John Carpenter wrote and directed Halloween in 1978, kicking off the American slasher film era that was to last ten years. The film’s central character, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), is a virginal babysitter whose friends are murdered by a psychopathic killer. We learn at the outset that the killer, Michael Myers, killed his teenaged sister when he was 6 years old after she had a sexual liaison with her boyfriend. On his 21st birthday he escapes from custody, returns to his hometown and stalks Laurie. His psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence), gives chase and often intones the seriousness of the situation to the skeptical members of the local law enforcement community.
Halloween is a masterpiece of horror cinema, but it is actually far more than that. Psychologically astute and concerned with Myers’ psychosexual development, Carpenter’s film makes clear the perils of the merging of the sex drive and the death drive. As a boy, Myers cannot sexually penetrate his sister and in his jealous rage he stabs her instead. As an adult, deprived of normal development and left catatonic in the hospital, he can only recreate this dynamic with other girls. In addition to the numerous interesting psychological details, Carpenter’s film is suspenseful, beautifully photographed by Dean Cundey, and well acted. Unlike the myriad of look-alike films that followed in its wake, Halloween remains an outstanding horror film about what lurks among the youth in small town America. ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰.
MJM 02-06-2012