Michael Myers is one of the most famous villains from horror cinema. He is one of the co-founders of the slasher genre, but there is more to him than just a creepy guy in a blue jumpsuit.
Michael Myers first wreaked havoc in 1978. In Halloween by John Carpenter, the mute killer went on his first hunt. From an indie film, it became a gigantic horror franchise, with 13 films to date.
Whether you like it or not: Michael Myers is the main villain in each of these films, even if the explanations are not always plausible.
The beginning of Michael Myers was not so spectacular. A little boy murders his sister and gets locked away, but his urge to kill does not fade. Yet behind the mask, there is so much more.
Already the Devil as a Child
What is Michael Myers? The first Halloween was considered an indie film at the time. It only cost $300,000 and was shot in 20 days (via IMDB). The idea behind the fairly simple premise came from producer Irwin Yablans. Due to the lower budget, he came up with the idea to choose babysitters as the protagonists of the film. Everyone was once a babysitter or a baby
(Source: YouTube).
He focused on the duration of a night and settled on the day Halloween
. The big star of the film was Michael Myers, who was not just a brutal killer; he is the personification of evil. Even the beginning of the film is not only well-made cinematically; it perfectly stages the character of Michael Myers.
From one person’s perspective, you see how he secretly observes his sister, grabs a knife and a mask, and kills his sister. After 5 minutes, it turns out to be a child. Through the first-person perspective and without cuts, the viewer is right in the middle of it, but the horrible act contrasts with the first-person view, which is supposed to create identification.
The attribute innocence
must be directly abandoned by the viewer. Michael did not behave like a human even as a child and will not do so later either. In the first film, the character Dr. Loomis describes him with the following words:
I met this six-year-old child with his expressionless, pale face and pitch-black eyes, the eyes of the devil […] I realized that behind the eyes of this boy was nothing but pure evil.
This feeling of evil must be able to be conveyed to the screen, and that is achieved with Michael Myers through his appearance and through the staging.
Horror through Terror
Why is Michael Myers scary? Michael’s appearance is simple. He is tall, wears a blue jumpsuit, and a white mask. The mask was originally a Captain Kirk mask (Star Trek). They first altered the hair of the mask and shaped it upward. They also removed the sideburns and eyebrows. The eye holes were enlarged, and the face was painted white. The ghostly look emerged, which reveals very little of humanity (Source: YouTube).
In the first two parts (and in the last reboot trilogy), Nick Castle portrayed the killer. Through his stature and his slow and stiff movements, he gave the character a crushing presence. Even if he does not run, he will get you. Nick Castle’s task was: Do nothing, just walk, do not act
(Source: YouTube). And that is what he did. Michael Myers does not speak; he observes and stalks.
So the foundation of the character is laid by appearance and presence, but to create an atmosphere, the staging is still missing. For this, they looked to a true film legend: Alfred Hitchcock, especially his film Psycho
. The first Halloween does not rely on explicit violence but rather on terror.
Michael lurks in the background and observes. You know that something is watching and something is happening, but you never know when. That was also Hitchcock’s great strength. The audience knows more than the acting characters, and from that arises terror. Michael lurks in the shadows, but does not always attack. Too Much Film School perfectly describes it in their video essay on YouTube: Michael has the most power when he is unseen.
This is further underscored by the simple yet effective soundtrack by John Carpenter, who used an electric keyboard for it. The main piece is known by everyone to this day because it is so iconic and unique:
Michael Myers is Only One Part of the Terror
Laurie Strode is a perfect scream queen. Laurie is portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis, who was then still an unknown actress. Compared to her other friends, Laurie is a more innocent character, and she is the only one who sees Michael in the background throughout the film. John Carpenter himself says in a documentary (via YouTube):
She added something that went beyond herself. Jamie was, as I said, very smart. She grew up with Hollywood parents; she was not the little girl she portrayed; that was her acting ability, and she was very, very good.
In contrast to Michael, she shows many human emotions, tries to defend herself, and save others. From the beginning, she is terrorized by Michael, and as a viewer, you empathize with her. Ironically, Jamie Lee Curtis is also the daughter of Psycho actress Janet Leigh, who suffers in the Hitchcock film.
Michael Myers can only function because of Laurie Strode. This is also noted by film critic Mark Clark in his book Smirk, Sneer and Scream: Great Acting in Horror Cinema
(via YouTube):
What the creators of these second-rate imitations did not understand was that Halloween triumphed not because of Michael Myers, but because of a combination of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. Michael was easy to copy, but Laurie was impossible to duplicate.
The connection between the two was also represented throughout the franchise within the story, even though this diluted Michael’s origin story.
Michael and the Sibling Nonsense
So what about the lore of Michael and Laurie? In the second part, it was introduced that Laurie is Michael’s sister, which is why he hunts her. This was also continued from parts 4 to 6, and the familial connection was an important part of the series.
In the reboot film, Halloween from 2018, this connection was ignored again, and he hunts her because of the history of the two. Some events within the series contradicted each other, including Laurie’s deaths. More absurd explanations for Michael were also made. For example, a cult was introduced that worshiped Michael and cursed him.
Wasn’t there something from Rob Zombie? In 2007, Rob Zombie rebooted the series. Here, Michael was given a larger backstory about his childhood and parents. The film received a sequel in 2009, but the 2018 film continued the original two parts.
Like many other horror series, the franchise drifted into absurdity, but the first Halloween film is still considered a horror classic, largely due to Michael Myers and his portrayal. Another horror monster is also an icon: Alien: Everything you need to know about the legendary Xenomorph
