Halloween Movie Psychology

As the slasher genre gained momentum, the age group for the victims began to drop. No longer were women of Marion Crane’s age being chased around, but teenage girls became the main target. A new generation was on the rise. Children of the rebellious feminists of the 60s were now teenagers and showing their strength. In John Carpenter’s 1978 thriller Halloween, we follow a day in the life of Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends as they are stalked and murdered by childlike-minded Michael Meyers.The film starts as Michael, then six, murders his sixteen year-old sister for having pre-marital sexual relations with her boyfriend in her parent’s bedroom. Fifteen years later, Michael manages to escape an asylum and returns home, killing Laurie’s friends who Michael sees as images of his sister. These women he continues
Adults literally turn a blind eye to Laurie in her time of need. The only real adult figure we have is Laurie herself, who takes on the mother role as she takes care of Tommy and Linda. While Laurie is a strong female who continues to fight back over and over against Michael Meyers, like Lila in Psycho, she too is rescued with the help of a man and at times comes across as weak. She runs down the street yelling for help and as she runs through the house, trying to save the children, she screams, which only serves to help alert Michael to where she is at. Laurie also falls into the stereotype of a female unable to think logically as, in the final scene, she hides in a closet where Michael Meyers can easily get her and where she traps herself with no other way out. In the eighteen years since Psycho, women still faced sexual repercussions, but the final girl idea was just taking shape and would continue to bring us strong, independent