Horror Magazine Analysis

History Of Horror

Questions: Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)

Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)

1. How does the start exemplify a common technical convention of the horror genre?

The camera angles and editing are one of the main common technical codes at  the start of the movie. We're presented with low key lighting and ominous music, which both create a typical scene within horror movies. The music used would be considered parallel music and sounds (where the music goes hand in hand with what we see on screen). One of the other more obvious conventions would be the POV shot, where we're looking through Mike's mask. This is called restricted narration, and it's used to heighten the audience's sense of fear. All of these things would be considered common technical codes within the horror genre, as they're used to create fear and suspense at the start of the movie. 

2. How does the setting fit in with the horror genre?

The setting of Halloween works well with the horror genre due to the fact it's very dark and eerie. The thundering and lightening at the start is also expected of a horror film because it's so loud and angry. It almost foreshadows the killer's anger we will later see. Along with this, we see Loomis and his wife driving up to a Psychiatric Institute, where Mike then jumps out on them and steals their car. Psychiatric Institutes, and mentally unstable patients are often seen in early horror films because back then mentally ill people used to be seen as literal monsters. This was portrayed in movies like Asylum (1972) and Nightmare (1981).

3. What iconography of "innocence" do we hear or see early on?

Some of the iconography we see in the beginning of the film creates an innocence, which counteracts the evil we usually see in horror movies. The iconography we see, which we associate with being innocent, include children trick or treating and dressing up in different costumes. The parents have dressed their kids up in costumes which they perceive as innocent, but we would associate them as being sinister. For example, the fact that Mike is dressed up as clown when he was a child. The parents saw that as completely innocent, but clowns are now deemed as being evil due to the amount of horror movies based around them. These movies are made to distort your views of something being innocent/good. More iconography we see in the beginning which suggests innocence is the fact that Laurie is clearly virginal. We can assume this based on the very conservative, dull clothes she's wearing.

4. What was the main industry impact of Halloween?

Halloween made a lot of impact on the horror industry at that time. Halloween was one of the first slasher films to really gain any recognition at that time. It also inspired many more slashers to follow after it. It was definitely the most noted slasher film around that time. Something that also meant this movie would be so successful was the fact it was so cheap to make. Halloween was produce on a budget of around $300,000, and it made around $267 million as of 2016. When the movie came out it grossed $70 million worldwide. This huge success meant that there was a very large profit. A lot of other film makers would've then realised that they could make cheap slasher films which would gain them a large profit because slashers were then becoming popular around that time. Obviously, this soon ended as slasher films became repetitive and completely predictable. The public lost interest in it. 

5. Name some "slasher" films which followed on from Halloween.

Halloween (1978) inspired a lot of "slasher" films to follow after. Some of these films include the famous Friday the 13th (1979), Terror Train (1979), Night School (1980), Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981), Hell Night (1981), The Slayer (1981), and so on. Friday the 13th was probably one of the most successful slasher movies that came after Halloween.

6. What are the four plot rules of the "slasher" film sub-genre which Halloween began?

The four plot rules of "slasher" films which Halloween started include the traumatic past event which creates the psychopathic killer. This was because they had to include some kind of information on how the killer came to be, but they don't want to include a story that's too distracting from the movie's actual story line. The second rule would be that the killer eventually returns to the place of the event, usually at a specific time/date. Including this allows the film makers to use a calendar motif in the title of the movie, which seemed to appeal more to the audience. The third rule is that the killer stalks and kills a group of teenagers with some kind of weapon which would create a graphic death. The fourth rule is that a 'final girl' survives at the end and she tries to get rid of the killer, usually being unsuccessful. The killer is never completely gone, which leaves an open door for sequels if the movie is successful.

7. Give three ways in which Laurie is androgynous.

Laurie would be considered androgynous for various different reasons, but a few include the fact that she actually fought back against the killer. In most movies, we see a male character trying to fight the killer/villain back because men are viewed as being stronger and more capable than women. Another reason Laurie is androgynous is that she's not sexualised like all of the other girls in the film. While all the other girls wear tighter jeans, lower cut tops, lots of makeup, and high heels, Laurie is presented completely differently. She wears loose, baggy jeans with oversized jumpers which distort her figure. She also wears no makeup, going for the natural look. Straight away, you can tell that there's something different about this character, and that she's probably going to survive longer than the other girls. 

8. What does the extract mean by "a reactionary sexual agenda"?

Halloween has been accused of having a reactionary sexual agenda because it seemed to promote the idea that teens having sex were bad, hence why they were killed, and not having sex was good, which is why Laurie survived. A lot of people were led to believe that the filmmaker did this purposely to create the stigma that sex was bad. Halloween was published when the sexual revolution was still thriving, but some people were still very against it. The sexual revolution was a movement that strived to create the idea that all sex should be accepted. However, some people still believed that sex should be saved for marriage. It would seem that the director also held these views, hence why he killed off all the characters who were sexually active.

9. How does the director, John Carpenter, counter the suggestion that Halloween had a reactionary sexual agenda?

John Carpenter had addressed the accusations of Halloween having a reactionary sexual agenda and jokingly claimed that he never meant to end the sexual revolution. The idea behind why all of the teens die, apart from the one virgin, is that they weren't killed because they were having sex, they were killed because they were too distracted by the idea of it. It's the same concept that teens in modern society are too distracted by technology and the media. Laurie survives, not because she was a virgin, because she wasn't distracted by anything and she was able to notice Mike stalking her. Carpenter has also stated that Laurie was Mike's intended victim all along. This is obvious at the start of the film when Laurie walks up to the house Mike is hiding in, and he is clearly watching her. After that, there were various other incidents where he was watching her. And at the end, Mike finally attacks her when he enters her house but doesn't end up actually killing her. 

10. Why does Mike Myers kill his sister?

In my personal opinion, I think Mike Myers killed his sister simply because he was evil. Loomis, Mike's psychiatrist, states in the movie that Mike is just pure evil. Evil people are expected to do bad things, like killing people. And, at that time, I don't expect that people were sympathetic towards mentally ill people. Neurotypical people most likely wouldn't have been able to understand how a mental illness can completely control your brain and your actions. A lot of people interpreted Mike's actions as being a misunderstanding. Mike misunderstood the situation where his sister is having sex with her boyfriend, and he was trying to replicate it by stabbing her because that's what he thought her boyfriend was doing. Personally, I don't believe this idea could be right because though Mike was young at the time, he would have been taught that violence is bad. I do think that the reason Mike killed his sister is because he's mentally ill, and most severe mental illnesses develop in childhood. 

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