Halloween

1978 Horror

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.... more..

Director: John Carpenter

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Loomis, P.J. Soles, Charles Cyphers

Reviews

  • Halloween is an absolutely merciless thriller...I would compare it to "Psycho."

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    26 April 2013

  • Turn off the lights. Put on the widescreen version, showcasing Carpenter's masterful framing and chill-inducing, Michael Myers-concealing use of shadows. Crank up the sound, and be scared witless by horror's greatest director.

    - Empire

    26 April 2013

  • Carpenter displays an almost perfect understanding of the mechanics of classical suspense; his style draws equally (and intelligently) from both Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock.

    Dave Kehr - Chicago Reader

    26 April 2013

  • Don't see "Halloween" in an empty theater on a weekday afternoon. See it on a weekend night in a packed house. "Halloween" is a film to be enjoyed with a boisterous crowd; it's an "audience picture," a film designed to get specific reactions from an audience at specific moments. With "Halloween," the most often desired reaction is screaming. It's a beautifully made thriller -- more shocking than bloody -- that will have you screaming with regularity. "Halloween" was directed by John Carpenter, 30, a natural filmmaker and a name worth remembering.

    Gene Siskel - The Chicago Tribune

    26 April 2013

  • There's nary a drop of blood on screen in this rollicking funhouse of a movie but there is enough sheer cinematic ingenuity on display to coax screams out of the most jaded gorehound.

    - TV Guide

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Best Horror Film

    Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (1979)

     
  • John Carpenter

    Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival (1979)

  • Best Feature

    Chicago International Film Festival (1978)

     
  • National Film Preservation Board (2006)