Halloween (1978), my first and my favorite slasher
Written by Erin Norton
I was exposed to the horror genre at a very young age. Thanks to my mom. I grew up scarfing down all of the Flowers in the Attic books, as well as the terrifying YA lit that my librarian and elementary school teacher mom recommended to me (mainly Neal Shusterman’s work or Stephen King’s short stories). This being said, the movies mom showed me topped anything and everything I could have been reading at my young age. While my dad told me that I couldn’t watch any Kubrick or Hitchcock until I was at least 45, my mom showed me The Shining and The Birds behind his back. Most memorably, she showed me the infamous Halloween franchise as my introduction to horror. To this day, it remains my favorite series to rewatch at any point in the year, not just around the holiday itself.
Halloween, for the uninitiated, is an indisputable horror classic from 1978. It is also, in fact, Jamie Lee Curtis’ film debut and arguably one of her most iconic roles too. Implementing both the childish wonder and/or fear surrounding Halloween, as well as magical realism elements, the plot follows Laurie Strode and her unshakable connection to the killer, Michael Myers. Myers is a killer who, 15 years after killing his own family, escapes the sanitorium looking to commit murders again. Spoiler alert, Laurie survives his attack, which then becomes the focus of the entire franchise; her continual evasion of Myers’ violence and the intricacies of their incidentally linked relationship.
There are thirteen movies in total, in addition to spin-offs in other mediums. The 1970s, in my humble opinion, was the golden age for horror and thriller, and Halloween is the perfect, shining example of this claim. The leader of the pack, if you will. Its plot structure is now considered cliche, but that only means it was trailblazing. Halloween’s camp-y and absurd qualities, including Myers’ miraculous death defying existence, only led the way for ultra bizarre horror classics of the future (I’m looking at you, Scream and M3GAN). As far as slashers go, this was one of the first and one of the best.
In 2018, my mom drove the two of us to a drive-in theatre an hour or so away in order to watch the newest film, at the time, in the franchise. Yes, Halloween (2018) was pretty dumb, but would I have wanted it any other way? Absolutely not. To me, the unseriousness is humorous and self-referential; the stupidity of slashers is part of what makes them so lovable. Halloween was a family affair, sacred to my mother and I. Even if your connection to horror isn’t exactly personal, this is a great starting place for people new to horror. I promise you, it’s not that scary. Unless you’re afraid of the boogeyman… in that case… good luck.
