Halloween, directed by John Carpenter, was the film that really invented the slasher genre, and paved the way for films such as Friday 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street. It also made a star out of Jamie Lee Curtis, and earned her the nickname of "Scream Queen", which I always thought was quite ... Read review
Spook the local children on Halloween with this medium sized inflatable Halloween ... more
skeleton. Dress up as the grim reaper for a Halloween party and claim it was your last victim or decorate your accomodation with these inflatable halloween skeletons and create a spooky atmosphere.
Advantages: Truly terrifying and brilliant soundtrack Disadvantages: Looks dated now
...this film.
Halloween starts off on Halloween 1963 with the murder of a girl, seen through the eyes of the killer as he walks slowly round the house in a mask with a sharp knife in his hand. As if this wasn't scary enough, when he gets outside, the camera changes, and we see that the murderer was in fact a young boy in a clown costume. His name is Michael Myers. The story picks up 15 years later on Halloween, and Michael has escaped ... ...
A review of Halloween wouldn't be complete without a mention of the music and sound effects. This is what will remain for you after watching the film; the haunting piano tune which lingers in virtually every scene and then explodes in the final credits to make you even more scared. Carpenter also makes good use of sound effects to make you jump. I recall one part, where Michael suddenly walks into the shot, and this is accompanied by a noise ... more
Halloween, directed by John Carpenter, was the film that really invented the slasher genre, and paved the way for films such as Friday 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street. It also made a star out of Jamie Lee Curtis, and earned her the nickname of "Scream Queen", which I always thought was quite stupid, but anyway, let's get down to business and review this film.
Halloween starts off on Halloween 1963 with the murder of a girl, seen through the eyes of the killer as he walks slowly round the house in a mask with a sharp knife in his hand. As if this wasn't scary enough, when he gets outside, the camera changes, and we see that the murderer was in fact a young boy in a clown costume. His name is Michael Myers. The story picks up 15 years later on Halloween, and Michael has escaped from the mental asylum where he has been imprisoned, determined to wreak havoc in his home town of Haddonfield, Illinois on the scariest night of the year. A psychiatrist (Donald Pleasence) is on his trail all the way, and the main focus of the film is a babysitter called Laurie (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), who ends up fighting for her life when Michael comes after herself and her friends.
Although the plot could be better, this is a slasher movie, so what were you expecting? This is all about the tension and the scares, and on this front it more than delivers. The suspense is ratcheted up in the first half of the film, leaving the second half to deal with the actual violence and killing that you might have been expecting right from the start. This is similar to the way Alien starts slowly, and it means that when the action does come, it's all the more startling. In fact, it's the first half that is more scary in my opinion. This film shows that scary doesn't always have to mean violent, because for me, most of the terror comes from the appearance of Michael himself. His white face and black boiler suit is so simple yet terrifying that all he needs to do is walk round the corner and it has me jumping off my sofa.
Director John Carpenter uses some interesting techniques in this film, the most important of which is the way we always hear Michael's breathing when he is in the shot. This manipulation of the sound adds a lot of suspense, and always keeps you waiting for something to happen. The special effects are probably even better than those seen in Jason X (a terrible movie), and considering this was made over 30 years before, that's saying something about both films. The violence is not too gory or graphic, but it is quite shocking and disturbing, and that's why the film is rated 18. For example, Michael lifts somebody up in the air by his throat, stabs him through the stomach, then stands there looking for about a minute as he is impaled against the wall. The camera doesn't show any blood or anything, but it's just so weird that it's truly scary.
A review of Halloween wouldn't be complete without a mention of the music and sound effects. This is what will remain for you after watching the film; the haunting piano tune which lingers in virtually every scene and then explodes in the final credits to make you even more scared. Carpenter also makes good use of sound effects to make you jump. I recall one part, where Michael suddenly walks into the shot, and this is accompanied by a noise which sounds like a skidding car. These days all horror movies have a cheap shock like this in which a character turns round and bumps into somebody and a loud bit of music makes you jump, but I've never heard anything like this skidding car noise, and it's just so original and unexpected that it completely catches you off guard.
The acting is pretty much what you'd expect from a slasher movie: lots of running around, looking worried and screaming. Although I have to say that Jamie Lee Curtis does convey a sense of fear very well indeed, she doesn't do much else. But then again what else would you want her to do? I really can't think of any bad points to this film, except maybe that it looks a bit dated now. It slightly slows down in pace in the middle, but that gives you a chance to learn more about the characters and establish the situation. The ending is also great; I won't give anything away to those who haven't seen it, but although it's not quite as shocking as The Wicker Man, it's certainly not what you'd expect from a typical film in this genre.
Halloween has to go down in history as one of the scariest pieces of cinema ever made, along with Nightmare On Elm Street (only the first one, obviously), Scream, Alien, the last 5 minutes of The Wicker Man and, more recently, The Grudge (yeah I know it's a Hollywood re-make, but it really made me jump). It is far superior to its more hyped but utterly un-scary companions The Exorcist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I can even forgive it for spawning the shockingly bad Halloween Resurrection, it's that good. Watch it and find out for yourself (if you're brave enough).
Director: John Carpenter Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes, P.J. Soles, Charles Cyphers, Kyle Richards Running Time: 91 mins Classification: 18
The DVD is available from some online stores. The cheapest price I could find is £9.99 from www.dvd.co.uk, but I would recommend getting the 25th anniversary special 2 disc edition, which is £13.99 from www.dvd.co.uk . I think it is probably cheaper on the high street. I am only reviewing the film, so I can't comment on the extras.
Advantages: A classic | Good suspense | Nice directing Disadvantages: Tame by today's standards
...new genre was born when Halloween was released.
Originally entitled 'The Babysitter Murders' the movie is based around the idea of a crazed killer murdering babysitters at night. This was then later changed to Halloween when it was decided the murders should take place on Halloween night so that they could play about with the tradition, customs and imagery for it to make a much for threatening film. And thus Halloween was born.
While Hitchcock’s ... ...The basic plot for Halloween is simplistic, and this is intentional not just because it’s a horror film and they don’t have any stories anyway. The basic premise is that little Michael Myers murdered his sister when he was just 7 years old, then, when he was 19 he escapes from Smiths Grove Sanitarium and goes to Haddonfield to murder his sister Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Laurie is a quiet young woman who is more studious than being concerned ...
3rdRockSatan 10.05.2001 (02.10.2002)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Halloween 1
Advantages: A classic at a knock down price Disadvantages: only lacking in the power of today's shockers
...ripped-off and stricken with sequelitis, Halloween made its mark as the original slasher movie back in 1978 when it scared audiences silly and, as word-of-mouth spread, went into the record books as "the highest grossing horror movie ever". It has lost its power somewhat over the years. Now that we are familiar with stalk‘n’slash flicks, such as Friday The 13th and the overly contrived comeback of the genre when Scream made them cool ... ...A very thorough documentary called Halloween Unmasked is included and fans will lap it up. All of the most popular parts of the film are explored (setting, plot, music) and the origins and reasons are explained by Carpenter, Debra Hill, producer Moustapha Akkad and Jamie Lee Curtis. This is the best kind of documentary because it is made specifically for the DVD. The 2.35:1 photography is quite good and it’s bizarre that the rip-offs were never ...
BRITTONBLITZ 28.11.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Halloween 1
Halloween should go down in cinematic history just for starting a whole new genre of horror movies, the Teen Slashers. Imagine had this movie not been made we would not have trilogy's like nightmare on elm street, scream and friday the 13th. Indeed had this not been made who nows what else might not have been. Many future directors who saw the film said they were inspired by it and incorporated the same techniques, which were enhanced by modern technology, ... ...However Halloween was not merely a milestone on which other successful movie were built it was also a highly successful film in its own right. However on the path to success it faced an uphill struggle. It had a minute budget of just $300'000, had a shooting time of just 21 days, had a director who had made less films than could be counted on one hand. Also the leading actress Jaime Lee was only picked as it was thought that it would be good publicity ...
zeptana 28.05.2003 (13.08.2004)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Halloween 1
Advantages: The greatest maniac in a mask ever... Disadvantages: Looks a little dated now.
After getting shot while busting out of a POW Camp in 'The Great Escape', Donald Pleasance spent much of the Seventies re-incarnating himself as a horror stalwart. Firstly as the tea-loving copper in the tragically under seen Subway Cannibal Flick 'Death Line', then most noticeably in John Carpenter's re-assessment of the genre, 'Halloween'.
Pared down to the bare bones of plot, 'Halloween' serves as a masterful exercise in how to consistently scare ... ...gets a killer's eye view as a young Michael Myers slays his older sister. Skip forward thirty years, and gloomy psychiatrist Dr Loomis (Pleasance) goes on the trail of Madman Michael escapes from a mental institution.
"The Night HE Came Home!" Ran the tag line, and Dr Loomis obviously saw the poster, because he traces Myers back to his home town.
Meanwhile, we meet babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her bland group of friends. In these ...
Plissken 03.03.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Halloween 1
Advantages: Good plot, good acting, good characters... and scary! Disadvantages: You could take into account the fact it spawned millions of Z-List rip-offs but that would probably be being pedantic...
Halloween has been described as the best horror film of all time, and it is certainly fair to say that I would be hard-pressed to find another that is as good as this. The reason I say this is because this it what we would say is a seminal film. This is the first horror film of its kind (crazy guy with knife stalks teens and kills them) and so any critical appraisal is not only deserving but also necessary. Unfortunately, this means that Halloween ... ...lurid pieces of junk. But Halloween is different. I am not the worlds greatest fan of horror films – indeed, I believe there is an awful lot of rubbish out there, but then there is always the diamond in the rough and Halloween is that diamond. Halloween is intensely violent yet the fear comes from a psychological source as well. The whole notion of the stalker, let alone one who resembles an oak tree and wields a large knife, is pretty scary ...
Ryan74 23.04.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Halloween 1
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to ...
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Halloween 1"
Advantages: none at all Disadvantages: littered with plotholes
on such a day. Oh, and being hung from the camera flex would have killed him. The whole film became a joke once the last girl got the chainsaw. At least the electrocution would have killed him beyond any shadow of a doubt. This is the 1st Halloween film to end showing us Myers is still alive. Every other film has either shown him dead or locked away or impossibly trapped. This film was dire.
(this review also appears on dooyoo) ...
Advantages: Keeps you entertained throughout the film, which i think makes a good film. Disadvantages: Some parts are a little predictable.
Halloween 2 is the sequal to the origional Halloween by John Carpenter. I would advise you to see Hallowen 1 first as it leads on exactly where Halloween1 left off.
Michael Myres is a serial killer and is said to be possesed by the devil. At the age of 5 he killed his older sister and family and was admitted to a mental institution. Having been locked up for 10 years he finally escapes to find Laurie Strode his younger sister (Jamie Lee Curtis.)
In the first Halloween he finds her and attacks her, and kill a few of her class mates in the attempt.
In Halloween 2 Michael continues to hunt Laurie Strode down, killing anyone that gets in his way. Laurie is in the hospital as she is wounded from her previous attack, and is not very mobile. Police in the meantime are on the lookout for Michael as he continues to kill inocent people in ...
Advantages: A pretty good sequel Disadvantages: Not as good as the first
This film starts exactly where Halloween1 finished, and follows the events after Michael Myers gets shot six times by Dr Loomis.
Laurie Strode is taken to the hospital, where naturally Michael goes to hunt her down. Still being pursued by Dr Loomis to try and stop this evil for good.
This film has much of the same tension and shocks as the first Halloween, although in my opinion its not quite got the edge that the first one had.
The music is still as chilling as in the original, although it’s slightly different its still as effective, and adds a lot of the scariness to the film.
The film features a lot more gore than the first halloween did though, this sometimes is needless as a lot of shocks can just be created by sheer suspense and surprise.
This is a good film, a pretty good sequel, but not quite as good as ...
Horror - Director: Stuart Gillard - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Matthew Carey, Michael Reilly Burke, Craig T. Nelson, Kim Cattrall, Giancarlo Esposito, Cress Williams
Horror - Director: Takashi Shimizu - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Yui Ichikawa, Misa Uehara, Misaki Ito, Megumi Okina
