For years, I was resistant to the idea that Halloween is a somewhat supernatural movie, believing so strongly that what makes the original film so scary is that Michael is just ‘some guy in a mask’. After watching the original again, I’ve changed my mind; not unlike The Fog, Halloween is most definitely a supernatural Carpenter film, done with such subtlety and sophistication as to not let you in on it until the very end. In 1963, we see a boy that has become nothing but the empty vessel for the Boogeyman. He isn’t “Michael Myers” any longer; he’s the form the Boogeyman has chosen, the shape. Michael’s odd behaviors are not that of an escaped lunatic; they’re the behaviors of a man possessed. In the last few moments of the film, when he falls from the balcony after being shot several times, we know that Loomis was not using hyperbolas metaphor; this isn’t a man, this is pure evil. Halloween is the story of the Boogeyman.
Very poetic AND well put. Probably the best argument I’ve ever seen for Michael being supernatural in the first film. 
that’s why he’s listed as, ‘The Shape’ in the credits, and not Michael Myers.
He’s the personification of evil in the form of a Man.
Beautifully said 
I love how in the original, you don’t see much of him, he’s shown only a few times throughout the movie, but even then, he’s at a distance, in the shadows, shown only at the torso, or shown from behind, and then he’s gone like the wind. And this is what makes that iconic phone scene so effective…when we FINALLY get to see that mask, it scares the heck out of you. And even then, it’s only shown for a few short seconds. I also believe it is a stroke of genius that at the end of the movie when the mask comes off, you expect a monster, but it’s just a normal guy. In H1, Michael Myers is The Shape, a stalker of the night. No scene in the movie better represents this than the gorgeous shot when Tommy looks out the window that night, and sees Michael’s shadow standing at the Wallace house across the street. I wish the sequels would have stuck with that, because I believe that is without question one of the many reasons why H1 is the best…it just makes the whole film seem more stylish, or “classy”, if that makes sense. Whereas the sequels instantly feel cheap by comparison. Just my 2 cents
Amen!
And here I just thought is was a pissed off kid mad at Laurie’s dad for wanting to sell his house:) lol
with some exceptions (bumping into tommy at school, in the house when Laurie drops off the key, creeping around the tree outside the house)…it seems like the movie keeps him at distance from the camera, and then over the course of the movie he gets closer and closer until the end of the movie fighting Laurie he’s right up close on the camera, leaping over the back of the couch, crashing through the closet doors.
It’s not 100%, like I said sometimes he’s close to the camera,…but it seems like on the whole John Carpenter sort of paced out the views of Michael. In the backyard by the laundry, standing next to the hedges on the sidewalk, across the street standing by the car when Laurie is in school, you can see him inside the car when he’s driving (or look through the back window of the car when Annie is driving and you see him following them.)
…and slowly through the course of the movie John Carpenter is bringing him in closer and closer.
…damn, the original is such a great horror movie. Totally Hitchcock inspired. Not gory and over the top,…just really good and really creepy.
Very well said by all you guys. This is why it is a far superior film to all of the rest imho 
This, absolutely 
Couldn’t have said it any better. I laugh at the “Michael is clearly a regular human” argument because the ending makes it perfectly clear that is not the case and even John Carpenter himself suggested it. Also, I think it makes Halloween 2 all the more effective. Some people don’t like Warlock’s almost completely catatonic and zombie-like act, whereas I almost look at it as Michael becoming even more detached from his humanity after being shot, essentially whatever was left of his soul exiting his body, which gives some credence to your explanation.
Just my thoughts, though.
This is exactly what I’ve always thought as well, with the 6 shots effectively killing what was left of the human side of Michael. And all that was left was the evil within him that drove him, and therefore, the slower H2 performance is actually perfect and makes more sense when you consider this.