Film Research - Horror Film Opening

The Opening scene of John Carpenter's 'Halloween'








This is the opening to a classic horror move, and uses an interesting style to maintain an air of suspense.

The first few seconds of the opening scene is a long shot of a house. This shows the setting of the story, a small suburban house, with the pumpkins outside showing that its on, or very near to, Halloween, linking to the title of the film. The initial camera movement appears very shaky as it zooms towards the house. The slight movement from side to side creates a walking effect, which becomes apparent later in the scene. There is very little sound, diegetic or non diegetic, which is very unnerving because it puts the viewer in the scene, as they would not be able to hear any music.

The Camera then surveys the house as it gets closer, showing the front door, close up of the pumpkin, and a bush to the side. All this appears to be done in a one shot, which keeps the feel of a stranger watching the house. This feel is continued as the camera moves round to the side of the house and watches the young couple through the window. This is the first appearance of diegetic sound, when the couple start to talk. This gives very little background on the story, and certainly not enough for the audience to understand what is going on. The effect of being in the scene is continued as the audience can hear what the people are saying, although slightly muffled by the glass in the way. As the couple move out of the room, the idea of the camera being a Point of View (POV) Shot is reinforced by the fact that it follows the couple as they get up and walk out, and then looks to either side of the window.

As the camera moves back round to the front of the house, it tilts up and looks at a window with a light on. As the light turns off, non-diegetic music starts. It begins with a short sharp burst of flute music as the light goes off and the scene is completely darkened. This sound stays at a constant low for the rest of the film, and creates an air of mystery and suspense.

The camera then moves swiftly and sharply to the back door, which has been left open, and the camera moves inside to the kitchen. The fact of it being a POV shot is confirmed by the light being turned on and a hand reaching into a draw and pulling out a knife. At this point light piano music, which is similar to the music found in the theme music, is added on top of the strings. This adds atmosphere to the scene and sounds menacing. As the person moves into the hallway, a man comes down the stairs and leaves, telling the audience that the woman in the house is all alone, and it becomes clear that the person with the knife is heading towards her.


The person moves up the stairs and finds a mask on the floor. This is subsequently put on the person's face, and the camera shows the mask is on by only allowing the audience to see out of 2 small holes in the centre of the screen. The music becomes more intense as the masked person enters the girl's room and finds her in front of her mirror. The lack of vision means that the actual stabbing is concealed, and sound of the knife and the screams portray how brutal it is. This is a clever trick for the director to use, due to the fact that sounds can be more graphic if the special effects available are not of a very high quality, and it allows the audience to imagine how brutal the killing is.


The camera then moves swiftly out of the room, down the stairs and out of the house, keeping the same POV style throughout the whole of the sequence so far. The person appears on the lawn of the house and 2 people get out of the car and move towards the camera. These people appear top tower above the camera and refer to the name 'Michael'. One of the people reach out to take off the mask, at which point the camera angle changes completely.It shows a mid shot of a young boy, with a bloodied knife in his hand, intending to shock the audience. The camera then zooms out again to show the setting of the young boy, dressed in a clown costume, and in front of the house that was shown in the original establishing shot.