Halloween
The Basic Plot in Five Words or Less: Boo! Michael Myers is scary.
My Basic Ramblings: As I said in my review of Poltergeist, Iím not a big horror movie fan. But, as I also said in my Poltergeist review, Iíve decided I should watch the "classic" horror movies, the originals of the series, before they got all bogged down with horrid sequels and the like.
So, on July 4th, I watched Halloween.
So youíve got Michael Myers who hacked up his sister when he was six, and itís fifteen years later so mathematics would dictate that heís 21 now, even though the credits say heís supposed to be 23. Heís wearing a William Shatner mask spray-painted gray, killing people nilly-willy. Donald Pleasance is Loomis, his psychiatrist, and whenever heís on screen you feel compelled to say "Hey, Blofeld! Whereís your cat?" or "Whereís the Paper Chase guy?" Jamie Lee Curtis is Laurie, the sweet ën innocent chick who survives. Then youíve got the group of stupid teenagers that is the lifeblood of horror flicks. ("Oh, I spilled a little bit of butter on my shirt. I better just strip right down to my underwear, right here in front of the door that doesnít have any curtains on it.")
Laurie isnít too smart herself, though - she thinks sheís killed Mike, then throws the knitting needle to the side. Later, she does it again, this time with a big honkiní knife. Now, if Iím being chased by a homicidal maniac that killed my two best friends, any sort of stabbing implement I have will be Krazy-Glued to my hand. Twenty years later, Iíd still be waving it around. "Whitney, itís okay...you can put down the paperclip now," theyíd say in soothing tones.
This movie is not as gory as one would assume - we donít get a bloodletting like in, say, Suspiria (which I started to watch but the room was too noisy so I shut it off). Thereís two strangulations, a bunch of stabbings with various household items and Mike gets shot six or so times. But donít confuse "lack of gore" with "lack of being really darned scary" ñ I made Chris lend me his Swiss Army Knife when I walked the 200 feet back to my apartment, just in case Mike made the trip from Haddonfield to Brighton.
According to various movie guides Iíve seen, Laurie discovers in Halloween II that sheís Mikeís sister. Sigh. All these damned movie coincidences that just get annoying.