All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average User Score:




9
(126 sources)
A fine example of what a real horror should be lik. An a good lesson for modern horror movie makers. John Carpenter does an amazing job with the directing. There are some realy stunning scenes. The directing is smart, the horror is based on the...
[+] Read Full Review
A fine example of what a real horror should be lik. An a good lesson for modern horror movie makers. John Carpenter does an amazing job with the directing. There are some realy stunning scenes. The directing is smart, the horror is based on the scary and not the gore, and you barely get to see Myers. The acting performances are good but not great. The script is pretty good. But the main reason that makes Halloween sutch a wonderful horror is as mensioned the directing, suspense like no other, some realyscary and brilliant scenes. Halloween should be ranked as one of the best horror movies ever made.
Posted mar 18, 2008 4:04 am pt
Classic it may be, I personally hated Halloween. I watched it at a friends house at a party, laughing the whole way through. I thought some of the acting was overly dramatic, some was not dramatic enough, and I found many slip-ups and pointed some...
[+] Read Full Review
Classic it may be, I personally hated Halloween. I watched it at a friends house at a party, laughing the whole way through. I thought some of the acting was overly dramatic, some was not dramatic enough, and I found many slip-ups and pointed some of the badly written dialouge. The films saving grace was the very spooky score (kudos to the composer), but the fact that the same piece was played over and over made me want to throw a rock at my friends two thousand dollar television. The film did have a suspenseful part or two, such as when the main character was hiding in the closet towards the end of the movie, but that was about the only part. The director seemed to try to use nudity artisticly, but one of the scenes just seemed like something that would be on HBO around midnight. There were also things that didn't make sense. Micheal Meyers would appear across the street, or out the window or whatever, a character would be looking straight at him, the camera would cut to the main character, cut back to the place where the killer was standing (but not anymore), and the character would wonder where he went. Even though the character was staring at him. Meyers is either a VERY brisk walker, or has some sort of supernatural ability. And then there were the times where our supernatural killer seemed to be at two places at once. Overall, I think Halloween is a fairly bad film, that is not scary and hardly suspenseful, but I guess that is just my opinion.
Posted mar 2, 2008 10:54 am pt
I love this film so much. It's in my horror movie collection at the very top! Alright, so here's the simple plot: baby sitter is stalked by masked man. Too vague? Whiner. Okay then: On Halloween, 17 year old Laurie Strode sees a masked person...
[+] Read Full Review
I love this film so much. It's in my horror movie collection at the very top! Alright, so here's the simple plot: baby sitter is stalked by masked man. Too vague? Whiner. Okay then: On Halloween, 17 year old Laurie Strode sees a masked person following her around, from seeing the person outside of the window at school, to seeing the person in her backyard hiding behind a clothesline. Little does she know it's Michael Myers, an escaped mental patient, who killed his sister back in 1963. At night, things go awry as she's in for the most horrifying experience in all of her life. There, that's the plot. I think the reason this movie was so scary is because of the brilliant musical score. It just makes you feel... very uncomfortable. The acting is superb and the layout is fantastic. There are a number of scenes in this movie which caused me many sleepless nights. Halloween directed by John Carpenter fits up there with Psycho, Nightmare On Elm Street, and Black Christmas. Definitely deserves a 5.
Posted mar 1, 2008 12:32 am pt
Halloween- what a classic.
This films just shows what a filmmaking genius that John Carpenter is. What is really great about Halloween is that it does not use the obvious: blood, gore or visual killings to give us the thirlls, oh...
[+] Read Full Review
Halloween- what a classic.
This films just shows what a filmmaking genius that John Carpenter is. What is really great about Halloween is that it does not use the obvious: blood, gore or visual killings to give us the thirlls, oh no, it does much more than that.
The creepy camera perspective from Micheal Myers, and the noises that come from the camera, and the subtle emotion of this baby killer make this movie so classic. Also, who can cannot love the haunting theme music that genius Carpenter also did. Both a deep and scary tune, and really portrays the whole movie's mood really well.
Posted feb 16, 2008 8:25 pm pt
A classic horror movie & my personal favorite!
I love this movie, and all of the sequels. All of the characters were great, portrayed by some great actors. It didn't have very much much blood and gore, which I liked. I like some blood,...
[+] Read Full Review
A classic horror movie & my personal favorite!
I love this movie, and all of the sequels. All of the characters were great, portrayed by some great actors. It didn't have very much much blood and gore, which I liked. I like some blood, but not a lot. This movie will always be a classic!
Posted dec 18, 2007 5:06 am pt
Halloween was one of the first slasher movies; despite this there is no blood or gore. This film relies more on suspense. Donald Pleasance does a great job as Dr. Loomis. Then afterwards they kept on releasing sequels which generally got worse as...
[+] Read Full Review
Halloween was one of the first slasher movies; despite this there is no blood or gore. This film relies more on suspense. Donald Pleasance does a great job as Dr. Loomis. Then afterwards they kept on releasing sequels which generally got worse as the franchise progressed. But many horror movie fans say the original was the best of the series & of the genre
Posted oct 29, 2007 4:30 am pt
John Carpenter's Halloween is still the best horror movie that I have ever seen. And they did it on a $200,000 budget. Carpenter went more for suspense and less on shock and violence. I think it still holds up very well today. I have always been...
[+] Read Full Review
John Carpenter's Halloween is still the best horror movie that I have ever seen. And they did it on a $200,000 budget. Carpenter went more for suspense and less on shock and violence. I think it still holds up very well today. I have always been scared of things you can hear, but not see. Carpenter did a masterful job with Michael standing in the shadows and all you could hear is breathing. Jamie Lee Curtis was magnificent as the level headed baby sitter. Curtis will always be the scream queen to me. Donald pleasence will always be Dr. Loomis in my eyes. Please! If you guys haven't seen the Zombie version of Halloween. Take it from me. You'll be better off renting this one. You won't be disappointed!
Posted sep 5, 2007 11:23 pm pt
This movie definitly defined the horror genre and did influence many movies after it. This movie is still pretty scary, even compared to some new horror movies. But what many people don't know is that Halloween was made on such a low budget,...
[+] Read Full Review
This movie definitly defined the horror genre and did influence many movies after it. This movie is still pretty scary, even compared to some new horror movies. But what many people don't know is that Halloween was made on such a low budget, it's hardly imaginable, and it was one of the best horror movies ever made. Goes to show the difference a good director can make! Also, there was hardly any blood in it, which also goes to show how a director can make an excellent movie without the excessive blood and gore, just pure suspense. Overall one of the best and most respected horror movies of all time.
Posted sep 3, 2007 11:23 pm pt
I first saw Halloween when I was 9 or 10 years old, on Halloween night of course! It scared me so much I slept with the lights on for a week. I've seen this film many times since then, and it still holds up by today's standards. It is a genuinely...
[+] Read Full Review
I first saw Halloween when I was 9 or 10 years old, on Halloween night of course! It scared me so much I slept with the lights on for a week. I've seen this film many times since then, and it still holds up by today's standards. It is a genuinely scary film that didn't have to resort to buckets of blood to produce the scares. Will I see the Rob Zombie remake? Yes I will, if only for the sake of completeness. Do I expect it to be good? Probably not, but only because this great film has set a standard that not many other slasher/horror films can live up to.
So anyway, on to the review. The story is very good, although you don't get the entire back story until the sequal. The casting was spot on. Jamie Lee Curtis made a very believeable "scream queen" and Donald Pleasants is a joy to watch in pretty much anything he does. Even the man in the Michael Myers mask brought something to the character. Looking at Michael Myers in later films, he doesn't have that same sense of curiousity or childish delight that this one has. Don't believe me? Check out the scene where he does something bad to one of the male throwaway characters, and Michael just looks at him, and kind of cocks his head to the side. A small moment, but memorable.
I recommend this movie to everybody who likes horror films, and to everyone else who has never seen one. This movie is everything that is great about the genre, without the exploitation that came with most movies that came after.
Posted sep 2, 2007 6:59 pm pt
Why, Rob Zombie, WHY? Why try to remake one of the greatest horror films of all time? Halloween (1978) wrote the source code for every slasher film that followed it, and, 30 years later, is still the gold standard for genuine scares.
...
[+] Read Full Review
Why, Rob Zombie, WHY? Why try to remake one of the greatest horror films of all time? Halloween (1978) wrote the source code for every slasher film that followed it, and, 30 years later, is still the gold standard for genuine scares.
Forget the mostly unworthy sequels- but make sure you see this one. The murky, foreboding sets and lighting; the teasing, shadowy glimpses of the hulking killing machine that is Michael Myers; the singular screen presence of Donald Pleasence; the unforgettably creepy score; the white-knuckle, hands-over-your-eyes moments- nothing can hope to match the original, though many have tried.
I'm sure that Rob Zombie's film is very good, but why mess with perfection? Next thing you know, they'll be trying to remake Psycho. Oh, wait- they did that, didn't they...
Posted sep 2, 2007 10:29 am pt