Donald Pleasance, Jamie Lee Curtis and Tony Moran in the John Carpenter movie ‘Halloween’

This season is firmly in play for movies of the ilk of John Carpenter‘s independent slasher film Halloween (1978). The movie stars Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, in perhaps the role that launched the career of Jamie Lee Curtis. We offer a gentle tip of the cap to Airport Friend, a friend of this blog who holds this film in high regard.

(From left, Charles Cyphers as Sheriff Leigh Brackett and Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis in the John Carpenter movie Halloween).

The movie Halloween itself begins in the fictional Illinois town of Haddonfield in 1963, wherein 6-year-old Michael Myers, as portrayed by Will Sandin, kills his babysitting older sister with a knife in the family’s home. Fifteen years later, 21-year-old Myers escapes from a fictional sanitarium in fictional Smith’s Grove of Warren County, Illinois. Myers kills a a mechanic for his clothes on the way back to Haddonfield, with psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis in pursuit. Donald Pleasence portrays Loomis. Nick Castle portrays 21-year-old Michael Myers.

(From left, Will Sandin as 6-year-old Michael Myers in 1963 and Nick Castle as 21-year-old Michael Myers in 1978 in the John Carpenter movie Halloween).

Loomis, who has attempted to care for Myers in the aftermath of the first killing, sees the Myers we encounter as an adult as a lost cause. The psychiatrist is proven correct that his patient is headed back home 15-years after the initial killings to pick up with the killings of young people back where everything started. The young people associated with babysitting kids during the Halloween season remains his defined type.

(From left, Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, P.J. Soles as Lynda Van Der Klok and Nancy Kyes as Annie Brackett in the John Carpenter movie Halloween).

This is where the girls named Laurie Strode, Lynda Van Der Klok and Annie Brackett, as portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis, P.J. Soles and Nancy Kyes enter the story. The three are friends attending the same high school living within walking distance of each other in the same Haddonfield neighborhood. The three take an interest in boys for an approaching dance while also being due to babysit Tommy Doyle and Lindsey Wallace, as portrayed by Brian Andrews and Kyle Richards, respectively.

(From left, Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace and Brian Andrews as Tommy Doyle in the John Carpenter movie Halloween).

The Halloween movie does a decent job of setting the background of who Michael Myers was and is, while establishing that Dr. Sam Loomis and Sheriff Leigh Brackett are steps important yet puzzled participants in the story that has been fifteen years in the making. Charles Cyphers portrayed Brackett. The suspense builds with an effective notion of following the suspicious action and introducing a piano-based riff to introduce tension into the looming action of the film’s central antagonist.

(From left, director John Carpenter and actress Jamie Lee Curtis on set of the John Carpenter movie Halloween).

The genre itself of slasher films, of which Halloween is a prime example, were the “most popular from the late 50s to the early 90s,” which is to say a period that ran roughly forty-five years. Halloween landed right in the middle of that period with high ratings from critics and the general public, per these results on Rotten Tomatoes. I give Halloween as presented by John Carpenter 4-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn and Peter Boyle in the Mel Brooks movie ‘Young Frankenstein’

Having introduced our review of the James Whale directed movie Frankenstein (1931) earlier this week on Matt Lynn Digital, we follow this closely with the Mel Brooks comedy Young Frankenstein (1974), based on the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley book Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus and, more precisely, the  cinematic film of 43-years previous.

(From left, Cloris Leachman as Frau Blücher, Marty Feldman as Igor, Teri Garr as Inga and Gene Wilder as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein in the Mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein).

The movie Young Frankenstein takes steps to mirror scenes along with the black-and-white presentation of the original Frankenstein movie on which this comedy is based. Some noticeable differences begin with bringing the American grandson of the original Dr. Frankenstein to Transylvania in order to meet much of his supporting cast. Gene Wilder portrays Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, that grandson, who we first meet as a classroom doctor seeking to distance himself from the myth of making monsters that he as grandson has inherited.

(From left, Anne Beesley as Helga and Peter Boyle as The Monster in the Mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein).

Frederick of course is set to marry, and we are introduced to Madeline Kahn as Elizabeth in this role. A comedic theme that carries through much of the movie starts between Frederick and Elizabeth, which at first indicates distinct emotional distance between the two as they separate at the beginning of the good doctor’s journey to Transylvania. There’s comedy in that journey, as well as in meeting Frederick’s supporting cast Igor, Inga and Frau Blücher in the movie’s second country. Marty Feldman portrays Igor, Teri Garr portrays Inga and Cloris Leachman portrays Frau Blücher. The theme of a potentially loveless impending marriage brings supporting comedy among these four characters.

(From left, Peter Boyle as The Monster and Madeline Kahn as Elizabeth in the Mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein).

The storylines that introduced the creation and experience of The Monster, as portrayed by Peter Boyle, harken back to the original Frankenstein movie while offering new twists and, of course, variations. Anne Beesley portrays Helga, whose equivalence to Little Maria in the original movie cannot be mistaken. The notion of tremendous size is used for solid humor in addressing Helga, the angry mob that forms too in Young Frankenstein, and between Elizabeth, Frederick’s would be wife, and The Monster. The introduction of intentionally sophomoric humor in especially the relations between The Monster, Elizabeth, Frederick and Inga carries much of Young Frankenstein to resolution.

(From left, Peter Boyle as The Monster and Gene Hackman as Harold, the blind man in the Mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein).

Additional humor and movie references brought to the forefront in Young Frankenstein were appreciated. The notion of The Monster’s fear of fire were well played in the gags with Harold, the blind man as portrayed by Gene Hackman. The scene where Frederick Frankenstein dances on stage with The Monster harkens back to the original King Kong (1933) movie scene, and more precisely the Harry Richman movie scene from Irving Berlin‘s movie Puttin’ on the Ritz (1930). Tying an affection for music into the pull between The Monster and Frederick Frankenstein was a nice touch of Young Frankenstein.

(From left, actress Madeline Kahn, director Mel Brooks and actress Teri Garr on set of the Mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein).

Largely, I found Young Frankenstein held much of the spirit of the original Frankenstein movie and along with the emotional notion between The Monster and the man who created him, as intended in the book. There is definitely extra humor, which of course is the point of this movie. The notion of referencing multiple movies from the past in offering both homage and poking fun makes this movie giggle worthy. The movie Young Frankenstein largely works if you take the content on the level it is offered, accepting the “what did I just see?” intention to the humor the strike a chord. I grant Mel Brook’s Young Frankenstein 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, June 26, 2021