It’s the night you’ve been dreading: instead of going to a party, you’re stuck babysitting the next-door neighbour’s kid. After you tuck them into bed, you decide to go into the family room and watch the 1978 classic Halloween. Since you’re a lover of all things spooky, you’re not scared the slightest bit, until you look into the tv reflection and Michael Myers is right behind you with a knife in hand.
Halloween is a direct sequel to the one from 1978, overlooking the nine-part film series that proceeds it. When Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) was young, she had survived an attack from Michael Myers, a deranged killer who is locked up in a mental institution—for now. Laurie has been anticipating his escape all her life, and not only does she have to protect herself, but she must also protect her family.
Her daughter, Karen, thought she was just being insane. However, Karen realizes that her mother was right, and even though Laurie may not have raised her the way she wanted to be raised, Laurie had good intentions. This connects to a theme of forgiveness. Karen resented her mother for years and felt she was unfit to be a mother. She only came to the realization that her mother wasn’t actually a freak when police show up at her front door.
The imagery really helped the slasher film come to life. During the beginning of the movie, Dana and Aaron, true-crime podcasters, visit Michael in the mental institution. When they go to visit him, he has his back towards them the entire time, and doesn’t show his face. Throughout the whole movie, Michael Myers’ face is never shown as he wants to remain unidentified, so he can kill with no remorse. The gore in the movie really helped emphasize how extreme Michael was when killing his victims. The more he killed, the worse the death would be. When Julian tells Vicky that there is someone in his room, everything seems fine, until she tried closing the closet door, when Michael appears out of nowhere.
Jamie Lee Curtis plays Laurie for the second time, and for good reason. Her passion for wanting to end Michael Myers after the traumatization he caused her is evident through her persona and facial expressions. When she arrives for the celebration of Allyson getting into the National Honor Society, she is not in the right head space and freaks out on her family, abruptly leaving. Allyson runs after her and consoles her, but it doesn’t work; she knows he’s coming sooner or later and her fear is getting the best of her. The passion that Laurie has throughout the whole movie Is admirable and proves that Curtis was perfect for the role, even years later.
Halloween is an iconic movie and even though it isn’t the classic sequel, this is still a great movie to watch. With a mother-daughter bonding experience, the mysterious mind (and face) of Michael Myers, and Curtis’ incredible performance as the female lead, Halloween is a movie that is definitely worth the watch.
