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John Carpenter's Halloween - Prelude to the 1980's Slasher Films

During the 1930's when sound was coupled with film many of the horror films produced focused on the mad scientist or the monster movie such as "Dracula" (1931) and "Frankenstein" (1931). As the thirties ended America found itself facing nearly a decade of war therefore many of the horror films produced in forties were mainly man vs. animal films that reflected America's fear of war with films such as The Wolf Man (1941) and "The Cat People" (1942). The fifties were the decade of the creature-feature or sci-fi horror, as Americana faced The Cold War which were reflected in films such as "Tarantula!" (1955) and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956). The 1960's became an innovative decade as the horror genre adapted to a more skeptical audience. Audiences were more interested in realistic horror films and the sixties brought forward the revolutionary film "Psycho" (1960). This film is considered the first "slasher" film in the sub-genre of Horror. It did not involve any monsters or aliens; it used psychopathy and violence to convey fear. Psycho was not met with great reception due to its sexuality and violence. However it did set a precedent for the 1970's horror film.
             The early teen slasher films were independent productions that were not expected to gross more than $300,000- $3 million3. Many were B films that had little substance and used cheap scare tactics, as well as copious amounts of blood, to terrorize audiences. "Halloween" was different in many ways due to the fact that it did not follow the model of B movie horror films. Although Halloween had a modest budget of $325,0004, it employed several different methods that ultimately became the definitive archetype in the modern slasher film5. Carpenter's use of the point-of-view shot was innovative as it allowed audiences to see from the killer's perspective,this technique coupled with Michael's heavy breathing created a frightening gateway into the killer's mind.


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