After a promising opening, Halloween becomes just another maniac-on-the-loose suspenser.
Halloween (1978)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:42
Fresh:39
Rotten:3
Average Rating:8.4/10
Consensus: Scary, suspenseful, and viscerally thrilling, Halloween set the standard for modern horror films.
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: Perhaps the most influential and successful independent film ever made, HALLOWEEN is the movie that put director John Carpenter on the map as a viable filmmaker. An exercise in simple, pure horror,... Perhaps the most influential and successful independent film ever made, HALLOWEEN is the movie that put director John Carpenter on the map as a viable filmmaker. An exercise in simple, pure horror, HALLOWEEN takes us into the world of a mad killer, Michael Myers, who at a very young age stabbed his older sister to death. Locked away for many years in a mental hospital Michael escapes one night and returns to his hometown to continue his killing spree. Jamie Lee Curtis, in her first role, plays the resourceful babysitter who is chased by the killer on Halloween night. Produced for very little money and a tight shooting schedule, HALLOWEEN was a stunning success when it was released. Written by John Carpenter and his longtime producer Debra Hill, the film set their careers on fire, with both of them working together many times over the next 25 years. The film also made a star out of Jamie Lee Curtis and turned the slasher movie into a viable, successful genre. HALLOWEEN has been copied, parodied and even turned into a franchise of its own, but the original is still considered the best of the bunch. HALLOWEEN was John Carpenter's first foray into horror, and remains the standard to which all other modern horror films are measured. [More]
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, P.J. Soles, Nancy Loomis
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, P.J. Soles, Nancy Loomis, Charles Cyphers, Kyle Richards, Arthur Malet, David Kyle, Nick Castle, Peter Griffith
Director: John Carpenter
Director: John Carpenter
Screenwriter: John Carpenter, Debra Hill
Producer: Debra Hill
Composer: John Carpenter
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Reviews for Halloween
...the kind of fright flick in which the plodding monster has his victim in his grasp and then inexplicably stabs the couch five feet to the right of her.
Halloween is an absolutely merciless thriller, a movie so violent and scary that, yes, I would compare it to Psycho.
Virtually perfect. It is the one horror film that I would beg each and every lover of movies to watch, if I could pick only one.
To call Halloween merely brilliant isn't giving it enough credit. As a horror film and as a historical milestone that single-handedly shaped and altered the future of an entire genre, it's downright transcendent.
It's hard to get behind a main character who's so unexciting. But maybe Michael Myers is the real main character. In which case, mission accomplished: I'm freaked out.
John Carpenter and Debra Hill's film is a genuine landmark in the horror-thriller genre.
Responsible for jump-starting Jamie Lee Curtis’s career, this one so thoroughly and thoughtfully exploited American angst that it’s no wonder we had to sit through a slew of derivative slasher flicks for the better part of the next decade.
Regardless of how silly you think it all is, this will have you scared witless by the time the end credits roll; low budget horror hog heaven.
One of the best horror films ever made. John Carpenter deserves a medal for his effective build-up of suspense, his knack for casting and his sensationally-scary Michael Myers!
John Carpenter's 1978 tour de force, perhaps the most widely imitated film of the 70s.
One of the more successful indie forays into the slasher/horror film genre.
Perhaps not quite so resonant as Psycho to which it pays due homage, but it breathes the same air.
The film hits us at a level deeper than most slasher films, and even as we are entertained by it, we are drawn in by its powerful suspense and implications.
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 24% 24% | G-Force |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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