Halloween (1978) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_415" align="alignright" width="300"] Official Score = 4 Devils[/caption]

Written by: Debra Hill (The Fog), John Carpenter (The Ward) and Directed by: John Carpenter. Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis (Terror Train), Donald Pleasence (Prince Of Darkness), P.J. Soles (Carrie), Nancy Kyes (Assault On Precinct 13), Charles Cyphers (The Fog), Brian Andrews (The Great Santini), Kyle Richards (Eaten Alive).

Now this movie is a special movie for me, for many reasons...

You see, first off this happens to be my favorite movie because the acting is amazing! I mean Jamie Lee Curtis (whose parents are legendary actor and actress, Tony Curtis (Some Like It Hot) and Janet Leigh (Psycho), did such a good job in this, her first feature film, that it helped lead her in to a long term movie career!

And speaking of Janet Leigh and Psycho, John Carpenter ended up hiring Jamie Lee Curtis, and naming Donald Pleasence's character, 'Sam Loomis' as tributes to Alfred Hitchcock, and his movie, Psycho (1960).

As for P.J. Soles, she has always done a great job, making any role she has done both hilarious, but also quite endearing! And Nancy Kyes, did so well in all of the movies that she has done, rather it be, playing a scared phone operator in, Assault On Precinct 13 (1976), playing the angry ex-wife of Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins) in Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch (1982)

And all of the rest of the actors are amazing as well!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="376"] Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), Annie Brackett (Nancy Kyes), Lynda van der Klok (P.J. Soles) in, 'Halloween' (1978)![/caption]

Halloween, tells the story of a group of friends by the name of Laurie Strode (Curtis), Annie Brackett (Kyes) and Lynda van der Klok (Soles), and how they are terrorized by an escaped psychopathic killer by the name of Michael Myers (Played by Tony Moran), who intends to kill all of them, on the Halloween night 17 years after Myers killed his older sister!

And it seems as though the only person that can stop him is his therapist by the name of Dr. Sam Loomis (Pleasence) that has been taking care of Michael Myers since Myers was a child, Sheriff Brackett (Annie’s father), and the unsuspecting Laurie Strode, who thought she was going to be bored with yet another night of babysitting!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Michael Myers as he is looking as he is tearing some stuff up in 'Halloween' (1978)![/caption]

With all of that in mind, and besides the amazing acting job that all of the cast did, John Carpenter is my favorite director! I mean the vision that Mr. Carpenter brings to his movies (including this one), is utterly amazing! I mean this guy does such a good job in directing these movies, that it is no wonder that he has legions of fans all over the world... And is also the reason why I think it is a safe to say that he is a true master of horror!

http://youtu.be/h7aHJR5lzE8

Stephen King On The Big Screen

Stephen King… What can I say… I mean this guy can literally be described as a true master of horror! I mean this guy’s novels have been terrifying readers all over the world, with such works as:

1. Carrie
2. The Stand
3. Gerald’s Game
4. Christine

And that is just to name a few!

But there is another side to the work that Stephen King has done that I wanted to talk about today that I thought that you, guys might enjoy, and that is the work that would eventually make its way to the big or small screen!

Starting off as early as 1976 with the release of his novel, ‘Carrie’ to the big screen and continuing on to the modern day with all the remakes that are coming out from this guy’s work. Stephen King has been entertaining and scaring audiences all over the world for literally decades! And the type of talent has been drawn to the films that are based on this man’s work!

[caption id="attachment_1103" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The start of one of the most famous scenes of the movie, 'Carrie' (1976)... One of the most recognizable horror movies all time, and it was adapted from Stephen King's first novel![/caption]

There has been such notables that have worked on movies that were based on Stephen King’s works of fiction which have included:

1. Sissy Spacek (Carrie)

2. Piper Laurie (Carrie)

3. John Travolta (Carrie)

4. P.J. Soles (Carrie)

5. Nancy Allen (Carrie)

6. Drew Barrymore (Firestarter & Cat’s Eye)

7. James Woods (Cat’s Eye)

8. Martin Sheen (Firestarter)

9. George C. Scott (Firestarter)

10. Gary SInise (The Stand)

11. Matt Frewer (The Stand)

12. Molly Ringwald (The Stand)

And that is just a few of the countless notables that have graced the screen in a Stephen King movie… And as for directors , we have such truly legendary directors that have worked on these movies which included:

1. John Carpenter

2. David Cronenberg

3. Brian De Palma

4. Tobe Hooper

5. Stanley Kubrick

That is just to name a few as well!

Now if you haven’t had a chance to read any of his work, he does have some non-horror based work as well, including: The Green Mile (1999), and Stand By Me (1986)… And the truth is, is that the majority of that stuff is fun and all of that, but I am not here to talk about that…

In this case I am here to talk about his work in the horror field… There was a joke at one point that was done on TV about Stephen King having to come up with a new idea that would scare the audience well enough and so he grabs his editors lamp and tries to scare him like that…

Well that is just one facet of his work! What I mean by this is that I have found that Stephen King has been able to take any one thing or circumstance and make it in to a fun, gripping and chilling tale of the macabre! A few examples are as follows:

1. In, ‘The Langoliers’ Stephen King makes an innocent enough plane trip in to a terrifying adventure back through time, where if they don’t make it back quick, they might never be able to do so!

2. Another fun example is how Carrie tells the tale of a girl with telekinetic powers in High School who after being taunted and teased by just about everyone around her decides to get even on one fateful night that will live in infamy forever!

3. Another example is how a classic car turns out to want it’s owner about as much as the owner wants the car and will kill to keep that relationship alive!

These are just a few examples of the truly classic novels that had been turned in to movies!

All in all, the truth is, is that most of his work is better in written form, but the truth is, is that the movies that are based on his work is pretty close to being just as good, and if you haven’t had a chance to enjoy either, then I recommend trying both… You might find that you have a new author to enjoy and a new series of movies as well!

http://youtu.be/1qshFVvbYuw