The first sequence of John Carpenter’s original Halloween is one of the best openings in horror movie history. No doubt about it.
Shot in an impressive single take, we see a teenage couple through the eyes of a predator as he stalks around a suburban house, breaks in through a back door, creeps upstairs and commits his first murders. The sting in the tale is the reveal that this whole sequence has been from the point-of-view of a 10-year-old boy, who stares into the camera in traumatized disbelief.
Now, it sounds like David Gordon Green’s sequel is aiming to match the original’s bold cinematography with its own long shot sequence. The director was asked by Cinema Blend what scene he can’t wait for fans to see in the upcoming film and said the following:
I’m dying for Halloween fans to see the sequence — it’s a one-shot sequence when Mike gets back to work. It’s a very long shot. A very complicated scenario that we took a long time rehearsing and strategized on how to achieve it in one shot. Michael does a little trick-or-treating of his own, and that’s pretty exciting.
Awesome. I was already fully hyped about Halloween, but knowing that there’s some carefully choreographed bit of cinematic virtuosity in there as well makes my anticipation that much keener. It also proves that the people working on this project understand that the original isn’t simply a scary, gory horror movie, but it’s also a damn good piece of cinema that’s carefully composed, shot and choreographed. If they can match John Carpenter’s style, we’re in for one hell of a treat.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve already got October 19th marked in my calendar, as Halloween is sounding like a respectful love letter to one of the greats of horror cinema and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
