Halloween Questions

1.       How does the start exemplify a common technical code convention of horror genre?

The film starts by the death of an obnoxious teen, and this traumatic event creates a psychopathic killer. It is conventional for the killer to cover his face in some way, and in Halloween the killer ‘Michael Myers’ uses a clown mask to hide his identity. Another convention for a slasher horror film is to feature some restricted narration, at the start of the film, most of the scene if film in a point of view shot, behind the characters mask. The start of this film features mostly low key lighting which is as aspect that you would conventionally expect to feature in the horror genre, as this set the tone and atmosphere for the film. Another element from the opening of the film that is conventional is the sound track, as this positions the audience to feel suspense.

2.       How does the setting fit with the horror genre?

The film is set in a stereotypical with suburban area, which heightens the element of fear as the audience is positioned to feel fear as these sorts of areas wouldn’t be used to having murder take place; and audience’s that live in these area are be made to feel unsafe. This is typical to see in a horror film. The scene in which the killer escapes from an institution fits in with the genre because this scene is set at night time, which is a stereotypical setting for crime to take place in horror films. Also the fact that it’s an institution make the setting fit in with the horror genre as this location would make some audiences feel uneasy. The date in which the film is set (Halloween night,) helps to add to the horror genre because the ideology of this night is to create fear, so the audience has an expectation of frightening things happening.

3.       What iconography if ‘innocence’ do we hear or see early on?

In the first scene as the audience we can see the Point of view shot of a character picking up a clown mask. The denotation of the mask connotes dressing up and childhood and children represent the idea of innocence. The protagonist ‘Laurie’ is represented as innocent by the denotation of the books she is carrying which connote intelligence, and also the dialogue which implies the fact that she is too smart to attract male attention as they are intimidated by her. This connotes the idea of her purity and therefore is a representation of innocence.

4.       What was the main industry impact of Halloween?

The film was cheap to make, which created the film’s success in terms of profit made. This then set the standard for all other slasher films that followed, which used the some of the same conventions in order to try and create the same amount of revenue.

5.       Name some of the ‘Slasher’ films which followed on from Halloween?

Some of the films that followed on include: Friday the 13^th; Prom Night; Terror Train; Bloody Valentine; Scream; The Burning; Happy Birthday to Me.

6.       What are the four plot rude of the ‘slasher’ film sub-genre which Halloween began?

·         A traumatic Event in the past creates a psychopathic killer

·         The killer returns to the site of the event, usually on a specific date.

·         The killer stalks and kills a group of obnoxious stupid teens of both sexes, usually with some kind of blade, garden or farm implement.

·         A ‘final girl’ survives, usually boyish and often virginal.

7.       Give three ways in which Laurie is androgynous?

There are some character traits that the protagonist Laurie possess which make her appear androgynous to the audience. Firstly her name its self isn’t specified for a gender, which doesn’t make the character seem feminine. Secondly her voice is somewhat deep for a female voice, making her sound more masculine. Thirdly the clothing she is wearing throughout the film makes her look less feminine. For example she contrast the character traits of her two friends, who are wearing shorter and more revealing clothes; whereas Laurie is wearing long skirts with thick tights, making her look less appealing to the male audience.

1.       What does the extract mean by ‘a reactionary sexual agenda’?

During the time the film was released the teenagers were becoming renowned for being promiscuous, so in the film the killer Michael Myers was killing the sexualised, promiscuous teens, as a way of showing that it is bad to act in this way. For example one of her friends Annie is seen in her underwear and revealing clothes, and her other spends the night hooking up with her boyfriend. The reactionary sexual agenda in this film almost acts as a punishment for the characters that are being sexualised.

2.       How does the director, John Carpenter, counter the suggestion that Halloween had a reactionary sexual agenda?

The director counters this suggestion by the protagonist Laurie is the killers intended victim, which we can see early on from when he follows her after the first sighting. The other characters are simply a distraction to the killer. This is contrasts the agenda because Laurie is the opposite of sexualised through her clothing choice, behaviour etc. So it wouldn’t be following the theory by having her be the victim of the killer if the film was to use the reactionary sexual agenda.

3.       Why does Mike Myers kill his sister?

Some people may argue  that Mike Myers killed his sister because she was having a sexual relationship with her boyfriend, and he was following the reactionary agenda. However i think that the reason he killed his sister was purely that he was evil. We learn this through aspects such as the doctor from the institute speech throughout. For example he says that he was been with him for fifteen years, and he knows that he can’t be helped due to his evil personality.