During the start of Halloween there are many significant sign s and techniques used through the first scene, In this typical narrative a boy named Micheal puts on a mask and see's his sister with her boyfriend about to have intercourse. He then furthers to get a knife from a draw and proceeds from the kitchen to his sisters bedroom. He then stabs his sister consistently with a knife, plunging it to her death. Over the course of this starting scene it opens with a typical eerie music that is presented to scare the audience but also gives us a hint to something inconspicuous will happen. Music like this is great as an opening scene as it already has the audience off their feet, and expects the unexpected. The camerawork throughout this first scene is a POV from the main protagonist's killer view. This is an uncommon technique is most horror genre's as we never see the perspective of the killer, we just vaguely see them around and before they kill people. Although this does not give the identity of the killer as we don't see what they personally look like.
2. How does the setting fit with the genre?
Halloween has 2 different settings within the film. The first one is where we see the mental institution, in which we assume with the film Micheal/The Killer has been in for the past fifteen years of his life. This setting is surrounded by a dark night with lightning looming around the area. This sets a typical setting for a prison escape or anything due with horror aspects. The lighting is dark to create that scary atmosphere for the audience and so it is not oblivious to the audience what is upcoming within the scene. The second setting is the Typical innocent and friendly neighborhood, This sets our equilibrium for the start of our journey with our new female protagonist. Unlike a dark institution we see a more bright and vibrant neighborhood which people live peacefully in. As the film progresses and the plot gets worse for the characters, They are in an isolated house where the parents are their for the protection of the children. This is typical for a 1980's slasher as it is easier for the killer to prey on their target in this case Laurie Strode.
3. What Iconography of "innocence" do we see early on?
We see many features that indicate innocence within the film. Firstly we see a quite controversial innocence that may be thought in a different perspective. Micheal the killer in the first scene is dressed as a clown when his parents unmask him. This shows some innocence as he is dressed up for Halloween and might have been or going to go trick or treating around the area he lives in, Although this character does become our later soon killer he shows the innocence of bearing a costume to resemble Halloween. Another feature of innocence is Laurie our main protagonist, we see this when she looks outside the window to see Micheal and then disappear but answers the teachers question without hesitation and getting it correct. This indicates she is well educated and following the end of the school day scene she also forgets her chemistry book which she wants to go back to get. This shows that she is solely focused on her education unlike her friends which focus on their sexual needs in life. This may be considered that Laurie is a virgin considering all of her friends have boyfriends but her, and she doesn't seek sexual pleasure but rather do well in school. The final feature although it may be small is the scene of children trick or treating and then the woman who opened the door acting scared. This reinforces the setting showing that it is an innocent town and its equilibrium was not fathomed until Micheal had arrived back in return to target Laurie.
4. What was the main industry impact on Halloween?
Halloween was a low budget film of $300,000 but grossed over $47,000,000 in the US. Within this huge success this is a achievement for a industry to hit big on a film that had a low budget which bolstered their performance to make squeals to the film. The movie itself had now made a name for itself being such a high quality rated film and now created a trend to further its career. Trends are huge and are very successful for any industry to add within a film, as this makes the film iconic to any other films and using this trend can put futurist in many formats. This film as a slasher set a trend for any future slasher films, its trend was to put out dumb teens who don't pay attention to the environment around them and therefore they be a victim to the killer as they are a easy target. The squeals to Halloween were:
Halloween (1978)
Halloween 2 (1981)
Halloween 3 Season Of The Witch (1982)
Halloween 4 Return Of Micheal Myers (1988)
Halloween 5 The Revenge Of Micheal Myers (1989)
Halloween The Curse Of Micheal Myers (1995)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Halloween Resurrection (2002)
5. Name Some "Slasher" Films Which Followed On From Halloween.
After Halloween the Slasher genre became very popular on how we perceive horror elements. This was to frighten people with the elements of surprise and further their horror aspects including gore and death. Films that came after Halloween which followed the Slasher genre to success were:Friday The 13th (1980)
Prom Night (1980)
Night School (1981)
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Graduation Day (1981)
Happy Birthday To Me (1981)
Terror Train (1980)
6. What are the four plot rules of the "Slasher" film sub-genre which Halloween began?
1. A traumatic event in the past that creates the killer.
2. The killer returns to the site of the event, usually on a specific date.
3. A stalker graphically kills a group of obnoxious and stupid teens of both sexes, usually with some kind of blade, often a garden of farm implement.
4. A "Final Girl" survives which usually is boyish or virginal, to thwart the killer, although he never entirely vanquished.
7. Give Three Ways That Laurie Is Androgynous.
Androgynous is the meaning of a specific gender has traits of the other gender. In this case Laurie who is our main protagonist girl, has the traits of a man. This is indicated throughout the film. Although she is a female the actor chosen Jamie Lee Curtis has a deep voice in comparison to other girls, she was chosen due to the voice composition, she has a more deep manly voice than what the other girls had within the film. This is a set a man would have when they hit puberty which indicates that she isn't all girly even if she acts like it, This is a minute difference within the film but established to be major factor as she is the one to survive. Another small factor is that Laurie has a extremely defined jawline, this is a feature "men" mainly have and can be an attractive figure to females, this indicates that she isn't the typical type of woman as she has this type of jawline, this is picky to show that she isn't just a female but has these features like a man in which she in the reason to be the main protagonist as she is the wisest. This may hint that males are generally smarter than females within the film although Bob dies in a stupid way. A final feature of Laurie showing traits of a male is the fight scenes, Unlike Annie and Lynda, Laurie fights Micheal back by using a knitting needle and a clothes hanger. Like typical females Annie and Lynda try to get themselves free and struggle to do so instead of trying to attack Micheal, as they struggle is makes Micheal's job easier as they are also both caught off guard. Laurie however uses anything to defend herself fearing for her life, This shows a masculine trait as it would be typical for a man to fight back if they are going to be attacked.
8. What Does The Extract Mean By "A reactionary sexual agenda"
The film directs the movie at presenting the sexual era as well as a horror movie. It focuses on Teens who are obsessed with sex and therefore have no attention of their surroundings. This leads to them dying as they aren't oblivious to the killer who is around them. This annoyed critics as they wanted a horror movie and demolished the sexual agenda and what was perceived by people that all teens who did have sexual intercourse would die if they wouldn't be aware of their surroundings. This reaction worried people as the fantasy of the film wouldn't appeal to people whom would have these sexual appeals.
9. How does the director, John Carpenter, counter the suggestion that Halloween had a reactionary sexual agenda?
John Carpenter specifically said in his own words "I didn't mean to put an end to the sexual revolution!" This was to prove his point that teens die as they don't pay enough attention, but people like Laurie however had the less sexual deprived attention and therefore she had more attention to her surroundings as she wanted to focus on the more futuristic things of life.
10. Why is Mike Myers kills his sister?
Mike Myers killed his sister which can be perceived in many different reasons, in my own opinion Mike Myers took the thought of trick and treating to a new level not knowing the fatality of reality is not what is seems to what they are on TV. This is presented when Mike is going upstairs, with the knife in his hand, In the scene he kills his sister she is nude but also when he comes outside the house he is in a clown suit, this might implement of trick or treating or find the satisfaction of playing tricks of stabbing people which didn't plan out to well, This then might lead to Mike becoming a killer due to the satisfaction of killing or stabbing people, and his mind of being a complete devil is promised by the actions he takes throughout the film. It mainly shows that Mike killed girls who were "nude" Like his sister and most of the other girls that he later kills in the film were explicit, These were mainly the girls who were sexually active and wanted action, although Laurie is Mike's main target throughout the film and still peruses his case into trying to murder her.
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