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Halloween for Halloween-or Jamie Lee Curtis and Horror

There’s probably nothing more cliché than writing about Halloween films at Halloween, but there’s hardly a better film in the genre than the Halloween. More importantly, it’s the first time Jamie Lee Curtis appears on screen.

Jamie Lee Curtis- the scream queen

Jamie Lee owes a lot to the role of Laurie Strode. It gave her the title of Hollywood’s ultimate scream queen and helped her step out of her parents’ shadow at the same time. Her father, Tony Curtis, may be familiar in Hungary because his name appears on many lists mentioning famous stars of Hungarian origin—although his Hungarian vocabulary stops at “gulyás” and “pálinka”. Her mother, Janet Leight, is also an icon, since she starred in Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho playing the role of Marion Crane, Norman Bate’s victim in the famous shower scene.

A new era of female characters

It’s not a coincidence that John Carpenter, the director of Halloween, asked Jamie Lee to play the role of Laurie Strode. It was no secret that he tried to revitalize the genre through the mother-daughter parallel: women were no longer just victims, fuel for the plot who just die in the first quarter of the movie, but active participants in the plot. As such, the “final girl” topos (theme) was born, in which women don’t just confront the villain, but defeat it.

Halloween (1978)

I really recommend this film to horror lovers for those rainy, dark fall days when you just want to cuddle up at home. The genius of Halloween is that for the first time terror and horror are placed in the taboo suburbia. The suburbs were, until the 70s, the peaceful home of the American middle class, with all its emptiness and falsehood. With the emergence of Michael Myers, all this was swept away in the blink of an eye, giving rise to the ‘slasher’ genre (a genre using horror elements and effects techniques in which a serial killer armed with a stabbing and slashing instrument attacks a person or group of people, usually teenagers). It has been popular ever since and given rise to many strong female characters such as Sidney Prescott from Scream. Jamie Lee’s acting in 1978, when she was just 19 years old (in those days 30-year-olds didn’t play the roles of teenagers), isn’t as captivating as in later years, but her desire to break from tradition is palpable in her portrayal of a strong, capable, and independent female character.

Jamie Lee Curtis stands for good causes

In her private life, Jamie Lee also strives to support women. Since the 2018 remake of Halloween—which has since grown into a trilogy with Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), and Halloween Ends (2022)— she calls Laurie a “feminist hero” who has come a long way since 1978. Jamie Lee has been a vocal advocate for many causes, including the LGBTQ+ community. Her daughter, Ruby, shared with her parents in 2020 that she defines herself as a transgender woman. Jamie Lee stood up for her daughter then and since has continued to use her fame and influence to support causes she cares about.

Where can you watch it?

Halloween isn’t available on streaming services, but it is available on Videa. The newer versions Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills (2021) can be seen on MAX or Netflix. The third part of the trilogy, Halloween Ends (2022) is available on Netflix.

Translated by Amy

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