Halloween Analysis

Halloween was originally made in 1978 and is a horror film. The director was John Carpenter. The film is set in a quiet town, Haddonfield, Illinois which is a horror genre convention. This setting is common for a horror genre because it means that it could mean to anyone which creates fear for the audience. The plot of the film followers the psychopath antagonist Michael Myers after murdering his older sister Judith Myers. 15 years later on 30th October 1978, he escapes from a psychiatric hospital and begins murdering teenagers from his home town on the following day, which is Halloween. By having it set on Halloween night helps create the the horror iconography as there are pumpkin lanterns, children dressed in costumes and trick or treating. 

A sense of innocence when the audience finds out
that the killer is a little child.

Looking at Todorov’s narrative structure, Halloween closely follows his structure of equilibrium (the normality of the setting), disruption (something disrupting the equilibrium), recognition (the characters realise there is a disruption), resolution (trying to fix the disruption) and new equilibrium (everything goes back to normal) however I think there is two sets of this narrative. The film starts with a very brief equilibrium, this is of Judith Myers and her boyfriend. There is a use of point of views shots and silence to build up the tension within the narrative which keeps the audience hooked. By using these they are following some conventions of the horror genre. Then it’s the first disruption, which is Michael Myers killing his sister. The recognition is when his parents find Michael with the knife, there is a sense of innocence when we see the killer is actually a little boy. The resolution is when Michael is sent off to the psychiatric hospital and then there is a new equilibrium created. However; then a new set of Todorov’s narrative structure is set. Then the other disruption is when Michael Myers escapes the hospital, we then see an equilibrium of Laurie and her friends lives. There is a use of non-diagetic music, this builds up the tense and intensifies the fear and suspense.The recognition is Laurie realises Myers is trying to kill her and her friends and the resolution is then when Laurie thinks she kills him and a new equilibrium could happen, however we then see his body has gone, so there isn’t really a resolution to this film. However as there is a sequel, that might be the resolution. I think it does follow this structure, however not fully. This is because firstly the first set of Todorov’s narrative structure is in order, however the second set the audience see the disruption because they see the equilibrium and there is a resolution.

Another narrative theory is binary opposites which was introduced by Claude Levi-Strauss. Binary opposites are sets of opposite’s values which reveal the structure of media texts. In Halloween there is a binary opposite of good vs evil, which is Laurie and Michael Myers. Laurie being good is supported by her being good at school and not drinking or having sex. By having binary opposites helps to develop our understanding the narrative. Another binary opposite from Halloween is smart vs stupid; this is demonstrated in Laurie and her friends. Laurie cares about her studies and is smart meanwhile her friends don’t care which ultimately leads them to their deaths. By having this opposite it also suggests the final girl theory. There is also an opposite of past vs present, this is used when Myers kills his sister and he is put into the hospital in comparison to the present when is he back in the present day. Another one I think is used in this film is light vs dark. This is because in the day their lives are normal and compared to the dark when Myers tries to kill them. The use of lightening at night creates the tension in the film. There is a use of small motivated lighting to create shadows and creates fear. 

Vladimir Propp identified 8 character roles after looking at over 100 folk tales which include:
Hero – our main protagonist and victor.

Michael Myers with a knife. This image
demonstrates he is a villain.

Villain – the bad character.
Donor – who provides an object or powers to the hero.
Helper – who aids the hero.
Princess – the hero’s ‘reward’ and object of the villain’s scheme.
Princess’s Father – who rewards the hero.
Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his way.
False Hero – the double agent who hinders the hero rather than helping him.
It is common to have one character play more than one character, an example of this is the donor and helpers. In Halloween the hero is Laurie, she is the main protagonist and is the one to fight against the villain, Michael Myers. This is unconventional as stereotypically the hero is male. Michael Myers is the villain because he kills his sister and then returns to the town to kill Laurie and her friends, the audience has an idea how truly evil he is. Dr Loomis is the helper, this is because he is trying to track down Michael Myers and stop him. Not many others of Propp’s characters are used in this movie as there isn’t a quest to be set on.

As I said before Laurie demonstrates the final girl theory by Carol Clover. Even though Laurie is also the hero she follows the final girl theory; this is because she is virginal, pure and does not smoke, drink or have sex. She is good at school and is smart. She has a name which is not traditionally feminine. In addition she has quite a masculine voice. By having all these traits it means that she survives until the end. In makes sense that she is the final girl and she is also the hero.

Laurie at school, shows she is a good girl getting on with her work. Also demonstrates as the equilibrium. 

Bordwell and Thompson defined narrative as “a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space”. This basically means an event will occur and then consequences will follow. In Halloween I think there are a few moments which relate to this theory. First example of this is when Laurie drops the keys off at Michael Myers old house and he sees her through the window. This sets up the narrative for him to target her for the rest of the film. He follows her around, firstly killing her friends and finally tries to kill her, even though he is unsuccessful. Another event which has its consequences is that use of sex to tell the audience when that character is going to die. For example firstly Michael Myers kills his sister just after she has sex with her boyfriend. We don’t know if that was the reason he killed her, or if he is just pure evil. Another example is when Annie is was her way to meet her boyfriend assuming to have sex when Michael strangles her in the car. In addition Michael Myers also kills Lynda and her boyfriend after they have sex in Annie’s house.