Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, to kill again.
- PhysicalMedia4LifeJanuary 27, 2026The movie that kicked the door wide open for the slasher genre!!!!! John Carpenters Halloween is full of atmosphere, that has that sense of dread about it. And has brilliant build up to each of the kills and that's what this 1st film prides itself on everything around the actual kills themselves in this original film👌👌 This movie has one of the best & disturbing openings of all time and I would love to go in a time machine...just to see the audiences reactions when it's revealed to us just after the whole pov filmed in one continuous take is over that, it's just a six year old child and the younger brother of Judith which is of course Michael, that killed her in the opening of the film. Also the potrayal of The Shape by Nick Castle is the greatest of all time and yes there have been really good potrayals of Michael Myers over the years...but none of them have been as iconic as Nick Castle was, he will always be The Shape to me!!! You cannot talk about Halloween without mentioning that score, the Halloween score is so well known and iconic that even for people who have never watched any of the Halloween movies in their life, all know where that score comes from. It's a massive and critical part of this movies DNA....exactly like the score from Jaws and what the score in Jaws does for that film. I really love the whole slow burn that this movie has and the pacing along with the slow burn and they really do go together seamlessly it's brilliant! Obviously this film is famous for it's monologue speech from Dr Samuel Loomis to Sherriff Brackett that's part of this movies DNA. Michael was the best utilised in John Carpenters Halloween and its because we don't know why he's doing what he's doing. There is no motive, reason or understanding for why he's the way that he is; that was always the real & true intention of the Michael Myers character. The OG Halloween film really executed the Michael Myers mystery factor to perfection in this first film! That's when he's his most scary & interesting at both the same time and that's what all of the sequels have all failed to recapture with the Michael Myers character, less is more and it 💯 works here...and it is one of this films biggest strengths, that's what sets it apart from all of the sequels. And the ending of Halloween sums it all up in a nutshell what the true Michael Myers is all about, just simply brilliant from John Carpenter!!!! To be honest it should have ended there because it brought the whole message of the movie, that Michael was the Boogeyman and it's so powerful, impactful, effective & is the perfect ending to this film. 🎃🔪
- Louis AlexanderAugust 4, 2025I've watched this so many times I've lost count. I own it and re-watch it on Halloween night every year, because it never gets old. In my opinion, it's the perfect formula for a horror movie, frightening and tense without jump scares every 30 seconds, properly violent and gory without overly-long scenes of the gore, funny without being over-the top. And finally, Jame Lee Curtis and the man who plays Michael play their roles perfectly. I've seen every single sequel and they are okay, but this one, in my opinion, is as close to perfect as you could possibly get from a horror/slasher movie.
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Halloween was released on October 25, 1978.
Halloween was directed by John Carpenter.
Halloween has a runtime of 90m.
Halloween was produced by Debra Hill, Moustapha Akkad.
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, to kill again.
The key characters in Halloween are Loomis (Donald Pleasence), Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), Annie (Nancy Kyes).
Halloween is rated R.
Halloween is a Horror, Thriller film.
Halloween has an audience rating of 8.9 out of 10.
Halloween had a budget of $325K.
Halloween has made $70.3M at the box office.