* * out of 4.

Rating: Null/10 (27 May 2002)

A homicidal maniac escapes from a mental institution on Halloween night to return to his hometown where he killed his sister 15 years earlier. He now resumes his murderous ways, butchering off all the babysitters. Not bad, but not very memorable either. Some in joke humor, appealing performances, a few (cheaply earned) scares, and a good finale, but the direction and style of the film is an obvious ripoff of Bob Clark's much superior Black Christmas and there is a lot of goofs to boot (look at the licenese plates for all the cars in the film). Avoid the countless sequels, except the superior H20.
Rated R; Violence, Profanity, Sexual Situations, Drug Use, and Nudity.