Halloween (1978)
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94% of critics liked it
(49 reviews) -
85% of users liked it
(270,590 ratings)
It was "The Night HE Came Home," warned the posters for John Carpenter's career-making horror smash. In Haddonfield, IL, on Halloween night 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers inexplicably slaughters his teenage sister. His psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) can't penetrate… More It was "The Night HE Came Home," warned the posters for John Carpenter's career-making horror smash. In Haddonfield, IL, on Halloween night 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers inexplicably slaughters his teenage sister. His psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) can't penetrate Michael's psyche after years of institutionalization, but he knows that, when Myers escapes before Halloween in 1978, there is going to be hell to pay in Haddonfield. While Loomis heads to Haddonfield to alert police, Myers spots bookish teenager Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and follows her, constantly appearing and vanishing as Laurie and her looser friends Lynda (P.J. Soles) and Annie (Nancy Loomis) make their Halloween plans. By nightfall, the responsible Laurie is doing her own and Annie's babysitting jobs, while Annie and Lynda frolic in the parent-free house across the street. But Annie and Lynda are not answering the phone, and suspicious Laurie heads across the street to the darkened house to see what is going on.... ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- Directed By
- John Carpenter
- Written By
- John Carpenter, Debra Hill
- Genres
- Mystery & Suspense, Horror
- In Theaters
- Oct 25, 1978 Wide
- Studio
- Compass International Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
After a promising opening, Halloween becomes just another maniac-on-the-loose suspenser.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
John Carpenter's 1978 tour de force, perhaps the most widely imitated film of the 70s.
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Derek Adams, Time Out
Perhaps not quite so resonant as Psycho to which it pays due homage, but it breathes the same air.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Halloween is an absolutely merciless thriller, a movie so violent and scary that, yes, I would compare it to Psycho.
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Halloween remains untouched -- a modern classic of the most horrific kind.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Donald Pleasence
as Doctor Loomis
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Jamie Lee Curtis
as Laurie
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Nancy Loomis
as Annie
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P.J. Soles
as Lynda
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Charles Cyphers
as Brackett
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Kyle Richards
as Lindsay
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Brian Andrews
as Tommy
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John Michael Graham
as Bob
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Nancy Stephens
as Marion
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Sandy Johnson
as Judith Myers
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David Kyle
as Boyfriend
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Arthur Malet
as Graveyard Keeper
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Tony Moran
as Michael Myers age 21
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Robert Phalen
as Dr. Wynn
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Mickey Yablans
as Richie
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Adam Holender
as Keith
- Nancy Kyes
- Nick Castle Jr.



