Editorials
‘Halloween’ at 40: The 8 Scariest Moments from John Carpenter’s Original Classic
When Halloween released in theaters on October 25, 1978, it wasn’t an immediate hit. The indie movie made with a miniscule budget only dropped in a small number of theaters. But positive word of mouth spread fast, causing Halloween to release in more theaters across the country and four weeks later it was an undeniable hit. The stylish slasher was a perfect amalgam of talented people at the beginning of their careers; director/co-writer John Carpenter, producer/co-writer Debra Hill, final girl extraordinaire Jamie Lee Curtis, cinematographer Dean Cundey, production designer Tommy Lee Wallace, the Shape actor Nick Castle, executive producers Irwin Yablan and Moustapha Akkad, and just about everyone who had a hand in it all worked in unison to make a definitive classic.
Under Carpenter’s direction a simple premise, in which a babysitter is stalked over Halloween night by an escaped psychopath, turned into the stuff of nightmares. To celebrate 40 years of Halloween, we look back at its scariest, genre-defining moments.
Opening scene reveal
The opening sequence, set on Halloween night in 1963, sets the bar high straight away with the first-person perspective of someone dressed in a clown costume stalking then murdering their older sister mere moments after her boyfriend leaves post-coital. The voyeuristic quality makes the whole scene unnerving, and that’s before it explodes with shocking violence as we watch through the killer’s eyes while he stabs his sister to death. If you think it couldn’t get any more terrifying, the scene concludes with the killer being unmasked; he was only a child.
Stalking his prey
Between Michael Myer’s escape from Smith’s Grove Sanitarium and his systematic homicidal spree on Halloween night, this silent killer is content to lurk in the background, stalking and studying his prey. All of whom are oblivious. Nothing really ever happens in the safe little town of Haddonfield, right? Wrong. Michael Myers’ consistent background appearances are creepy. It’s an effective means of building tension; we know these teens are in trouble long before they do.
Head Tilt
Lynda Van Der Klok’s boyfriend Bob goes downstairs for a beer but finds himself with a knife to his gut instead. Nevermind the sheer strength displayed, as Michael Myers lifts Bob off the ground and then pins him to the wall with the knife. What makes this so scary is Michael Myers subtle, simple head tilt. It’s a small gesture that has massive implications, namely in just how evil this killer really is.
Bob’s body swings down
Poor Laurie found much more than she bargained for when she went across the street to investigate the Wallace house. She finds her friend Annie’s dead body splayed across the bed with Judith Myers’ headstone at her head. It’s a traumatic enough moment, but her escape is then blocked by the swinging dead body of Bob. It’s unexpected both for Laurie and for the viewer; when we last saw Bob he was pinned downstairs to a wall. This is a jump scare done well.
Annie’s death
Halloween is a slasher that favors mounting dread over overt violence, so when there are violent moments it really packs a punch. Annie Brackett’s death is the perfect example. The audience is always clued in to Michael Myers’ presence long before the protagonists and waiting for Annie to finally catch on feels like an eternity. The dread coils tighter by the minute. When Annie finally realizes something is amiss, it’s too late. Yet, it still catches us off guard. The loud honking of the car horn is enough to give us a jolt, but that Michael Myers isn’t just content to strangle Annie, but slit her throat too is bone-chilling.
Let me in!
As if you needed any more proof that Halloween is a master class in fear, I present you with this intense chase scene. Our observant final girl, Laurie Strode, is suspicious that something’s not quite right. So, she leaves the kids she’s babysitting behind to venture across the street to the Wallace household and investigate. She survives her first encounter with Michael Myers and a harrowing chase ensues as she rushes back to the Doyle house. The door is locked, but will the kids open it in time before Michael Myers closes in?
He’s not a monster
When you think of the Boogeyman, you think of something much more ghoulish and hideous. Someone who systematically stalks and kills without emotion is surely a monster, right? But just as he’s finally about to kill Laurie, she makes him pause when she rips off his mask. For the briefest moment, the audience sees that there’s nothing monstrous at all about Michael Myers. It’s a frightening reminder that killers could be anyone and anywhere; they could appear normal.
But he is the Boogeyman
Up until the final moments, Michael Myers was just a human. Albeit, a psychotic killer, but human nonetheless. When Dr. Sam Loomis shoots Myers six times, knocking him off the second-floor balcony into the yard below, the killer should be dead. Yet seconds later our worst fears are realized when Loomis discovers Myers is gone. The boogeyman is real, and he could be anywhere.
Editorials
‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel
The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.
The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.
Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.
With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).
It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.
The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.
The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.
Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.
Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.
Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.
The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.
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