The opening scene of the classic horror film Halloween follows a young Micheal Meyers as he stalks his older sister and her boyfriend on Halloween night. After the sister and her boyfriend go upstairs to do some "grown-up activities," Micheal follows and waits for the boyfriend to leave. Micheal then puts on a clown mask and stabs his topless sister multiple times. The scene ends as Micheal walks downstairs and out the front door to be confronted by his parents with his murder weapon in hand.
This masterpiece of an opening utilizes three techniques to build suspense: first-person POV, incidental music, and long shots. The first-person point of view in this scene follows Micheal as he stalks his sister and her boyfriend. This creates a dramatic revelation towards the end of the scene as we find out that Micheal is a kid and not an adult. This technique adds suspense as we see the killings through the unsuspected murders eyes, especially as he murders his sister and not her boyfriend (which would make a little more sense because he could have been overly protective). The POV is mixed with a long shot. The first 4:25 of the 5:00 scene is all one shot, or the editing hides the cuts very well, as Micheal watches the couple from the window, sneaks in through the kitchen to grab a knife, upstairs and collecting the clown mask, into his sisters room to kill her, and out the front door to confront his parents. This is down all without a word from Micheal. The final technique that is used to build the suspense is incidental music. The scene stars quite on a that is filled with the noise of an average suburb, but as Micheal sees his sister's lights go out there is a shrill screech that is supposed to chill the audience that follows that is followed up by a piano that starts as Micheal enters the house. The piano stops as Micheal reaches the stairs and is traded for a clock bell. As Micheal starts to stab his sister a synth starts to play and the piano returns to signal that the murderer has been born. When Micheal is reviled to be a little boy the camera starts to zoom-out and the music gets low in key with the movement of the camera.
The movie's actual first scene are the orange credits on a black background with Micheal Meyer's theme song. The credits go through the company's that own the IP, the production company, the title screen, and the actors and actresses of the film. The orange text is then traded for white as it gives the location and time (Haddonfield, Illinois. Halloween Night 1963) of the film, then it fades into the opening scene.
Budget: $325 thousand ($1.3 million today)
Box Office: $77 million ($303 million today)
Awards: Saturn Award: Best DVD/Blu-Ray Collection as part of "Halloween: The Complete Collection (2015), Saturn Awards: Best DVD/Blu-Ray Special Edition Release (2014), Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival Critics Award (1979), New Generation Award (1979), OFTA Film Hall of Fame: Motion Picture (2019).
Nominations: Saturn Awards: Best Horror Movie (1979), Gold Hugo: Best Feature (1978)
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