Halloween: A Slasher Film

What is better to watch than an original slasher film, John Carpenter’s, Halloween. Throughout this movie, there are five key principles that are shown; the killer, the weapon, the “horrible place”, the final girl, and the shock factor. Mix all of them together to create one truly horrific plot.

The first principle in the film Halloween, the killer, happens to be Michael Myers. At six years old, Michael’s first murder happens on Halloween night 1963. The victim of Myers’s first kill had been his very own older sister, Judith. After just having intercourse with her boyfriend, Michael repeatedly stabs her, and the film goes on to show his parents coming home to find their son holding a knife that had just murdered his sister. From there, he is sent to an insane asylum where in 15 years he escapes and travels back to his home town Haddonfield, only to kill again. When he gets there, he breaks into a store to steal his white mask and a knife. Michael then wreaks havoc on his hometown on the same day that his first murdered took place, on Halloween. He takes prey on a girl named Laurie and her friends, most likely because she reminds him of his sister who he murdered in cold blood. Michael Myers fits perfectly to the typical slasher killer profile, a male that is dealing with his own psychotic issues.

A second principle is the weapon that is used, in Michael’s case, his killings are done with a large kitchen knife. However, in the film, Myers does kill Annie and Lynda by strangling them but his weapon of choice was a knife. His tendency to stab his victims is known as phallic symbolism. This means, his knife represents his penis. This in turn, could explain why he murdered his sister because of having some incestuous intentions towards her and later in the film towards Laurie and her friends. During the scene where Michael strangles Annie and Lynda, it also infers to a sexual symbol because choking someone can be seen as “kinky”.

The third principle of the slasher film is the location, which is sometimes referred to as the “horrible place”. Haddonfield represents this “horrible place” where Michael’s heinous murder sprees happen; he stabs his sister to death when he was only a child and then fast forward to present day where he returns to Haddonfield on Halloween night to “haunt” the town and to kill once again. To be more specific, Annie’s house is seen to also be the “horrible place” because, towards the end, that is where Laurie and Michael finally confront one another and have an epic fight. This is a more critical part of the film because there are many ways this movie could have ended.

The final girl is another key principle in slasher films. In Halloween, Laurie is the last one to survive Michael’s rampant murders, so for those who are slasher film fanatics she can be seen as being the final girl. The final girl tends to veer off from the cultural norm of the time period, and Laurie being very intelligent who does not seek male attention is considered “out of the norm”. The final girl tends to last long enough for help to arrive or she is left with no choice but to become the killer herself. Halloween proves itself to have one of the most suspenseful final fight with the killer and the final girl.

Last but not least, is the shock factor. The shock factor is the shock that comes with the drawn out murders of characters who do not play a significant role, however, are very significant to the film. These murders tend to be very gruesome and violent, and the audience is left sitting lost in ambiguity, wondering how the movie is going to end and to what they just witnessed. Halloween, with a tremendous open ending, leaves audiences open to ideas.

The five key principles ties together the slasher films, only to show a truly horrific and terrifying cinematic experience. John Carpenter’s Halloween portrays many horrifying twists and turns and has the audience leaving the movie theater awestruck.