Halloween- 1978 John Carpenter

1. How does the start exemplify a common technical code convention of the horror genre?
From the beginning of the film it's difficult to tell who's side of the story we are following as the main character is unnamed and there is no background information given about any of the characters involved, this scene is a flashback into the past of the villain of the film and it is the scene which causes him to placed in the mental hospital which we later discover he escapes from. We learn from this film that it is a slasher horror due to the weapon being used is a  knife and how much of the shots are dominated by this weapon. It relates to the common horror conventions by how it takes place in the dark of night in an isolated area where there would be no help for the victims. The costume the young Michael Myers is wearing is a clown costume which is creepy to the audience when shown the violent act he commits.


2. How does the setting fit with the horror genre?
The setting fits in very well with the horror genre by how it is shown to be an average suburban town, thinks causes the audience to think that this could happen in any ordinary village making it seem more realistic to them. The Myers house where the first murderous act takes place is an isolated house which is scarier for the audience as they know that no help will come to the victims when they need it. This is also a very ordinary run-down house which helps add to the idea of the audience being able to relate to how ordinary this is. When the characters are being prayed on by the villain and a threat is shown it is mainly shown to be filmed at night as this is more scary for the audience because they fear the unknown and idea of not being able to see the threats. These things are often used within horror films so they help the viewers link this to the horror genre.

3. What iconography of 'innocence' do we hear or see early on?
From nearly the beginning of the film we are shown iconography of innocence in the main character Laurie, this is shown through her clothing covering up a lot of skin and how she often wears white which is the main representative of innocence. The way she is shown next to her friends who talk about how they are promiscuous and wear more revealing clothing causes her behavior to stand out even more as she ignores the conversations of sex and cough when she tries to smoke, proving that this isn't how she would normally act.

4. What was the main industry impact of Halloween?
The film had a low budget and chose not to focus on including famous actors or filmmakers but on the narrative introducing the 'slasher' sub-genre into the horror industry, these things created a larger profit for the film.

5. Name some 'slasher' films which followed on from Halloween:
Scream (1996), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Friday The 13th (1980)



6. What are the four plot rules of the 'slasher' film sub-genre which Halloween began?

• 'final girl' theory is used in many of these, she survives at the end and is left alone to fight the villain
• starts by a past traumatic event that is shown and this creates the psychopathic killer/villain
• he returns to the sight of this traumatic event
• and then carries on to stalk and kill the teens which he is shown to show have an interest in

7. Give 3 ways in which Laurie is androgynous
Laurie is shown throughout the as being more masculine compared to her friends and the other characters within the film, this is shown through her costume throughout being more reserved and covering her up more compared to her friends. Also by how she seems to be able to look after herself in how she fight back against Michael. She also seems more reserved compared to her friends promiscuous ways, this is highlighted by at the start of the film the murder of Micheal's sister is very sexualised.

8. What does the extract mean by "a reactionary sexual agenda"?
This statement relates to how the promiscuous characters within the film are punishment by being murdered and Laurie the main character is represented as virginal and survives in the end.

9. How does the director counter the suggestion that Halloween had a reactionary sexual  agenda?
The director of this film is said to disagree with statement as he says that Laurie was always intended to be Michael's main focus and the the other characters we murdered because they were shown as weak by how their promiscuous behavior distracted them to the threat of the villain.

10. Why does Mike Myers kill his sister?
There is no reason given for this murder it is clear to the audience that he was just 'born evil' and nothing could have stopped this event from happening.