Ryan Lewis ryan@razzlewis.com www.razzlewis.

com

aN aNALYSIS OF THE oPENING sEQUENCE OF THE fILM ‘hALLOWEEN’

(dIR: jOHN cARPENTER, 1978) TO sHOW hOW iT cONFORMS TO THE
cONVENTIONS OF iTS gENRE AND hOW gENRE IN tURN aFFECTS THE
rECEPTION AND mARKETING OF A fILM.

This essay intends to look at the opening sequence of a movie

(‘Halloween’) and deconstruct how what occurs on screen relates to the
conventions of the genre it belongs to. It will then go on to examine how this
in turn can influence the audience of the film, critical response to it and
ultimately achieve commercial success.
This text has been chosen as it “created the stalk and slash” sub-
genre (Jones, 2005, p.102); a horror sub-genre which could be considered a
hybrid of horror and teen movies, which Roger Ebert has taken to calling the
“dead teenager movie”. However, to describe the sub genre as this would
be going too far as it would include many unrelated films of different genres
based solely upon the death of a character, something which would not fit
with Boyd-Barrett, Newbold and Van den Bulck’s definition of a sub genre
(“the development of a new strand or dynamic of a genre which develops
specific themes of the original genre” (2002, p.424). This opening ten
minutes also borrows some elements conventionally found within film noir.
The sequence begins with a black screen, connoting menace and evil,
whilst ‘typical’ horror movie music – reminiscent of the score found in
‘Psycho’, the “granddaddy of slasher movies (Timpone, 2002) – plays over
the top. There are undoubtedly other links between the two films too due not
only to the score but also the presence of a masked killer stalking his victim
in a voyeuristic manner and the link to a tormented childhood, things present
in ‘Psycho’ that are seen in the opening sequence of ‘Halloween’.
The music is high-pitched and not melodic, as melody often provides
a comfort for the viewer as it gives them something recognisable. Removing
this makes them more uncomfortable, a state in which they are more
susceptible to being shocked and scared. As Linda Williams noted in her

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study on horror movies “[when watching] sever people hold their ears,
suggesting the importance of sound in cueing terror.” (1994, p.166).
The credits then begin to appear, changing between the colours of red
and orange and resembling the colours of a flame, hinting at the idea of
danger. Also these colours, paired with black, connote danger within the
animal world and on hazard signs on roads, at building sites, etc.
A pumpkin is then introduced to the screen off centre, which again
unsettles the audience slightly, whilst the object itself is one associated with
Halloween through semic code, alongside the title of the film, which is a say
of the year associated with scares and horror. Also during the credits the
camera zooms in on the pumpkin, finishing on an ECU of its left eye, with the
flames flickering within it, an effect, and eventually, an image which is quite
unsettling.
Next the film’s narrative begins, with the setting shown in white letters
on black background, a contrast symbolic of the binary opposition between
good and evil - with the white representing good to the black of evil –
something which led Aaron Evans to say that “the start of ‘Halloween’ is a
less subtle imitation of the opening of ‘Psycho’2”. The writing also reveals
that it is set on Halloween night which has semic association with the occult,
the scary and the supernatural. The audio also shifts from that used over the
credit sequence to children singing a song, something quite commonly used
in horror films.
The next shot is a subjective shot of a house at night, the front of
which is white, again contrasting with the black of the night sky and the white
of the house. The house is reasonably isolated, being detached and
therefore having space at either side of it. The setting of both an isolated
house and night time are common in the horror movie and its slasher sub
genre; being used time and time again in films like the ‘Texas Chainsaw
Massacre’. The subjective point of view is also something of a staple of
slasher movies with shots from the perspective of the killer and the victims
being frequently used.

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This use of shot also hints at the Circe story type within the narrative
of the sequence, with the people on camera being ‘chased’, or maybe, more
aptly, stalked, by someone on the outside – a conventional situation for the
slasher movie. In turn, through proairetic codes we presume that the person
whose viewpoint we have assumed for this segment is the villain of the story,
and that those he is watching are soon to be the victims, a fact later
confirmed. As we stay with them we notice similarities to another horror
villain as they are “slightly reminiscent of Frankenstein’s Monster – slow,
robotic and he is also a sexual killer and voyeur1”.
Another example of proairetic code that hints at the two people being
victims is the fact that they are young people of the opposite sex alone at
home, getting intimate with each other on the couch before heading off
upstairs. This situation of two teens being sexually active is very common,
and “the sadomasochistic teen horror film kills off the sexually active bad
girls, allowing only the nonsexual ‘good girls’ to survive”. (Grant, p.151) Alan
Jones (2005) even goes so far as to say that “all horror movies have
effectively used the tale of the hook” – an old urban legend in which
promiscuous teens come close to death when a hook handed serial killer
almost catches them when they are getting intimate on the outskirts of town.
These ‘rules’ are so commonplace and apparent they were famously mocked
in the post-modern horror ‘Scream’.
Before the setting of the film moves indoors the shot focuses upon the
upstairs window, the light of which is, expectedly turned off. This, however,
coincides with a high pitched, unsettling note being played to contrast with it.
This is sudden and unexpected, making the viewer jump, or feel edgy, as well
as bringing in the contrast between the expected and unexpected – another
theme of this extract and one of Levi-Strauss’ binary oppositions, as is the
contrast found in the window between light and dark.
Another thing that makes it obvious something disturbing is about to
occur is the use of contrapuntal sound effects which stand out against the
relative quiet that went before it. Their suddenness and volume shock the

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viewer, jolting them into watching actively if they weren’t already paying full
attention.
As the sequence moves indoors the essential slasher movie situation
of a villain on the hunt with a knife is quickly established as the killer enters
the house; quickly finding and picking up a large knife from the rack in the
kitchen. As a result of this situation being so common the knife is obviously
a key piece of iconography within the genre. This is also another example of
proairetic code, with the villain obtaining a knife clearly signalling something
bad will occur before too long.
As the villain continues to creep through the house you see the male
victim leave, leaving the woman upstairs alone. This is another typical
situation found within slasher movies, as it is the most vulnerable everyday
position a character could probably be placed in, and therefore provides the
most reaction from the audience.
After the villain has gone upstairs he finds, and puts on, a mask; the
mask being another example of iconography visible within this piece. The
killer then attacks his victim unawares, whilst we the audience expected it,
bringing that theme to the fore again. The murder scene is an essential
situation within a slasher film, whilst the screams of the woman, who is
naked, the knife sounds and blood found upon her are all typical of similar
scenes in similar movies (e.g. ‘Psycho’). This killing is also the disruption of
the equilibrium within the film world.
This scene ends with the killer fleeing, which is quite a common
situation, whilst the victim’s parents return home, a situation again found in
‘Scream’. The themes of good vs. evil and the expected and unexpected are
also explored when the killer is unexpectedly revealed to be a young boy,
whilst the evil act he just committed contrasts with the innocence usually
associated with children. The fact the killer is also spotted, and his identity
known, means that the third step of Todorov’s cause and effect chain has
been realised, with the recognition of the disruption.
The scene now changes, jumping forward in time, a fact revealed to us
again by black on white titles, reminiscent of devices used within film noirs

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like ‘The Maltese Falcon’. The fact we jump forward in time also shows the
film to be using a linear narrative structure and dramatic irony, as we can
foresee what is going to happen before the characters have any idea, a
device which is typical of horror movies as ”the drama of iterated disclosure
– albeit to different parties – underwrites much horror fiction” (Carroll, 1990,
p.35).
The physical setting is revealed to be a thunderstorm at night, again a
typical setting within horror movies. However, there are also a considerable
number of noir conventions present as well, with the driver of the car which
we are viewing smoking a cigarette whilst wearing a large brown Mac, two
items of key iconography. The rain itself also leads to wet roads, common in
convention noir driving settings, allowing for good use of the chiaroscuro
lighting associated with the genre.
Whilst in the car the themes of expected/unexpected and good/evil
(via. black and white) are alluded to with the poor vision through the
windshield making what’s ahead on the road unexpected, whilst the black of
the night sky is contrasted with white posts which are clearly visible through
the window.
Through the dialogue in this sequence we can place the role of hero
upon the man, Dr. Sam Loomis (yet another intertextual reference to ‘Psycho’
as he is named after Marion’s lover), whose quest is to ensure Michael
Myers, the killer he sees as his own personal monster (similar again to
‘Frankenstein’) stays locked away whilst his partner in the car, the nurse,
could be a helper.
When they arrive at their destination a complication is added to what
has up until now been solely development, with the psychiatric patients
roaming the area around the hospital. This is another example of
expected/unexpected, with the escape of the convicts being unexpected by
the duo. Whilst the hero attempts to resolve this new disruption the woman
in the car is attacked. Again the use of an isolated woman at night as a
victim is typical within the genre.

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As the scene draws to a close with her crying on the floor, the patient
who attacked her drives off, hijacking the car. This is an example of
hermeneutic code, as the audience wishes to know who that was; whether it
was Michael Myers. To this end this extract ends as an open narrative, with
issues to be resolved, which has, up until now been single strand with the
villain and hero as central characters.
By this point the majority of viewers, if they did not know in advance,
would have gather that they are watching a horror movie due to the extensive
use of the narrative devices and mise-en-scene associated with the genre.
This however is more likely to have resulted in the audience deciding not to
watch further as “the slasher film is unique in its low appeal”. (Cherry, 1999,
p.170)
The majority do not appear to enjoy horror films themselves as a wider
genre either, with Jancovich noting that “a taste for horror films is often seen
as somehow sick” (2002, p.22) and Robin Wood being of the opinion that
“they are dismissed with contempt by the majority of reviewer-critics”. (1979,
p.30)
This distaste for horror seems to be backed up by statistics with the
UK Film Council Statistics Yearbook 2004/05 showing that there are no
horror films in the top 20 films between 1995 and 2004, with only one in the
top twenty for 2004. It is worth noting that the 15-24 age group has an
above average audience share for three horror films within the book
(‘Resident Evil’, ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and ‘Alien Vs. Predator’) whilst there are
none present within the other age demographic splits. This certainly
reinforces Berenstein’s theory that this younger age range is the main
audience for horror films as they “offer prime areas for teenagers of both
sexes to play out the conventional mandates of gender roles and
heterosexual coupling”. (1996, p.138)
Now these figures suggest two things. Firstly, the low audience in the
cinema seems to disprove the idea that “horror films make money” (Wood,
1979, p.30) but it may be that horror films in fact make money in other ways.
In her study Brigid Cherry found that “cinema viewing was the most

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infrequent format for viewing” (1999, p.170) and if this is true then video sales
and rentals must be presumed to account for a significant proportion of the
income of horror films. However, those horror films that do reach mass
popular culture often see the villains of the piece become hugely iconic, with
names like Hannibal Lecter, Freddy Krueger, and indeed Michael Myers, all
now known by the masses. Their popularity has not only led to numerous
sequels and spin-offs but also tie-in merchandise, all of which seek to
maximise the profit windows open to the studios that own their images.
Secondly, they suggest that those people who like to watch horror
films go because they know precisely what they are going to get - Cherry’s
study finding that of people who consider themselves horror fans “only 1%
watched less than one horror film a month” (1999, p.70). They may not be
watching the film purely for the text itself, but instead for the audience
pleasures of anticipation, shared experience and the after effects of the
movie. This appears to be backed up by the fact that Williams noticed that
after watching enough horror films “the audience was beginning to play the
game of anticipation and to repeat its response in… increasingly
performative gestures”. (1994, p.168) The horror movie was being used as a
backdrop for social interaction rather than purely as a film.
So the horror film appears to have a limited, niche audience which can
be relied upon to view a great deal of its output, so hoe is it there is a
breakthrough horror ht now and again? One reason put forward by Cherry is
that films such as ‘Halloween’ are regarded “as being well made or original”
(1999, p.170) and this in turn results in a better, wider audience response
which leads to more ticket sales. Jancovich however says that slasher films
have “often relied on distinguishing the film from the genetic category of ‘the
slasher film’”. (2002, p.156) This can be seen in films like ‘The Silence of the
Lambs’ which won great critical acclaim, including Oscars, after being
marketed as a psychological thriller as opposed to purely a ‘slasher’ film, or
‘Scream’ which played heavily on its post-modern, self-parodying humour
and achieved good returns as a result.

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‘Halloween’ however is nothing but a straightforward ‘slasher’ movie,

and has no pretensions to be anything else. It is, however, one of the very
first films to bring ‘stalk and slash’ to the masses and its reputation amongst
both horror fans and critics almost thirty years on sees it remain as one of the
finest proponents of a sub genre which is now forced to further sub-
categorise itself in order to try and appeal to the wider audience without
seeming tired and clichéd. If it would have the same success and impact if
released again today is highly doubtful, but the fact it still sells DVDs now is
testament to its quality and the fact that it has reached paradigmatic status,
setting the blueprint for the slasher movie and leaving behind a legacy of
copycat movies alongside its own sequels.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Berenstein, R. (1996) Attack of the Leading Ladies: Gender, Sexuality and

Spectatorship in Classic Horror Cinema, In: Jancovich, M. (ed.) (2002) Horror,
the Film Reader pub. Routeledge

Boyd-Barrett; Newbold, C. and Ven den Bulck, H. (2002) The Media Book
pub. Arnold

Carroll, N. (19990) The Philosophy of Horror: Or Paradoxes of the Heart, In:

Jancovich, M. (ed.) (2002) Horror, the Film Reader pub. Routeledge

Cherry, B. (1999) Refusing to Refuse to Look: Female Viewers of the Horror

Film, In: Jancovich, M. (ed.) (2002) Horror, the Film Reader pub. Routeledge

Grant, Barry (2004) Film Genre Reader III pub. University of Texas Press

Jancovich, M. (ed.) (2002) Horror, the Film Reader pub. Routeledge

Jones, A. (2005) The Rough Guide to Horror Movies pub. Rough Guides
UK Film Council Statistical Yearbook 2004/05 (2005) pub. UK Film Council

Williams, L. (1994) Learning to Scream, In: Jancovich, M. (ed.) (2002) Horror,

the Film Reader pub. Routeledge

Wood, R. (1979) American Nightmare: Essays on the Horror Film, In:

Jancovich, M. (ed.) (2002) Horror, the Film Reader pub. Routeledge

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VIDEO

Timpone, Tony (2002) Scream and Scream Again: A History of the Slasher
Film Video: 50mins. Channel Four

WEB DOCUMENTS

1
An Analysis of How the Films ‘Halloween’, ‘The Shining’ and ‘Aliens’ Can
Illustrate Some of the Trends in Recent Horror Cinema
http://www.stevewlb.zen.co.uk/College/Genre/halloweenshining.htm

2
Evans, A. Slasher Movies: A Narrative Analysis
http://www.uttyler.edu/meidenmuller/contemporaryrhetoric/StudentWork/aev
ans.htm

3
EUFS: Halloween
www.eufs.org.uk/films/halloween.html

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