Halloween opening scene textual analysis

In the opening scene of the 1978 independent horror slasher Halloween, suspense and fear is created and explored in a number of ways though the use of representations, mise-en-scene, camera shots, editing and technical codes.

In the opening sequence of a horror film the audience will expect to see fright and suspense building materials and this identifies the horror genre. The settings for horror films are the most commonly remote, suburban areas, which are sometimes seen as safe places to live. However suburban areas are where it is most likely for murders etc to happen as they create a sense of isolation.

The opening titles of the film are in black and orange, stereotypically eerie colours. Alongside these, there is a pumpkin which has connotations of being ghostly and evil as well as being a key symbol of Halloween, linking this event to the film; this pumpkin then slowly zooms to fill the shot.

Tense, creepy music plays in the background during the titles, this is a typical convention of Horror films, very few will work without it. Throughout the rest of the opening, no other sounds are used, besides footsteps and screams. This builds up suspense further, and the silence of the scene leaves the viewer almost holding their breath. The music and zoom on the pumpkin builds up the suspension, so that when the film starts, it will seem all the more jumpy.

The establishing shot is a long shot of a house in the dark. Low lighting is used to create lots of shadows, again a key convention of horror films. It plays with the viewers mind, and they look around, expecting something to be hiding there and it is built up for something bad to happen.

 A point of view shot is then used as the camera goes around the side of the house. As we haven’t yet seen this person, but we are seeing from their perspective and they are lurking in the shadows, it creates an uneasy feeling and we feel as though we are trespassing. The shot then shows two people through the window of the house, unaware that they are being watched. This is a common technique used in Horror films to build up suspense.

The point of view shot then develops so that we are seeing the shot through the eyes of the killers mask. Because of this, we can’t really see what is going on, which sets the audience on edge and gives an eerie feeling. Here, it is establisheed that it is the killer who’s mindset the viewer is in, which breaks typical conventions of Horror. It is unusual, as the viewer is normally made to relate to the victim, intending it to be that the killer is just as scary to them as though it was actually happening. In this film, it is more like the viewer is the killer, putting a different twist on the genre.

Mainly long shots are used, which is typical of the genre and is effective for two reasons. It means that with far less close-ups, the viewer doesn’t emotionally connect to the characters, which doesn’t happen in most horror films. Also, being a long shot, there is more than one thing to focus on. This puts the audience on edge, and it is almost as though they are looking for something to jump out. The only close-up used in the opening is of a knife being taken from the kitchen drawer, which is a dramatisation and appears to be significant, building up tension.

The victim is revealed as a naked young woman. The fact that she is a woman is very typical of the horror genre, the women are commonly portrayed as being weak and vulnerable, only there for appearance sake. Her nudity could also be a symbol for her vulnerability and to show how exposed she is to the killer. At the end of the opening, the shot zooms away from the point of view shot, and shows the killer is dressed as a clown. The use of clowns as a symbol of evil and a fear of clowns is common in horror films. The mask is then pulled off and it is revealed that the killer was in fact a child. This is a binary opposition of good and evil as children have connotations of innocence and love, which strongly contrasts to the scene of the child holding a blood covered knife, surrounded by police. During this shot, more lighting is used, which could symbolise the fact that the killer is now exposed, and the audience enlightened.