, they don't have a clue IMO. The second film was pretty good as well.
This movie is a classic horror for sure. The amount of psychological damage im sure people had living in the suburbs like this must have been insane. I know as a person who grew up and still lives in the suburbs the crickets and noise at night is very different from the city. So if you heard an un-usual noise sounding like it came from inside your house as a kid you might get scared. The camera shots and audio silence timing was fantastic. I must admit seeing movies like this growing up in my area was crazy. That is due to my grandparents living on a street called "elm street", my older brother went to a private highschool in a town near where they filmed friday the 13th, and I lived in a suburb community like in this movie growing up. People say new jersey is bad because of the people.... no its the amount of horror movies that could fit in there.
John Carpenter didn't just stumble upon that beat that you hear in the opening credits. His father actually taught him that simple 5/4 times quintuple meter when he was first learning music that Carpenter used for Halloween.
So glad to see you react to the classic! Pretty much a must-watch during the season. I think this movie sets itself apart from most other slashers. Not just because it's one of the first ones, but just how it's made. One particular scene that comes to mind is the monologue that Dr. Loomis gives to the sheriff when describing how he met Michael. Something about that scene is what makes the whole movie more than just a mindless slasher flick.
I learn so much from you during these reactions. Today’s lesson: make sure my moaning voice is different from my screaming voice. That would explain the looks of confusion I get when I go to Disney’s Haunted Manaion 😂
Also love how Carpenter withholds so much about Michael making him even more terrifying! This film is so iconic Wes Craven featured it in the climax of Scream lol
Such an insanely influential film that actually lives up to the hype. John Carpenter truly might be the most masterful horror director of his generation.
By the way: Love all your film analysis. Helps me view films I have enjoyed for years in a new light. Love to get some in depth perspective on great films
I don't know what your schedule is for the month, but since Robert Eggers just announced his Nosferatu remake, you may want to check out the other two versions. The Werner Herzog 1979 version and the original 1922 version which is now 100 years old. Both are great. Also, Shadow of the Vampire would make a cool little trilogy.
This is my favorite film of all time. I have been lucky enough to speak with John Carpenter on a few occasions. The man is uniquely talented. He not only writes and directs his films, but he scores them as well. I am hoping he directs at least one more film. I'm pretty sure he is in early talks to write and direct The Fog part II for Blumhouse/Universal. I hope that's true.
This film has spawned a massive franchise that includes a spinoff, multiple retconned sequels, a remake and its sequel, and a trilogy of direct sequels. Besides this and The Thing, John Carpenter's other horror films include The Fog, Christine, They Live and Vampires
One of my first horror movies ever and STILL one of my favorites. It's just insane how they had NOTHING when they did this. Hardly any budget. No big actors except Donald Pleasence as Dr. Loomis - and they hardly could afford him. Carpenter and his team did the very best with it. This is as close to perfect filmmaking as it comes considering the circumstances. And it doesn't need gore or lots of cheap jump-scares to do it.
Have you done the original “Night of the Living Dead”? I saw it for the first time the other day and was mesmerized by the film making. Especially how they did the exposition was spectacular
Michael Myers was actually played by five different people in Halloween. Nick Castle, a good friend of director John Carpenter and a fellow screenwriter and director, played adult Michael Myers/The Shape throughout most of the movie. Six year old Michael Myers in 1963 was played by actor Will Sandin. The actor playing Michael Myers in the scene where Laurie pulls his mask off was Tony Moran, brother of Happy Days actress Erin Moran. Co-writer and producer Debra Hill played Michael Myers in the scene where Tommy first sees Michael standing across the street from the window of his house, and the scene where six year old Michael takes the butcher knife out of the kitchen drawer. And second unit director Tommy Lee Wallace played Michael Myers during the scene where Michael is breaking through the bedroom closet door to get to Laurie.
John Carpenter came up with the musical theme for this movie and played it on the piano himself. The most brilliant score since Jaws. The mask was a William Shatner mask painted white. It gave Myers a totally expressionless face, which was way creepier than any other expression.
No doubt, Halloween is the GOAT. One of the things no one ever mentions, perhaps because it's overshadowed by Michael appearing outside the classroom, is the question the teacher asks about the different views on fate and Laurie talks about one of those being that we are unable to escape our fate -- which is basically what is set up, that they can't escape Michael
The story for Halloween was inspired by the classic urban legends "The Tale of the Hook," about a couple on Lover's Lane being stalked by an escaped lunatic from a mental institute, and "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs," about a babysitter being terrorized by a killer in the house she's working at. The original story was conceived by Halloween producer Irwin Yablans, who came up with the idea of setting the story on Halloween and to have the film's title be 'Halloween,' and had to do an extensive search through copyright archives to make sure that no other film had ever used the title before.
This is by far my favorite of the "original" slashers and one of the first (Texas Chainsaw Massacre came out a few years earlier). Great for its atmosphere and I love how much it drives the scares without relying on blood and gore or a high body count. Lots of fun lore behind the making of this as well. On of my favorite bits is that Carpenter was a big fan of Psycho, which had Janet Lee in it. Casting her daughter in Halloween was a great move and iconic.
2:38 there is actually a very similar soundtrack to this one and that one is from The Fog,I think and it's much slower and has a far less sinister edge to it as compared to this one,it has a much faster and sharper tempo that perfectly describes what Mike Myers is truly like,even makes me wanna look over my shoulder every time it comes on
You gotta react to Black Christmas (1974). One of THE seminal 70's slasher movies and a straight up masterpiece. Some argue even superior to Halloween.
I'm a huge horror movie fan and Halloween is and always will be my favorite horror movie. I've watched a lot of reactions to this movie and only now do I feel I finally watched a reaction with someone who really gets this movie and just what makes it really creepy. I knew I could count on you to understand the brilliance of this movie and the shots they use. Also, I can't believe you said that It Follows brings back this kind of filmmaking because It Follows is actually my 2nd favorite horror movie of all time and one of the main reasons why is because it reminds me so much of Halloween. Thank you so much for this reaction!
This movie was filmed on the same street as A Nightmare on Elm Street. A few houses down from each other. Two of the most iconic horror films of all time filmed on the same street within a couple years of each other. So cool.
@@JamesVSCinema Hey James, this was such a great video🤍I learned about the importance of camera work especially! When you pointed out that they tend to use wide shots (which is unusual for a horror film) I had a eureka moment, these preconceived ‘rules’ that genres have fallen into are completely vapid, you can break these ‘rules’ and in doing so add so much depth and character into your work. Or even go the opposite way and embrace them like the extreme close ups near the end of The Evil Dead. It reminded me also of the Before trilogy with its long takes and dialogue being the main aspect, even if on paper it seems lackluster or boring they pulled off the complete opposite. Thanks for the great learning experience man
I think it is important to remember this movie was made for under $350,000. To put something of this quality on the screen for that little money makes it even greater.
Great video, awesome insite on the framing and camera movements. Me personally I love this movie and the 2nd movie, but I also love the remake that Rob Zombie did of this movie.
You have to look up the making of this movie! The level of creativity and effort put into production with such a loooow budget combined with one hell of a script made this movie what it is.
Definitely check out more Carpenter. You've started the first of his 2 trilogies. His Apocalypse Trilogy(The Thing, Prince of Darkness, and In The Mouth of Madness) and his Kurt Russell Trilogy(Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble In Little China). All amazing movies but I think you'd get a huge kick out of They Live!
John Carpenter, along with his friend Alan Howarth, do the scores for most of his own films. And hes got several albums of synth music in his own style called LOST THEMES.
Thanks for this, loving your thoughts and insights on this JC classic. It is just top tier in every regard. JC never fails to deliever something unique in his films and you know I am not one for recommending things, but you should check out one of his earlier films, Assault On Precinct 13, as you will have a blast with it I am sure. The B&W movie the kids are watching on the tv is the 1951 The Thing From Another World, which used the same source material that JC based his The Thing on and is also is a great film and telling of that story as is JC's of course. As always, stay awesome and stay genuine.... much love
This started the Slasher horror of the 80's. But you should watch what is considered the prototype or rough draft slasher "Black Christmas" starring Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder. The ending will leave you chilled to the bone.
This is my all time favorite horror movie. The build up and tension is perfect for this movie. Not to mention it shows you don’t need a high budget and gore for a good horror movie. There’s very little blood in this movie and it’s still feels brutal. Not to mention the fact that Michael has no motive and that we have no insight into why Michael stalked Laurie and why he chose to kill her friends, it’s way more scary. People want Michael to have a motive because they want there to be a reasoning. It’s like growing up and being mad for no reason but your parents tell you there has to be one. Sometimes there is no reason for something, it just happens
For future reference Friday the 13th came out in 1980, Sean Cunningham & assistant direction had a meeting; they said "Halloween is making a lot of money lets rip it off." Michael Myers&Jason I think are similar because they don't have to talk, they'll just kill you.
Where did you get that information from that's completely faults for the most part. I have an seen and listen to everything on the Friday the 13th 40th anniversary limited edition of Friday the 13th the first movie. Nowhere is any of that medicine by Cunningham or anyone that worked on the movie. It's not on the audio commentary it's not on any bonus features. Here's how Friday the 13th the first movie happened it's screenwriter Victor Miller if I get his name correctly got together with Cunningham and said let's make a movie. So they did some other movies but they didn't do so well but they went people love horror movies and they are cheap to make. They first only had my name Friday the 13th with no script or story. Yeas the movie studio only approved of it with a name but then Victor Miller wrote the script for Friday the 13th the first movie. Now here's where the Ripoff part comes from the movie studio this is also on the bonus features for that version of the movie. So everything I'm going to say is 100% true because you can get that version and look at the bonus features and see and listen for yourself. The movie studio went to Cunningham and said we want a Friday the 13th Part 2 with Jason Voorhees is the Killer. Cunningham responded by saying you do know Jason Voorhees was never alive right he was written as a dead character from the start. To serve one purpose only and that purpose is motivation for his mother to go insane and start killing people only. Jason was never alive to begin with Jason was never in the lake at the end of the movie that was one last jumpscare only. So how am I supposed to bring back someone who has never alive to begin with. Now rainbow movie studio went to Tom Savini to work on Friday the 13th Part 2. He said what do you mean Jason would be alive and the killer in part 2 Jason was never alive to begin with. Jason was never in the first movie to begin with Jason was not in the lake at the end it was one last jump scare only. This is why Cunningham and Tom savini did not work on Friday the 13th Part 2. Because they told the movie studio it's stupid to have Jason be alive an be the killer because. He was never alive to begin with he was written as a dead character from the beginning. Jason was never in the lake it was one last jumpscare Jason was never in the movie. So favorite to do othet movie projects I don't know what Cunningham did but Tom savini worked on The Burning. Now I also have the Shout Factory collectors edition of The Burning I bring this up because. On the bonus feature of that movie with Tom Savini he briefly talks about the Friday the 13th movie franchise. Now if you get that copy and watch the bonus features this is Tom Savini's words not mine. Tom savini says let me get this out of the way when it comes to Friday the 13th movie franchise. If you watch the movies past the first movie you are an idiot because Jason Voorhees does not exist. The first movie made it perfectly clear Jason Voorhees died in 1957. So he could never have grown up to be the killer in part 2 because he died in 1957 he was never in the first movie. So if you watch past the first movie you are an idiot because it's not Jason he does not exist but people are stupid. Because they kept watching them they kill him off and part 4 and people still keep watching those people are idiots. Because Jason Voorhees does not exist because he died in 1957 like his mother said in the first movie. So even Tom Savini knew and he was stating it all along so he worked. On the ones that he worked on after the first movie for a paycheck only. That he loved doing special effects especially The Kills in movies in that same bonus feature he said he was like a Hitman being paid to go to movie to movie and kill people. So everything I said Cunningham and the people working on the first Friday the 13th movie new Jason Voorhees was a dead character from the start in 1957 and it made no sense for him to be alive in part 2. Now this is where the copy cat Michael Myers part comes in the movie studio went ahead anyways. They made Friday the 13th Part 2 with new people and made Jason Voorhees the Killer non of the original people were involved in part 2. The movie studio decided to make the Friday the 13th movie wich was written and made as a one and done movie. Into a movie franchise an they retconed or erased Jason's death from Friday the 13th the first movie. So they could make Jason Voorhees into the copycat Michael Myers character that they made him into. I might as well bring this up now a long-going lawsuit brought on by Victor Miller if it's his name who wrote the screenplay for the Friday the 13th the first movie. Over the rights for his creation that being the screenplay in the first movie Friday the 13th. Because in the contract and older contracts it's in the contract I believe it's 30 years after the movie is released. If the screenplay writer or her family asked for the rights to that screenplay the rights automatically by law revert to them upon asking for them. But the movie studio and Cunningham took Victor Miller to court for several. Years making him spend his own time and money to get back something that was his legally. Here is a basic breakdown from the copyright law Court the judge ruled in favor of Victor Miller. He got the rights back to the original screenplay to Friday the 13th the first movie. So Victor Miller has sole an exclusive rights to everything in that script so he now owns the name Jason Voorhees and his backstory and everything in that script. All the movie studio got was the rights to a image of a guy in a hockey mask. Because they added that after the first movie but that's all they have. Because the judge stated nether Cunningham or the movie studio created the name Jason Voorhees or his backstory. Victor Miller created Jason Voorhees and his backstory in the screenplay for the first Friday of 13th movie. The judge also stated that the movie studio only had permission to use the name Jason Voorhees and his backstory. In the first movie only so they illegally without permission used the name Jason Voorhees and his backstory. In Friday the 13th Part 2 and after so the movie studio and Cunningham lost the rights to use the name Jason Voorhees and his backstory. Because Victor Miller created Jason Voorhees and his backstory in the screenplay for the first Friday the 13th movie. So since they illegally used it without permission in part 2 and afterwards they no longer had the right to use the name Jason Voorhees or his backstory. So the movie studio illegally use the name Jason Voorhees and his backstory without permission to make a copycat Michael Myers. Now Cunningham and the movie studio just has a guy in a hockey mask with no name or a backstory.
@@83shadow3 I got that from a special anniversary edition of Friday the 13th,Behind the scenes documentary with the director. That was a direct quote from Sean Cunningham.
Halloween is my favorite horror movie. I'm gonna watch it this month at some point (as I do every year). I'm actually a big proponent of the interpretation of the movie where Laurie isn't the target (obviously the sequel comes along and spoils that, but if you view the first movie in isolation, it makes sense). Michael had no interest in Laurie. He followed her briefly in the opening act, and it seems - because we're seeing almost the whole movie from Laurie's point of view - that he's hyper focused on her (he follows the kid, too, but shows no further interest in him once his curiosity is satisfied. In a deleted scene, he's also shown to be following around Laurie's other friends). But the moment they arrive at the houses in the evening, he ignores Laurie and goes after Annie. Annie is the one he stalks all night, and she's the one that he puts under his sister's grave to reconstruct his first kill. And then he just hangs out in the house; the only other people he goes after are those who make the mistake of going to the house. Indeed, Michael is passively following people around and his first overtly aggressive act against the girls doesn't occur until Annie shouts at him and he hard breaks his car. Which might very well have been what set off his homicidal rage. If he was interested in Laurie, he had a long time to head over there and kill her. But he didn't. He ignored her until she came over to the house, and then he chased her. We just make the mistake of thinking he's more interested in Laurie because she's the protagonist. And, retroactively, because the plot of the other movies changes Michael's purpose. However, viewed in isolation, the only person Michael seems to be consistently interested in killing is Annie.
The literal embodiment of Black Air Forces.
Breaking Bad EP 3 & 4 & Fargo Season 3 on the patreon! Click here for early access: www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema
Have a great day everyone!
John Carpenter also did the score.
The evil devil eyes speech was inspired by a field trip John Carpenter took to a sanitarium. He claimed he saw a dude with a look that chilled him right to his core, and hence michael myers was born on screen years later.
James, do yourself a favor and Skip Haloween III - there is no Miachel Meyers in the Film , HW II is good and IV and others pretty good.
@ 18:24..................................... YOU SIR, ARE THE G.O.A.T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Watch sinister it's really good and scary
The pureness of this movie is what makes it such a classic for me. No long winded backstory of the killer, no long winded backstories the characters have to work through. Just babysitters babysitting and then a killer shows up. It lets you just experience the film itself purely in the moment.
Yeah until you get to 4 5 and 6
Dan Williams: Perfect synopsis. It's so great to see fans that really understand how good and unique things movie is
It’s a vibe. Give me my knife.
I love that description, the pureness. You get it.
Its a movie thats in the moment. No context for what comes before or after (except the opening). It centers fully on the current moment in each scene. Worries about schoolbooks or popcorn oil and monster movie marathons...all the while an unstoppable horror watching you from a distance.
The nickname for Michael Myers by the crew was "the Shape". Michael's mask is actually a cheap William Shatner mask painted white.
I can't believe you haven't seen this yet, but better late than never.
I am glad you liked it and can see the elements that make this a great film, not just schlock.
The quintessential horror film. Michael Myers was never again as creepy as he is in the first Halloween imo
2018 comes close though. Kills basically made him Jason Voorhees. Hope Ends does a better job.
Amen!! The true boogie man role.
@@scottlette ok? We talking bout movies man
@@pemp9606 Word...to the reply you just made, I mean.
Spot on, 1978 will always be supreme. Him sitting up & turning his head is peak Myers. Impossible to beat. Chills every time.
Crazy that this movie was made in like 28 days on a really small budget. Great film making
right to the point! knew what they were working with!
@@JamesVSCinema Totally agree...very simple and I love how Carpenter leaves so much up to your interpretation.
Also, the script was written in only two weeks
Funny how budget and technical limitations actually helped some of the best horror films. Like the shark in jaws, much is left to the imagination. You sense a sinister presence in the shadows or beneath the waves but you only catch glimpses of it until the final act.
@@cneejr I'd lump Chainsaw Massacre in there as well.
At the end when Loomis shoots Michael and Loomis sees that the body is gone, Donald Pleasance asked John Carpenter what his reaction should be and Carpenter said "I want you to either look like 'I knew that was going to happen.' or 'What happened to the body?' (I'm paraphrasing, of course) After shooting, Carpenter asked Pleasance what reaction he went with Donald basically told him "That's for you and the audience to figure out." Such a subtle, yet high-effective moment of the film.
I love that Nick Castle is credited as "The Shape" in the end credits instead of Michael Meyers. That's how Carpenter referred to him in the scripts' stage directions and when describing the mask. I always thought it referred to "pure evil in the shape of a man". And the low budget, independent film feel adds very much to the chilling nature of the movie. Loved the reaction as always man. Keep them coming!
Also directed and wrote The Last Starfighter. Very cutting edge computer graphics at the time. It may look dated and simple computer graphics these days, but for the ship flight and space battle it was unique and on the cutting edge.
One of the things I love is that Michael isn't written as a simple killing machine. There's a mind behind the mask. From using the other inmates as a distraction so he could make his escape, needing a change of clothing to not be running around in a hospital gown, to taking the time to find a sheet and cut out eye holes to help disguise himself as the boyfriend. His size, strength, and endurance make him dangerous, but the intelligence is what makes him terrifying
The theme song is actually a bongo beat that Carpenter's father taught him as a kid. He translated that beat to piano and dropped the bongo completely, adding hi-hats later. This song was the result.
I love the build up that Loomis gives of Michael. Like he never refers or acknowledges Michael as a human being but as either “it” or “the evil” which shows that our characters are dealing with a monster.
Fun fact, the movie was originally set to be made for $300k. It was increased to $350k in order to get Donald Pleasance in the film. Mustafa Ackad paid for Pleasance to have a personal trailer during filming, but he was only there for i think 3 days out of the 28 days of filming. When he left he made sure that Jamie Lee Curtis got his trailer for the rest of filming. Game recognize game, he saw her talent and potential and wanted her to be treated like a star to know what she was worth and had coming to her later.
If you can find the documentary about making this movie or even the special feature commentary they did SOOOOO much with so little. 8 trash bags of autumn leaves they bagged up after each shot. An abandoned house they first shot the Loomis and sheriff bracket scenes in then the whole cast and crew painted the house to do the long tracking shot from the opening scene. They shot it in summer so only 6 pumpkins total could be found. Just a beautiful example of meticulously thought out filmmaking with barebones resources and an outright passion from the whole crew and cast.
I love how mysterious Michael Myers was in this one. You never know for sure what are the full capabilities of Michael. This movie is the definition of a slow-burn.
And that's what makes him scary. The ambiguity. What the human race fears the most is the unknown. They've feared the unknown since it's very dawn.
Dean Cundey shot the hell out of this film! His work doesn't get enough credit! And he got to use the first Panaglide system, which took a ton of their budget, but Carpenter knew it would be worth it! What I love about this film is that it isn't shot like a schlocky monster movie or cheap drive-in horror flick. It is elevated by a director who saw it as something more and with a cast and crew that believed in his vision! My favorite horror film ever! So much atmosphere in every frame! So glad you loved it, too!
One of the aspects I love about this film is that there's little to no blood at all and yet they do a great job of making us terrified of Michael. John Carpenter nailed this.
Same with TTCM and the fact everyone thinks it's a bloodfest. It's all in the mind... interesting outcome
The doctor is easily my favorite character in the whole franchise. He's the only one around the area with an English accent.
Fun fact: That iconic, terrifying mask is from a dollar store William Shatner Halloween costume. They had a tiny budget but thought it looked creepy, so they bought it, spray painted the mask white, and the rest is history.
According to Debra Hill, the script for Halloween took between ten days to three weeks to write, and much of the inspiration behind the plot came from Celtic traditions of Halloween such as the festival of Samhain. Although Samhain is not mentioned in the plot of the first film, Hill asserted that the idea was that you couldn't kill evil, and they went back to the old idea of Samhain, that Halloween was the night where all the souls are let out to wreak havoc on the living, and then came up with the story about the most evil kid who ever lived. Carpenter used the fable of a town with a dark secret of someone who once lived there, and now that evil has come back, using the old "haunted house" folklore. Carpenter wanted Halloween to be like an old haunted house attraction, with something always jumping out and scaring you every few minutes.
You bring such a unique take on every movie you react to. We see your shock awe appreciation & understanding...Makes me excited to watch a film one day and see your name up on the screen❤️You definitely have a very bright future ahead of you.
Thanks Sharon! That means a lot, I’m super excited to bring something like that in the future. Racking in LOTS of knowledge! Excited for what to bring you guys!
The whole movie gives you the creeps. The music, the lighting, Donald Pleasance....absolute classic.
Over 40 years later and there’s still a lot we don’t know about Michael. The only exposition we get is from Loomis. The speech he gives about evil is in my top 10 scenes of all time and honestly Oscar worthy.
One of my oldest memories is seeing this film. I can't remember what age I was, younger than eight at least. My uncle had showed me Jaws before (which did not give me Galeophobia, that goes to Bruce, that Australian prick) and then he showed me Halloween.
This is the movie that installed my love for horror.
That kitchen scene, where you see Michael standing in the background behind the backyard doors, to this day gives me chills that no other movie has.
Watching Halloween for the first time is so surreal to us cause it has all the tropes of every slasher movie. We know the characters are in a slasher movie, but they don’t - and the viewers who watched it back in 1978 wouldn’t either. Imagine how it would’ve been to that audience.
When they shot that scene where he pins that dude to the wall, the actor just stood there motionless for a while, and it just felt kind of weird, so John Carpenter set up another take and asked the actor in the mask to tilt his head as he looked, and when he saw the new take he said "OK, I get it now. He's admiring his work."
Just a heads up: there is an episode about this movie on the netflix documentary series “the movies that made us”. It does give you a little glimpse on what was going on behind the scenes of this absolute masterpiece.
Love that you single out his fascinated(?) body language after pinning the dude to the wall; that's one of the best images in the film. Like a cat batting around a mouse it just killed, just to see if it's really dead. What a brilliantly frightening movie.
In addition to directing, John Carpenter did all the music for the movie. Makes him even more iconic
Simplicity done perfectly: Simple plot, simple but mancing tune used perfectly. The play with shadows and light. You don't need much to create the haunting mood. Its done just so well. Carpenter understands so well how music create's the mood and cinematography in this is: Basics done so well that's why this film works even today. And that first long shot. Its just so good.
I actually saw this in my local movie theater back in 2018 before the release of the new film and it was chilling and my first viewing of the film.
that’s badass!
I found an old video of when it was in theaters in 1978 and you hear the audience.
Carpenter also helped create the theme music. He actually does these live events where he plays the keyboard in front of a theatre audience, while the movie plays on a big screen.
this is absolutely one of my favorite scary movies! such a classic
fun fact: john carpenter helped compose the theme song along with orchestrator dan wyman (apocalypse now) and engineer alan howarth (big trouble in little china) in two weeks because he was on a budget. the story of filmmaking.
The mask worn by Michael Myers/The Shape was a Star Trek William Shatner/Captain Kirk Halloween mask that second unit director Tommy Lee Wallace fashioned into the now classic Michael Myers mask, widening the eye holes with scissors, adding dark hair and removing the sideburns, and coating the skin with white reflective spray paint.
That opening shot was insanely innovative for filmmaking. A little messy, but still just so bold and effective. According to RLM too, Roger Ebert is the one who saved this movie from being forgotten
Fun Fact: The voice of Annie's boyfriend, Paul, on the telephone was actually the voice of director John Carpenter himself.
This was the first Halloween movie movie I saw with my sister. My parents and I left on a Friday and came back on Sunday, as we were going to see her ROTC training up near Flagstaff.
We spent the night in a hotel.
It was a week before my 10th Birthday in October 2000. This movie scared the hell out of me.
Hahaha that’s awesome!
@@JamesVSCinema with the Halloween Franchise where The Shape is the killer there are earlier timelines of the Original Michael The Boogeyman/The Shape Myers with The Original Timeline being the Dr. Samuel James Loomis Timeline (Halloween 1978, Halloween 2 1981, Halloween 4 1988, Halloween 5 1989, Halloween The Curse of Michael Myers 1995) then there's the Halloween H20/Halloween Resurrection Timeline AKA the 1st Reboot Timeline (Halloween 1978, Halloween 2 1981, Halloween H20 (Halloween 20 Years Later) 1998 & Halloween Resurrection 2002) which completely ignores the events of Halloween's 4, 5 & 6 after Halloween 2!
I had a similar experience with Halloween II. One of my mom’s friends took me (I was 12). By the time we got back, it was like 11:30, everyone was in bed & the house was all dark. I spent half the night staring at my closet door, waiting for it to open & ol’ Michael Myers to come plodding out, knife in hand🤣
Halloween was inspired by Black Christmas. In fact when Carpenter first started writing it, he invisioned it as an anthology with BC. But the guy that did BC died so eventually Halloween became its own thing.
This is probably my all time favorite horror movie. It’s fucking amazing. Watching “The Movies That Made Us” on Halloween is the first thing to ever make me care about what’s going on behind the camera. I was geeking out learning about the cameras they used, how he created the music for the movie. My favorite part is in the beginning when they are driving in the rain at night and Michael attacks the nurse - YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE WRENCH TAPED TO THE HAND USED TO BREAK THE WINDOW 😂 ITS JUST PERFECT
I highly recommend the Movies That Made Us on Netflix
Love your channel. I'm glad you finally watched Halloween. One of the greatest horror films ever made.
Now you gotta check out Halloween II (1981). It continues on the same night, right after this one. This is one of the greatest films of all time, it's in the congressional library's film registry board. It's a list of films deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" that are recommended for preservation by those holding the best elements for that film, be it motion picture studios, the Library of Congress and other archives, or filmmakers. Around 830 films on that list, out of millions made.
Carpenter wrote Myers to be the actual boogeyman. He said he's a human, but he has a supernatural edge. He was only gonna do this one film, and the ending was supposed to scare people as it implies that you can't kill the boogeyman, with them showing all the places he's been in the movie, and his breathing getting heavier. It suggests that he can be everywhere, and nowhere. Another fun fact is that the movie cost $325,000, half of it went to the camera and lenses. I think this was the first movie to use the panaglide system which people call stedicam.
One more thing people will say and you might be thinking, the trope of teens doing drugs, having sex started in this movie, but John Carpenter, and his GF at the time who helped with the movie Debra Hill (the hand you see pull out the knife in the drawer at the beginning) both said that was never their intention. I mean hell Laurie smokes weed. I don't know why other slashers in the 80s picked up on that, and ran with it.
Loomis never looks at him as a human, he's pure evil, a thing. The Myers house is in Pasadena, CA, they were gonna demolish it in 1987 but a guy who is not even a fan of the movie, but realized what the house meant stopped it, and they actually designated it as a historic site. So they moved the house down the street as they were building condos there. The street where Myers is looking at Laurie as she sings walking away it's all the way down there at the intersection. It's a dentist/insurance office, right across the street from the the hardware store that was broken into in the movie.
The fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois is based on co-writer/producer Debra Hill's hometown of Haddonfield, New Jersey. The Haddonfield depicted in the movie was actually filmed on location in Hollywood and Pasadena, California. The scenes at Laurie's house, Laurie and Tommy at the Myers house, Laurie's high school, Tommy's elementary school, and Laurie walking with Lynda and Annie were all filmed in Pasadena, California. The scenes at the Doyle house and the Wallace house were filmed on Orange Grove Ave. in West Hollywood, between Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. The scenes at Smith's Grove sanitarium were filmed at Altadena California and Lake Hollywood Dr., Los Angeles. Smith's Grove was named after the real-life town of Smith's Grove in Warren County, Kentucky, John Carpenter's home state.
Still one of my favorite slashers to this day. Glad to see you react to the original.
You absolutely need to look at the scores that carpenter did for most of his movies...YES including this one he does is own music scores!!!
What sets you above other "reactors" is how many nuances you're able to appreciate in a movie - good shit
The lighting and cinematography for Halloween was done by Dean Cundey, who created the signature John Carpenter look and atmosphere in films like Halloween, The Fog, Escape From New York, The Thing, and Big Trouble In Little China, often using blue-lit background color schemes.
"It Follows" is a spiritual successor to this in my opinion, and takes all the lessons from this movie that all the other copycats missed: Long, lingering shots and being relentlessly, slowly, pursued.
The thing I still appreciate about this film is that, unlike all of the genre to follow, you don't really see any blood. It didn't rely on gore to get to you.
You will never feel the same when you hear that piano instrumental with the riffs again. 🤣 Happy Halloween! 😁
I love the suburban safe environment of this film, and how it’s was filmed in the Spring of 78’ in South Pasadena, California, but supposed to be a small town in Illinois in the fall of 78’. I love that they imported leaves and tried to block out every palm tree. Great filmmaking on a budget:)
The screenplay for Halloween was co-written by director John Carpenter and his then-girlfriend, producer Debra Hill. Hill, who had worked as a babysitter as a teenager, wrote all of the scenes and dialogue for the female characters, Laurie, Annie, and Lynda, while Carpenter wrote the scenes involving Dr. Loomis and Michael Myers. Carpenter's inspiration for the soulless persona of Michael Myers came from a visit he had taken during college to a psychiatric institution in Kentucky. There, he visited a ward with his psychology classmates where "the most serious, mentally ill patients" were held. Among those patients was an adolescent boy, who possessed a blank, "schizophrenic stare."
Halloween is one of the biggest examples of how you don't need a massive or expensive budget to make a great film.
well, i have seen this movie several times, but your analytic reaction video makes me want to watch it again. interesting effect 🙂
I remember the film makers saying they showed it without the music and were told it wasn't scary. Carpenter is a genius film maker and musician. LOVE this theme and his music for The Fog also. And as a film maker yourself, it's fabulous how you understand just how good this film is !! I hate how some have said it's boring, they don't have a clue IMO. The second film was pretty good as well.
This movie is a classic horror for sure. The amount of psychological damage im sure people had living in the suburbs like this must have been insane. I know as a person who grew up and still lives in the suburbs the crickets and noise at night is very different from the city. So if you heard an un-usual noise sounding like it came from inside your house as a kid you might get scared. The camera shots and audio silence timing was fantastic. I must admit seeing movies like this growing up in my area was crazy. That is due to my grandparents living on a street called "elm street", my older brother went to a private highschool in a town near where they filmed friday the 13th, and I lived in a suburb community like in this movie growing up. People say new jersey is bad because of the people.... no its the amount of horror movies that could fit in there.
John Carpenter didn't just stumble upon that beat that you hear in the opening credits. His father actually taught him that simple 5/4 times quintuple meter when he was first learning music that Carpenter used for Halloween.
So glad to see you react to the classic! Pretty much a must-watch during the season.
I think this movie sets itself apart from most other slashers. Not just because it's one of the first ones, but just how it's made. One particular scene that comes to mind is the monologue that Dr. Loomis gives to the sheriff when describing how he met Michael. Something about that scene is what makes the whole movie more than just a mindless slasher flick.
I learn so much from you during these reactions. Today’s lesson: make sure my moaning voice is different from my screaming voice.
That would explain the looks of confusion I get when I go to Disney’s Haunted Manaion 😂
Also love how Carpenter withholds so much about Michael making him even more terrifying! This film is so iconic Wes Craven featured it in the climax of Scream lol
Such an insanely influential film that actually lives up to the hype. John Carpenter truly might be the most masterful horror director of his generation.
one of my fav horror films , simple but effective and blue print for alot of slashers after it
By the way: Love all your film analysis. Helps me view films I have enjoyed for years in a new light. Love to get some in depth perspective on great films
I don't know what your schedule is for the month, but since Robert Eggers just announced his Nosferatu remake, you may want to check out the other two versions. The Werner Herzog 1979 version and the original 1922 version which is now 100 years old. Both are great. Also, Shadow of the Vampire would make a cool little trilogy.
Love the history of this film, mask is a Bill Shatner - Captain Kirk mask painted and warped.
One of the Legends of Slasher Cinema!
This is my favorite film of all time. I have been lucky enough to speak with John Carpenter on a few occasions. The man is uniquely talented. He not only writes and directs his films, but he scores them as well. I am hoping he directs at least one more film. I'm pretty sure he is in early talks to write and direct The Fog part II for Blumhouse/Universal. I hope that's true.
The music alone makes this movie iconic. I watch this movie at least a couple times every October for the past 40 years. You never get tired of it.
I envy the fact that you're seeing this classic for the first time. You won't forget it. Enjoy ! And I love your channel. ❤
This film has spawned a massive franchise that includes a spinoff, multiple retconned sequels, a remake and its sequel, and a trilogy of direct sequels. Besides this and The Thing, John Carpenter's other horror films include The Fog, Christine, They Live and Vampires
One of my first horror movies ever and STILL one of my favorites. It's just insane how they had NOTHING when they did this. Hardly any budget. No big actors except Donald Pleasence as Dr. Loomis - and they hardly could afford him. Carpenter and his team did the very best with it. This is as close to perfect filmmaking as it comes considering the circumstances.
And it doesn't need gore or lots of cheap jump-scares to do it.
Have you done the original “Night of the Living Dead”?
I saw it for the first time the other day and was mesmerized by the film making. Especially how they did the exposition was spectacular
Love your take on this movie! This is my favorite horror movie of all time.
The Michael Meyers mask is a William Shatner mask painted white lol
Michael Myers was actually played by five different people in Halloween. Nick Castle, a good friend of director John Carpenter and a fellow screenwriter and director, played adult Michael Myers/The Shape throughout most of the movie. Six year old Michael Myers in 1963 was played by actor Will Sandin. The actor playing Michael Myers in the scene where Laurie pulls his mask off was Tony Moran, brother of Happy Days actress Erin Moran. Co-writer and producer Debra Hill played Michael Myers in the scene where Tommy first sees Michael standing across the street from the window of his house, and the scene where six year old Michael takes the butcher knife out of the kitchen drawer. And second unit director Tommy Lee Wallace played Michael Myers during the scene where Michael is breaking through the bedroom closet door to get to Laurie.
John Carpenter came up with the musical theme for this movie and played it on the piano himself. The most brilliant score since Jaws. The mask was a William Shatner mask painted white. It gave Myers a totally expressionless face, which was way creepier than any other expression.
Definitely a masterclass and still creeps me out after multiple viewings. Halloween and The Omen trilogy deliver proper chills.
It's great to hear feedback from a film maker.... So many 'amateur' reviews disrespect the craft. Thanks James, great review.
No doubt, Halloween is the GOAT. One of the things no one ever mentions, perhaps because it's overshadowed by Michael appearing outside the classroom, is the question the teacher asks about the different views on fate and Laurie talks about one of those being that we are unable to escape our fate -- which is basically what is set up, that they can't escape Michael
The story for Halloween was inspired by the classic urban legends "The Tale of the Hook," about a couple on Lover's Lane being stalked by an escaped lunatic from a mental institute, and "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs," about a babysitter being terrorized by a killer in the house she's working at. The original story was conceived by Halloween producer Irwin Yablans, who came up with the idea of setting the story on Halloween and to have the film's title be 'Halloween,' and had to do an extensive search through copyright archives to make sure that no other film had ever used the title before.
The Halloween theme came about from Carpenter himself. It was something he would play while learning the piano as a child.
So many great shots in this classic film...lighting is on point!
This is by far my favorite of the "original" slashers and one of the first (Texas Chainsaw Massacre came out a few years earlier). Great for its atmosphere and I love how much it drives the scares without relying on blood and gore or a high body count. Lots of fun lore behind the making of this as well. On of my favorite bits is that Carpenter was a big fan of Psycho, which had Janet Lee in it. Casting her daughter in Halloween was a great move and iconic.
2:38 there is actually a very similar soundtrack to this one and that one is from The Fog,I think and it's much slower and has a far less sinister edge to it as compared to this one,it has a much faster and sharper tempo that perfectly describes what Mike Myers is truly like,even makes me wanna look over my shoulder every time it comes on
You gotta react to Black Christmas (1974). One of THE seminal 70's slasher movies and a straight up masterpiece. Some argue even superior to Halloween.
Agreed!!!
Yes! I love Halloween, but still prefer Black Christmas. There is something about never actually seeing Billy that terrifies me infinitely more.
I'm a huge horror movie fan and Halloween is and always will be my favorite horror movie. I've watched a lot of reactions to this movie and only now do I feel I finally watched a reaction with someone who really gets this movie and just what makes it really creepy. I knew I could count on you to understand the brilliance of this movie and the shots they use. Also, I can't believe you said that It Follows brings back this kind of filmmaking because It Follows is actually my 2nd favorite horror movie of all time and one of the main reasons why is because it reminds me so much of Halloween. Thank you so much for this reaction!
This movie was filmed on the same street as A Nightmare on Elm Street. A few houses down from each other. Two of the most iconic horror films of all time filmed on the same street within a couple years of each other. So cool.
So excited to see your thoughts on this classic!💓
let me know if you learned anything from this watch!
@@JamesVSCinema I will do for sure, your commentary always brings to light something I missed on my own!
@@JamesVSCinema Hey James, this was such a great video🤍I learned about the importance of camera work especially! When you pointed out that they tend to use wide shots (which is unusual for a horror film) I had a eureka moment, these preconceived ‘rules’ that genres have fallen into are completely vapid, you can break these ‘rules’ and in doing so add so much depth and character into your work. Or even go the opposite way and embrace them like the extreme close ups near the end of The Evil Dead.
It reminded me also of the Before trilogy with its long takes and dialogue being the main aspect, even if on paper it seems lackluster or boring they pulled off the complete opposite. Thanks for the great learning experience man
I think it is important to remember this movie was made for under $350,000. To put something of this quality on the screen for that little money makes it even greater.
Great video, awesome insite on the framing and camera movements. Me personally I love this movie and the 2nd movie, but I also love the remake that Rob Zombie did of this movie.
You have to look up the making of this movie! The level of creativity and effort put into production with such a loooow budget combined with one hell of a script made this movie what it is.
Definitely check out more Carpenter. You've started the first of his 2 trilogies. His Apocalypse Trilogy(The Thing, Prince of Darkness, and In The Mouth of Madness) and his Kurt Russell Trilogy(Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble In Little China). All amazing movies but I think you'd get a huge kick out of They Live!
John Carpenter, along with his friend Alan Howarth, do the scores for most of his own films. And hes got several albums of synth music in his own style called LOST THEMES.
Jason is from Friday the 13th, a Horrorfilm you should also check out. I also recommend Halloween 2 it's a decent follow up.
The fact that you use a H4 still in the thumbnail is just unforgivable
Thanks for this, loving your thoughts and insights on this JC classic. It is just top tier in every regard. JC never fails to deliever something unique in his films and you know I am not one for recommending things, but you should check out one of his earlier films, Assault On Precinct 13, as you will have a blast with it I am sure. The B&W movie the kids are watching on the tv is the 1951 The Thing From Another World, which used the same source material that JC based his The Thing on and is also is a great film and telling of that story as is JC's of course. As always, stay awesome and stay genuine.... much love
This started the Slasher horror of the 80's.
But you should watch what is considered the prototype or rough draft slasher "Black Christmas" starring Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder. The ending will leave you chilled to the bone.
Micheal Meyers,Chucky,Jason,Freddy and Leatherface the essential horror of Halloween movies.
18:24 might wanna do a quick edit James before you get in trouble 😂 anyways, great reaction. Michael is my all time favorite horror villain!
[cough] Nip slip
Not sure if someone mentioned this, but the director, Carpenter, did the score himself. Goin' hard in the studio, indeed.
This is my all time favorite horror movie. The build up and tension is perfect for this movie. Not to mention it shows you don’t need a high budget and gore for a good horror movie. There’s very little blood in this movie and it’s still feels brutal. Not to mention the fact that Michael has no motive and that we have no insight into why Michael stalked Laurie and why he chose to kill her friends, it’s way more scary. People want Michael to have a motive because they want there to be a reasoning. It’s like growing up and being mad for no reason but your parents tell you there has to be one. Sometimes there is no reason for something, it just happens
Fun fact: Michael’s mask was an Inside out Captain Kirk Mask from Star Trek
Wrong. They just got rid of the eyebrows and sideburns
This film is just so freaking iconic. Much respect for you watching it. John Carpenter also mad Escape from New York, must watch.
For future reference Friday the 13th came out in 1980, Sean Cunningham & assistant direction had a meeting; they said "Halloween is making a lot of money lets rip it off." Michael Myers&Jason I think are similar because they don't have to talk, they'll just kill you.
Where did you get that information from that's completely faults for the most part. I have an seen and listen to everything on the Friday the 13th 40th anniversary limited edition of Friday the 13th the first movie. Nowhere is any of that medicine by Cunningham or anyone that worked on the movie. It's not on the audio commentary it's not on any bonus features. Here's how Friday the 13th the first movie happened it's screenwriter Victor Miller if I get his name correctly got together with Cunningham and said let's make a movie. So they did some other movies but they didn't do so well but they went people love horror movies and they are cheap to make. They first only had my name Friday the 13th with no script or story. Yeas the movie studio only approved of it with a name but then Victor Miller wrote the script for Friday the 13th the first movie.
Now here's where the Ripoff part comes from the movie studio this is also on the bonus features for that version of the movie. So everything I'm going to say is 100% true because you can get that version and look at the bonus features and see and listen for yourself. The movie studio went to Cunningham and said we want a Friday the 13th Part 2 with Jason Voorhees is the Killer. Cunningham responded by saying you do know Jason Voorhees was never alive right he was written as a dead character from the start. To serve one purpose only and that purpose is motivation for his mother to go insane and start killing people only. Jason was never alive to begin with Jason was never in the lake at the end of the movie that was one last jumpscare only. So how am I supposed to bring back someone who has never alive to begin with. Now rainbow movie studio went to Tom Savini to work on Friday the 13th Part 2. He said what do you mean Jason would be alive and the killer in part 2 Jason was never alive to begin with. Jason was never in the first movie to begin with Jason was not in the lake at the end it was one last jump scare only. This is why Cunningham and Tom savini did not work on Friday the 13th Part 2. Because they told the movie studio it's stupid to have Jason be alive an be the killer because. He was never alive to begin with he was written as a dead character from the beginning. Jason was never in the lake it was one last jumpscare Jason was never in the movie. So favorite to do othet movie projects I don't know what Cunningham did but Tom savini worked on The Burning.
Now I also have the Shout Factory collectors edition of The Burning I bring this up because. On the bonus feature of that movie with Tom Savini he briefly talks about the Friday the 13th movie franchise. Now if you get that copy and watch the bonus features this is Tom Savini's words not mine. Tom savini says let me get this out of the way when it comes to Friday the 13th movie franchise. If you watch the movies past the first movie you are an idiot because Jason Voorhees does not exist. The first movie made it perfectly clear Jason Voorhees died in 1957. So he could never have grown up to be the killer in part 2 because he died in 1957 he was never in the first movie. So if you watch past the first movie you are an idiot because it's not Jason he does not exist but people are stupid. Because they kept watching them they kill him off and part 4 and people still keep watching those people are idiots. Because Jason Voorhees does not exist because he died in 1957 like his mother said in the first movie. So even Tom Savini knew and he was stating it all along so he worked. On the ones that he worked on after the first movie for a paycheck only. That he loved doing special effects especially The Kills in movies in that same bonus feature he said he was like a Hitman being paid to go to movie to movie and kill people. So everything I said Cunningham and the people working on the first Friday the 13th movie new Jason Voorhees was a dead character from the start in 1957 and it made no sense for him to be alive in part 2.
Now this is where the copy cat Michael Myers part comes in the movie studio went ahead anyways. They made Friday the 13th Part 2 with new people and made Jason Voorhees the Killer non of the original people were involved in part 2. The movie studio decided to make the Friday the 13th movie wich was written and made as a one and done movie. Into a movie franchise an they retconed or erased Jason's death from Friday the 13th the first movie. So they could make Jason Voorhees into the copycat Michael Myers character that they made him into.
I might as well bring this up now a long-going lawsuit brought on by Victor Miller if it's his name who wrote the screenplay for the Friday the 13th the first movie. Over the rights for his creation that being the screenplay in the first movie Friday the 13th. Because in the contract and older contracts it's in the contract I believe it's 30 years after the movie is released. If the screenplay writer or her family asked for the rights to that screenplay the rights automatically by law revert to them upon asking for them. But the movie studio and Cunningham took Victor Miller to court for several. Years making him spend his own time and money to get back something that was his legally.
Here is a basic breakdown from the copyright law Court the judge ruled in favor of Victor Miller. He got the rights back to the original screenplay to Friday the 13th the first movie. So Victor Miller has sole an exclusive rights to everything in that script so he now owns the name Jason Voorhees and his backstory and everything in that script.
All the movie studio got was the rights to a image of a guy in a hockey mask. Because they added that after the first movie but that's all they have. Because the judge stated nether Cunningham or the movie studio created the name Jason Voorhees or his backstory. Victor Miller created Jason Voorhees and his backstory in the screenplay for the first Friday of 13th movie. The judge also stated that the movie studio only had permission to use the name Jason Voorhees and his backstory. In the first movie only so they illegally without permission used the name Jason Voorhees and his backstory. In Friday the 13th Part 2 and after so the movie studio and Cunningham lost the rights to use the name Jason Voorhees and his backstory. Because Victor Miller created Jason Voorhees and his backstory in the screenplay for the first Friday the 13th movie. So since they illegally used it without permission in part 2 and afterwards they no longer had the right to use the name Jason Voorhees or his backstory.
So the movie studio illegally use the name Jason Voorhees and his backstory without permission to make a copycat Michael Myers. Now Cunningham and the movie studio just has a guy in a hockey mask with no name or a backstory.
@@83shadow3 I got that from a special anniversary edition of Friday the 13th,Behind the scenes documentary with the director. That was a direct quote from Sean Cunningham.
Halloween is my favorite horror movie. I'm gonna watch it this month at some point (as I do every year).
I'm actually a big proponent of the interpretation of the movie where Laurie isn't the target (obviously the sequel comes along and spoils that, but if you view the first movie in isolation, it makes sense). Michael had no interest in Laurie. He followed her briefly in the opening act, and it seems - because we're seeing almost the whole movie from Laurie's point of view - that he's hyper focused on her (he follows the kid, too, but shows no further interest in him once his curiosity is satisfied. In a deleted scene, he's also shown to be following around Laurie's other friends). But the moment they arrive at the houses in the evening, he ignores Laurie and goes after Annie. Annie is the one he stalks all night, and she's the one that he puts under his sister's grave to reconstruct his first kill. And then he just hangs out in the house; the only other people he goes after are those who make the mistake of going to the house. Indeed, Michael is passively following people around and his first overtly aggressive act against the girls doesn't occur until Annie shouts at him and he hard breaks his car. Which might very well have been what set off his homicidal rage.
If he was interested in Laurie, he had a long time to head over there and kill her. But he didn't. He ignored her until she came over to the house, and then he chased her. We just make the mistake of thinking he's more interested in Laurie because she's the protagonist. And, retroactively, because the plot of the other movies changes Michael's purpose. However, viewed in isolation, the only person Michael seems to be consistently interested in killing is Annie.