Halloween cover art

Halloween Details

1978 DVD Certificate 18.gif
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 11,546 members

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 .. Read more

Starring P.J. Soles, Nancy Loomis, Donald Pleasence, Donald Pleasence /Jamie Lee Curtis
Director John Carpenter
Genres Horror

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Halloween

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.

Starring P.J. Soles, Nancy Loomis, Donald Pleasence, Donald Pleasence /Jamie Lee Curtis, Jamie Lee Curtis, Charles Cyphers, Kyle Richards, Arthur Malet, David Kyle, Nick Castle
Director John Carpenter
Studio ANCHOR BAY HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 1 hr 41 mins
Blu-ray: 1 hr 31 mins
Certificate DVD Certificate 18.gif
Collections 100 Horror Films
Genres Horror
Language English
Released DVD: 27 Oct 2003
Blu-ray: 22 Oct 2007
Production year: 1978
Format DVD

Halloween (1978)

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  • Critics' reviews of Halloween

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  • 5 stars out of 5

    This terror trailblazer from John Carpenter established the slasher trend for “calendar date” horror. But few of the clones it inspired had the same directorial flair, dazzling skill or irreverent wit as this “baby-sitter in jeopardy” jolter. Jamie Lee Curtis earned her “scream queen” coronet in Carpenter's deceptively clever trick-or-treat chiller. And Donald Pleasence carved a whole new career for himself through several variable sequels as the fearful psychiatrist chasing the indestructible and surprisingly shuddersome killer, Michael Myers.

    • Radio Times
  • Most helpful member's review of Halloween

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  • 32 out of 35 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 1 star

    Classic? Yeh, right.

    Put this on one evening with the lads, exprecting to see a film that lived up to all the hype and its title as a classic. Let me put it in simple terms: it's rubbish. So I recommend you rent something else.

      • Disgruntled viewer from Birmingham, England
  • Most recent members' review of Halloween

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  • 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    a classic horror flick

    no.1 horror film get it if you DARE!!!!!

      • A customer from BELFAST
  • News and features

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    Boogie Nights - BLU-RAY Version

    Reilly was 'scared witless' by Halloween movie

    • 18 Oct 2009

    Actor John C. Reilly was scarred for life as a child when his mother took him to see gruesome slasher movie Halloween on the scariest night of the year (31Oct). The Boogie Nights actor recalls how he and his younger brother were taken to see the 1978 horror film, about a masked murderer, before they were even teenagers - and were left "scared witless" by the John Carpenter movie. And Reilly blames the terrifying experience for "damaging" his fragile mind. He says, "I was 12 years old and my... Read more

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Rating breakdown

11,546 Member ratings
  • 100
1,781
  • 90
1,211
  • 80
2,170
  • 70
1,994
  • 60
1,831
  • 50
1,025
  • 40
640
  • 30
393
  • 20
336
  • 10
165

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    • Halloween - BLU-RAY Version
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    • 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
      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 ...