Halloween (1978)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Directors C

  
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Hitchcock's masterpiece Psycho provided a lot of inspiration for Halloween and yet John Carpenter's film has been deemed even more inspiring to the slasher sub genre of horror film making and… More
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Hitchcock's masterpiece Psycho provided a lot of inspiration for Halloween and yet John Carpenter's film has been deemed even more inspiring to the slasher sub genre of horror film making and that's all a bit confusing. But it's definetely not a bad horror movie, it has some very good jumps, an absolutely spine tingling soundtrack and amazing direction from horror expert John Carpenter. However, despite a fine execution the film is very predictable and unambitious. The story has been done before, the acting is pretty terrible and the villian goes under developed because of an unfortuate half told back story. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and A Nightmare on Elm Street at least had some sense of personality. I dont want to give the impression I didn't enjoy watching it, I greatly admire elements of it such as the superb shooting and brilliant build up's. It works but it's not amazing.

• Jason C

  
  As far as I'm concerned, this was not only the original "slasher" film, but it is, and always will be, the greatest. John Carpenter can never receive enough praise for bringing the "boogie-man" to life, in the form of Michael Myers. Halloween was also my… More
  As far as I'm concerned, this was not only the original "slasher" film, but it is, and always will be, the greatest. John Carpenter can never receive enough praise for bringing the "boogie-man" to life, in the form of Michael Myers. Halloween was also my introduction to horror movies. A testament to the film's greatness, is that after hundreds of viewings, and countless imitations, the film can still haunt me with the same creepy feeling that it did when I was 7. There is very little gore, the film relies on suspense. Jamie Lee-Curtis is the perfect damsel-in-distress, and her contribution to the film is priceless. Everything presented is iconic. I think the world of this movie. It will always be one of my favorites.

• Shawn E

  
  A very suspenseful horror film perfect for the Halloween season. The psychotic killer always lurking and planning his strike will certainly give you a fright. This is a horror classic that will never be topped by any of it's many sequels.

• Christopher H

  
  The first film and the best. Halloween is one of the finest slasher flicks ever made. The music, which was composed by John Carpenter himself, is chilling and iconically eerie. Jamie Lee Curtis does a great job in playing a strong female character that the audience can root for.… More
  The first film and the best. Halloween is one of the finest slasher flicks ever made. The music, which was composed by John Carpenter himself, is chilling and iconically eerie. Jamie Lee Curtis does a great job in playing a strong female character that the audience can root for. Michael Myers is a terrifyingly unstoppable and mysterious horror icon. The white laced William Shatner mask that Michael wears gives him a cold stare that freezes the heart with fear. This film is required viewing for any fan of the horror genre, Halloween single-handingly popularized the slasher flick sub-genre.

• Sophie B

  
  I imagine that this would have been the best horror around when it came out and I certainly agree that Carpenter managed to hold the interest of the viewer from start to finish with his brilliant tension building scenes. Is he in the house? Isn't he? This horror is purely from… More
  I imagine that this would have been the best horror around when it came out and I certainly agree that Carpenter managed to hold the interest of the viewer from start to finish with his brilliant tension building scenes. Is he in the house? Isn't he? This horror is purely from those questions we are made to ask. There's no over the top slashing or gore, there's subtlety and grace. A must for all horror fans. And that soundtrack is amazing!

• Isaac A

  
  "Halloween" is John Carpenter at his finest making the best horror movie since "Jaws" is a scary, suspenseful and thrilling story about three Haddonfield, Illinois babysitters being stalked by a killer who goes by the name, Michael Myers. The whole story of the… More
  "Halloween" is John Carpenter at his finest making the best horror movie since "Jaws" is a scary, suspenseful and thrilling story about three Haddonfield, Illinois babysitters being stalked by a killer who goes by the name, Michael Myers. The whole story of the movie is very spectacular with it's chilling atmosphere and well-written characters such as Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtius), Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) and Michael Myers (Nick Castle and several other people). The death scenes in the movie don't have any precent of blood which makes the movie work than just blood and guts flown across the room. The final chase scene is well done with Michael breaking into a closet, getting stabbed by his own knife by Jamie and still living and revealing his face as he than seconds later gets shot of the balcony of the house and then with the best cliffhanger in cinema history as we find out Michael escaped as Loomis went into the other room. The movie leaves you with the feeling that Michael could be anywhere and is still out there. Every halloween I suggest you watch this movie because it could happen anywhere....

• Graham J

  
  Perfect horror film, what else can I say.

• Alexander D

  
  The thing that truly makes this one a classic is that it is certainly a slasher, but it also manages to maintain the actual "horror" part. HALLOWEEN is scary in a way that nearly every bit of violence and gore is left to the viewer's imagination, but the terror is… More
  The thing that truly makes this one a classic is that it is certainly a slasher, but it also manages to maintain the actual "horror" part. HALLOWEEN is scary in a way that nearly every bit of violence and gore is left to the viewer's imagination, but the terror is still there, if not enhanced because of that aspect. Right after it was released, every filmmaker (including people as brilliant as Wes Craven) was raving, "I want to produce/direct something like that!" And they did, with films like FRIDAY THE 13TH, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, and (to name a ridiculous "cult classic") CHILD'S PLAY. Except they all forgot one part: to imply the graphicness of the murder. If not forgotten, then flipped around: these rip-offs were, unlike HALLOWEEN, gushing organs. The concept, apparently not continued in any of the sequels or remakes, that HALLOWEEN brought up was resurrected in the late '90s with THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, which spawned an entire horror sub-genre that has been used for implication with PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, THE LAST EXORCISM, and (within the last month or so) APOLLO 18; allowing the implying to be filmed using amateur methods for footage capturing. So before I continue with this review, I'd like to add to my first statement by saying that another thing that truly makes HALLOWEEN a classic is that it spawned one of very largest legacies in all of horror movie history. Probably not as much as the original PSYCHO; a little more than NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Even with a budget lower than $1,000,000 and a barely-known company producing it, this has a very eerie mood. John Carpenter serves as director, producer, and composer, and he does a fantastic job with all three--cueing cutaways and blurs to leave all stranglings, slicings and dicings to our endless imaginations; whilst also accompanying the horror with two or three main themes that makes simply walking down a staircase seem like seeing dead people (that came 21 years later, though--thank you, Haley Joel Osment). Not sure why you must watch HALLOWEEN every time the final day of October comes around, starting now? Go back and read my review again until you get what I'm trying to say. This is a must-see--an over-and-over must-see that tells of the night HE came home!

• Brad W

  
  Halloween is the greatest horror film in the history of cinema. This film changed the slasher genre forever and every moment is creepy and classic. It's the classic story of a group of teenagers are killed one by one on Halloween night by a serial killer named Micheal Myers.… More
  Halloween is the greatest horror film in the history of cinema. This film changed the slasher genre forever and every moment is creepy and classic. It's the classic story of a group of teenagers are killed one by one on Halloween night by a serial killer named Micheal Myers. The plot is so intense, so great, and worked so well that its hard to imagine it being any different. The cast is perfect, whenever a movie makes fun of cliche horror films everyone is directly thinking of this film and its cast, espically the film that made Jamie Lee Curtis a star. The horror always scares the hell out of me, in my opinion Micheal Myers is the king of horror killers, he's emotionless, brutal, and insane in every way. Halloween is a amazing, scary, and all around perfect.

• Martin S

  
  The film that set the tone for the horror future

• moon r

  
  There's an escaped maniac on the loose in a small town on halloween night, and there's 3 things: 1) he's out on a killing spree, 2) he can't be killed and 3) he's a creep, a creeper. He watches a long time in secret before he kills. Everything else is… More
  There's an escaped maniac on the loose in a small town on halloween night, and there's 3 things: 1) he's out on a killing spree, 2) he can't be killed and 3) he's a creep, a creeper. He watches a long time in secret before he kills. Everything else is incidental, the music, the mask, the dark, and even the knife, but what incidentals they are in Carpenter's purist distillation of Hitchcock's iconic shower scene.

• Jeff "

  
  John Carpenter's 1978 masterpiece is a milestone in horror. The movie's plot is very simple, but very effective. Michael Myers is a terrific villain stalking young women on Halloween night. The movie is complemented with a great cast with such actors as Jamie Lee Curtis and… More
  John Carpenter's 1978 masterpiece is a milestone in horror. The movie's plot is very simple, but very effective. Michael Myers is a terrific villain stalking young women on Halloween night. The movie is complemented with a great cast with such actors as Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence . This is by far my all time favorite movie and with solid directing and a great story line, this film should be viewed by every die hard horror fan. One of the best things about Halloween is the fact that it uses suspense to steadily build the horror. This is a film that doesn't have any gore and John Carpenter uses Alfred Hitchcock trick to create the tension. Halloween is one of the first slasher flicks; there have been two other films before it, Black Christmas, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, both excellent horror films. However Halloween is much different, the virtual absence of violence and blood in the film is what separates this slasher film from all the other that came before or after it. Halloween is a film in the same style of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. In total there is maybe less than 10 minutes of on screen violence. For me, that's one of the reasons that Halloween is one of my favorite films, because it's a horror film that uses suspense very well. Usually in a slasher film you'll have a masked killer leaving a bloody trail of gore. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm the type of horror fan that likes to have a lot of suspense, and thrills with the killing. Not saying that I hate the slasher genre, in fact I love it. But I absolutely adore Halloween for its sheer knack building the suspense, and creating effective scares. This one great film to watch on Halloween. Every cast member delivers strong performances, especially Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis. Halloween is by far the best Slasher film ever made, and is a definite classic of the genre.

• Melvin W

  
  Tommy Doyle: But you can't kill the boogie man!  "The Night He Came Home!" Halloween is the quintessential slasher film. It may not be the first, Psycho(1960) and Black Christmas(1974), but it was the one that really gave the slasher genre life. Now that isn't… More
  Tommy Doyle: But you can't kill the boogie man!  "The Night He Came Home!" Halloween is the quintessential slasher film. It may not be the first, Psycho(1960) and Black Christmas(1974), but it was the one that really gave the slasher genre life. Now that isn't necessarily a great thing because most slasher are godawful, but Halloween is certainly a masterpiece of horror and suspense. From the opening POV kill to the haunting conclusion, Halloween is as relentless as its villain. The whole movie is so atmospheric. That comes from the fact that it's Halloween night and the town where all this is occurring looks like it could be yours. One of the best horror scores of all-time adds to the feeling of this movie. Everything besides Michael Myers is so average. There's teenagers babysitting and talking on the phone, watching movies and carving pumpkins. It sounds like every Halloween we've ever had. Then a humongous maniac shows up and starts slicing up the local teens. The movie works so well with it's ideas, such as the if you have sex you die idea. Michael Myers is an effective villain because, not only his relentlessness, but because John Carpenter uses his relentlessness in a manner that isn't too over the top. This is one of those classic movies that is always going to be considered one of the best ever. When it comes to horror, there's no doubt, this is in the top 10. When it comes to the slasher, there's no doubt, this is number 1. It may have launched a million copy cat movies, but who cares. Most of them took their villain and made him Michael Myers with a new name. There's Jason, he's big, dumb, doesn't talk and has a past. I wonder where the makers of that shitty series go that idea?  So if I had one choice of a true slasher film(Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre aren't true slashers) I'd pick this one. It's the best and it always will be the best. 

• Tim S

  
  The birth of the so-called "slasher" genre didn't begin with Halloween, if you want to be technical about it, but it did popularize it in a way that no film before it ever had up to that point. Rumor has it that John Carpenter stole the idea from a college friend, but… More
  The birth of the so-called "slasher" genre didn't begin with Halloween, if you want to be technical about it, but it did popularize it in a way that no film before it ever had up to that point. Rumor has it that John Carpenter stole the idea from a college friend, but regardless he wrote a very basic and effective horror film that continues to pay dividends. The sequels have tried to create more story for the characters and while I can understand why I don't find the storytelling nearly as effective and simple as this first part is. This is the classic "baby sitter stalking and murdering" film and it didn't need any character dynamics to make it appealing. Sure the dialogue can be terrible at times, but if it wasn't for the score, atmosphere and technical wizardy from Dean Cundey (and of course from John Carpenter himself), I don't think that this film would have had half of the impact that it has. A great contemporary classic horror film that continues to inspire young filmmakers to this day and scare the pants off of people of all ages.

• Eric A

  
  My favorite horror film and horror film series. This movie set the stage for many films to follow: Freddy, Jason, Scream, etc. It doesn't matter what year it is, this movie will never get old, because Michael Myers chasing you will never lose its touch.

• Zach B

  
  Looking at this film today, even with this one film being parodied to death, had countless sequels, and above all else has other films that have been more shocking and thrilling then this one, this film still has proven to be effective in terms of being a great horror film. But, what… More
  Looking at this film today, even with this one film being parodied to death, had countless sequels, and above all else has other films that have been more shocking and thrilling then this one, this film still has proven to be effective in terms of being a great horror film. But, what actually is it that makes this film work? Is it the simple story telling? The mask that Micheal Meyers wears? Or is it the score that John Carpenter created for the film? Well, the answer is all of that plus much more. This is one of the few times that a VERY low budget film actually looks and works much better then most film that have been released. Even to today's standards. Plus, you also have to add in the legacy of this film and all of the doors this little horror film had created. When I first saw this film (and I mean actually sitting down and watching this film), I will admit that I did have to look over my shoulder a few times during some scenes to make sure that Meyers was no where. Now, I know this is a horror film and in today's expectations, that is pitiful for someone to do. But, once you actually get into the film and start living it with the characters, you start to feel the terror and it gets to you. Due to the effectiveness of the film, this is a great movie. Now for the details. For the direction, I am also going to have to include the details of the script and score due to John Carpenter working on them all. This is a guy that must have made George A. Romero proud and has inspired countless film makers to all undertake the world of film making. This guy directed this film with such elegance that it still looks real, created the famous score piece that still gets to people when played during a dark night, and had written a script that would have worked beyond well as a stand alone tale of terror. Carpenter worked beyond the normal call for a film maker and the result was this film. Lastly the acting. While the entire supporting cast does a bang up job with this film, there is only two people that are even worth mentioning: Jamie Lee Curtis and the late Donald Pleasence. For Curtis, she had a lot to live up to due to her mother being Janet Leigh who stared in the spiritual father to this film: Psycho. Her mother done a wonderful job in that film, but her daughter could of given her a run for her money. Curtis looks like and acts like a real human in this role and proves she has great talent and for her being in this film, it only makes things better. For Pleasecne, what ca be said about this legendary actor? From him working on James Bond as one of the villains to him working in an adaption of Dracula later on, he is the real thing in terms of acting. But the thing that proves him to be good is that he only had three days (most of those night scenes) to film his roles and to do it in that amount of time and still act as well as he did, I am impressed. Overall, this is a terrifying film that still works today and is essential viewing for anyone who is interested in horror film.

• Unknown H

  
  Ultimatley a good movie. I think the problem I have with Halloween is how many times it has been reproduced. It tends to dilute the true awesomeness of the intial installment which was and still is amazing.

• Bethany M

  
  Really frightened me. Jamie Lee Curtis was fantastic in the role and Mike Myers is one of the scariest horror characters there is!

• AJ V

  
  Most horror fans will say that this movie is an essential classic, one of the best 70s slasher films ever, but I didn't think it was that great. Not that it isn't a good movie, it does have some suspenseful scenes, and the music is fantastic, but other than that, it's… More
  Most horror fans will say that this movie is an essential classic, one of the best 70s slasher films ever, but I didn't think it was that great. Not that it isn't a good movie, it does have some suspenseful scenes, and the music is fantastic, but other than that, it's not any better than other slasher movies of the 70s. Good, but I wouldn't say it's one of the best.

• danny d

  
  although i would side with psycho as the king of the slashers, there is no question that halloween did as much to launch a genre as any film ever made. with a few exceptions, the slasher narrowly existed until this film proved that the genre could make waves. although it could be… More
  although i would side with psycho as the king of the slashers, there is no question that halloween did as much to launch a genre as any film ever made. with a few exceptions, the slasher narrowly existed until this film proved that the genre could make waves. although it could be argued that this film launched a genre that became insufferable, this film is not to be blamed as it combined a solid villain, an excellent musical score, and solid visuals to not only be one of the first, but one of the best slasher films of all time.

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