Wednesday 2 November 2011

Hallowe'en (1978)- John Carpenter

On October 31, 1963, six-year-old Michael Audrey Myers stabbed his sister Judith to death with a kitchen knife at their home in Haddonfield, Illinois. He was sent to Smith's Grove-Warren County sanitarium. 
He is placed under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis who suspected that there was more to Myers than met the eye and wishes for him to be committed indefinitely. However, Michael seems to be docile and does not speak a word. When Myers turns 21, he escapes from Smith's Grove whilst being transferred, and returns to his home town with Dr. Loomis in pursuit.

A killing spree then starts in Haddonfield, mainly on girls and their boyfriends who indulge in sexual activities when they are supposed to be babysitting children. This is ironic as his sister did the exact same thing the night she was killed. Laurie plays the iconic role of the final girl in this movie and is represented as everything that the other girls where not. She is virginal, innocent and intelligent and for these reasons she becomes worried about her friends who are just across the road from where she is babysitting.

A real highlight on her innocence is the knitting needle she uses to stab Myers in the neck. The whole idea of knitting and its connection to innocence leads back to Nosferatu and the character Ellen, where in the opening scene we see Ellen knitting happily with a kitten close by. The mise en scene used is key to portray the innocence of characters.

Filming
One of the most effective aspects of Halloween is the fact that when we as the audience are following the point of view of the killer, the camera is hand held. This makes the whole scenario seem more real. This effect also adds a hightened panicked emotion to attacks and kills we see on screen as every jerk and bump the camera takes is visible on the footage.

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