Source: Eric Red

August 30, 2007

Admittedly, I've never been a fan of slasher movies, and all those hulking morons in sports or holiday masks with machetes or knives are pretty interchangeable.

That's not what I liked then or now about Halloween.

Instead, the film for me is a textbook example of economy of filmmaking technique where less is more and nothing is wasted. From the long elegant widescreen moving camera shots to the simple and powerful synthesizer theme music, every component on screen is distilled down to the essential elements. The camera is always in the right place and one shot is used for a scene instead of a hundred unnecessary setups.

These days, attention deficient disorder MTV and television commercial style hyperkinetic coverage and editing is the norm for mainstream movies. It's good to go back to this picture to see the virtues of filming where less is more and only what is needed is there. Plus, in our graphic horror era where gore and splatter is overused to say the least, this film has almost no blood. And it's lasted. Probably a lot of the style had to do with the makers having little time or money to make the picture, but low budget necessity was definitely the mother of invention.

Seeing Halloween for the first time back in the �70s at the now sadly defunct 8th Street Playhouse in New York City, I developed a huge crush on Jamie Lee Curtis and knew even though it was her first film, she'd be a major star. A few years later, I had her in mind writing Blue Steel. We cast Jamie, of course, and she was awesome.


Eric Red's writing credits include The Hitcher and Near Dark. Currently, he's directing 100 Feet, starring Famke Jansen, based on his original script. Stopping Power, an action-thriller penned by Red, is currently in production with Jan de Bont directing. John Cusack and Melissa George star.

For previous "Halloween Memories," click here!