Halloween [1978] [DVD]

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.

John Carpenter's Halloween was filmed over a period of just 3 weeks with a budget of just $300,000. A lot of compromises had to be made. The mask, for example, is a William Shatner one - all they did was spray paint it and widen the eyeholes, and to fantastic effect!
John Carpenter is such an excellent director. The first time I watched this movie I was about 12, and it is my favourit horror film. I'm 17 now and no matter how often I watch it still chills me!
Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis give outstanding performances in the film that started the "slasher" movie genre. Also PJ Soles and Nancy Loomis are very good as Laurie's naughty but unfortunate best friends.
It goes without saying that John Carpenter's musical score for the film is very catchy/nerve-shredding, in particular the deep piano "heartbeat" chords that start when The Chase begins.
Overall just the mere concept of an unrelenting force of evil, in the shape of a person who refuses to die, makes this film so creepy and a definite MUST for all horror fans. It hooks you!
It spawned seven sequels, and a ninth is in production I believe, but none of the sequels aspired to or ever will aspire to the same terrifying level as the original. I promise you that you simply must have this film!

I have been a keen DVD collector now for quite some time, yet no DVD in my collection is as impressive as this feature packed Anchor Bay edition of Halloween. The film itself has a straight-forward storyline you will probably already know; a psychopath who killed his older sister when he was six years old escapes from the authorities and heads to Haddonfield, Illinois on one Halloween night 15 years later. Jamie Lee Curtis, in her first major film role, plays 'scream queen' Laurie Stode, a shy American teenager who babysits children. Little do her and her friends know, but a certain Michael Myers looms in the shadows of their neighbourhood...
There is fantastic support from British actor Donald Pleasance, portraying Myers' doctor who heads to Haddonfield to stop his crazed patient at all costs.
Halloween has already been released several times on various editions of 'Special Edition' DVD. This however is the most recent update, and is the most comprehensive DVD to buy for this classic. It contains a very impressive 80 minute long documentary, which goes into extreme detail on how the picture was made (for $320000 and over a 21 day period to be exact!). It has interviews with director John Carpenter, producer Debra Hill, Jamie Lee Curtis and many more of the Halloween team. There is also a seperate featurette which goes back to the actual film locations, which is really fascinating as most are now unrecognizable. Commentary from John Carpenter, Jamie Lee Curtis, theartical trailers and much more cram the second disc full.
I can not praise this film highly enough. Not only is it the most nerve-wracking and scariest film ever made, yet it comes in a delicious package which is a must for fans of cinema. No DVD collection in the world would be deemed 'complete' without this remarkable film. Just do not watch it alone.