Halloween (1978)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

John Carpenter (screenplay) and
Debra Hill (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 October 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The trick was to stay alive.

Plot:

A psychotic murderer institutionalized since childhood escapes on a mindless rampage while his doctor chases him through the streets.

Plot Keywords:

Halloween | Night | Michael Myers | Six Year Old | Death

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Donald Pleasence	...	Dr. Sam Loomis
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Laurie Strode
Nancy Kyes	...	Annie Brackett (as Nancy Loomis)
P.J. Soles	...	Lynda van der Klok
Charles Cyphers	...	Sheriff Leigh Brackett
Kyle Richards	...	Lindsey Wallace
Brian Andrews	...	Tommy Doyle
John Michael Graham	...	Bob Simms
Nancy Stephens	...	Marion Chambers
Arthur Malet	...	Graveyard Keeper
Mickey Yablans	...	Richie
Brent Le Page	...	Lonnie Elamb
Adam Hollander	...	Keith
Robert Phalen	...	Dr. Terence Wynn
Tony Moran	...	Michael Myers (age 23)

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Halloween (USA) (complete title)
The Babysitter Murders (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min | USA:101 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (original release)

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (video rating) (1982) | Canada:R (Manitoba) (re-rating) (2003) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Brazil:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Germany:16 (re-rating) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Canada:R | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) (2001) | South Korea:18 | Chile:14 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 (re-rating) | Australia:R | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 (re-release: 1999) | France:-16 | Italy:VM14 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 (re-release: 1999) | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Portugal:M/16 (re-rating) | Portugal:M/18 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

1000 Mission Street, South Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

Compass International Pictures

Trivia:

Half of the $320,000 budget was spent on the Panavison cameras so the film would have a 2:35:1 scope. Donald Pleasence was paid $20,000 for 5 days work.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): While he is talking to the sheriff, the doctor pulls out his gun, then he says that he has a permit. Illinois does not issue any kind of a permit to carry a handgun.

Quotes:

[as Lonnie is about to enter the Myers house]
Dr. Sam Loomis: Hey! Hey, Lonnie, get your ass away from there!
[Lonnie and his mates run. Loomis smiles to himself as a hand grabs his shoulder. He spins around, surprised, to find Brackett]
Dr. Sam Loomis: Oh! Jesus!
Sheriff Leigh Brackett: Are you all right?
Dr. Sam Loomis: Yeah.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Monster Mania (1997) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Don't Fear The Reaper

Scary as hell.

My personal favorite horror film. From the lengthy first tracking shot to the final story twist, this is Carpenter's masterpiece.

Halloween night 1963, little Michael Meyers murders his older sister. All-hallows-eve 1978, Michael escapes from Smith's Grove sanitarium. Halloween night, Michael has come home to murder again.

The story is perfectly simple, Michael stalks and kills babysitters. No bells or whistles, just the basics. It's Carpenter's almost over-powering atmosphere of dread that generates the tension. Like any great horror film, events are telegraphed long in advance, yet they still seem to occur at random, never allowing the audience to the chance to second guess the film.

The dark lighting, the long steady-cam shots, and (most importantly) that damn eerie music create the most claustrophobic and uncomfortable scenes I have yet to see in film. There is a body count, but compared to the slew of slashers after this it's fairly small. That and most of the murders are nearly bloodless. The fear is not in death, but in not knowing.

The acting is roundelay good. PJ Soles provides much of the films limited humor (and one of the best deaths), Nancy Loomis turns in a decent performance and then there is the young (at the time) Jamie Leigh-Curtis. Her performance at first seems shy and un-assured, yet you quickly realize that it is perfect for the character, who is herself shy and un-assured and not at all prepared for what she is to face. And of course there is the perfectly cast Donald Pleasence as the determined (perhaps a little unstable) Dr. Sam Loomis. Rest in peace Mr. Pleasence.

If the film has a detrimental flaw, it would be the passage of time. Since the release of this film so many years ago nearly countless clones, copies, rip-offs, and imitators have come along and stolen (usually badly) the films best bits until nearly everything about it has become familiar. Combined with the changes for audience expectations and appetites, one finds much of the films raw power diluted. To truly appreciate it in this day and age, it must be viewed as it once was, as something unique.

Never the less, I have no reservation with highly recommending this film to anyone looking for a good, scary time. Highest Reguards.

10/10