Customer Reviews:
The Best damn horror film of all time.......2008-02-03
This may be very cheap looking but very exciting and scary and the best Horror movie i ever saw in my life. I can't really describe this very well but the only word for it is awsum! so if your a horror fan than it will be money worth spent
A start to a great series.......2007-11-06
A good, suspenceful movie that spawned one of the most popular and long lived slasher series ever.
When he was only six years old, Micheal Myers killed his sister with a large butcher knife. He spent the next fifteen years in a mental institution, where his therapist spent eight years trying to cure him before realiseing that he was "pure evil" and spent the next seven years making sure that he stayed locked away for life. But on October 31st 1978, Micheal Myers escaped, hellbent on a murder spree, climaxing in the one-by-one murders of Lorrie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends.
Althought it is not very violent (and not bloody at all) and the death scenes are quite tame by todays standards, Halloween is still a scary movie (made even creepier by the chilling musical score) and one of the first in the slasher genre. Deffinatly worth a watch, the start of a great series.
A POSTMODERN MASTERPIECE.......2007-10-11
This film bowls me over with sheer technical mastery every time i see it, it is a quiet lesson in controlled hysteria that is as tight and uncompromising as its eerie three note soundtrack.
The plot here is basic: Michael Myers escapes from a mental institute after killing his sister to pursue the bookish Laurie Strode and her school friends on Halloween. Simple enough! But sub-plotted within this "no-brainer" script are questions about suburban white picket fence assurance and promiscuous behavior that raises it firmly above B-movie status, sometimes feeling like a precursor to the shock tactics deployed in the AIDS infomercials of the eighties (sex=death, it's only the virgin that survives, an original concept at the time which has since become generic to the genre).
The acting from Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasanse is unforced and the pace is masterful but what really sets this shoestring budget film above others is the voyeuristic use of the steady cam which leads us into dark claustrophobic spaces and into the mind of someone we'd rather not know. Halloween really works best when you use your imagination, i.e its not what you see, it's what you don't see, and so the viewers "take-away" experiences from the film sometimes differ vastly.
This film is minimalistic, cold, silent and creepy. It wont appeal to gore freaks, its more subtle and intelligent than that, but it does have an unyielding sense of subjectivity that forces the viewer to either become the stalker or the stalked.
A true classic.
THE PERSONIFICATION OF BORINGNESS.......2007-09-30
I'm surprised that this film is so highly rated and applauded. The film is not genuinely scary and leaves much to be desired. The film feels like a high scholl project. The camera angles are awkward and annoying, lacking any feeling of claustrophobia. As for the score, it is very repetitive and in my opinion reminiscent of Englebert Humperdinck's 'I'm a better man' track. The film feels cheap and I felt cheated watching it, after 30 minutes i was bored, but I kept watching because i've heard so many amazing reviews of the film, personally the end titles provided more enjoyment than the entire movie. It is a shame to see Donald Pleasance being under used in this appalling film. Finally I do wonder why the film still has an 18 certificate, the scenes of violence aren't explicit it enough to warrent this certificate.
Some of the people who knock at my door on Halloween are more frightning!
DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE TO BUY THIS FILM, IF YOU MUST SEE IT WAIT FOR IT TO BE SHOWN ON TELEVISION (I THINK THE BBC SHOW IT YEARLY)
THE PERSONIFICATION OF FEAR.......2007-09-05
I have just recently been through a stage where I wanted to see why it is that horror films of the 90's can't hold a candle to 70's and 80's horror films. I have been very public in this forum about the vileness of films like The Haunting and Urban Legend and such. I feel that they (and others like them) don't know what true horror is. And it bothered me to the point where it made me go to my local video store and rent some of the classic horror films. I already own all the Friday's so I rented The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the original Nightmare On Elm Street, Jaws, The Exorcist, Angel Heart, The Exorcist and Halloween. Now the other films are classics in their own right but it is here that I want to tell you about Halloween. Because what Halloween does is perhaps something no other film in the history of horror film can do, and that is it uses subtle techniques, techniques that don't rely on blood and gore, and it uses these to scare the living daylights out of you. I was in a room by myself with the lights off and as silly as I knew it was, I wanted to look behind me to see if Michael Myers was there. No movie that I have seen in the last ten years has done that to me. No movie.
John Carpenter took a low budget film and he scared a generation of movie goers. He showed that you don't need budgets in the 8 or 9 figures to evoke fear on an audience. Because sometimes the best element of fear is not what actually happens, but what is about to happen. What was that shadow? What was that noise upstairs? He knows that these are the ways to scare someone and he uses every element of textbook horror that I think you can use. I even think he made up some of his own ideas and these should be ideas that people use today. But they don't. No one uses lighting and detail to provoke scares, they use special effects and rivers of blood. And it is just not the same. You can't be scared by a giant special effect that makes loud noises and jumps out of a wall. It's the moments when the killer is lurking, somewhere, you just don't know where, that scare you. And Halloween succeeds like no other film in this endeavor.
In 1963 a young Micael Myers kills his sister with a large butcher knife and then spends the next 15 years of his life, silently locked up in an institute. As Loomis ( his doctor) says to Sheriff Brackett, " I spent eight years trying to reach him and then another seven making sure that he never gets out, because what I saw behind those eyes was pure e-vil. " That sets up the manic and relentless idea of a killer that will stop at nothing to get what he wants. And all he wants here is to kill Laurie. No one know why he wants to kill her, but he does.( Halloween II continues the story quite well )
What Carpenter has done here is taken a haunting score, menacious lighting techniques and wrote and directed a tightly paced masterpiece of horror. There is one scene that has to be described. And that is the scene where Annie is on her way to pick up Paul. She goes to the car and tries to open it. Only then does she realize that she has left her keys in the house. She gets them, comes back out and inadvertently opens the car door without using the keys. The audience picks up on this but she doesn't. She is too busy thinking about Paul. When she sits down, she notices that the windows are fogged up. She is puzzled and starts to wipe away the mist, and then Myers strikes, from the back seat. This is such a great scene because it pays attention to detail. We know what is happening and Annie doesn't. But it's astute observations that Carpenter made that scared the hell out of movie goers in 1978 and beyond.
Halloween uses blurry images of a killer standing in the background, it has shadows ominously gliding across a wall, dark rooms, creepy and haunting music, a sinister story told hauntingly by Donald Pleasance and a menacing, relentless killer. My advice to film makers in our day and age is to study Halloween. It should be the blue print for what scary movies are all about. After all, Carpenter followed in Hitchcock's steps, maybe director's should follow in his.
Halloween personifies everything that scares us. If you are tired of all the mindless horror films that don't know the difference between evil and cuteness, then Halloween is a film that should be seen. It won't let you down. I enjoy being scared, I don't know why, but I do. But nothing has scared me in the 90's, except maybe one film ( Wes Craven's final Nightmare ). If you enjoy beings scared, then Halloween is one that you should see. And if you have already seen it a hundred times, go and watch it again, back to back with a film like Urban Legend. Urban Legend will have you enticed at all the pretty faces in the movie. Halloween will have you frozen with fear, stuck in your seat, not wanting to move. Now tell me, what horror film would you rather watch?
Amazon.co.uk Review
Halloween is as pure and undiluted as its title. In the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, a teenage baby sitter tries to survive a Halloween night of relentless terror, during which a knife-wielding maniac goes after the town's hormonally charged youths. Director John Carpenter takes this simple situation and orchestrates a superbly mounted symphony of horrors. It's a movie much scarier for its dark spaces and ominous camera movements than for its explicit bloodletting (which is actually minimal). Composed by Carpenter himself, the movie's freaky music sets the tone; and his script (cowritten with Debra Hill) is laced with references to other horror pictures, especially Psycho. The baby sitter is played by Jamie Lee Curtis, the real-life daughter of Psycho victim Janet Leigh; and the obsessed policeman played by Donald Pleasence is named Sam Loomis, after John Gavin's character in Psycho. In the end, though, Halloween stands on its own as an uncannily frightening experience--it's one of those movies that had audiences literally jumping out of their seats and shouting at the screen. ("No! Don't drop that knife!") Produced on a low budget, the picture turned a monster profit, and spawned many sequels, none of which approached the 1978 original. Curtis returned for two more instalments: 1981's dismal Halloween II, which picked up the story the day after the unfortunate events, and 1998's occasionally gripping Halloween H20, which proved the former baby sitter was still haunted after 20 years. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews:
set the standard for slashers. .......2008-01-06
"halloween" directed by john carpenter is a classic,ive seen it countless times & it never fails to impress.but now anchor bay have remastered this
classic on r1 ntsc & its an impressive transfer with a great sound remix.
this film earned jamie lee curtis the "scream queen " title as laurie strode.donald pleasance plays the haunted dr sam loomis ,blaming himself for maniac michael myers escape from the local looney bin. its groundbreaking stuff ,its amazing that carpenter wrote,directed & composed
the music! & yes its THAT music which keeps you on edge throughout.halloween has deservedly gained cult status & spawned many sequels,now rob zombie has remade this but it aint a patch on this original. every horror fan should own this!
Quick Reviews!.......2007-12-08
Whether or not you feel that, excluding Psycho, this was the first of its genre- it is definitely the most influential (for better or worse) and easily the most famous. John Carpenter's Halloween, like Romero's NOTD before it came out of low-budget nowhere land, and paralysed audiences around the world upon it's release, turning it's cast into stars and ensuring that horror movies would never be the same again. Almost thirty years on, even though horror movies have become much darker and more grotesque, this still stands at the top of the pile as a timeless, chilling and effective film which will have you reaching for the light switch, or knife, when you hear a creaking at the top of the stairs.
A boy who killed his sister many years ago escapes from his asylum, and from the care of Dr. Loomis, the only person who remotely understands him, and decides to go on a kill crazy rampage in the town he was born, seeking and killing his relatives, and any other fool who gets in his way. So begins the legacy of Michael Myers. The film follows Laurie, the virgin teenager and mother of all modern scream queens, dateless and forced to babysit on Halloween night as she tries to escape Myers.
While the plot is hardly outstanding, it is Carpenter's direction which makes this a classic. He knows how to create and build tension, to get the most from his cast, and for any wannabe directors this is essential viewing, as it was all done on a low budget. Employing original camera angles, effective use of the hand-held, and a memorable score all help create an atmosphere that most modern horror movies cannot reach. Everything in this movie is designed around ensuring that the tension is unrelenting. This was also one of the first 'modern' movies that showed youth that the world was not as safe as they had been led to believe, that our parents are not as reliable or trustworthy as we thought. The scene where Laurie is turned away from a neighbors house by a simple flick of a light switch underlines this. Suburbia is not sanctuary, and sometimes we can only rely on ourselves. However, it is when Laurie is pushed, that her strong character and instinct to survive and protectc comes out.
Jamie Lee Curtis is of course outstanding in her role, but the supporting cast are all strong. Pleasance creates a legend opposite to Myers with only a few scenes and not much dialogue, and Loomis and Cyphers in smaller roles are effective as always. The film seems ageless even now, looking past the hair and fashion largely because the themes of being threatened and scared by an unseen force, and being held under seige by the same force when it presents itself are still relevant today. Something as simple as Myers peaking out from behind a bush can still send shivers, and yet there is a beauty in the cinematography- like Assault On Precinct 13, sunsets lend a reflective, emotive force, but it is after the sun has set that the fun really begins.
This 2 disc edition is a must for all horror fans, with lots of extra features which compliment the film.
Death has come to your little town.......2007-08-11
Once Halloween was Samhain, the one night of the year when the dead returned to cause trouble for the living.
Well, Michael Myers wasn't dead, but on "Halloween" he returned to cause trouble for the people of his hometown, with all its dark houses and teenage victims. And John Carpenter's masterpiece lives up to its reputation: creepy, eerie, harrowing, and full of solid acting from Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis.
On Halloween, 1963, young Michael Myers lurked outside the house while his sister had sex with her boyfriend. After he left, Michael put on a mask, picked up a knife, and stabbed his sister to death.
Fifteen years later, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is about to take Myers to a legal hearing, when Myers (Nick Castle) breaks open the psych hospital and escapes in Loomis' car. On Halloween, teenage Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) notices a silent, masked figure popping up and disappearing near her school, house, and neighborhood.
Despite this, she goes about her babysitting duties, even taking care of another girl's charge overnight. The only problem is, the girl is dead, and so is another pal and her boyfriend. Dr. Loomis is staking out Myers' old home, unaware that Myers is now prowling the house where Laurie is staying -- and there seems to be no way to avoid the knife-wielding "evil."
It sounds like a thousand knockoff movies made since then, but "Halloween" formed the original mold. And like any other groundbreaker, it is the most stripped-down, intense example of the genre -- little gore, little graphic violence, but the way it's handled is enough to make your hair stand on end, and make you go to bed with a gun under your pillow.
And Carpenter handles the spookiness beautifully -- initially, the story is pleasantly average -- teen gossip, small-town atmosphere, and chatter about boyfriends, dances and babysitting. It has the occasional spooky moment -- such as Myers popping out of a hedge to stare at Laurie -- but isn't really scary just yet. But as Myers starts bumping off teenagers, the plot darkens and twists.
Carpenter spins up a claustrophobic, trapped feeling, partly due to a shadowy old house full of windows and doors, any of which could be Myers' way in. You can't help but jump with every shadow. And Carpenter sprinkles the plot with unspeakably creepy moments -- Myers quietly slithering in a window above Laurie, or dressing as a ghost with only his heavy breathing to identify him.
Curtis was the original scream queen thanks to this movie, and she does an amazing job -- even when she's racing around pounding on doors and shrieking, she seems realistic. Pleasance is just as good as Loomis, who is determined and full of dread at what his patient is, but also has his moments of humour (like when he frightens some pranksters at the Myers house). And though we only see Myers' face a few times, his masked face, silent movements and heavy breathing are the stuff of nightmare.
"Halloween" was a more psychological, atmospheric kind of horror, and it did its job almost too well. The original slasher movie -- harrowing, eerie, and petrifying.
Are you afraid of the bogeyman.......2007-07-04
What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said before. I am going to say it anyway, this is as scary if not the scariest film I have ever seen and I don't think I will ever see a scarier one ever again. Having grown up with horror movies, I first saw this as a kid in the early 80's and it genuinely terrified me, and that was with the lights on. If I had watched this alone with the lights off then I really don't know how I would have got through it. I have seen it so many times since then that it will never be as scary as is was then although just as enjoyable, but on first viewing the music, that opening scene, the camera work that floats slowly around the empty neighborhood and especially that breathing from a Michael Myers point of view and yet like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (also one of my scariest) it barely has if any blood and guts.
I also love as with all John Carpenter's early horror films the timing of each murder, it is timed to perfection. It all starts off with Michael Myers just creeping around the ghost like town neighborhood deliberately unsettling Jamie Lee Curtis and making her completely paranoid, but when it really gets going its non stop until the end.
I was a little sad to hear of the death of Debra Hill who died of cancer (she played a big part in making this film alongside John Carpenter) in 2005, she was only 54. For those of you that don't already know, she also played a bit part in this film, the opening scene as young Michael Myers when he takes his mask off and takes the knife out of the kitchen was her hands, she also worked with John Carpenter on some of his other films for example another one of my favourites, The Fog, RIP Debra Hill.
There are just a few things that are ridiculous about this film for example, when Michael Myers is hanging around outside a school in a William Shatner mask, surely somebody would report it and also the fact that he is one of the smoothest drivers I have ever seen for somebody who hasn't even had any driving lessons and especially driving with that William Shatner mask on. But these are just silly criticisms, and anyway the fact that nobody seems to notice him just make it all the more creepy.
The most important thing is that as a horror film it is made to be scary and this most certainly is just that.
If anyone is the bogeyman, it is surely Michael Myers.......2007-07-04
What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said before. I am going to say it anyway, this is as scary if not the scariest film I have ever seen and I don't think I will ever see a scarier one ever again. Having grown up with horror movies, I first saw this as a kid in the early 80's and it genuinely terrified me, and that was with the lights on. If I had watched this alone with the lights off then I really don't know how I would have got through it. I have seen it so many times since then that it will never be as scary as is was then although just as enjoyable, but on first viewing the music, that opening scene, the camera work that floats slowly around the empty neighborhood and especially that breathing from a Michael Myers point of view and yet like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (also one of my scariest) it barely has if any blood and guts.
I also love as with all John Carpenter's early horror films the timing of each murder, it is timed to perfection. It all starts off with Michael Myers just creeping around the ghost like town neighborhood deliberately unsettling Jamie Lee Curtis and making her completely paranoid, but when it really gets going its non stop until the end.
I was a little sad to hear of the death of Debra Hill who died of cancer (she played a big part in making this film alongside John Carpenter) in 2005, she was only 54. For those of you that don't already know, she also played a bit part in this film, the opening scene as young Michael Myers when he takes his mask off and takes the knife out of the kitchen was her hands, she also worked with John Carpenter on some of his other films for example another one of my favourites, The Fog, RIP Debra Hill.
There are just a few things that are ridiculous about this film for example, when Michael Myers is hanging around outside a school in a William Shatner mask, surely somebody would report it and also the fact that he is one of the smoothest drivers I have ever seen for somebody who hasn't even had any driving lessons and especially driving with that William Shatner mask on. But these are just silly criticisms, and anyway the fact that nobody seems to notice him just make it all the more creepy.
The most important thing is that as a horror film it is made to be scary and this most certainly is just that.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Halloween is as pure and undiluted as its title. In the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, a teenage baby sitter tries to survive a Halloween night of relentless terror, during which a knife-wielding maniac goes after the town's hormonally charged youths. Director John Carpenter takes this simple situation and orchestrates a superbly mounted symphony of horrors. It's a movie much scarier for its dark spaces and ominous camera movements than for its explicit bloodletting (which is actually minimal). Composed by Carpenter himself, the movie's freaky music sets the tone; and his script (cowritten with Debra Hill) is laced with references to other horror pictures, especially Psycho. The baby sitter is played by Jamie Lee Curtis, the real-life daughter of Psycho victim Janet Leigh; and the obsessed policeman played by Donald Pleasence is named Sam Loomis, after John Gavin's character in Psycho. In the end, though, Halloween stands on its own as an uncannily frightening experience--it's one of those movies that had audiences literally jumping out of their seats and shouting at the screen. ("No! Don't drop that knife!") Produced on a low budget, the picture turned a monster profit, and spawned many sequels, none of which approached the 1978 original. Curtis returned for two more instalments: 1981's dismal Halloween II, which picked up the story the day after the unfortunate events, and 1998's occasionally gripping Halloween H20, which proved the former baby sitter was still haunted after 20 years. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews:
set the standard for slashers. .......2008-01-06
"halloween" directed by john carpenter is a classic,ive seen it countless times & it never fails to impress.but now anchor bay have remastered this
classic on r1 ntsc & its an impressive transfer with a great sound remix.
this film earned jamie lee curtis the "scream queen " title as laurie strode.donald pleasance plays the haunted dr sam loomis ,blaming himself for maniac michael myers escape from the local looney bin. its groundbreaking stuff ,its amazing that carpenter wrote,directed & composed
the music! & yes its THAT music which keeps you on edge throughout.halloween has deservedly gained cult status & spawned many sequels,now rob zombie has remade this but it aint a patch on this original. every horror fan should own this!
Quick Reviews!.......2007-12-08
Whether or not you feel that, excluding Psycho, this was the first of its genre- it is definitely the most influential (for better or worse) and easily the most famous. John Carpenter's Halloween, like Romero's NOTD before it came out of low-budget nowhere land, and paralysed audiences around the world upon it's release, turning it's cast into stars and ensuring that horror movies would never be the same again. Almost thirty years on, even though horror movies have become much darker and more grotesque, this still stands at the top of the pile as a timeless, chilling and effective film which will have you reaching for the light switch, or knife, when you hear a creaking at the top of the stairs.
A boy who killed his sister many years ago escapes from his asylum, and from the care of Dr. Loomis, the only person who remotely understands him, and decides to go on a kill crazy rampage in the town he was born, seeking and killing his relatives, and any other fool who gets in his way. So begins the legacy of Michael Myers. The film follows Laurie, the virgin teenager and mother of all modern scream queens, dateless and forced to babysit on Halloween night as she tries to escape Myers.
While the plot is hardly outstanding, it is Carpenter's direction which makes this a classic. He knows how to create and build tension, to get the most from his cast, and for any wannabe directors this is essential viewing, as it was all done on a low budget. Employing original camera angles, effective use of the hand-held, and a memorable score all help create an atmosphere that most modern horror movies cannot reach. Everything in this movie is designed around ensuring that the tension is unrelenting. This was also one of the first 'modern' movies that showed youth that the world was not as safe as they had been led to believe, that our parents are not as reliable or trustworthy as we thought. The scene where Laurie is turned away from a neighbors house by a simple flick of a light switch underlines this. Suburbia is not sanctuary, and sometimes we can only rely on ourselves. However, it is when Laurie is pushed, that her strong character and instinct to survive and protectc comes out.
Jamie Lee Curtis is of course outstanding in her role, but the supporting cast are all strong. Pleasance creates a legend opposite to Myers with only a few scenes and not much dialogue, and Loomis and Cyphers in smaller roles are effective as always. The film seems ageless even now, looking past the hair and fashion largely because the themes of being threatened and scared by an unseen force, and being held under seige by the same force when it presents itself are still relevant today. Something as simple as Myers peaking out from behind a bush can still send shivers, and yet there is a beauty in the cinematography- like Assault On Precinct 13, sunsets lend a reflective, emotive force, but it is after the sun has set that the fun really begins.
This 2 disc edition is a must for all horror fans, with lots of extra features which compliment the film.
Death has come to your little town.......2007-08-11
Once Halloween was Samhain, the one night of the year when the dead returned to cause trouble for the living.
Well, Michael Myers wasn't dead, but on "Halloween" he returned to cause trouble for the people of his hometown, with all its dark houses and teenage victims. And John Carpenter's masterpiece lives up to its reputation: creepy, eerie, harrowing, and full of solid acting from Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis.
On Halloween, 1963, young Michael Myers lurked outside the house while his sister had sex with her boyfriend. After he left, Michael put on a mask, picked up a knife, and stabbed his sister to death.
Fifteen years later, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is about to take Myers to a legal hearing, when Myers (Nick Castle) breaks open the psych hospital and escapes in Loomis' car. On Halloween, teenage Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) notices a silent, masked figure popping up and disappearing near her school, house, and neighborhood.
Despite this, she goes about her babysitting duties, even taking care of another girl's charge overnight. The only problem is, the girl is dead, and so is another pal and her boyfriend. Dr. Loomis is staking out Myers' old home, unaware that Myers is now prowling the house where Laurie is staying -- and there seems to be no way to avoid the knife-wielding "evil."
It sounds like a thousand knockoff movies made since then, but "Halloween" formed the original mold. And like any other groundbreaker, it is the most stripped-down, intense example of the genre -- little gore, little graphic violence, but the way it's handled is enough to make your hair stand on end, and make you go to bed with a gun under your pillow.
And Carpenter handles the spookiness beautifully -- initially, the story is pleasantly average -- teen gossip, small-town atmosphere, and chatter about boyfriends, dances and babysitting. It has the occasional spooky moment -- such as Myers popping out of a hedge to stare at Laurie -- but isn't really scary just yet. But as Myers starts bumping off teenagers, the plot darkens and twists.
Carpenter spins up a claustrophobic, trapped feeling, partly due to a shadowy old house full of windows and doors, any of which could be Myers' way in. You can't help but jump with every shadow. And Carpenter sprinkles the plot with unspeakably creepy moments -- Myers quietly slithering in a window above Laurie, or dressing as a ghost with only his heavy breathing to identify him.
Curtis was the original scream queen thanks to this movie, and she does an amazing job -- even when she's racing around pounding on doors and shrieking, she seems realistic. Pleasance is just as good as Loomis, who is determined and full of dread at what his patient is, but also has his moments of humour (like when he frightens some pranksters at the Myers house). And though we only see Myers' face a few times, his masked face, silent movements and heavy breathing are the stuff of nightmare.
"Halloween" was a more psychological, atmospheric kind of horror, and it did its job almost too well. The original slasher movie -- harrowing, eerie, and petrifying.
Are you afraid of the bogeyman.......2007-07-04
What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said before. I am going to say it anyway, this is as scary if not the scariest film I have ever seen and I don't think I will ever see a scarier one ever again. Having grown up with horror movies, I first saw this as a kid in the early 80's and it genuinely terrified me, and that was with the lights on. If I had watched this alone with the lights off then I really don't know how I would have got through it. I have seen it so many times since then that it will never be as scary as is was then although just as enjoyable, but on first viewing the music, that opening scene, the camera work that floats slowly around the empty neighborhood and especially that breathing from a Michael Myers point of view and yet like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (also one of my scariest) it barely has if any blood and guts.
I also love as with all John Carpenter's early horror films the timing of each murder, it is timed to perfection. It all starts off with Michael Myers just creeping around the ghost like town neighborhood deliberately unsettling Jamie Lee Curtis and making her completely paranoid, but when it really gets going its non stop until the end.
I was a little sad to hear of the death of Debra Hill who died of cancer (she played a big part in making this film alongside John Carpenter) in 2005, she was only 54. For those of you that don't already know, she also played a bit part in this film, the opening scene as young Michael Myers when he takes his mask off and takes the knife out of the kitchen was her hands, she also worked with John Carpenter on some of his other films for example another one of my favourites, The Fog, RIP Debra Hill.
There are just a few things that are ridiculous about this film for example, when Michael Myers is hanging around outside a school in a William Shatner mask, surely somebody would report it and also the fact that he is one of the smoothest drivers I have ever seen for somebody who hasn't even had any driving lessons and especially driving with that William Shatner mask on. But these are just silly criticisms, and anyway the fact that nobody seems to notice him just make it all the more creepy.
The most important thing is that as a horror film it is made to be scary and this most certainly is just that.
If anyone is the bogeyman, it is surely Michael Myers.......2007-07-04
What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said before. I am going to say it anyway, this is as scary if not the scariest film I have ever seen and I don't think I will ever see a scarier one ever again. Having grown up with horror movies, I first saw this as a kid in the early 80's and it genuinely terrified me, and that was with the lights on. If I had watched this alone with the lights off then I really don't know how I would have got through it. I have seen it so many times since then that it will never be as scary as is was then although just as enjoyable, but on first viewing the music, that opening scene, the camera work that floats slowly around the empty neighborhood and especially that breathing from a Michael Myers point of view and yet like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (also one of my scariest) it barely has if any blood and guts.
I also love as with all John Carpenter's early horror films the timing of each murder, it is timed to perfection. It all starts off with Michael Myers just creeping around the ghost like town neighborhood deliberately unsettling Jamie Lee Curtis and making her completely paranoid, but when it really gets going its non stop until the end.
I was a little sad to hear of the death of Debra Hill who died of cancer (she played a big part in making this film alongside John Carpenter) in 2005, she was only 54. For those of you that don't already know, she also played a bit part in this film, the opening scene as young Michael Myers when he takes his mask off and takes the knife out of the kitchen was her hands, she also worked with John Carpenter on some of his other films for example another one of my favourites, The Fog, RIP Debra Hill.
There are just a few things that are ridiculous about this film for example, when Michael Myers is hanging around outside a school in a William Shatner mask, surely somebody would report it and also the fact that he is one of the smoothest drivers I have ever seen for somebody who hasn't even had any driving lessons and especially driving with that William Shatner mask on. But these are just silly criticisms, and anyway the fact that nobody seems to notice him just make it all the more creepy.
The most important thing is that as a horror film it is made to be scary and this most certainly is just that.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Halloween is as pure and undiluted as its title. In the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, a teenage baby sitter tries to survive a Halloween night of relentless terror, during which a knife-wielding maniac goes after the town's hormonally charged youths. Director John Carpenter takes this simple situation and orchestrates a superbly mounted symphony of horrors. It's a movie much scarier for its dark spaces and ominous camera movements than for its explicit bloodletting (which is actually minimal). Composed by Carpenter himself, the movie's freaky music sets the tone; and his script (cowritten with Debra Hill) is laced with references to other horror pictures, especially Psycho. The baby sitter is played by Jamie Lee Curtis, the real-life daughter of Psycho victim Janet Leigh; and the obsessed policeman played by Donald Pleasence is named Sam Loomis, after John Gavin's character in Psycho. In the end, though, Halloween stands on its own as an uncannily frightening experience--it's one of those movies that had audiences literally jumping out of their seats and shouting at the screen. ("No! Don't drop that knife!") Produced on a low budget, the picture turned a monster profit, and spawned many sequels, none of which approached the 1978 original. Curtis returned for two more instalments: 1981's dismal Halloween II, which picked up the story the day after the unfortunate events, and 1998's occasionally gripping Halloween H20, which proved the former baby sitter was still haunted after 20 years. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews:
set the standard for slashers. .......2008-01-06
"halloween" directed by john carpenter is a classic,ive seen it countless times & it never fails to impress.but now anchor bay have remastered this
classic on r1 ntsc & its an impressive transfer with a great sound remix.
this film earned jamie lee curtis the "scream queen " title as laurie strode.donald pleasance plays the haunted dr sam loomis ,blaming himself for maniac michael myers escape from the local looney bin. its groundbreaking stuff ,its amazing that carpenter wrote,directed & composed
the music! & yes its THAT music which keeps you on edge throughout.halloween has deservedly gained cult status & spawned many sequels,now rob zombie has remade this but it aint a patch on this original. every horror fan should own this!
Quick Reviews!.......2007-12-08
Whether or not you feel that, excluding Psycho, this was the first of its genre- it is definitely the most influential (for better or worse) and easily the most famous. John Carpenter's Halloween, like Romero's NOTD before it came out of low-budget nowhere land, and paralysed audiences around the world upon it's release, turning it's cast into stars and ensuring that horror movies would never be the same again. Almost thirty years on, even though horror movies have become much darker and more grotesque, this still stands at the top of the pile as a timeless, chilling and effective film which will have you reaching for the light switch, or knife, when you hear a creaking at the top of the stairs.
A boy who killed his sister many years ago escapes from his asylum, and from the care of Dr. Loomis, the only person who remotely understands him, and decides to go on a kill crazy rampage in the town he was born, seeking and killing his relatives, and any other fool who gets in his way. So begins the legacy of Michael Myers. The film follows Laurie, the virgin teenager and mother of all modern scream queens, dateless and forced to babysit on Halloween night as she tries to escape Myers.
While the plot is hardly outstanding, it is Carpenter's direction which makes this a classic. He knows how to create and build tension, to get the most from his cast, and for any wannabe directors this is essential viewing, as it was all done on a low budget. Employing original camera angles, effective use of the hand-held, and a memorable score all help create an atmosphere that most modern horror movies cannot reach. Everything in this movie is designed around ensuring that the tension is unrelenting. This was also one of the first 'modern' movies that showed youth that the world was not as safe as they had been led to believe, that our parents are not as reliable or trustworthy as we thought. The scene where Laurie is turned away from a neighbors house by a simple flick of a light switch underlines this. Suburbia is not sanctuary, and sometimes we can only rely on ourselves. However, it is when Laurie is pushed, that her strong character and instinct to survive and protectc comes out.
Jamie Lee Curtis is of course outstanding in her role, but the supporting cast are all strong. Pleasance creates a legend opposite to Myers with only a few scenes and not much dialogue, and Loomis and Cyphers in smaller roles are effective as always. The film seems ageless even now, looking past the hair and fashion largely because the themes of being threatened and scared by an unseen force, and being held under seige by the same force when it presents itself are still relevant today. Something as simple as Myers peaking out from behind a bush can still send shivers, and yet there is a beauty in the cinematography- like Assault On Precinct 13, sunsets lend a reflective, emotive force, but it is after the sun has set that the fun really begins.
This 2 disc edition is a must for all horror fans, with lots of extra features which compliment the film.
Death has come to your little town.......2007-08-11
Once Halloween was Samhain, the one night of the year when the dead returned to cause trouble for the living.
Well, Michael Myers wasn't dead, but on "Halloween" he returned to cause trouble for the people of his hometown, with all its dark houses and teenage victims. And John Carpenter's masterpiece lives up to its reputation: creepy, eerie, harrowing, and full of solid acting from Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis.
On Halloween, 1963, young Michael Myers lurked outside the house while his sister had sex with her boyfriend. After he left, Michael put on a mask, picked up a knife, and stabbed his sister to death.
Fifteen years later, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is about to take Myers to a legal hearing, when Myers (Nick Castle) breaks open the psych hospital and escapes in Loomis' car. On Halloween, teenage Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) notices a silent, masked figure popping up and disappearing near her school, house, and neighborhood.
Despite this, she goes about her babysitting duties, even taking care of another girl's charge overnight. The only problem is, the girl is dead, and so is another pal and her boyfriend. Dr. Loomis is staking out Myers' old home, unaware that Myers is now prowling the house where Laurie is staying -- and there seems to be no way to avoid the knife-wielding "evil."
It sounds like a thousand knockoff movies made since then, but "Halloween" formed the original mold. And like any other groundbreaker, it is the most stripped-down, intense example of the genre -- little gore, little graphic violence, but the way it's handled is enough to make your hair stand on end, and make you go to bed with a gun under your pillow.
And Carpenter handles the spookiness beautifully -- initially, the story is pleasantly average -- teen gossip, small-town atmosphere, and chatter about boyfriends, dances and babysitting. It has the occasional spooky moment -- such as Myers popping out of a hedge to stare at Laurie -- but isn't really scary just yet. But as Myers starts bumping off teenagers, the plot darkens and twists.
Carpenter spins up a claustrophobic, trapped feeling, partly due to a shadowy old house full of windows and doors, any of which could be Myers' way in. You can't help but jump with every shadow. And Carpenter sprinkles the plot with unspeakably creepy moments -- Myers quietly slithering in a window above Laurie, or dressing as a ghost with only his heavy breathing to identify him.
Curtis was the original scream queen thanks to this movie, and she does an amazing job -- even when she's racing around pounding on doors and shrieking, she seems realistic. Pleasance is just as good as Loomis, who is determined and full of dread at what his patient is, but also has his moments of humour (like when he frightens some pranksters at the Myers house). And though we only see Myers' face a few times, his masked face, silent movements and heavy breathing are the stuff of nightmare.
"Halloween" was a more psychological, atmospheric kind of horror, and it did its job almost too well. The original slasher movie -- harrowing, eerie, and petrifying.
Are you afraid of the bogeyman.......2007-07-04
What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said before. I am going to say it anyway, this is as scary if not the scariest film I have ever seen and I don't think I will ever see a scarier one ever again. Having grown up with horror movies, I first saw this as a kid in the early 80's and it genuinely terrified me, and that was with the lights on. If I had watched this alone with the lights off then I really don't know how I would have got through it. I have seen it so many times since then that it will never be as scary as is was then although just as enjoyable, but on first viewing the music, that opening scene, the camera work that floats slowly around the empty neighborhood and especially that breathing from a Michael Myers point of view and yet like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (also one of my scariest) it barely has if any blood and guts.
I also love as with all John Carpenter's early horror films the timing of each murder, it is timed to perfection. It all starts off with Michael Myers just creeping around the ghost like town neighborhood deliberately unsettling Jamie Lee Curtis and making her completely paranoid, but when it really gets going its non stop until the end.
I was a little sad to hear of the death of Debra Hill who died of cancer (she played a big part in making this film alongside John Carpenter) in 2005, she was only 54. For those of you that don't already know, she also played a bit part in this film, the opening scene as young Michael Myers when he takes his mask off and takes the knife out of the kitchen was her hands, she also worked with John Carpenter on some of his other films for example another one of my favourites, The Fog, RIP Debra Hill.
There are just a few things that are ridiculous about this film for example, when Michael Myers is hanging around outside a school in a William Shatner mask, surely somebody would report it and also the fact that he is one of the smoothest drivers I have ever seen for somebody who hasn't even had any driving lessons and especially driving with that William Shatner mask on. But these are just silly criticisms, and anyway the fact that nobody seems to notice him just make it all the more creepy.
The most important thing is that as a horror film it is made to be scary and this most certainly is just that.
If anyone is the bogeyman, it is surely Michael Myers.......2007-07-04
What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said before. I am going to say it anyway, this is as scary if not the scariest film I have ever seen and I don't think I will ever see a scarier one ever again. Having grown up with horror movies, I first saw this as a kid in the early 80's and it genuinely terrified me, and that was with the lights on. If I had watched this alone with the lights off then I really don't know how I would have got through it. I have seen it so many times since then that it will never be as scary as is was then although just as enjoyable, but on first viewing the music, that opening scene, the camera work that floats slowly around the empty neighborhood and especially that breathing from a Michael Myers point of view and yet like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (also one of my scariest) it barely has if any blood and guts.
I also love as with all John Carpenter's early horror films the timing of each murder, it is timed to perfection. It all starts off with Michael Myers just creeping around the ghost like town neighborhood deliberately unsettling Jamie Lee Curtis and making her completely paranoid, but when it really gets going its non stop until the end.
I was a little sad to hear of the death of Debra Hill who died of cancer (she played a big part in making this film alongside John Carpenter) in 2005, she was only 54. For those of you that don't already know, she also played a bit part in this film, the opening scene as young Michael Myers when he takes his mask off and takes the knife out of the kitchen was her hands, she also worked with John Carpenter on some of his other films for example another one of my favourites, The Fog, RIP Debra Hill.
There are just a few things that are ridiculous about this film for example, when Michael Myers is hanging around outside a school in a William Shatner mask, surely somebody would report it and also the fact that he is one of the smoothest drivers I have ever seen for somebody who hasn't even had any driving lessons and especially driving with that William Shatner mask on. But these are just silly criticisms, and anyway the fact that nobody seems to notice him just make it all the more creepy.
The most important thing is that as a horror film it is made to be scary and this most certainly is just that.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Halloween is as pure and undiluted as its title. In the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, a teenage baby sitter tries to survive a Halloween night of relentless terror, during which a knife-wielding maniac goes after the town's hormonally charged youths. Director John Carpenter takes this simple situation and orchestrates a superbly mounted symphony of horrors. It's a movie much scarier for its dark spaces and ominous camera movements than for its explicit bloodletting (which is actually minimal). Composed by Carpenter himself, the movie's freaky music sets the tone; and his script (cowritten with Debra Hill) is laced with references to other horror pictures, especially Psycho. The baby sitter is played by Jamie Lee Curtis, the real-life daughter of Psycho victim Janet Leigh; and the obsessed policeman played by Donald Pleasence is named Sam Loomis, after John Gavin's character in Psycho. In the end, though, Halloween stands on its own as an uncannily frightening experience--it's one of those movies that had audiences literally jumping out of their seats and shouting at the screen. ("No! Don't drop that knife!") Produced on a low budget, the picture turned a monster profit, and spawned many sequels, none of which approached the 1978 original. Curtis returned for two more instalments: 1981's dismal Halloween II, which picked up the story the day after the unfortunate events, and 1998's occasionally gripping Halloween H20, which proved the former baby sitter was still haunted after 20 years. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews:
set the standard for slashers. .......2008-01-06
"halloween" directed by john carpenter is a classic,ive seen it countless times & it never fails to impress.but now anchor bay have remastered this
classic on r1 ntsc & its an impressive transfer with a great sound remix.
this film earned jamie lee curtis the "scream queen " title as laurie strode.donald pleasance plays the haunted dr sam loomis ,blaming himself for maniac michael myers escape from the local looney bin. its groundbreaking stuff ,its amazing that carpenter wrote,directed & composed
the music! & yes its THAT music which keeps you on edge throughout.halloween has deservedly gained cult status & spawned many sequels,now rob zombie has remade this but it aint a patch on this original. every horror fan should own this!
Quick Reviews!.......2007-12-08
Whether or not you feel that, excluding Psycho, this was the first of its genre- it is definitely the most influential (for better or worse) and easily the most famous. John Carpenter's Halloween, like Romero's NOTD before it came out of low-budget nowhere land, and paralysed audiences around the world upon it's release, turning it's cast into stars and ensuring that horror movies would never be the same again. Almost thirty years on, even though horror movies have become much darker and more grotesque, this still stands at the top of the pile as a timeless, chilling and effective film which will have you reaching for the light switch, or knife, when you hear a creaking at the top of the stairs.
A boy who killed his sister many years ago escapes from his asylum, and from the care of Dr. Loomis, the only person who remotely understands him, and decides to go on a kill crazy rampage in the town he was born, seeking and killing his relatives, and any other fool who gets in his way. So begins the legacy of Michael Myers. The film follows Laurie, the virgin teenager and mother of all modern scream queens, dateless and forced to babysit on Halloween night as she tries to escape Myers.
While the plot is hardly outstanding, it is Carpenter's direction which makes this a classic. He knows how to create and build tension, to get the most from his cast, and for any wannabe directors this is essential viewing, as it was all done on a low budget. Employing original camera angles, effective use of the hand-held, and a memorable score all help create an atmosphere that most modern horror movies cannot reach. Everything in this movie is designed around ensuring that the tension is unrelenting. This was also one of the first 'modern' movies that showed youth that the world was not as safe as they had been led to believe, that our parents are not as reliable or trustworthy as we thought. The scene where Laurie is turned away from a neighbors house by a simple flick of a light switch underlines this. Suburbia is not sanctuary, and sometimes we can only rely on ourselves. However, it is when Laurie is pushed, that her strong character and instinct to survive and protectc comes out.
Jamie Lee Curtis is of course outstanding in her role, but the supporting cast are all strong. Pleasance creates a legend opposite to Myers with only a few scenes and not much dialogue, and Loomis and Cyphers in smaller roles are effective as always. The film seems ageless even now, looking past the hair and fashion largely because the themes of being threatened and scared by an unseen force, and being held under seige by the same force when it presents itself are still relevant today. Something as simple as Myers peaking out from behind a bush can still send shivers, and yet there is a beauty in the cinematography- like Assault On Precinct 13, sunsets lend a reflective, emotive force, but it is after the sun has set that the fun really begins.
This 2 disc edition is a must for all horror fans, with lots of extra features which compliment the film.
Death has come to your little town.......2007-08-11
Once Halloween was Samhain, the one night of the year when the dead returned to cause trouble for the living.
Well, Michael Myers wasn't dead, but on "Halloween" he returned to cause trouble for the people of his hometown, with all its dark houses and teenage victims. And John Carpenter's masterpiece lives up to its reputation: creepy, eerie, harrowing, and full of solid acting from Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis.
On Halloween, 1963, young Michael Myers lurked outside the house while his sister had sex with her boyfriend. After he left, Michael put on a mask, picked up a knife, and stabbed his sister to death.
Fifteen years later, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is about to take Myers to a legal hearing, when Myers (Nick Castle) breaks open the psych hospital and escapes in Loomis' car. On Halloween, teenage Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) notices a silent, masked figure popping up and disappearing near her school, house, and neighborhood.
Despite this, she goes about her babysitting duties, even taking care of another girl's charge overnight. The only problem is, the girl is dead, and so is another pal and her boyfriend. Dr. Loomis is staking out Myers' old home, unaware that Myers is now prowling the house where Laurie is staying -- and there seems to be no way to avoid the knife-wielding "evil."
It sounds like a thousand knockoff movies made since then, but "Halloween" formed the original mold. And like any other groundbreaker, it is the most stripped-down, intense example of the genre -- little gore, little graphic violence, but the way it's handled is enough to make your hair stand on end, and make you go to bed with a gun under your pillow.
And Carpenter handles the spookiness beautifully -- initially, the story is pleasantly average -- teen gossip, small-town atmosphere, and chatter about boyfriends, dances and babysitting. It has the occasional spooky moment -- such as Myers popping out of a hedge to stare at Laurie -- but isn't really scary just yet. But as Myers starts bumping off teenagers, the plot darkens and twists.
Carpenter spins up a claustrophobic, trapped feeling, partly due to a shadowy old house full of windows and doors, any of which could be Myers' way in. You can't help but jump with every shadow. And Carpenter sprinkles the plot with unspeakably creepy moments -- Myers quietly slithering in a window above Laurie, or dressing as a ghost with only his heavy breathing to identify him.
Curtis was the original scream queen thanks to this movie, and she does an amazing job -- even when she's racing around pounding on doors and shrieking, she seems realistic. Pleasance is just as good as Loomis, who is determined and full of dread at what his patient is, but also has his moments of humour (like when he frightens some pranksters at the Myers house). And though we only see Myers' face a few times, his masked face, silent movements and heavy breathing are the stuff of nightmare.
"Halloween" was a more psychological, atmospheric kind of horror, and it did its job almost too well. The original slasher movie -- harrowing, eerie, and petrifying.
Are you afraid of the bogeyman.......2007-07-04
What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said before. I am going to say it anyway, this is as scary if not the scariest film I have ever seen and I don't think I will ever see a scarier one ever again. Having grown up with horror movies, I first saw this as a kid in the early 80's and it genuinely terrified me, and that was with the lights on. If I had watched this alone with the lights off then I really don't know how I would have got through it. I have seen it so many times since then that it will never be as scary as is was then although just as enjoyable, but on first viewing the music, that opening scene, the camera work that floats slowly around the empty neighborhood and especially that breathing from a Michael Myers point of view and yet like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (also one of my scariest) it barely has if any blood and guts.
I also love as with all John Carpenter's early horror films the timing of each murder, it is timed to perfection. It all starts off with Michael Myers just creeping around the ghost like town neighborhood deliberately unsettling Jamie Lee Curtis and making her completely paranoid, but when it really gets going its non stop until the end.
I was a little sad to hear of the death of Debra Hill who died of cancer (she played a big part in making this film alongside John Carpenter) in 2005, she was only 54. For those of you that don't already know, she also played a bit part in this film, the opening scene as young Michael Myers when he takes his mask off and takes the knife out of the kitchen was her hands, she also worked with John Carpenter on some of his other films for example another one of my favourites, The Fog, RIP Debra Hill.
There are just a few things that are ridiculous about this film for example, when Michael Myers is hanging around outside a school in a William Shatner mask, surely somebody would report it and also the fact that he is one of the smoothest drivers I have ever seen for somebody who hasn't even had any driving lessons and especially driving with that William Shatner mask on. But these are just silly criticisms, and anyway the fact that nobody seems to notice him just make it all the more creepy.
The most important thing is that as a horror film it is made to be scary and this most certainly is just that.
If anyone is the bogeyman, it is surely Michael Myers.......2007-07-04
What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said before. I am going to say it anyway, this is as scary if not the scariest film I have ever seen and I don't think I will ever see a scarier one ever again. Having grown up with horror movies, I first saw this as a kid in the early 80's and it genuinely terrified me, and that was with the lights on. If I had watched this alone with the lights off then I really don't know how I would have got through it. I have seen it so many times since then that it will never be as scary as is was then although just as enjoyable, but on first viewing the music, that opening scene, the camera work that floats slowly around the empty neighborhood and especially that breathing from a Michael Myers point of view and yet like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (also one of my scariest) it barely has if any blood and guts.
I also love as with all John Carpenter's early horror films the timing of each murder, it is timed to perfection. It all starts off with Michael Myers just creeping around the ghost like town neighborhood deliberately unsettling Jamie Lee Curtis and making her completely paranoid, but when it really gets going its non stop until the end.
I was a little sad to hear of the death of Debra Hill who died of cancer (she played a big part in making this film alongside John Carpenter) in 2005, she was only 54. For those of you that don't already know, she also played a bit part in this film, the opening scene as young Michael Myers when he takes his mask off and takes the knife out of the kitchen was her hands, she also worked with John Carpenter on some of his other films for example another one of my favourites, The Fog, RIP Debra Hill.
There are just a few things that are ridiculous about this film for example, when Michael Myers is hanging around outside a school in a William Shatner mask, surely somebody would report it and also the fact that he is one of the smoothest drivers I have ever seen for somebody who hasn't even had any driving lessons and especially driving with that William Shatner mask on. But these are just silly criticisms, and anyway the fact that nobody seems to notice him just make it all the more creepy.
The most important thing is that as a horror film it is made to be scary and this most certainly is just that.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Halloween is as pure and undiluted as its title. In the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, a teenage baby sitter tries to survive a Halloween night of relentless terror, during which a knife-wielding maniac goes after the town's hormonally charged youths. Director John Carpenter takes this simple situation and orchestrates a superbly mounted symphony of horrors. It's a movie much scarier for its dark spaces and ominous camera movements than for its explicit bloodletting (which is actually minimal). Composed by Carpenter himself, the movie's freaky music sets the tone; and his script (cowritten with Debra Hill) is laced with references to other horror pictures, especially Psycho. The baby sitter is played by Jamie Lee Curtis, the real-life daughter of Psycho victim Janet Leigh; and the obsessed policeman played by Donald Pleasence is named Sam Loomis, after John Gavin's character in Psycho. In the end, though, Halloween stands on its own as an uncannily frightening experience--it's one of those movies that had audiences literally jumping out of their seats and shouting at the screen. ("No! Don't drop that knife!") Produced on a low budget, the picture turned a monster profit, and spawned many sequels, none of which approached the 1978 original. Curtis returned for two more instalments: 1981's dismal Halloween II, which picked up the story the day after the unfortunate events, and 1998's occasionally gripping Halloween H20, which proved the former baby sitter was still haunted after 20 years. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews:
A CLASSIC SLASHER, NOW ON UMD !! !! !! !!.......2006-02-11
Halloween is one of the most famouse slashers (and horrors) ever made and was the film that put Jhon Carpenter in a celebrity status! The film was made with a very low budjet too, but had a decent story, surprisingly good acting, an unforgettably sound track and included one of the most well known horror icons of our time....Micheal Myres! (who is acted very well by Donald Pleasence!)
This film doesnt really include that much violence, infact i dont think there was a single drop of blood in the entire film! Although that didnt put me off, and it didnt put off thousands of fans!
A must buy for people who are into this type of film and own a PSP!!!!!!!!!!!!
Customer Reviews:
A good start.......2006-06-21
Micheal Myers went on to become an institution - the first of what was a two part story over the first night of halloween when Micheal came home to Haddonfield after 15 years sitting in a cell, glassy faced and blank. Supposedly dead to the world.
As a young boy he stabbed his sister - a deranged and callous act they have never found an explanation for.
It turns out he had another sibling and also wants her dead, why? He doesn't seem to need a reason at this point, all he needs to do is kill. Which he does with brutal passion.
A silent stalker - he doesn't speak. His strength is legendary, his doctor, the man who has watched him all these years has to try and stop him before many more die.
Stalk and slash - horny teenagers and babysitters are the targets while he tracks down his sister in order to complete the travesty he started years ago.
Enjoy it - there aren't many of this calibre, then get ready for Halloween 2, which shows the rest of what happened that fateful night.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Halloween is as pure and undiluted as its title. In the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, a teenage baby sitter tries to survive a Halloween night of relentless terror, during which a knife-wielding maniac goes after the town's hormonally charged youths. Director John Carpenter takes this simple situation and orchestrates a superbly mounted symphony of horrors. It's a movie much scarier for its dark spaces and ominous camera movements than for its explicit bloodletting (which is actually minimal). Composed by Carpenter himself, the movie's freaky music sets the tone; and his script (cowritten with Debra Hill) is laced with references to other horror pictures, especially Psycho. The baby sitter is played by Jamie Lee Curtis, the real-life daughter of Psycho victim Janet Leigh; and the obsessed policeman played by Donald Pleasence is named Sam Loomis, after John Gavin's character in Psycho. In the end, though, Halloween stands on its own as an uncannily frightening experience--it's one of those movies that had audiences literally jumping out of their seats and shouting at the screen. ("No! Don't drop that knife!") Produced on a low budget, the picture turned a monster profit, and spawned many sequels, none of which approached the 1978 original. Curtis returned for two more instalments: 1981's dismal Halloween II, which picked up the story the day after the unfortunate events, and 1998's occasionally gripping Halloween H20, which proved the former baby sitter was still haunted after 20 years. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews:
set the standard for slashers. .......2008-01-06
"halloween" directed by john carpenter is a classic,ive seen it countless times & it never fails to impress.but now anchor bay have remastered this
classic on r1 ntsc & its an impressive transfer with a great sound remix.
this film earned jamie lee curtis the "scream queen " title as laurie strode.donald pleasance plays the haunted dr sam loomis ,blaming himself for maniac michael myers escape from the local looney bin. its groundbreaking stuff ,its amazing that carpenter wrote,directed & composed
the music! & yes its THAT music which keeps you on edge throughout.halloween has deservedly gained cult status & spawned many sequels,now rob zombie has remade this but it aint a patch on this original. every horror fan should own this!
Quick Reviews!.......2007-12-08
Whether or not you feel that, excluding Psycho, this was the first of its genre- it is definitely the most influential (for better or worse) and easily the most famous. John Carpenter's Halloween, like Romero's NOTD before it came out of low-budget nowhere land, and paralysed audiences around the world upon it's release, turning it's cast into stars and ensuring that horror movies would never be the same again. Almost thirty years on, even though horror movies have become much darker and more grotesque, this still stands at the top of the pile as a timeless, chilling and effective film which will have you reaching for the light switch, or knife, when you hear a creaking at the top of the stairs.
A boy who killed his sister many years ago escapes from his asylum, and from the care of Dr. Loomis, the only person who remotely understands him, and decides to go on a kill crazy rampage in the town he was born, seeking and killing his relatives, and any other fool who gets in his way. So begins the legacy of Michael Myers. The film follows Laurie, the virgin teenager and mother of all modern scream queens, dateless and forced to babysit on Halloween night as she tries to escape Myers.
While the plot is hardly outstanding, it is Carpenter's direction which makes this a classic. He knows how to create and build tension, to get the most from his cast, and for any wannabe directors this is essential viewing, as it was all done on a low budget. Employing original camera angles, effective use of the hand-held, and a memorable score all help create an atmosphere that most modern horror movies cannot reach. Everything in this movie is designed around ensuring that the tension is unrelenting. This was also one of the first 'modern' movies that showed youth that the world was not as safe as they had been led to believe, that our parents are not as reliable or trustworthy as we thought. The scene where Laurie is turned away from a neighbors house by a simple flick of a light switch underlines this. Suburbia is not sanctuary, and sometimes we can only rely on ourselves. However, it is when Laurie is pushed, that her strong character and instinct to survive and protectc comes out.
Jamie Lee Curtis is of course outstanding in her role, but the supporting cast are all strong. Pleasance creates a legend opposite to Myers with only a few scenes and not much dialogue, and Loomis and Cyphers in smaller roles are effective as always. The film seems ageless even now, looking past the hair and fashion largely because the themes of being threatened and scared by an unseen force, and being held under seige by the same force when it presents itself are still relevant today. Something as simple as Myers peaking out from behind a bush can still send shivers, and yet there is a beauty in the cinematography- like Assault On Precinct 13, sunsets lend a reflective, emotive force, but it is after the sun has set that the fun really begins.
This 2 disc edition is a must for all horror fans, with lots of extra features which compliment the film.
Death has come to your little town.......2007-08-11
Once Halloween was Samhain, the one night of the year when the dead returned to cause trouble for the living.
Well, Michael Myers wasn't dead, but on "Halloween" he returned to cause trouble for the people of his hometown, with all its dark houses and teenage victims. And John Carpenter's masterpiece lives up to its reputation: creepy, eerie, harrowing, and full of solid acting from Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis.
On Halloween, 1963, young Michael Myers lurked outside the house while his sister had sex with her boyfriend. After he left, Michael put on a mask, picked up a knife, and stabbed his sister to death.
Fifteen years later, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is about to take Myers to a legal hearing, when Myers (Nick Castle) breaks open the psych hospital and escapes in Loomis' car. On Halloween, teenage Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) notices a silent, masked figure popping up and disappearing near her school, house, and neighborhood.
Despite this, she goes about her babysitting duties, even taking care of another girl's charge overnight. The only problem is, the girl is dead, and so is another pal and her boyfriend. Dr. Loomis is staking out Myers' old home, unaware that Myers is now prowling the house where Laurie is staying -- and there seems to be no way to avoid the knife-wielding "evil."
It sounds like a thousand knockoff movies made since then, but "Halloween" formed the original mold. And like any other groundbreaker, it is the most stripped-down, intense example of the genre -- little gore, little graphic violence, but the way it's handled is enough to make your hair stand on end, and make you go to bed with a gun under your pillow.
And Carpenter handles the spookiness beautifully -- initially, the story is pleasantly average -- teen gossip, small-town atmosphere, and chatter about boyfriends, dances and babysitting. It has the occasional spooky moment -- such as Myers popping out of a hedge to stare at Laurie -- but isn't really scary just yet. But as Myers starts bumping off teenagers, the plot darkens and twists.
Carpenter spins up a claustrophobic, trapped feeling, partly due to a shadowy old house full of windows and doors, any of which could be Myers' way in. You can't help but jump with every shadow. And Carpenter sprinkles the plot with unspeakably creepy moments -- Myers quietly slithering in a window above Laurie, or dressing as a ghost with only his heavy breathing to identify him.
Curtis was the original scream queen thanks to this movie, and she does an amazing job -- even when she's racing around pounding on doors and shrieking, she seems realistic. Pleasance is just as good as Loomis, who is determined and full of dread at what his patient is, but also has his moments of humour (like when he frightens some pranksters at the Myers house). And though we only see Myers' face a few times, his masked face, silent movements and heavy breathing are the stuff of nightmare.
"Halloween" was a more psychological, atmospheric kind of horror, and it did its job almost too well. The original slasher movie -- harrowing, eerie, and petrifying.
Are you afraid of the bogeyman.......2007-07-04
What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said before. I am going to say it anyway, this is as scary if not the scariest film I have ever seen and I don't think I will ever see a scarier one ever again. Having grown up with horror movies, I first saw this as a kid in the early 80's and it genuinely terrified me, and that was with the lights on. If I had watched this alone with the lights off then I really don't know how I would have got through it. I have seen it so many times since then that it will never be as scary as is was then although just as enjoyable, but on first viewing the music, that opening scene, the camera work that floats slowly around the empty neighborhood and especially that breathing from a Michael Myers point of view and yet like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (also one of my scariest) it barely has if any blood and guts.
I also love as with all John Carpenter's early horror films the timing of each murder, it is timed to perfection. It all starts off with Michael Myers just creeping around the ghost like town neighborhood deliberately unsettling Jamie Lee Curtis and making her completely paranoid, but when it really gets going its non stop until the end.
I was a little sad to hear of the death of Debra Hill who died of cancer (she played a big part in making this film alongside John Carpenter) in 2005, she was only 54. For those of you that don't already know, she also played a bit part in this film, the opening scene as young Michael Myers when he takes his mask off and takes the knife out of the kitchen was her hands, she also worked with John Carpenter on some of his other films for example another one of my favourites, The Fog, RIP Debra Hill.
There are just a few things that are ridiculous about this film for example, when Michael Myers is hanging around outside a school in a William Shatner mask, surely somebody would report it and also the fact that he is one of the smoothest drivers I have ever seen for somebody who hasn't even had any driving lessons and especially driving with that William Shatner mask on. But these are just silly criticisms, and anyway the fact that nobody seems to notice him just make it all the more creepy.
The most important thing is that as a horror film it is made to be scary and this most certainly is just that.
If anyone is the bogeyman, it is surely Michael Myers.......2007-07-04
What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said before. I am going to say it anyway, this is as scary if not the scariest film I have ever seen and I don't think I will ever see a scarier one ever again. Having grown up with horror movies, I first saw this as a kid in the early 80's and it genuinely terrified me, and that was with the lights on. If I had watched this alone with the lights off then I really don't know how I would have got through it. I have seen it so many times since then that it will never be as scary as is was then although just as enjoyable, but on first viewing the music, that opening scene, the camera work that floats slowly around the empty neighborhood and especially that breathing from a Michael Myers point of view and yet like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (also one of my scariest) it barely has if any blood and guts.
I also love as with all John Carpenter's early horror films the timing of each murder, it is timed to perfection. It all starts off with Michael Myers just creeping around the ghost like town neighborhood deliberately unsettling Jamie Lee Curtis and making her completely paranoid, but when it really gets going its non stop until the end.
I was a little sad to hear of the death of Debra Hill who di![Halloween [1978]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21S2C5V3KTL.jpg)
Film Series
|
Horror
|
Categories
|
DVD
|
Video
![Halloween II [1981] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005LC4Q.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Halloween II [1981] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
![Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later [1998]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005NI83.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later [1998]
Halloween 5 - the Revenge of Michael Myers
Halloween 4
![Halloween VI: The Curse of Michael Myers [1995]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000AQVL7.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Halloween VI: The Curse of Michael Myers [1995]
![Halloween [1978]](http://www.bill88.com/buy.gif)
![Halloween (2 Disc Special Edition) [1978]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/218PTVQNPSL.jpg)
![Halloween - Resurrection [2002]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000AE7CE.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers [1989]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000UM0NA.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Halloween [1978] (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CKSWNZZ9L.gif)
![Halloween Restored [1978] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21ma9WG56EL.jpg)
![Halloween [Blu-ray] [1978] [US Import]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/219sue3wQpL.jpg)
![Halloween [UMD Mini for PSP] [1978]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21TBJ95JDQL.jpg)
![Hellraiser [UMD Mini for PSP] [1987]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000AYSLNY.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![The Evil Dead [UMD Mini for PSP] [1982]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000AYSLSO.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Serenity [UMD Mini for PSP] [2005]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000E4EEMW.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Donnie Darko [UMD Mini for PSP] [2001]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000AYSLU2.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Final Destination [UMD Mini for PSP] [2000]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000AYSLRA.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Halloween [1978]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/211J8VG8TWL.jpg)
![Friday The 13th [1980]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000AISJT.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Halloween [1978] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21DEVMXFCSL.jpg)