For my money's worth, Mike Meyers is the king of slasher villains. Why do I hold him in such high regard? Take a look at the ending credits to the original "Halloween" film, you'll notice that there is no entry for Michael Meyers, only for something called "The Shape". How terrifying is that? "The Shape", as to imply that it is no man, to suggest that even though we know his name, even though we see him as a child, even though Dr. Loomis can confirm that it is a real man behind the mask, we are still unsure as to whether or not we are actually looking at a person.
Mike Meyers works because he is a contradiction. Here we have something that is beyond a shadow of a doubt a normal man, and yet he exhibits all the characteristics of something unnatural. He cannot be killed. He shows no emotion. he has an unsettling pace and determination to accomplish his goals. A supernatural explanation should be given and would be acceptable, and yet there is never any shred of evidence found to suggest this. We instead have a person who we can't explain; an anomaly that goes beyond a mere freak genetic deviation and explores the realms of the unknown. To complicate matters, we can't even reason or communicate with it on even the simplest of reptilian logic. We have no understandings of its motives and are left completely puzzled by who or what it is beyond a name and a child's face.
Take a look at the other house hold names of horror for just one second. We know that Dracula is an undead being with specific wants and weaknesses. Frankenstein was constructed from various human parts and brought back with science. Jason was a boy who was drowned and comes back as an undead killing machine. Even the ambiguous Freddy was a pedophile who was burned and comes back from the dead via dark magic to kill us in our dreams. Mike Meyers is something else.
Mike Meyers is the most mysterious monster out there and his inexplicable existence is what makes him such a powerful nightmare. There's nothing worse than the fear of the unknown and old Mikey here sure keeps us shrouded in the dark. Let's hope some idiot in Hollywood doesn't screw this up by getting the bright idea of doing an origin story to try and explain his pa... oh wait. Goddamn you, Rob Zombie.
Great write up on Michael Meyers. He is a contradiction. We see him in the opening scene, a small normal looking boy, but when he put the mask on he became something no longer human. It's as if his soul left the moment the mask was placed on his face.
ReplyDeleteI love October! Going to see Red tomorrow at the Sunday matinee. :)