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| Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode |
A psychotic murderer, institutionalized since childhood, escapes on a mindless rampage through the town while his doctor, Doctor Loomis - played by Pleasence, frantically tries to stop him from killing - his main target being the teenager Laurie Strode, played by Curtis.
Halloween was produced on a budget of $320,000 and grossed over $41,000,000 at the box office in the USA alone. As of 2008 this figure is the equivalent of $150,000,000 making it one of the most profitable Indie films ever made.
Many critics credit the film as the first in a long line of slasher films inspired by Hitchcock's 'Psycho' (1960). The film originated many cliches found in low-budget horror films of the 1980's and '90's. However, unlike the later horror films Halloween contains little graphic violence and little gore - which allows it to remain different to the many slasher films out now.
Opening Credits
Camera Angles
The scene starts with an establishing shot of a house, with a pumpkin lit up on the porch which instantly links with the Halloween theme. We then get a handheld zoom to a close-up of the house where we can see two teenagers, a boy and girl, embracing. The camera then pans to the right, where we get a medium close-up of the pumpkin, which shows the audience it's sinister, evil expression which makes the audience think that perhaps something evil is lurking, waiting to strike. As the camera moves through the house, we realise that it is a point-of-view shot, we see this when the person picks up a knife, and puts on a Halloween mask. The angle of the p.o.v shot is high so it suggests that the person is of a tall stature. At the end of the scene when the killer is unmasked, there is a backward tracking shot that is also a crane shot as it progresses, which fits the house, young Michael and his parents in and allows the audience to see the whole scene.
Mise-en-Scene
During the opening credits the colour theme with the text is orange and black, which clearly links with the title of Halloween and horror. The style of the text is sharp-edged, like that of a knife - which links with the method that the killer uses all throughout the film.
As the the scene takes place at night there is a very limited use of light in the house, for most of the p.o.v shot we are led through dark rooms in the house until the murder is committed which adds tension, as we cannot really see what is going to happen up until that point.
The costume choice for the young Michael is interesting as it shows just how young he is - dressed as a clown on Halloween. But also, this could have been used because it is well known many people have a fear of clowns and so this is a very clever move by John Carpenter.
Sound
The single note piano track used during the credits is a very ominous tune and as it plays the pitch gets deeper and deeper as it builds to a crescendo. This allows the music to build a lot of tension. Then as the scene is set for the opening we here small children singing a Halloween song, this is often used in horror films now - for example in Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) when the children sing a rhyme about Freddy Krueger. This was one of the first uses of the 'innocent' children singing being involved with a horror film. As the light is turned off in the older sisters bedroom there is a loud, sharp and shrill music note played which suggests something bad is happening or will happen. The noise is almost like a scream.
Editing
There are not many cuts used between shots as most of the scene is from a handheld shot which allows the scene to flow continuously without breaks. This is effective because all the action comes in one chunk rather than being broken up by cuts between shots. It allows the audience to see every single part of the scene so nothing is missed.
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