Jackhammer's Horror Corner (house, albums, American, French, member)

jackhammer · 11-02-2008, 02:59 PM

Halloween (Dir. John Carpenter) 1978

Slightly late review as Halloween has now passed but nevertheless it's no excuse to not include my all time favourite horror film. Halloween is one of the most successful independent horror films of all the time which is a remarkable feat in itself but couple that with critics approval and you have one of the finest horror films ever made.

There are many reasons for this but the creative umbrella for the films success ultimately belongs to master director John Carpenter. He not only directs, but writes (with Debra Hill) and scores the movie all on a ridiculously low budget of approx $300,000. Yes you read that right. 300k

Let's begin with THAT theme tune. Everybody knows it and the main reason why it is so unforgettable is that it is in 10/8 time which is unerving on it's own:

Another example of the film's plus points is the camerawork. The film's masterful opening Steadicam shot is a P.O.V shot that takes in the killer circling the house before entering and taking a knife and then preceding to murder the inhabitant. This seems like one continuous shot but there is a careful edit half way through. Nevertheless the reason why it works so well is because you are not passive in this, the director takes you into the killers mind and wants you to experience it further.

The use of a widescreen filming technique is utterly critical to this film and for a film with such a low budget, much praise has been heaped upon this. When you use the bigges widescreen ratio that you can, then you can make the background as interesting as the foreground. If you click on the shockwave presentation here:TV & film aspect ratios - Planet Of Tunes you will notice how much more you can see with the 2.35:1 ratio. This meant that he could have the killer encroaching upon the edge of shots without losing the composition shots and add a sense of someone always watching but who you can never quite see.

The film is also remarkable for the almost complete absence of gore. this was intentional. Although this film was the catalyst for the 80's blood soaked slasher genre, Halloween wanted to stray into psychological as much as physical horror.

The film's plot of a knife weilding maniac was hardly groundbreaking but the manner in which the story was fleshed out is. A film with a strong Female heroine was a year before horror cinemas most famous heroine (Ripley from 'Alien') and there is debate for it's moralistic stance. Characters who are murdered are pot smoking, promiscuous teenagers but the heroine is chaste.

The film has admittedly dated as more visceral horror has desensitised us to violence and murder but Halloween remains a truly supreme achievement due to it's highly effective use of composition, music, suggestion and intelligence and for me is still the greatest horror film ever made. (I have 3 different DVD versions of the film-now that's dedication/madness).

11-02-2008, 02:59 PM	#11 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	Halloween (Dir. John Carpenter) 1978 Slightly late review as Halloween has now passed but nevertheless it's no excuse to not include my all time favourite horror film. Halloween is one of the most successful independent horror films of all the time which is a remarkable feat in itself but couple that with critics approval and you have one of the finest horror films ever made. There are many reasons for this but the creative umbrella for the films success ultimately belongs to master director John Carpenter. He not only directs, but writes (with Debra Hill) and scores the movie all on a ridiculously low budget of approx $300,000. Yes you read that right. 300k Let's begin with THAT theme tune. Everybody knows it and the main reason why it is so unforgettable is that it is in 10/8 time which is unerving on it's own: Another example of the film's plus points is the camerawork. The film's masterful opening Steadicam shot is a P.O.V shot that takes in the killer circling the house before entering and taking a knife and then preceding to murder the inhabitant. This seems like one continuous shot but there is a careful edit half way through. Nevertheless the reason why it works so well is because you are not passive in this, the director takes you into the killers mind and wants you to experience it further. The use of a widescreen filming technique is utterly critical to this film and for a film with such a low budget, much praise has been heaped upon this. When you use the bigges widescreen ratio that you can, then you can make the background as interesting as the foreground. If you click on the shockwave presentation here:TV & film aspect ratios - Planet Of Tunes you will notice how much more you can see with the 2.35:1 ratio. This meant that he could have the killer encroaching upon the edge of shots without losing the composition shots and add a sense of someone always watching but who you can never quite see. The film is also remarkable for the almost complete absence of gore. this was intentional. Although this film was the catalyst for the 80's blood soaked slasher genre, Halloween wanted to stray into psychological as much as physical horror. The film's plot of a knife weilding maniac was hardly groundbreaking but the manner in which the story was fleshed out is. A film with a strong Female heroine was a year before horror cinemas most famous heroine (Ripley from 'Alien') and there is debate for it's moralistic stance. Characters who are murdered are pot smoking, promiscuous teenagers but the heroine is chaste. The film has admittedly dated as more visceral horror has desensitised us to violence and murder but Halloween remains a truly supreme achievement due to it's highly effective use of composition, music, suggestion and intelligence and for me is still the greatest horror film ever made. (I have 3 different DVD versions of the film-now that's dedication/madness). __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”