For a good, old-fashioned Halloween scare/make-fun-of-the-sheer-stupidity-of-this-movie experience I would suggest watching the original classic ? and appropriately titled ? Halloween.
Before watching the movie I was told it was considered a “B” movie. Figuring this simply meant it had a lower budget than a big studio horror film, I went into it with an open mind.
Well, I will admit that I lost my open minded perspective within the first ten minutes. When I hear low budget film I assume independent film and then I think of wonderful films like “The Laramie Project” and “The House of Yes.”
This film, however, appeared to have a budget of around $36. For a moment I wondered if this was a film John Carpenter made when he was 14.
The movie opens with the audience looking through the eyes of a child murderer, Michael Myers ? that’s the name of the character. The part is not played by the guy who brought you Austin Powers. It is Halloween night and Michael, wearing a clown costume to throw in that extra sense of irony, is spying through a window on two teenagers making out.
When the two decide to take things to the bedroom, Michael simply walks through the open kitchen door ? because there is, of course, no need to lock your doors in Illinois ? and takes a knife from the drawer. By this time Michael has put on his famous mask, so through narrow slits the audience can see the boyfriend exit through the front door.
His girlfriend is left completely defenseless because she is sitting upstairs, brushing her hair while topless ? as, of course, all girls do. This half-naked grooming made me momentarily think that maybe this was “Halloween, the Porn Version” but then eventually Jamie Lee Curtis, the heroic virgin, came on and all was resolved.
After this captivating first scene a plot is revealed and the audience is happy to know that the film does not simply revolve around meaningless gore and sex ? though those are two essential elements to horror films. The rest of the film takes place exactly fifteen years later after that tragic Halloween night when a poor topless girl was murdered.
Michael has escaped from the mental hospital where he has been locked away for the past fifteen years because he has decided that it is finally the right time to stage his comeback. The victims are his sister, played by a very young Jamie Lee Curtis, and her friends.
Well, in the end, Jamie survives and even sticks around for the sequel. Unfortunately, though, so does Michael.
Halloween is available on DVD from the Multimedia Center. It’s part of their new collection of DVDs that are available for students to borrow for free, so check it out. You may never have to go to Blockbuster again.
Lepore ccn be reached at mlepore@campustimes.org.
