Halloween: The Night He Came Home
Created | Updated Feb 15, 2004
Setting: Haddonfield, 31st October 1963, 31st October 1978
Halloween begins with a spooky opening sequence in which we look out from Michael's view, seeing his 17 year old sister Judy make love to her boyfriend. We see what he sees as he puts on his clown-mask, picks up a knife, go upstairs and kill his sister Judy Myers. It is when he leaves the house that we see the initial shock; that Michael is only a six year old boy.
Fifteen years later, in 1978, Dr. Loomis and a nurse travel to
where Michael has been kept in Smithsgrove Mental Institute. Michael escapes the institute, steals Dr. Loomis' car and escapes to Haddonfield, the town where he grew up. There he sees Laurie Strode outside the Myers' house, a house which Laurie's father, an estate agent, hopes to sell, and he follows her and her friends Annie and
Linda. On Halloween night, Laurie babysits Tommy, her friend Annie hopes to go on a date with Paul1 but instead is babysits Lindsey until she takes her to Laurie, and Linda is on a date with Bob.
Dr. Loomis persuades Haddonfield's Sheriff Brackett, father of Annie, to keep an eye out around the Myers' House for Michael, but the sheriff is unconvinced.
Michael murders Laurie's friends and then pursues Laurie. Dr. Loomis arrives in time to save Laurie, shoots Michael six times who falls off a balcony, but disappears...
Deaths:
| No. | Who | Where | How | Reason For Death? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Judith Myers | Myers House | Stabbed | Michael's relation. Had sex. |
| 2. | Garage Man | By garage. | Off screen | Unexplained |
| 3. | Annie | Lindsey's House | Stabbed | Sheriff's Daughter |
| 4. | Bob | Lindsey's House | Stabbed | Had sex. |
| 5. | Lynda | Lindsey's House | Strangled by phone | Had sex. |
Cast:
| Donald Pleasence | Doctor Samuel J. Loomis |
| Jamie Lee Curtis | Laurie Strode |
| Tony Moran | Michael Myers |
| Nancy Kyes | Annie Brackett |
| P.J. Soles | Lynda |
| Charles Cyphers | Sheriff Brackett |
| Kyle Richards | Lindsey Wallace |
| Brian Andrews | Tommy Doyle |
| John Michael Graham | Bob Simms |
| Nancy Stephens | Nurse Marion Chambers |
| Robert Phalen | Dr. Terence Wynn |
| Will Sandin | Michael Myers (age 6) |
| Sandy Johnson | Judith Myers |
Characters with names in italics are recurring characters.
Review:
There are two versions of the film Halloween. As well as the original 1978 cinema release, in 1982, during the making of Halloween II, John Carpenter shot additional scenes for Halloween.2 At one stage Halloween was originally going to be called 'The Babysitter Murders', but was fortunately changed to its more dramatic title before release.3
Halloween is an effective film and the opening sequence of the flickering pumpkin builds up the atmosphere simply and more effectively than in later films. John Carpenter's4 haunting music too is fresh, and in the tradition of all horror films, the characters in this horror film watch horror films. The small cast also means that you know who everyone in the film is, and so the murders are more shocking than in later films with several disposable, and therefore disposed, extras. Dark and atmospheric, it took the films off in the
right direction.
