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I watched Halloween all the way through for the first time last night.

This is the classic that inspired endless sequels? Were standards lower in 1978?

The pace of this movie is incredibly slow. There's a lot of stalking, but not really much serial killing. The villain's body count for the whole movie is... four.

The suspense building is so-so. I can see what they were trying to do. They wanted you to be thinking "When is it going to happen? It's got to happen any second!" There are some times when it works, but a lot of the time is just felt like dull waiting.

Michael Myers was such a non-character. Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) repeatedly describes him as pure evil, but it's a classic example of an "informed characteristic". Loomis says it, but we really don't see it very much. Michael was more like a killer robot than the incarnation of evil.

Also, we see Michael get stabbed and shot multiple times and then get back up a few minutes later as if nothing happened. There's not even an attempt to explain or justify that. It just happens, and we're supposed to go with it, I guess.

Can't say much for the acting either.

This was a very disappointing movie experience.

 :lookingup: :lookingup:

Honestly, I watched it for the first time last year and wasn't really that impressed either, but I did enjoyed the movie. The thing is, standards were lower in 1978. Very few movies were part of the slayer genre, and HALLOWEEN was pretty much the true starting point for it. It's more about suspense rather than gore, and the music helps a lot with this.
The problem with movies like these is that they don't age well because it's nearly impossible for us to get "scared" with films made 40 years ago, so the whole point of it is lost. Nowadays is more a piece of history than a horror movie.

I actually think the acting was enjoyable, and Donald Pleasance was very likeable. I believe that the whole "incarnation of evil" speach was also related to the fact that these killers were faceless, ordinary people who could actually think like you but lacked empathy, so it added the fear of actually facing them in real life. Not just that, but in your own house.

Overall, I think it's a good movie but didn't aged well. I remember when I was a kid I was scared s**tless of Michael's mask, if only I knew it was Shatner all along.

I don't dislike it but yeah, one of those 'you probably had to be there' movies. in the context of 1978, I guess it was quite radical and scary, and a breath of fresh air, as a low budget indie film in a sea of bland big-budget movies...

agree about MM being a bit of a nonentity.

I find HALLOWEEN 2 more entertaining, overall.

He's even listed as "The Shape" in the credits. :tongueout:


Oh, I totally agree on this one. The thing is, the second is a little bit more explotation rather than suspense, because the gore is ranked up and there's some pretty ridiculous scenes, like the guy who just happens to have the same mask than Myers and gets accidently killed by the police car. It's a complete WTF moment and I love it.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers came out the same year. I was on the edge of my seat watching that a week or so ago. It really established a sense of menace and paranoia that started early and built up steadily. I thought it was fantastic.

Halloween just didn't do it for me.

hmm never really thought about it like that but I agree. the hot tub scene is my fav moment

I liked the 1st one . Maybe it's because I did see it in the theater. Folks were screaming! My Ma was with us!  :thumbup:
Of the whole franchise, the 1st and III were the only ones worth watching.
As far as kill count goes...Norman Bates only kills 2 people in PSYCHO. Still miles above most 'slasher' movies.

i was 16 when i saw halloween in a theater. it scared the crap out f me then, and still does today. maybe because i've lived in serial killer country, i don't know, but i think because it WAS suspenseful instead of gory. gore/torture films( torture porn is my description) bore me, there's no real STORY there, and i watch them only fr tips on my makeup and SFX skills.
   to this day, the movies that scare me still are the ones that mess with the protagonist's and MY mind with suspense. nightmares coming true, in my mind, you know?

Most of my early horror movie exposure came from TV in the 80s and 90s, and Halloween was no different. When a station screened the first three Halloween movies in the late 80s, I was enthralled. Here, finally, was the 1978 movie that caused so much unrest when it was released. And... it was okay. Not hugely scary, and not much gore, nothing like the Friday The 13th movies. I found Season Of The Witch to be more disturbing than the original. If I watch the first movie again, I'll try to imagine that it's 1978, Star Wars had been released, Jaws was a thing, and Star Trek The Motion Picture was still in memory. Those were fun days, hahaha.

STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE was released in 1979. 

Halloween scared the livin' hell out of me when I was a kid, so it's always been a sentimental favorite. That said, I've seen it so many times over the years that I'm completely burned out on it and have no desire to watch it ever again.

The last time I saw it four or five years ago, i remember having similar thoughts as the OP, i.e. "Geez, this movie really is slow as hell."

I will occasionally give some of the sequels a look (I like "III: Season of the Witch" a lot, and I revisited "4" this past Oct. for the first time in a while) but they're a mixed bag (a few are watchable, but there are a lot of stink burgers in the mix), and the 2018 "reboot" was unnecessary at best.

At this point, being a fan of the "Halloween" franchise seens to require a willingness to be disappointed on a regular basis.

I've heard at least one claim that the Halloween franchise was not originally intended to revolve around Michael Myers, but to have an original story every couple of years, and Halloween III was the first real effort to fulfill that original plan. It flopped at the box office and they went back to making Mike Myers sequels.

yeah I've heard that too I think ...possibly on a commentary track?

I was disappointed with the new one. felt very hackneyed and cliched. some of the bizarre attempts at comedy were abysmal.  the busta rhymes/reality show one is the worst though...whichever one that was

Ah, I stand corrected. I was very young at that time, give me a break, lol. I just remember the ads for the Star Trek movie in the Marvel comics I bought around then.

IT'S COMING.  IT CAME.  IT WENT.  (I was one of the few that liked STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE.)

I did not originally like HALLOWEEN (1978) because I could see it was not filmed in the fall...!  Now, I came to like it, I've watched it several times and still like it. 

That movie never really did much for me either.  There's some nice fall scenery and of course the excellent theme music, but Jamie Lee Curtis et al weren't sympathetic because they weren't developed to the point that I took them seriously as human beings.  Meyers just came off as a high school a-hole, standing around "menacingly" and then ducking behind a hedge, and didn't he drive past the girls and speed off when they laughed at him?  Yeah, real "pure evil" there lol.  "Show don't tell" they say, but it was all tell in that movie.

The second one was pretty bad, the third, without Meyers, was pretty cool IMO.  The fourth was a decent slasher, but then the fifth was a complete parody of itself.  One actress was so high on coke she was almost bouncing off the walls lol.  And it was all downhill from there.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Ugh, that was part 8 basically. After HALLOWEEN H2O, which was part 7 and brought a decent movie and ending to the series, they came up with not only the death of Laurie Strode, but also one of the worst movies I've seen in a while. A complete mockery of the series, and a crapfest all around. Everything is ridiculous, but the explanation of how Myers survived being beheaded in the previous film takes the cake.

Check this trivia by the way:  Jamie Lee Curtis agreed to do her part, only to make sure her character, Laurie Strode (or herself) wouldn't appear in another sequel. (At the time of the film's initial release, executive producers Malek Akkad, and Moustapha Akkad tried to explain it by claiming Jamie Lee Curtis "was so impressed with the screenplay, that she wanted a large part in it". She has publicly stated that was not the case, she was under contract to do it.)

Yes, it's that bad.

hah. amazing how big established horror franchises with dedicated hardcore followings can just crash and burn so often... it's almost like once they get so far into the sequels they start deliberately making ones that everyone will hate

I think that the writers get the idea that they don't need to put in much effort after a while. They start thinking that fans of the series will swallow anything served to them, so why give yourself fits trying to make it good?

That one was a train wreck alright. 

Halloween remains one of my absolute favorite Halloween (the holiday) movies.  I think it still manages to hold up as scary and interesting with some great fall scenery. 

Halloween 3 is probably the second best in the series.  For the longest time that was a movie everbody just dismissed as the one without Myers.  I'm glad in more recent years it's finally getting the respect it deserves. 

H20 wasn't bad, but I'll never understand why it was H20.  You want to watch Halloween water?  Couldn't they come up with something better than that?

I also really liked the recent movie they did.  I think it ends the series better than any of the other sequels ever managed.  ... and now I hear it's supposed to get a sequel too.   :bluesad:

I find the 3rd one quite hard work, but I do like the concept... If it hadn't been part of the Halloween series and was just a stand-alone film, I still think it would've got a cult following


yeah sadly that's probably the case. also for some reason this genre is really susceptible to current trends. a TV reality show  ... part 5 did the 'psychic girl' thing like POLTERGEIST (as did FRIDAY 13TH PART VII around the same time)

wouldn't be surprised if we have a post-op 'Michelle Myers' in the next one...

My take on this: the first parts are made by talented people who had to travel a long way to make their movies. Just read the trivias of movies like NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, FRIDAY THE 13TH, or HALLOWEEN, and it's amazing the stuff they have to do in order to come up with the special effects, most of the times with extremely limited budgets. So yeah, even if you don't like the movies, you can't deny the genius of the people behind them, and how many actors we take for granted today came from those films.

The thing is, after the first hit, the original creators are no longer part of the franchise, therefore less talented people take the wheel, and the results are often disastrous. If you look at the previously mentioned franchises, look up in which ones the original creators are actually involved, and you'll notice how it oftens match with the good sequels.

yes also true. guys who weren't part of the original 'vision' take over. having said that I do enjoy a few of the F13 sequels more than the original

I'm with you on the original Star Trek movie. Despite some of the strange slowness (five minute unveiling of the Enterprise??), this movie evokes a deep sense of wonder and enjoyment that is rare, even in science fiction movies.

yesterday I was walking along and a police van with "LOOMIS" written in very large letters on the side went past. random as heck. police? not sure what that's about, but I wouldn't want to be in that van

I will always regard the original "Halloween" as a timeless classic. Not only it started -OK, along with "Friday the 13th"- the slasher genre but it also manages to avoid most of its mistakes. The reason, I think, is that Carpenter approached as a truly fantastic film, thrwoing realism out of the windows from the prologue, and investing Myers with almost supernatural skills. My favourite moment is when Laurie's friend pretends to talk to their stalker behind a hedge.

Now, if Carpenter himself had treated the sequels he was responsible of with the same care...

Oh, and I know Rob Zombie took a lot of criticism with his remakes, but I think they're OK movies, especially the first one. Nothing wrong with trying a new approach.

 
I watched ROB ZOMBIE's HALLOWEEN and like it better than most of his films; once you get over the idea that it is any kind of "remake" it is NOT a revisit but a re-telling.  It's okay is correct. 

I honestly believe that the movie would have performed better at the box office if it had simply been called Season of the Witch. As a standalone movie, it is still better than any other Halloween movie in the franchise. It definitely had the best ending! I don't think any other Halloween movie freaked me out more than the very last scene of Halloween III did.  :teddyr::thumbup:

I think Halloween is a classic. But it had been done before and better. Same thing with F13th. When I was a kid and I was into franchise stuff (though I never really cared for Elm Street) I thought it was the be all end all of horror until you see stuff OTHER than the franchise stuff. You're kinda in your grorehound phase I guess and all I lived for was the kill scenes. The only redeeming factor for 99% of those films is the kill scenes. I saw a side by side comparison of Bay Of Blood's kill scenes vs. the first F13th and they were IDENTICAL. Horror fans over this side of the pond never saw something like an axe to the face in close up. THAT'S why people made such a big deal out of the original. Wanna see something that sucks? Watch F13th Pt. 1 edited for TV. Why I'm ranting on F13th is beyond me. Bottom line: Haloweeen is a classic but I think it's a little overrated. Black Christmas beats it hands down.

Yes and no. I agree it had been done before, but it was done differently. Your comment made me think of the recent documentary on Psycho, in which one of the guests says killing had been done before, but never like this. Same applies to "Halloween" IMHO. But not in the way the killings are shown but in the way the film is narrated.

I agree in that "Black Christmas" is also great.