Other Titles • Halloween • The Babysitter Murders (1978) • John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) • Halloween - Die Nacht des Grauens (1978) • Halloween: la notte delle streghe (1978)
Synopses for Halloween (1978)
1.
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 installments: 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
(20 votes)
2.
Perhaps the most influential and successful independent film ever made, HALLOWEEN is the movie that put director John Carpenter on the map as a viable filmmaker. An exercise in simple, pure horror, HALLOWEEN takes us into the world of a mad killer, Michael Myers, who at a very young age stabbed his older sister to death. Locked away for many years in a mental hospital Michael escapes one night and returns to his home to continue his killing spree. Jamie Lee Curtis, in her first role, plays the resourceful babysitter who is chased by the killer on Halloween night. Produced for very little money and a tight shooting schedule, HALLOWEEN was a stunning success when it was released. Written by John Carpenter and his longtime producer Debra Hill, the film set both their careers on fire, with both of them working together many times over the next 25 years. The film also made a star out of Jamie Lee Curtis and turned the slasher movie into a viable, successful genre. HALLOWEEN has been copied, parodied and even turned into a franchise of its own, but the original is still considered the best of the bunch. HALLOWEEN was John Carpenter's first foray into horror, and remains the standard to which all other modern horror films are measured.
(20 votes)
3.
The most successful independent film of all time.
On a black and unholy Halloween night years ago, little Michael Myers brutally slaughtered his sister in cold blood. But for the last fifteen years, town residents have rested easy, knowing that he was safely locked away in a mental hospital..until tonight. Tonight, Michael returns to the same quiet neighborhood to relive his grisly murder again..and again..and again. For this is a night of evil. Tonight is Halloween!
(20 votes)
4.
Fifteen years ago, Michael Myers brutally murdered his sister. Now, after escaping from a mental hospital, he's back to relive his grisly crime again, and again...and again. This is Halloween like you've never seen or heard it before!
Halloween has been fully restored under the supervision of Lucasfilm's THX digital mastering Services. The video was transferred by the award-winning colorist Adam Adams (Terminator 2, Titanic) from a new 35mm interpositive (made from the original camera negative) and approved by the film's cinematographer Dean Cundey (Jurassic Park, Who Framed Roger Rabbit). The new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround soundtrack was created by Chace Productions in association with Alan Howarth using the original 16–track music studio master and the recently discovered original 35mm magnetic dialogue and effects tracks.
(20 votes)
5.
When Halloween was sold to NBC in 1980, the network's Standards & Practices Department demanded numerous edits to the original film. Although producer Debra Hill personally debated these cuts, it became necessary to create additional scenes to fill the movie's two-hour television running time. Using the crew of Halloween II as well as stars Jaime Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence, director John Carpenter commenced a three-day shoot of all-new scenes and alternate footage that was then added to the original feature.
Halloween - Extended Edition is presented Widescreen. Previously only available on Anchor Bay's Limited Edition 2-Disc THX set, this version has been acclaimed by fans and collectors worldwide as the ultimate missing piece of Halloween history.
(20 votes)
6.
Insitutuionalized since childhood Michael Myers goes on a murderous rampage while his doctor chases him through the streets.
7.
The film which ushered in the modern age of horror stands well above its many sequels and clones because John Carpenter's taut direction makes it truly scary. Jamie Lee Curtis, in her debut role, plays a babysitter who must protect herself from the deadly Michael Myers, a mental institution escapee who killed his sister on Halloween fifteen years earlier. Called "the most successful independent motion picture of all time," HALLOWEEN is also one of most frightening films ever made.
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