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How John Carpenter's Halloween Is Used In Horror Films

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Horror is one of the popular genre in the films. John Carpenter’s Halloween is horror film. Halloween is loaded with factors that make the film scary and thrill worthy. Even though the films now are scary but Halloween had its own elements and horrify in it. The film has sets things up, the sound, the tension, the blood, the knife, and the guy with the mask makes it horrific and believable. Carpenter’s Halloween upholds the convention of the genre horror by aiming the points of shock, horrify and thrill through sound, lighting and costume.
Lighting is used in horror films to give the effect of something bad is about to happen. Also, lighting can be used to give mood in horror films, usually when someone is scared its quite dark and is usually …show more content…

The film targeted an audience of mainly young adults and older teenagers, this is reflected by the younger castings of the film and a storyline that has elements of life that a young adult could related and empathize with. The film follows the story of a twisted psychopath, who is admitted to a psychiatric hospital after killing is older sister. 15 years later he breaks out and returns to his hometown, stalking and killing teenagers on Halloween night. To start with, the film is set in a small, quiet American town, it is extremely popular with horror writers to set a film in a small community where nothing happens. This helps to establish an initial equilibrium and enforce the impact and the severity of the event. Another common feature from horror films that is present in ‘Halloween’ is the traditional old abandoned haunted house. The family home in which Michael murdered his sister remains boarded up 15 years later, it provides a central location for Michael terror and visualizes the hub of the town’s fear. Most of the horror and violence in the film happens at night; the dark and haunting atmosphere that comes with a night-time setting helps to hide the secrets of the film and gives an uneasy at tense

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Also, there were no special effects or lighting that were used throughout the film. Its set up to be a convincing everyday reality and furtively sneaked the horror in the movie. The image quality and camerawork were quite authentically amateurish; and for most of the time, there wasn’t much to see on screen at all. Instead of showing you terrifying images, it kind of gave you the space create your own. The sounds of distant twigs snapping or feet shuffling through the leaves can take on terrifying connotations, and as for a childs voice to be heard in the forest darkness, it can make the viewers question ‘why is there is a child there?’

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In the cases of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Poltergeist directed by Tobe Hooper that is far from the truth. As both of these stories revolve around haunted houses, the setting can be described as the antagonist in the stories. the setting is crucial to both the plot and character development throughout The Haunting of Hill House and Poltergeist. The setting in both Poltergeist and The Haunting of Hill House, the house itself is its own character. Without the characterization of the house and focus on it, the horror aspect would be lacking.

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High-key lighting demonstrates cheer and satisfaction. Then again, Burton shows evil and spooky pictures with relaxed lighting. Mr. Burton's lighting systems are totally his own. In "Edward Scissorhands"he stirs up the

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In Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton uses low-key lighting to incite fear and suspense in the audience. For example, when Peg enters the attic this type of lighting is used to make Edward appear evil or menacing,

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It transfers humor and relatability to the adult audience. It does this by showing the teen being all scared and a typical family situation that any adult does not want to be in. Therefore, as almost any viewer observes this with humor with ‘it’s not me so it is funny’ type of mindset. There is also the relatability portion that applies to adults.

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“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” This quote from Frederick Douglass expresses his struggle with slavery throughout his lifetime much like his speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Douglass was asked to give this speech for an Independence Day celebration, but took an unexpected turn down a path his audience may not have been ready for. He uses ethos, pathos and an abrupt tone to present his argument against slavery. Nearly everyone has heard of Frederick Douglass, or at least knows he had something to do with slavery.

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Halloween (1978), was written by John Carpenter in less than two weeks and had a budget of $325,000 however the cultural impact of this film has caused a gross $47,000,000 in the 40 years since it was released ("Halloween"). This film evolved into a major franchise of 10 movies with more on the way which was not Carpenter 's intention. The conversation that follows viewers after watching the movie is the reason why this iconic movie can be appreciated by the both horror movie fanatics and those who typically stay away from scary movies. In the film Halloween, John Carpenter creates "The Bogeyman," Michael Myers, whose murder tactics reflect considerations of both gender and morality, as his victims are predominantly teenagers engaging in risky

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The low key lighting used helps the viewer perceive that Willy’s childhood was rather gloomy and unpleasant. In addition, the lighting also adds an ominous or suspenseful mood to the scene. Another example of the effects of lighting is found in Edward Scissorhands when Peg takes Edward back into town and the scene is flooded with high key lighting and colorful houses. By flooding the scene with brightness and color Burton creates a light-hearted and cheerful environment which creates a cheerful mood and is a pleasure to the eyes. The bright lighting used also displays the difference in color from the town to Edward’s castle which was dark and dreary.

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Another example of an original movie that still terrify us today is the Halloween series. In 1978, the first film of many was released. This slasher series focuses on a notorious character, Michael Myers. As many of you already know, Michael Myers is a terrifyingly huge male with a knife which highlights the aspect of his gory kills. In one of the movies, The Shape, the young Myers kills his older sister and later returns home to kill more teenagers.

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This sense of normality shows the difference between reality and the dream. With this sense of normality, many people don’t like to watch these horror movies as it is too scary. However, this shows the sense of normality as it shows the emotions of being scared. On the other hand, the other people show the emotions of

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The target audience is for the teenagers and over. Based on the short story, it contains lots of violence, grown up themes and includes demons. To stay faithful to the story, we have to capture the tone of the film and this would create a M15+ rating. The directors previous film are graphic, i.e. Cube (1997) and Splice (2009). Teenagers all very excited by the Horror genre, just looking at the success of the Paranormal Activity franchise.

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