Thursday, October 29, 2009

Theme Thursday - Halloween

'Halloween' is on tap for this week's Theme Thursday

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So many ways I could take this theme, but I am going with John Carpenter and Debra Hill's classic "Halloween"

Halloween poster

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In case you haven't seen it before (although why I can't imagine), here is a quick plot synopsis:

On Halloween night in 1963, a young Michael Myers brutally stabs his sister to death. 15 years later, Myers escapes from the sanitarium and makes his way back to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. Another Halloween night arrives, Myers sets his sights on a teenage girl and her friends.

The terror is unleashed once more.

young michael
Young Michael

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My love for this film began, I suppose, the first time I saw it. I was 7 when it premiered, too young to see it then. But when I finally did watch it, I was probably only 11 or 12. I had known about the movie for awhile, and had a sense that it was something really scary, something that was just not good for someone so young. But I had to see it. Once I finally did, it scared the heebie-jeebies out of me. And I was hooked.

Carpenter and Hill created a film that embodies that uneasiness and fear of the unknown, the unexplainable. Michael Myers didn't have a reason for what he did. And he wasn't to be reasoned with. He just was, and he just did.

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Sure, the film has a few bumps, but they are minor technical/acting issues, the film itself is a masterpiece of suspense and scares. The 'shape', lurking behind bushes and unseen peering in windows, is a spine-chilling thing. The boogeyman made real, our nightmares walking in the shadows.

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I have seen this movie over and over again since that first time. And I have never tired of it. It strikes a cord in the young, anxious, scared kid in me. After viewing it, I still get the eerie feeling of fear, of unease. And each time I hear the iconic music, that simple yet creepy instrumental tune, I get goosebumps. Those are signs of good stuff, indeed.

Halloween Theme


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One of the things to remember when watching this film is that it was made with no thought of a sequel, of a continuation of the story. Here, Michael wasn't Laurie's brother. She was just the girl he fixated on upon his return to Haddonfield. Halloween morning, when she walked up to his old home to place the key under the mat, he saw her and decided she was 'the one'. Simple, scary and nothing more to it than that.

Michael Myers

The addition to the plot of Laurie being Michael's little sister was added in the sequel, and a scene of a young Laurie visiting Michael in an instituion was filmed to be added into the edited-for-TV version of the first film, not only to add some run time, but to make the revelation of their relationship less out-of-the-blue in the sequel.

Laurie waiting

I think Michael is scarier without this 'motivation'. Just a 'shape' bent on destruction and death. But, we also wouldn't have the ongoing story of Michael vs Laurie in some of the sequels without it.

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Original Movie Trailer


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I have no love for Rob Zombie's Halloween remake, as I have said before. He took the simple, unexplainable (with no need for explanation) Michael Myers and gave him a backstory and childhood that turned him into just another abused and misunderstood kid who went off-the-rails. Nothing creepy about that. Just sad.

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Lynda, Annie, Laurie

If you are looking for a good, scary, Halloween flick to watch, without much blood or gore, but with tons of suspsense and chills, look no further.

Halloween is the film for you. I will be watching, scared as always.

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I will end with some pics & quotes from the film:

after Michael escapes:
Dr. Terence Wynn: Now, for God's sake, he can't even drive a car!
Dr. Sam Loomis: He was doing very well last night! Maybe someone around here gave him lessons!

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Sheriff Leigh Brackett: It's Halloween, everyone's entitled to one good scare.

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Dr. Sam Loomis: I met him, fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left. No reason, no conscience, no understanding; even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil.

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Tommy, Laurie, Lindsay

Tommy: Laurie, what's the boogeyman?
Laurie: There's no such thing.

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later...
Laurie: It *was* the boogeyman.
Dr. Sam Loomis: As a matter of fact, it was.

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Myers Ghost

Halloween... The Night HE Came Home!

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22 comments:

  1. Completely agree here, the purity and simplicity of this film makes it the all time classic that it is. It doesnt need overly complicated sets or excessive gore. It relies on straightforward scares and believable characters. Great writeup for another personal favorite Wings!

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  2. this was just on tv again last night! happy halloween!

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  3. My son is begging me to see this movie, but he's only 9! I think we'll wait a few years. I didn't know about the sequel. I agree that it's much scarier without Mike having a "backstory".....

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  4. And yes a classic that didn't take a wrinkle!And that music,spooky!

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  5. I agree with you about Rob Zombie's Halloween. He made Michael Meyers backstory a cliche. Its much scarier to think of the perfect child, the normal child suddenly possessed by evil.

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  6. Hi! Caffeinated Joe,
    "Halloween the movie, but of course…I usual don’t like horror films, but I liked this one because the victim (actress Jamie Lee Curtis) fought the “terror that be which = Mike Myer back…instead of just standing there screaming and then murdered!"
    Thanks, for sharing!
    By the way, your "header" is to die for...Oh!
    Happy Halloween Caffeinated Joe!

    DeeDee ;-D

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  7. I agree with the music. Just hearing it gives me goosebumps.

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  8. Didn't you hear? Rob Zombie is doing the Halloween/Friday the 13th crossover.

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  9. One of the classics horror films although I have never seen it. Great choice for TT. I revised my story slightly and added a poem. Check it out if you have the time.

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  10. Here is the deal...have not seen this film in YEARS...recognise the music and the scenes clip as if I watched it YESTERDAY! I am alone in my office and feel a bit FREAKED out!!!

    Happy Halloweeen!!!!!!!!

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  11. One of my husband's favourites. I'm not a big fan of stalk and slash flicks, but I agree, this is a classic!

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  12. I hate Halloween, but strangely like this blog. Keep up the good work.
    plentymorefishoutofwater.blogspot.com/

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  13. The first time I saw this movie was in a midnight showing at the Drive-In. The hair on my arms still stand up straight when I think about it.

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  14. I haven't seen it! I'm going to check for a viewing on tv this weekend! eeeek!

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  15. The beauty of Halloween was the way that Michael Meyers walked the line between deranged mortal and supernatural boogeyman!

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  16. I've never seen it. I'm not much for horror films. I'm still recovering from being locked in a room with the movie "Beast With Five Fingers" on tv and the nightmares I had for weeks.

    I was six. Haven't seen it since.

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  17. I'm not the biggest fan of horror movies ...I'd rather read a horror novel, as they are even more terrifying to me, especially novels by Stephen King.

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  18. okay now I'm convinced! will check out this golden oldie of horror flicks (30 years does seem like a golden oldie in the celluloid world

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  19. Ever see "Halloween III," the Sequel-in-name-only? One of the dumbest flicks ever! Thanks for your feature on the original classic.

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  20. It is fun to be scared... as long as I know I am completely safe! -Jayne

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  21. Evil pure and simple! They should have left it at that. You're right a lot of sequels seem to need to justify their villains. Didn't do any harm for Jaime Lee Curtis' career either!

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  22. Goodness gracious, I love this movie. It's my favorite film of all time. I agree about the motivation of Michael and the sibling relationship, which was "revealed" in the sequel. It's funny that the rest of the franchise kept trying to explain away at the mystery that made the original so successful to begin with. Humanizing Michael, giving him rationale, etc are tactics that will never live up to the lore surrounding Michael's initial appearance in 78.

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