Welcome to Part One of an Ongoing Series of Video Essays, shining new light on one of the longest running, and most revered horror franchises of all time, the Halloween saga. In an attempt to try and find something new to say about this epic film series, we’re here arguing that Halloween is the most important horror film of the 1970s, as ultra-serious, dare I say, pretentious, horror films, often featuring shocking violence and cruelty, gave way to movies that adopted Halloween’s sincere, streamlined and audience-friendly approach to horror.
We’re looking at Halloween in the context of the 1970s, drawing comparisons between the most notable trends in the genre, and trying to understand just how important John Carpenter’s film really is. Please don’t view this as a condemnation of the other classic 70s horror films I’m discussing: I love nearly all of them, I just happen to think Halloween is a unique and special film. Hope you do too.
Please let me know what you think, and have a Happy Halloween everybody. Part 2 should be coming in November, and, no matter what John Carpenter says, I really love the whole franchise. I’m just fascinated by how openly Mr Carpenter aired his disappointments with H2.
Stay Morbid, Everybody.
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#John Carpenter, #Halloween, #Michael Myers. #Jamie Lee Curtis
FILM CLIPS USED:
Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978, Compass International Pictures)
Halloween II (Rick Rosenthal, 1981, Dino De Laurentiis Corporation)
Night of the Living Dead (George A Romero, 1968, Image Ten)
Dirty Harry (Don Siegel, 1971, The Malpasso Company, Warner)
Straw Dogs (Sam Peckinpah, 1971, ABC Pictures, 20th Century Fox)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974, Vortex)
The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973, Hoya, Warner Bros.)
The Pyx (Harvey Hart, 1973)
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-75, Universal)
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960, Paramount)
Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975, Universal)
Westworld (Michael Crichton, 1973, MGM)
The Fog (John Carpenter, 1980, Debra Hill Productions, AVCO Embassy)
Cinema Showcase: John Carpenter (1984) - • Cinema Showcase profil...
Roger Ebert, Halloween Review - • Siskel & Ebert Review ...
SOURCES USED:
Stephen King, Danse Macabre
Dustin MacNeil, Travis Mullins, Taking Shape
Cinefantastique Magazine, Various Issues from 1973-1978
The Village Voice: “Those Wild and Crazy Cult Movies”, Andrew Sarris: www.villagevoi...
The Village Voice: Halloween Review, 1979, Tom Allen: www.criterion....
Pauline Kael, Halloween Review, The New Yorker, 19.2.1979: scrapsfromthel...
A Lot of the Behind the Scenes Photos Used came from here:
www.vintag.es/...
MUSIC USED:
Piano Sonata No.14/Moonlight Sonata - Ludwig Van Beethoven
Halloween II Soundtrack, Opening Theme, Alan Howarth (1981)
Tiny Snatches of the Halloween Soundtrack, too: Of course, composed by Mr John Carpenter.
All film clips and images are used under Fair Use. Please don’t kill me.
If you’re still reading this, then thank you kindly. Promise the next one will be better.
18 сен 2024
