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Rating: John Carpenter probably didn't imagine he was giving birth to a true cinematic "phenomenon" destined in subsequent years to see a myriad of sequels. He probably didn’t imagine earning almost 50 million dollars with a film that cost next to nothing. He might not have even believed he was inaugurating a new trend in the slasher genre, which has had countless followers over time. Michael Myers from Halloween - The Night of the Witches has become a true icon in the global horror landscape, soon to be joined by "siblings" like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. From here, from this film dated 1978, the line for future horror was drawn, primarily made up of sequels, prequels, and remakes, although there have been productions unrelated to other works. The Night of the Witches is probably the film that gave full visibility to Carpenter, branded by Hollywood as a director not well-suited to market demands and labeled as "too personal".
The strength of the film certainly doesn’t lie in the originality of its plot, but perhaps it’s precisely its straightforwardness that makes this Halloween a milestone of the genre. Carpenter brings to the big screen, with astounding naturalness, fear in its purest form. Quiet American towns, with whitewashed houses, well-maintained lawns, and streets cleared of leaves, are no longer symbols of normality. Or at least they don't appear as such, given Myers' cunning at hiding with ease in what seems normal to everyone else. Nothing seems out of order. A common thought among citizens summarized by Sheriff Leigh’s opinion: "Have you seen the people in Haddonfield? Women, children, families like mine, living in peace all quietly in their homes. And you want to tell me they’re destined for a massacre?" It's only normal that everyone believes they’re safe, despite the heartrending screams of the babysitter Laurie. But after all, it's Halloween, a time for jokes and fun, those screams might just be a prank spurred by the evening...
In this perspective of "living" fear, always present but never sensed, Carpenter constructs a film far from the meaningless violence of most modern splatters. Very little blood, lots of tension. Unforgettable are the night scenes where poor Laurie is "hunted" by something unknown to her. In this sense, the best scene comes at the beginning of the film when Michael Myers, a 6-year-old child, kills his sister almost without realizing it. The subjective sequence "trapped" between the mask slits is one of the best things of the seventies horror and beyond.
Laurie fights almost entirely alone, aided only by Dr. Loomis, who is also seen as a psycho and accused by Sheriff Leigh of bringing chaos to the town. The two figures assume the giant forms of heroes who sacrifice themselves for the good of the community. In particular, while Laurie mainly seeks her own salvation, Dr. Loomis cares for the lives of other citizens and not just his own safety. However, Carpenter doesn’t make it that simple because that masked and violent man resembles a shadow. He flees, returns, escapes, in a continuous cycle of appearances that elevate him almost to an invincible transcendental figure. The help of the other townspeople would have been enough to stop the madness, but at Halloween, while people are busy celebrating and indulge in their consumerist whims, not even desperate screams in the night would move them from their comfortable armchairs.
Rating: 4.5.
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