“Halloween”

“Halloween,” the original 1978 version directed by John Carpenter, is rightfully considered the father of the modern slasher genre. It is not drowned in gruesome scenes and there is surprisingly little graphic violence and almost no blood. “Halloween” is built on suspense, not gore, which made it so much more horrifying. It starts out with a brutal murder, and never lets up from there. From brilliant actors to the fantastic music selected, this movie easily made its way to be a classic horror film.

Jamie Lee Curtis plays the protagonist, Laurie Strode. Curtis’s ability to portray the feelings and aspirations of a shy, insecure teenager are impeccable and realistic. In addition to that, the ability to identify with Curtis’s character, Laurie, establishes a rapport between the audience and the characters by employing intelligent, realistic dialogue and placing Laurie in believable situations.

However, one actress alone cannot make a movie. In addition to Curtis’s amazing acting, Nick Castle, who plays Michael Myers, is also excellent Michael never appears close up or concealed by shadows before any climax (except for in the beginning where he is at younger age). This approach makes for an especially ominous villain. Also, Michael kills without making a sound or changing his expression, and his movements are often slow and zombie. Castle’s ability to capture that aspect is spectacular and brings the scare to the movie.
Despite being relatively simple and unsophisticated, “Halloween’s” music is one of its strongest assets. Carpenter’s dissonant, jarring themes provide the perfect backdrop for Michael’s activity that was not highly known, which I applaud.

“Halloween” will always remain a classic. However, there were parts more modern technology could have enhanced, but then again if it did it would take the “class” out of classic. I highly recommend this movie for anyone who is looking for a good scare.
Rob Zombie’s version of “Halloween” does not even compete with the original directed by John Castle. Not only is it not scary it over uses long lenses, close up, and rapid-fire editing to jack up action that is not staged particularly well in the first place. However, one thing I can applaud is some of the talented actors in it such as Malcolm McDowell who plays Dr. Sam Loomis and Tyler Mane who plays adult Michael Myers. To get to the point I do not recommend this remake of “Halloween” unless you want to be a part of watching a piece of a long-exhausted franchise that honestly should have ended with the original.

“Friday the 13th”

“Friday the 13th” the original 1980 version directed by Sean S. Cunningham is about a group of six camp counselors- Alice (Adrienne King), Marice (Jeannine Taylor), Brenda (Laurie Bartram), Jack (Kevin Bacon), Bill (Harry Crosby), and Ned (Mark Nelson)-at Camp Crystal Lake, a summer retreat located in Sussex County, New Jersey. Despite the rumors of a curse and a decidedly unsavory reputation, the property’s new owner, Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer) is determined to get things up and running. As the long shadows of the afternoon deepen into the darkness of night, the protagonists start doing the sorts of things that unsupervised college-age kids do. However, that is all when things start to go unbearably wrong.

“Friday the 13th” is unremarkable and unmemorable, and quite honestly an amateurish production.  However, this movie does deserve credit for upping the creepiness factor. Like many horror themes, it worked because of its simplicity. Music plays only when the killer is around, so it’s a pretty obvious clue that something dire is about to happen. The music is one of the best things about “Friday the 13th”, at least on a technical level.

Let’s talk about acting. The only actor I can complement in the slightest is Kevin Bacon who plays Jack. Kevin Bacon has been able to move on to a long and prosperous career, which his fellow cast mates did not have the same good fortune (and observing the quality of their performances it’s not that hard to understand why).

Even with all these let down, Friday the 13th still made a huge impact upon cinema in the 1980s and I recommend seeing this movie to see the reason for all the copycats and sequels. It is also a good Halloween movie to watch if you don’t want to be scared senseless.

I wish I could say that Marcus Nispel’s 2009 remake of Friday the 13th was better than the original, but I rather not lie to you guys. This remake of Friday the 13th was worse than the original. At least for Cunningham’s film it can be defended by the time period it was released in (lack of higher technology, different concept on what was truly scary), but for Nispel you cannot even use that as a defense. Be assured the acting is passable and tilt my hat to the actors and actress such as Jared Pedalecki (Clay Miller), Amanda Righetti (Whitney Miller), Danielle Panabaker (Jenna), and Travis Van Winkle (Trent). In addition to that I would also like to give a standing ovation for the suspense because that is the only thing that made this film the slightest bit scary. I do commend some of the dialogue for covering up some of the lacking elements of the movie with some humor, while on occasion it does borderline on the inappropriate side.

The first Friday the 13th was no masterwork and while 2009 edition may have suspense, the original has the element of surprise which tromps the suspense. Sorry to Nispel, but if you enjoy good quality movies then I don’t recommend you seeing this remake of Friday the 13th.