MovieChat Forums > Halloween (1978) Discussion > Insanely overrated

Insanely overrated

posted 8 years ago by npiazza91
189 replies | jump to latest

First off, let me just say that I m a huge slasher fan. Now, there are very few slasher films that are actually good, but I watch them for the entertainment. I try to judge horror movies based off perceived quality instead of how much the film entertained me, or in a similar sense, how much I liked it. Take a film like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" 1974 for example. That film is very good quality horror film making, AND I enjoyed it immensely, still in 2016. Friday the 13th...as much as I love the franchise, it's garbage. The best film is The Final Chapter, which manages to be a very solid slasher film. A Nightmare on Elm Street is my favorite horror film of all time, only rivaled by the original Evil Dead. However, ANOES is a very well made film, especially for 1984. It's scary, it's crazy and it's still effective. Halloween...I really think it's overrated. Don't get me wrong, the atmosphere and camera work is gold but on an entertainment level, it's just not there. The film is slow, boring and even for a slasher, it just falls flat. Why would I watch this over a film with more kills, better kills and a more intense story? To commit your film as a slasher is to commit your film as a...slasher. Halloween does not fit the criteria of a slasher film, in fact it's too smart for that. That being said, it's neither scary nor intense. It tries to be a slasher but instead winds up as something more, which in the case of a slasher film, ends up not being that great. This film wants to be a slasher, and it wants to be deep, but it doesn't quite reach the milestone of being either. ANOES was creative. If you look at this film from a film making perspective, it's great, but as a viewer I find myself bored. Michael Myers is nothing more than a generic slasher villain and the atmosphere drags instead of drawing you in. From an entertainment perspective, The Final Chapter is a better film that this. I've wanted to love this film for the past 15 years of my life since I saw it, but nothing about this film keeps me coming back for more, and I am a huge horror movie fan. I keep hearing about how amazing this film is, but I just don't see it. Don't get me wrong, it's a good film, but the one word I think of when I think if this film is "boring".

Anyone else think this film is overrated? I feel like this films' reputation gives it more praise than it deserves, which makes everyone and their mother jump on the bandwagon because in the world of horror, it's "cool" to think of this film as "amazing".

[–] Marmadukebagelhole 8 years ago

I don't mind people coming at movies I love and rating it based on the angle they are coming at it from. Slasher fan, horror fan whatever.

But this...

it's "cool" to think of this film as "amazing".

Why? I get folk having different needs and points of reference of how they reckon certain films should be paced and the tone they should take, but being paranoid about why other people would ignore all your criteria and love something for what it is and not slate it for no meeting your preconceived notions, what's that got to do with rating a film? Worried that you are not cool because you don't love the film?

Glasgow's FOREMOST authority Italics = irony. Infer the opposite please.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

I actually agree with, Barn. While, there are boring parts in Halloween, and everyone knows I dislike Nancy Loomis immensely, it's also riveting. And particularly the last 15 minutes or so, are edge of your seat exciting. I think.

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] 8 years ago

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[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

Breaks your heart, doesn't it, Barn?

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

Well, it just makes you feel sad for this generation.

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] nutsberryfarm 8 years ago

it's a good movie. think if the theme was done with a saxophone instead of a piano it would have made it a much cooler movie. 🎷

The food I've liked in my time is American country cookin'-Colonel Sanders 🇺🇸

[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

That'd be interesting to hear, Nut.

RIP Gene Wilder. One of the funniest people of all time. RIP Matt Roberts. You were great.

[–] nutsberryfarm 8 years ago

i'm thinking dave koz.

The food I've liked in my time is American country cookin'-Colonel Sanders 🇺🇸

[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

Quite the saxophonist?

RIP Gene Wilder. One of the funniest people of all time. RIP Matt Roberts. You were great.

[–] nutsberryfarm 8 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B138dl-ClSk



The food I've liked in my time is American country cookin'-Colonel Sanders 🇺🇸

[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

Very good.

RIP Gene Wilder. One of the funniest people of all time. RIP Matt Roberts. You were great.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (63057267) 8 years ago

HALLOWEEN wasn't made for people who WANT to see people get killed. It's designed for people who are afraid of seeing people killed. I really don't think the bloodthirsty slasher fan types even existed back then.

If you're looking for creative and plentiful "kills", I wouldn't have recommended HALLOWEEN to you. I would've suggested THE BURNING or THE PROWLER, something along those lines.

By the way, no one involved in making HALLOWEEN regarded it as a " slasher" during production. That label hadn't been invented yet.

[–] stepsonglass 8 years ago

thank you for saying everything i had planned on saying when i read the original post. lol you hit the nail on the head with every single point. "slasher" wasnt even a genre when halloween came out, it CREATED the genre. and in the early years of slasher films there werent these fans who identified with the killer. that happened much later. the original point was to root for the final girl.

after time and when the genre started to become a bit ridiculous people just kind of changed the way they watched them and it became almost like a sport, rooting for the killer to get another one. but that was not the point in the beginning. like you said you were identifying with the victims hoping they got away. (personally when i watch a horror movie i still watch it with this mindset and that's why i cant stand any of the films where the characters are crap).

that is a big problem with younger people who watch older movies like this for the first time NOW with all of the information they already have about films that came after it. they cant put themselves back in time and appreciate it for what it was then. the fact the original poster is saying halloween is trying to be a slasher is frankly, absurd. that's like saying the telegraph was trying to be the internet. lol

[–] PrometheusTree64 8 years ago

the fact the original poster is saying halloween is trying to be a slasher is frankly, absurd. that's like saying the telegraph was trying to be the internet.

Exactly right.

--
LBJ's mistress on JFK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcXeutDmuRA

[–] Hendry_William_French 8 years ago

HALLOWEEN wasn't made for people who WANT to see people get killed. It's designed for people who are afraid of seeing people killed.

Very well said. The majority of these types of movies are garbage exactly for this reason. The good movies concentrate on the humans, the bad ones on the gore. A lot of fans just watch these films for the killings, but the ones that grasp storytelling, atmosphere and characterization will get more out of certain films.

Death by stereo

[–] kurt7825 8 years ago

Star Wars TFA is highly overrated. Halloween is scary and not boring at all. i'm surprised it isn't rated 8.5 or higher

[–] miserypig 8 years ago

Greatest horror ever made

[–] kurt7825 8 years ago

i think it is

[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

Agreed, though I prefer II.

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy

[–] kurt7825 8 years ago

|| sucks. you like the worst movies ever.

just kidding

[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

I know. How are you making the ll, Kurt?

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy

[–] kurt7825 8 years ago

the only option i have is to use these line things ||||. i don't have roman numerals or anything

[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

I just use upper case i's or lower case l's.

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy

[–] kurt7825 8 years ago

i never thought of that. those are better than what i use

[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

The world we live in is sad.

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] kurt7825 8 years ago

yeah. also, i watch newer movies like It Follows and the Paranormal movies and while i really like them they are just as slow paced as Halloween.

i'm not sure why younger people find Halloween so boring. i find the scariest parts to be when Michael is stalking laurie on the street. of course the killing scenes and chase scenes are scary to. it seems like something creepy or scary is always happening

[–] dave626 8 years ago

Not always. I found the day scenes mostly boring, with a few exceptions. When night hits, it really amps up though.

"He came home." - Dr. Sam Loomis from the original HalloweeN

[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

Agreed 100%, David.

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy

[–] kurt7825 8 years ago

the night scenes get really scary that's for sure

[–] simest 8 years ago

I agree with Kurt.

It is a mystery to me why people find any part of HALLOWEEN boring - day sequences or night.

At 90m it is a relatively short movie......there's hardly time for it to drag.

We have barely 30m of daytime sequence in the movie. In that short time we have Laurie stalked early on at the Myers house (great scene), again while in class (great scene), again on the way home behind the bush (great scene), again when she gets home out the back yard (great scene).

We should also throw in menacing moments like Annie's "speed kills" - where Myers is again prevalent and the danger ever close and the fabulous schoolyard sequence where a bully is seized by Myers and Tommy then ominously stalked - not to mention Laurie and Annie tailed by Myers en route to the Doyle/Wallace street.

That is 30 short minutes punctuated regularly by so many great moments - each of which adds a growing sense of threat and looming danger to the last.

I mean for heavens sake.......how much more does one want?

Should we just fill every second with incident to avoid a 5m stretch where essential plot/dialogue scenes play out?

We're all different of course but as I said, I'm quietly amazed and in some ways saddened that people could be bored through this when there is so much to appreciate.

And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

[–] kurt7825 8 years ago

yeah all those daytime scenes are good and scary.

Insidious, the Conjuring, (can't think of many new horror movies atm) also kind of drag on .

i'm really not sure how Halloween is considered boring at all.

[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

It's a little slow paced. Sim was saying all those daytime scenes were great, of course that's just his opinion.
The punctuation to those scenes, where you saw Myers is all top notch. But just the girls talking books and cheerleading , I could do without.

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy

[–] ThiefOfStars 8 years ago

But just the girls talking books and cheer leading , I could do without.

But what would you like teenage girls in the 1970's (or any decade) to talk about to establish themselves as relatable human beings and characters that you would care about?

Like it or not, those scenes established the girls as individuals-- Laurie the studious introvert, Lynda the air headed, boy crazy cheerleader and Annie the sarcastic smart-ass -- and if you 'could do without' those scenes how would you have established the above without the existing scenes that lasted all of what, 1>2 minutes?

www.youtube.com/user/ThiefOfStars

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

For once, Barney is right. I'm a man. I don't or can't relate to teenage girls. Lol.

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

Either way, you were right. I don't care for them. Just the punctuation scenes.

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy

[–] dave626 8 years ago

Agreed, but a lot of people compare it to the past 3 decades of horror, not realizing simpler times, simpler methods and lazily slap an overrated label on it to make themselves feel better.

"He came home." - Dr. Sam Loomis from the original HalloweeN

[–] cjh8504 8 years ago

That's true, Dave.

RIP Wayne 'Trapper John' Rogers. MASH wasn't the same w/o you. RIP Tony Burton. RIP George Kennedy