Halloween (1978)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

John Carpenter (screenplay) and
Debra Hill (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 October 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The Night HE Came Home!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Babysitter | Butcher Knife | Woman In Jeopardy | Knitting | Lurid

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Sat. May 24

12:30 AM

AMC

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:AA (Ontario) (video rating) (1982) | Brazil:16 | South Korea:18 | Canada:R | West Germany:18 (original rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | UK:X (original rating) | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Canada:R (Manitoba) (re-rating) (2003) | Germany:16 (re-rating) | UK:18 (video rating) | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) (2001) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) (original 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:

1017 Montrose Avenue, South Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

Compass International Pictures

Trivia:

Body Count: 5.

Goofs:

Continuity: The narrow windows on either side of the front door of the Wallace house are not the same pattern on the inside as they are on the outside.

Quotes:

Sheriff Leigh Brackett: It's Halloween, everyone's entitled to one good scare.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Welcome to Primetime (1999) (V)

Soundtrack:

Don't Fear The Reaper

It *is* a classic

To begin, this is a twenty year old film. Few films remain as suspenseful today as they did when it came out. (see: Night of the Living Dead -- had people running from the theatres when released but is very tame today). Clearly a movie fan brought up on the standards of today's movies will fail to find enjoyment of such 'classic' films. But when watching Halloween today perhaps it helps to consider a few things: Halloween was a low budget film (read: bad acting, poor special effects) made for only $300,000. It was not a product of Hollywood but a bunch of 20 year olds. This was the first film to feature the Boogeyman that Wouldn't Die which has been ripped off time and time again in the Friday the 13th, Elm Street, Scream, etc. You're used to it now, but Halloween did it first. Even Scream ripped off the look of the villian in Halloween. The theme of teenagers being stalked by a madman has been ripped of numerous times as well (again, Halloween did it first) but what seperates Halloween from the imitators is that it plays on traditional fears: The Thing that Wouldn't Die; the Boogeyman coming to get you; being followed and stalked; the boyfriend returning to the room under a bedsheet -- and it's not really him; someone hiding in the car... all things that have made our skin crawl in real life at one time or another. Watching Halloween tonight again for the first time in years I found myself again on the edge of my seat. Classic? Hell, yes. Maybe not to a generation who feels Scream was a 'good' horror movie but a classic none the less.