So, I'll tell you what I've noticed here on the DWB; there's a distinct lack of horror movie talk on the boards. Now normally this wouldn't be a problem, but I shouldn't need to remind you of exactly what the season is. I can't tell if everyone has thoughts of gingerbread and candy canes dancing in their pretty little heads, but it seems like most people have forgotten what is now a mere five days away....



"The night he came home...." -- October 31st.

Devil's eve, All Souls Night, Samhain....



IT'S HALLOWEEN MOTHERFUCKERS

That slightly bitter diatribe out of the way, I'm here to announce my intentions. Rather than compile some cliched list of "top 10 whatever" horror movies I've decided to do a nine-part retrospective of the granddaddy of them all -- the Halloween franchise.

I'm going in deep with this. I'll be creating what are essentially capsule reviews for each film, with an eye toward what makes them great -- or not so great, as the case may be.

And I'm starting tomorrow.

Halloween - The One That Started It All....

Putting Things Into Perspective:

Lets start simply, for the most part the year 1978 isn't remembered very well by many movie fans. After all - it was thirty years ago.

Indeed, thirty long years. Not much of anything lasts through changing tastes and changing times, especially in such a long expanse of time. It takes a real cultural touchstone, regardless of how large or small to withstand the milieu of time. It takes true strength of public perception and a cult like following for any such thing to hold on for so long.

But one such touchstone is still remembered to this day; as a matter of fact, only one such touchstone that's spawned nine sequels and one much-maligned remake.

In case you couldn't tell, or just didn't read the title, I'm talking about John Carpenter's legendary horror film Halloween. Most horror fans are hard-pressed to associate the calender date of October 31st with anything other than Halloween -- well, Halloween and drunk chicks in slutty costumes....

For all intents and purposes, in the year of 1978 nobody thought Halloween was going to take off as anything but a Friday-night drive in feature. Simply put, it was just another throwaway spookshow. It was disposable entertainment meant for teenagers with disposable income.

But, somehow, someway it defied all expectations. A scruffy youngster directer by the name of John Carpenter, who'd previously put a bit of a dent in the sci-fi/horror genre with minor cult hits Assault on Precinct 13 and Dark Star directed the film like a man possessed. He created a world of browning leaves and dark evenings set in a modern suburbia known as Haddonfield, a fictional Illinois town.

Make no mistake about it; the film's environment almost plays as a character unto itself; Haddonfield is "Everytown USA", it could be anywhere, even your town.

Remember, every town has its secrets....

But the more flesh and blood characters are what separate Halloween from its lesser brethren. Cult-horror icons Jamie Lee Curtis and PJ Soles develop their characters into real likable 3-dimensional characters. They have their own unique quirks, annoying qualities and idiosyncrasies that every real person has. They're anything but horror stereotypes.

It's this unique aspect that makes JLC's Laurie Strode a legitimate rooting interest, rather than just the defacto "final girl". We all know what happens when the shit hits the fan and "he" comes home. "He" of course being the "The Shape" -- the anamorphic, ever-present palehorse. He's pure evil in a state mental institution jumpsuit.

He's Micheal Myers.....

Although we don't find out his name until the second movie; we know all we need to know about him from his actions. He's a killer, a walking shark with a painted white William Shatner mask and an unrequited thirst for human blood and misery. He attacks Laurie Strode without warning, provocation, or hesitation.

In subsequent sequels Micheal's backstory and relationship to Laurie is more fully explained and fleshed out -- but his sole purpose in Halloween is to be nothing more than a boogeyman. He's a pale faced force of nature, not some sniveling abused child, or Occult Demigod. And that's how it should be.

But perhaps Halloween's most important aspect is the late Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis. Pleasence plays Loomis, Micheal's state-appointed doctor as a man border lining on insanity. We don't get to any Loomis/Myers interaction in real time, but Loomis' chilling speeches about Micheal say everything they need to; Loomis is a haunted man whose life is dedicated to controlling something uncontrollable. When Myers escapes Loomis views him as if he was nothing more than a rabid animal that had escaped its cage. Loomis views Micheal as a specimen, not human.

In many ways Halloween is essentially Loomis' story. Aside from Myers, who spends 99 percent of the time cloaked in shadow, Loomis is the only active participant in the game. He pursues Micheal, alerts the police, and eventually shoots him down to save Laurie's life.

Despite being the "main character" of the film, Laurie's participation is limited to being attacked and barely surviving. In the end she's no more aware of Micheal's true nature than anyone else. She's a survivor, not a hero.

In all Halloween is a classic. Somehow, against all odds (a low budget, a small crew, and the logistics of having to shoot a California summer for late autumn in Illinois) Halloween pulled it off. Its the last of the old-style horror shows. One that takes the time to establish real characters and atmosphere over blood, gore, and tits. It may seem quaint now, but its quiet, subdued nature belies an intelligent and truly chilling experience.

Nice job, I hope this gets posted on da main site.

No horror movie talk!? Paging Dr. Dynamite... paging Dr. Dynamite


I'll add it to Da' Site as soon as we get an end to THIS LIST!

Halloween 2 - More Of The Night He Came Home....

Putting Things Into Perspective

Well, now things are getting interesting....

The year is 1981, and John Carpenter's seminal horror classic Halloween is essentially forgotten. Despite grossing more than a million dollars in the first year of its release, a sequel to Halloween had yet to come out. Despite the original's open ending; that being Myers getting up and simply walking off after being shot, with no resolution to his, or Loomis' story, nothing had really been set in motion.

But soon enough Halloween 2 would be announced. All the principals from the original would be back. Jamie Lee Curtis would return as Laurie Strode, Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis. John Carpenter, director of the original would also return, this time as a writer along with longtime writing and producing partner PJ Soles. Halloween 2 would be directed by Rick Rosenthal -- a TV director making the jump to the big screen.

With all those things set in motion Halloween 2 would take a very unique approach as a sequel. The film starts literally five or so minutes after the ending of the original Halloween. Despite a gulf of two years, Halloween 2's story begins on the same night as the original.

That being said, the story continues as you might expect. Laurie is taken to the hospital for treatment of her superficial knife wounds. She's put under, despite all of her protests, and left under the supervision of some very negligent nurses. Seriously, most of these broads couldn't watch TV....

And herein lies the weakest piece of Halloween 2's story. Jamie Lee Curtis, the likable heroine of the original film is left in a nearly vegetative for 98% of the movie. She's like a pornstar; she makes money lying on her back. The word about is that Curtis didn't want to come back for a sequel. To compromise, Carpenter offered her a large paycheck and a relatively easy role.

Really, the only time she really gets up is when Michael once again turns up, with the same intention he had previously. He wants to gut her like a fish.

This leads to what is probably Halloween 2's worst twist. In Halloween Myers is the boogeyman; an indestructible, unthinking, unfeeling, pale-faced specter of death. In his pursuit of Micheal Myers, Dr. Sam Loomis (once again played by the venerable Donald Pleasence) discovers a secret. It turns out that Laurie is the grownup baby-sister of Mikey. There's a big speech involving "Samhain" and a lot of other malarkey to go along with it, essentially planting the seeds for Halloween 2's eventual sequels. Not only is this twist somewhat arbitrary, and cliched, it also stands to completely demystify Myers. He's no longer an inhuman killer -- he's a pissed off dude with family issues. He doesn't need to be shot, he needs an hour with Dr. Phil....

In many ways Halloween 2 is a very different movie than its predecessor. Many credit Halloween for creating the slasher genre. Friday The 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and countless other crappy movies owe their existence to Halloween. Ironically enough Halloween 2 falls into the same vein as many of its clones; its not nearly as taut and atmospheric as the original -- instead it relies on blood, gore, and one hell of a tit shot to entertain its audience.

The body count in Halloween 2 is nearly double that of the first film. Unlike the first film, Myers targets reach a much wider range than one simple girl. Laurie is certainly Myer's intended target, but he certainly goes to a lot of trouble to kill most of the hospital staff first. And unlike his methods in the original film, Myer's attacks are far more brutal. He needles some guy right in the eye, strangles a nurse with his bare hands, and even burns a naked women alive in a sauna. That last scene was so gruesome it even made me wince.... and that takes a lot.

In all Halloween 2 is certainly an interesting film; it doesn't live up to the standards of the original - not by a long shot. However, it strikes a nice chord between "solid" and "forgettable". The solid but pedestrian directing of Rick Rosenthal doesn't hold a candle to John Carpenter's directorship. The acting quality is down a notch. Obviously, Jamie Lee Curtis puts the appropriate amount of energy into the movie (her character is drugged, after all) -- but once can't shake the notion that Donald Pleasence is slumming it. His turn here as Dr. Loomis never really hits the same level it did in the first film. He's campy, over-the-top, and a bit of a scenery-chewer all around. Maybe it was because Pleasence knew his character was going to die, but he didn't seem to be taking things too seriously.

Halloween 2 owes a lot to John Carpenter and PJ Soles. Despite only being credited as writers, Carpenter and Soles helped guide the film's production. There's a certain level of polish to the dialogue -- a level of polish not seen in most slasher movies of the era.

In the end Halloween 2 was meant to be a jumping off point for the Halloween series. After a long chase with Myers pursuing a drugged up Laurie through hospital corridors and basement catacombs, Loomis once again shows up for the save. Laurie takes a more active role this time, shooting Micheal's eyes out. Eventually Loomis destroys not only Michael, but himself as well, by causing a giant explosion.

So what was Halloween supposed to jump off into? To put it simply; a series of one-off Tales From The Crypt style stories, with the overarching title of Halloween. Only one would ever come out, Halloween 3: Season of The Witch -- which wound up being generally well-received, but not well enough to continue. The announcement wasn't made officially, but Halloween 4 assuming their would be one, would most certainly continue Micheal Myers' story.

And what does all this mean? Even with John Carpenter and PJ soles would escaping to New York Halloween would almost certainly continue. Halloween 2 might have been a solid, even good, movie -- but it would be the harbinger of some horrible things to come.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers - The Best Of Some Very Bad Things

Putting Things Into Perspective

For the hardcore fans of the Halloween series most will agree to one simple fact; the John Carpenter Halloweens were the best. Easily. The first Halloween is a classic, regarded well to this day. Halloween 2 is a good, punchy, fairly well made gorefest. Halloween 2 stands well as its own film, but when compared to its forebear -- it simply pales in comparison, though it was still fun. Halloween 3: Season of The Witch was a morbid curiosity -- having nothing to do with Halloween's "real" story, it was decent, but not very well received by the fan community at large. Everything else is either shit, or smellier shit.

And then there was Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. The fourth movie in the series, but only the third to actually deal with Michael Myers. Despite a rather conclusive ending in Halloween 2 -- with Sam Loomis and Myers both being destroyed in a terrible explosion -- studio heads in charge of the Halloween franchise felt the need to take one more dip in a quickly drying well. Despite losing most of its principle cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis, and the behind-the-scenes presence of John Carpenter and PJ Soles, Halloween 4 was rushed into production, with little known director Dwight H. Little taking the directorial reigns and a script being written by two unknown writers.

To say that Halloween 4 is somewhat soulless is to understate things. With no Jamie Lee Curtis to fall back on, the film dealt with an until now unknown niece of Michael Myers, Jamie Lloyd (played by now hottie Danielle Harris) and her older sister/legal guardian Rachel (Ellie Cornell).

Halloween 4 moves on what one might be the expected path; Michael Myers escapes during a "routine" prisoner transport from one mental institution to another. As a matter of fact, Michael is even in a coma from the hospital explosion at the end of Halloween 2. This scene is Halloween 4's few real highlights, as Michael escapes his restraints, sits straight up in his gurney and rams his thumb through some poor sucker's forehead.

From there Michael makes the long trek to Haddonfield, hellbent on killing Jamie. Of course as you'd probably imagine, Dr. Sam Loomis played again by a slumming Donald Pleasence is fresh on his trail. Loomis is a bit worse off since the last time we saw him, probably due to him being involved in an explosion large enough to end some world wars, but he's not doing that bad all things considered. He's walking with a cane, and is a little scarred around the face. He looks like an old person who fell into a grill.

Anyway, Myers makes the trek to Haddonfield, only stopping along the way to kill a service station worker for his overalls and have a pretty big battle with Loomis. As a matter of fact Halloween 4 feels more like a bad action movie in several scenes than a true horror movie. Myers tries to run Loomis down with a tow truck, and winds up blowing up the whole station. Its actually kinda cool, and a definite change of pace from the usual Halloween style.

The film moves at a pretty predictable trajectory from there. Michael tracks Jamie down, with Loomis still on his trail. After taking out the prerequisite stock characters ('ya know, all those guys with "victim" stamped across their forehead) he tracks Jamie, Ellie, and a couple others to the house of the sheriff, where they'd been holed up. Halloween 4's coolest kill scene happens during this section of the film, as another random victim dies at the hands of a shotgun. No Michael doesn't shoot him - he pins him to a wall by ramming the gun through the dude's chest. Its really cool, and totally unexpected.

From there our surviving characters run. Of course Michael gives chase. In the end he's shot down by a group of redneck truckers (who are on the hunt because Mad Mikey apparently killed Haddonfield's entire police department -- all offscreen) and he falls down a ravine.

Halloween 4's worst failure revolves around its real ending. With Michael apparently "dead", the remaining survivors are huddled at the Lloyd house. A scream comes from offscreen, and Dr. Loomis runs to the stairs brandishing his gun. Jamie is at the top of the steps with a pair of bloody scissors. The films fades to credits with Loomis screaming, and a gunshot.

Cool huh? Wrong! Now in a perfect world the Halloween movies would have continued, with Jamie as the new Michael Myers. There were tons of completely probable and fertile possibilities, had studio heads felt the need to continue the franchise in such a way. Instead the homicidal turn of Jamie was completely and ultimately ignored in the forthcoming Halloween 5. To call this dropping the ball would be understating things.

Halloween 4's greatest failing isn't even that its a bad movie. Because it's really not. It doesn't stand up to Halloween 1 or even Halloween 2 -- but there's still a lot of room at the bottom of the barrel. Halloween 4 is a good, decently made film, if not a bit soulless. It's simply that it's best twist was ignored was what made Halloween 4 so reviled by Halloween fans at large. But taken separate from its poor heritage -- it's still quite a bit of fun.

Let's get down to brass tacks here: do we get to see Jamie Lee's boobs in any of the flicks?

Also, i want to start seeing some love to "Trick Or Treat" here. how can you not go wrong with the lead being Skippy from "Family Ties"?
Also, the soundtrack rocks your fucking world. Trust me on this. Old school metal. "After Midnight" has been played at many a party. Search for it. Crank it. Fastway rules.

Nope.

Not the answer you wanted, but then again....there's always Trading Places for that. ;)

I can't believe anyone else here has ever seen Trick Or Treat either.

Nice writeup here for these IDM. Although I have to ask....where's Halloween III?!?!?!

Ok, I guess this would inevitably happen but I have a few issues with the write up of Halloween 4 (it is well written though, so kudos there!).

First off I actually really like part 4 as they thought of a good place (and somewhat new) story to continue with Myers. Soulless it isn't. Actually the fact that the film has a soul is the reason why it's worth a shit in the first place. Danielle Harris is excellent in the movie for someone so young and it's very easy to buy into her character. Plus, she's not super annoying like most kids in movies and you actually don't want to see her killed in the film. Another thing that I really liked was that Myers was reformed into the killing machine that he was in the first two films and was probably made to get even more sadistic with this film.

Also Jamie's condition in the 5th film isn't ignored as she's basically become a mute during the time that this all happened. But unlike part 4, I won't be defending part 5. It's one of the biggest piles of shit I've ever sat through. Talk about a soulless film......that's definitely part 5.

I have two minor issues with the write-ups of Halloween and Halloween II. First off, 1978 was actually thirty years ago.

Also, starting off "II" five minutes after "I" wasn't a "very unique approach". "Rocky II" comes to mind as one examplend that was two years before "Halloween II". In fact, it's almost identical to the way Halloween II starts off; with the way we follow the hero to the hospital.

First point: Duh, I'm an idiot. Me not do math good.... :huh:

Second Point: I'd call it a "very unique approach" only because I haven't seen it done many times before, personally.