Before the movie Friday the 13th (1980)
terrified audiences around the world, there was Halloween (1978).
This year has seen the release of Halloween (2018), the 11th instalment in the Halloween movie franchise. As the
twentieth anniversary outing, Halloween H20 (1998), this movie presents
itself as a direct sequel to the original. Like H20, it reintroduces
the character of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), the lone survivor of the
Haddonfield babysitter murders of 1978. Laurie has spent the last 40 years
suffering from PTSD, all the while preparing for the return of the serial
killer Michael Myers. In the original movie Michael Myers, also known as the
Shape, killed his sister on Halloween night in 1963, escaped captivity and
continued his killing spree 15 years later. Like all good Halloween tales, the
2018 movie is a story about a specific date when people don masks, going door
to door to play a game of trick or treat.
Holiday Horror
The original film continuing the
trend of holiday and other date-based horror films such as Black Christmas (1974). During the 1980's there would be Prom Night 1 (1980), 2 (1987), and 3 (1989), Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 1(1984), Part
2 (1987), and Part 3 (1989) the
spoofy April Fool's Day (1986), as
well as four more Halloween sequels.
This procession of date themed slasher films would continue into the 90's and
beyond. Popular film series were ripped-off, remade, rebooted and reimagined.
At the heart of this phenomena is the dichotomy of the joyous celebration
coupled with the horror of tragedy. Celebrations are times that we mark out for
joy and merriment. Tragedy on these days is always heightened, the annual
celebrations of life transformed into a yearly anniversary of loss. And
Halloween is the perfect setting for such a story. The outward images of death
and fear mask the joyful festivities of the annual celebration. In the Halloween
film series, this subversion is reversed. The symbols of death regain
their original meaning. The man dressed up in the pale white death mask going
door to door is the agent of death bringing death with him. He is not a man
dressed as the bogeyman, he is the bogeyman. The mask doesn’t obscure his
features, it externalises his inward self. The conventions of Halloween night
are his native environment. Just as pumpkins are carved to resemble heads, in
the latest movie Michael takes the head of a policeman and carves it into a
jack-o-lantern. In Halloween (2018),
Michael’s deranged psychiatrist Dr Sartain (Haluk Bilginer), after years of
studying the killer in captivity, revels in the opportunity to see Michael free
in his element, i.e. Haddonfield on Halloween Night. Usually existing in a
catatonic state since the murder of his sister, he only becomes active when he
escapes in time for Halloween.
It's About Time.
The fixing of the story to an
annual event allowed time to become an important theme in the Halloween series. This 40th-anniversary
film will be known as Halloween (2018), just as the 20th-anniversary
film was known as Halloween H20 (1998). A date is implied in the title
and this date becomes the catalyst for Michael Myers’ return. In the opening of
Halloween (2018) we are presented with a montage made up of inmate’s stares
and an image of a clock hanging on the wall in the Smith’s Grove Sanitarium.
The clock introduces the idea of time passing and the approach of Halloween
evening. The eyes of the inmates suggest the waiting game of those looking on.
When the time arrives what will Michael do? The eyes are also mirrored by the gaze
of the audience. We are waiting to see the bogeyman of the series in action.
Once Michael dons his Halloween mask, he will spend time watching and waiting
until it is time to begin his lethal ritual. This sense of the passing of time
is also assisted by the soundtrack of the film. Beginning with a ticking clock
at the start of the film, this feeling of time racing to an impending event is
evoked by the rapid staccato of the main theme. Coupled with its unsettling
5/4-time signature and languid countermelody, the theme underscores the film's
sense of countdown towards the inevitable events of the Shapes’ return.
Part of the thrill of the countdown
is the sense that there is a game afoot. It's a game that the filmmakers are
playing with us as we eat our popcorn, thrilling to the shocks and scares that
jump out at us from the screen. In the original Halloween, Doctor Sam
Loomis (Donald Pleasance), Michael Myer's psychiatrist, enters into the spirit
of the festival. While waiting for the Michael outside of the killer's
childhood home, he scares some neighbourhood children that have approached the
house. We are reminded at this point that the movie is a trick being played on
us. Its fun being scared, it's a treat. We are observers of a game of cat and
mouse being played out on the screen, all which is a scenario designed to trick
us. This sense of the game is also prevalent in the latest instalment. In the opening
scene, two British podcasters are granted permission to try and interview the
non-verbal Michael Myer’s. They are led out to where Michael is restrained in
the centre of the exercise yard, an area comprised of black and white squares
reminiscent of a giant chess board. Here they question Myers about the events
of the past to which there is no response. Even when producing the original
mask from his 1978 killing spree he is unresponsive. All around guard dogs bark
and other inmates cry out, yet Michael is silent. He is waiting in his square
to make his move.
The Long Game.
Once Michael is free, the game begins.
The streets of Haddonfield become a maze in which Myers can appear and
disappear seemingly at will. The Shape toys with his victims, obscuring himself
in shadow and hiding in cupboards. He plays tricks on potential victims, hiding
corpses, displaying bodies in ways that strike fear in other potential victims
(and the audience).
Narrative expectations are also toyed with. Although it was established in
previous sequels that Michael Myers and Laurie Strode were brothers and sister,
the latest film sets out to ignore this plot device. The idea is raised in
conversation between several characters and dismissed as mere gossip. At
one-point Laurie’s granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak) falsely claims to
have heard Michael Myers utter a word, claims to which psychiatrist, Dr Sartain
asks ‘was it the name of his sister?’ The sister being referred to was Judith
Myers whom he murdered in the prologue of the first movie. Yet to those familiar
with the franchise it also acts as a tease. Is Laurie indeed his secret sister
or not? As no word was uttered the truth remains unanswered. The movie also
plays with the conventions of the slasher genre. No longer is the female lead
the prey in the game of cat and mouse. She has positioned herself as the
hunter, trying to beat Michael Myers at his own game. In Halloween
(1978), Doctor Loomis played the role of the Shapes’ hunter. In Halloween (2018)
we find that he has passed away and replaced by his former student, Doctor
Sartain. Though poised to be the hunter it is revealed that he is more
interested in observing Michael's homicidal activities. He is even more
interested in simulating them, than apprehending him. The security represents
is undermined when it is revealed he is part of the chaos. Now it becomes clear
that it is Laurie Strode who is the heir to Loomis’ role as hero. She is no longer the survivor, the last girl,
she is the hunter. Just as Michael has been waiting to begin the game again, Laurie
has been playing an even longer game, luring Michael into a trap. Just as the
game begins with the chessboard imagery, it finishes with the criss-cross of
bars, caging Michael in a fiery trap.For 40 years the characters created by John Carpenter, Debra Hill and others have thrilled horror movie fans with their classy atmospheric approach to the slasher genre. Even at it’s weakest, the Halloween franchise has been a cut above the rest. The unrelenting march of its emotionless villain, Michael Myers through jack-o-lantern lined streets of Haddonfield, always casts an eerie image. Halloween (2018) continues this legacy, with its thrilling game of cat and mouse played out against the countdown to Halloween. It’s a tense game where at times it is unclear who is the hunter and who is the hunted.
