Starring: Brian Andrews, Jamie Lee Curtis, Charles Cyphers, John Michael Graham, Peter Griffith Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, THX, Widescreen, NTSC Number of Items: 1 Release Date: September 28, 1999 Running Time: 91 minutes Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay Theatrical Release Date: October 25, 1978
Product Description: Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 09/24/2002 Run time: 92 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com essential video: 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
Amazon.com: 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
Halloween ^ On Halloween 1963, Haddenfield, 10-year-old Michael Myers, estranged and mentally unstable, is imprisoned in Smith's Grove Sanitarium under the care of Dr. Sam Loomis for the murders of his mother's boyfriend, his older sister, and her boyfriend. Now, 16 years later, he escapes and now in search of his baby sister Laurie and Dr. Loomis must warn the residents of Haddenfield and get to Laurie before Michael does. This movie does make for a very admirable companion piece to a horror classic, blending the old and the new into an entertaining and thought-provoking fright movie.
The Blackest Eyes......The Devil's Eyes................ ^ Horror films tend to succeed on one of two levels: by appealing to the imagination, or by assaulting the emotions(or in some cases the senses). I don't know that any movie has ever managed to achieve as much, on both levels simultaneously, as Halloween. The movie is beautiful and stylistic,on the one hand, yet primal and suspenseful on the other.
There are just so many things in this film that work. So many things that are just 'right', for lack of a better word. Take Michael Myers himself, for example. He is the ultimate slasher villain. You can conceive him as an insane freak of nature, or the very embodiment of Death itself. He can be this macabre phantom one minute.............and a brutish animal the next. Despite his size, he can appear out of nowhere, get from place to place without being seen, be right in the room with you but go unnoticed. Yet alongside of this ethereal quality there exists a savagery, vividly demonstrated when he impaled that strapping young man to the wall, or when he sated his hunger by devouring a local dog.
I have heard people refer to Michael Myers as an 'efficient' killer. Usually producers and other business oriented people who are utterly clueless about such matters. Of course, Myers CAN be efficient when he so chooses.But it is hardly his typical mode of operation. Myers is a gamesman, a prankster........the ultimate sportsman.
Again and again, he offers opportunities to his prospective victims to salvage their lives. The most glaring example is when Annie gets trapped in the laundry room. At one point, she even gets stuck halfway in and out of the window. There could be no more convenient juncture for an 'efficient killer' to do his thing. But what does Myers do? He eschews this golden opportunity. Far, far too easy.
Even when he's lurking in the back seat of the car, he goes so far as to give her one, final chance. One last, brazen hint, which she DOES eventually get..........but she gets it about 3 seconds too late.
Linda and her boyfriend get similar clues. Laurie not only gets hints as to what is happening, but once the attack is under way, he even gives her what amounts to a couple of TIME-OUTS!!
An efficient killer does not operate this way. But a hunter, if he is a true sportsman, does. And this is what makes Myers the ideal slasher killer. He may offer you several chances to save your life.......but you cannot count on this. He is the ghoulish personification of Death, and the unrivalled alpha male among slasher villains.
Myers is the most obvious factor. But Dr.Loomis is essential, as well. Strong, determined, and obsessive, he is the virtuous flipside to the hunter he is, himself, hunting.You get the feeling that Loomis feels just about as at home in those shadows as Myers himself. Laurie Strode is a terrific 'final girl.' Awkward, shy, and good-natured, but resilient and courageous, as well.
There are so many 'little' factors that serve to enhance the atmosphere of this film. The sound of children's voices chanting that creepy nursery rhyme. The muffled sound of Myer's animalistic breathing through his cadaverous mask.The mystique of Dr. Loomis......what exactly did he see during those 15 years in the sanitarium that aroused THIS level of obsession? The occasional glimpse of cascading leaves, or a solitary jack o'lantern, to offer us subtle reminders of the season. The ghastly shadows on the front of the Myers' house. The sight of the escaped lunatics, in their white hospital gowns, roaming aimlessly on the horizon. The way Myers tilts his head,like a curious animal, when he is gazing at the victim he had impaled to the wall with that huge butcher knife.......
Yet, for all that, it would not be the same film if not for the pace. The pace of Halloween feels virtually like real-time. Once you get to Halloween morning, the action is timed in such a way that it feels like you are watching an actual day unfold. The downside is that the film feels a bit slow in the middle. It didn't really bother me, but I have heard some people complain about this. The upside, of course, is that, once you buy into the timing, everything feels so authentic, so absolutely real.
I have never seen a more suspenseful film than Halloween. The final twenty minutes or so, it is like you are literally watching a young girl fighting for her life. For pure suspense, that closet scene may be the greatest moment in slasher film history.It is one of the most suspenseful,nervewracking scenes you will ever encounter in ANY film, from ANY genre.
But compare that to another sequence in the movie, that took place a few minutes before. I refer to the part where Laurie Strode goes over to check on her friends. That's basically all there is to it-a girl crossing a street, going from one house to another.But, in its own way, this scene is nearly as brilliant as the closet segment. A brief, simple walk, across a lonely street, to see if her friends are okay. You don't see any killers, or dead bodies, or violence of any kind. Just the occasional falling leaves, or the gentle autumnal winds caressing her hair. Just a girl crossing a street.
But Carpenter imbues that one scene with more dread, more anticipation, more mystery, more subdued horror, than most directors are able to attain over the course of entire films.
So often, genius lies not in what you do, but in HOW you do it.
Michael Myers, Dr. Loomis, and Laurie Strode are the participants in a deadly 'triangular hunt', of sorts. All of it takes place in a typical American neighborhood, against the backdrop of an idyllic Halloween night......and there is simply nothing else like it.
Awesome!!! ^ It's my favorite horror movie and now I watch it on bluray it's freaking awesome and I love it even more.
The BEST horror movie, ever! ^ When I bought my blu ray player, I couldn't get this movie fast enough. This is hands down my favorite horror move. What makes this so fantastic is that is has very little blood, and a ton of suspense. My favorite parts is when a character is doing something, then the camera pans, then you see that Michael is there....lurking in the shadows. Fantastic!
For those of you who don't know, this is about a boy that was institualized for killing his older sister on Halloween night. The one day, he escapes and heads back home to continue the killing. He picks one teen ( I wont' say why) and goes after her. If anyone gets in his way, then that's their problem. Along the way, his doctor, Dr. Loomis heads back to Michael's hometown in order to stop him. That's all I really want to say on the plot.
This is such a fantastic movie! It was a lot of suspense that will keep you glued to your seat. I can't say enough good things about Halloween.
The transfer to blu ray is wonderful! The sound is crisp and clear. The images are vivid and sharp. This is the way Halloween was meant to be seen. This has a fantastic extra. It's called "Fast Facts". If you set the setting's for the "Fast Facts" you get to see little facts about the movie (about the stars, production ect) that add a wonder aspect to a great movie.
This is a classic and a must have.
Disappointed ^ I like the Halloween story line. Jamie Lee Curtis is good. However, I was disappointed that it shows nudity. One of the girls boobs are showing several times. Why Hollywood thinks they have to put nudity in all the time is beyond me. I think it ruins the film. Otherwise, it's a great horror flick. Love the theme song. It is so fitting.
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