(Screaming)
"Halloween" started off so simple — "guy in a creepy mask kills everyone he sees."
As complicated as the series has gotten, it's always at its scariest when it goes in for
the kill.
"Oh, s---!"
Michael Myers is a great horror villain because of his relentlessness.
He can't be reasoned with, he can't be stopped, and if he sets his sights on you, you're probably
going to die.
The original "Halloween" emphasizes this with a terrifying sequence pulled straight from
your nightmares, as Michael walks toward a helpless Laurie Strode who's trying desperately
to get the kid she's babysitting to open the door.
"Who is it?"
"Tommy open up it's me!"
"Yeah, sure."
"Tommy, please!"
Even more than 40 years later, the constant cuts back to Michael getting closer… closer…
and closer work to take your breath away.
Watching it, you feel like Michael's coming after you.
Michael Myers may be a killing machine, but he's not always all business.
Sometimes he treats his victims like he's playing with his food.
The scariest part of Michael is how he leads up to a kill, letting the victims know for
a good long while just how dead they're about to be.
There's no better example of this in the 2018 movie than the moment when Michael wordlessly
drops off a menacing gift for a character using the restroom.
The way Michael attacks a man right after this is obviously terrifying, but nothing
says "you're gonna die" like someone dropping a pile of teeth at your feet.
One of the scariest "Halloween" kills doesn't involve Michael Myers at all.
For the third movie, the filmmakers came up with a new story that has nothing to do with
the famed mass murderer.
In a weird turn toward supernatural hijinks, an evil corporation distributes deadly Halloween
masks cursed with evil magic.
It all sounds pretty silly, until we reach the scene in which the company tests a mask
out on a little boy and his unassuming family.
"I think this whole thing is a big joke."
The concept is silly, but the results are terrifying.
If you weren't scared of having your head turned into bugs and snakes as it's crushed
by a pumpkin mask… well, you are now.
"Halloween H20" may be an obvious product of late '90s horror, but it's still legitimately
scary, despite occasional cheesiness, and Josh Hartnett's hair.
"It's Halloween, I guess everyone's entitled to one good scare."
"I've had my share."
In another example of a scary public bathroom scene, a mother and daughter visit an isolated
rest stop, only for a hand to appear under the mother's stall and grab her purse.
Proving that you don't need gore or violence to generate fear, this sequence is all about
building suspense.
The contrast of the little girl singing to herself while the mother glances through the
crack in the door, catching the briefest glimpse of Michael's blank mask, is a nightmare come
to life.
Everything that happens after this is left to the imagination; the last we see of these
two is a trail of their belongings as Michael drives away in their car.
Sure, it's a little silly to think of Michael as a common carjacker — but "Halloween H20"
is kind of a silly movie.
"Can I get another glass of chardonnay, please?"
"Today."
"Halloween" 2018 brings the goods with a sequence that's as technically tight as it is brutal,
as we see Michael casually walking into people's homes, killing them, then moving on to his
next victim, all in a single tracking shot.
(screams)
Mercifully, Michael decides against killing a defenseless baby, but it's disturbing that
he even considers it.
The sequence puts you in Michael's mindset, something the "Halloween" films don't tend
to do.
He's not out for revenge, or after anyone in particular.
He just wants to kill.
"Michael."
Of course, just because Michael Myers spared a baby doesn't mean he's above chasing down
and tormenting children.
What can we tell you?
This guy is a real jerk.
In "Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers," Michael chases his niece Jamie into a laundry
chute where she hides in a desperate attempt to escape her killer uncle.
"Please don't let him get me.
Please, God."
On top of putting a child in peril, the sequence is scary because Michael never doubts where
Jamie's hiding -- all that's keeping him from killing her is the fact that she's out of
reach.
And that becomes scary in its own way when she falls deeper into the chute, where she's
left trapped and screaming as Michael tries to force his way in.
(screams)
Whether you're scared of heights, tight spaces, or serial killer relatives, this sequence
has it all.
Speaking of kids, the first shot of "Halloween" contains one of the most shocking reveals
in horror history.
In a long single shot, we watch from the point of view of an unseen killer as he stalks and
then stabs his victim to death.
Then, his mask is removed.
Underneath is a 6-year-old boy who's just ruthlessly killed his own sister.
This is how Carpenter introduces us to Michael Myers, and it's all the backstory we need.
It's a chilling way to kick off the franchise — and the idea of Michael being a killer
kid, or inspiring other little kids to do the same, has been revisited throughout the
series, to menacing effect.
(yelling and grunting)
"Halloween" is a weird franchise.
Sometimes Michael is supernatural, sometimes he's not — but he always comes back.
In the first movie, Dr. Loomis shoots Michael off the balcony, where he falls to lie flat
on the front lawn.
Loomis is shocked when he looks back to see that the body has vanished.
What follows could well be a mission statement for every slasher film.
We hear Michael's raspy breath grow louder and louder, as Carpenter shows us all the
shadowy places where Michael could be hiding, both inside the house and out.
In the closing moments, Michael is no longer just a serial killer.
He becomes a manifestation of fear itself, and the embodiment of everything you're afraid
of in the dark.
"It was the boogeyman."
"As a matter of fact, it was."
It's the perfect way to end the film, playing on a primal and all-too-relatable fear of
what might be lurking in the shadows, leaving the audience checking behind every curtain
before turning the lights out.