In 1978 John Carpenter made a film which redefined the horror genre and became one of the most imitated movies of all time. Halloween was shot on a shoestring budget in the Spring of 1978. It’s young director was hugely influenced by Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, and references the film many times in Halloween most notably in casting Janet Leigh’s daughter, the then unknown Jamie Lee Curtis in the lead role alongside veteran actor Donald Pleasence as Doctor Loomis. The phenomenal success of Halloween has resulted in seven sequels, a remake and a sequel to the remake. However, the quality of these sequels vary greatly and in this article I will put forward the idea that the Halloween franchise is best studied as a trilogy of: Halloween (1978), Halloween II (1981) and Halloween H20 (1998). [click to continue…]
Trilogy
Everybody who is in their early twenties as I am instantly recognises the names Woody and Buzz as the defining characters of their childhood. Toy Story literally changed the face of children’s animated movies. From the opening credits it was clear that then unknown animation studio Pixar had created something that set a new benchmark for every animated movie to follow. In 1999, Woody, Buzz and the gang were reunited in Toy Story 2. A film which, for my money, is one of the greatest sequels ever made, and one which in some ways surpasses even the first film’s almost impossibly high standards. So, after 11 years fans young and (mostly) old have finally gotten the third film that they have been hoping for, and it was well worth the wait. [click to continue…]
