A classic

Rating: 10/10 (29 March 2002)

In Haddonfield Illinois in 1963 6 year old Michael Myers stabbed his sister to death on Halloween night. He's committed to a mental institution. 15 years later, on October 30, he escapes and returns to Haddonfield and starts stalking three teenage girls (Jamie Lee Curtis, P.J. Soles and Nancy Loomis). His doctor (Donald Pleasance) also comes looking for him...but can he stop him before he attacks the girls?
I saw this great film back in 1978 with an audience full of teenagers (I was 16 myself). How this film got an R rating is beyond me--there's only a few flashes of nudity, one instance of swearing, no sex shown (only under the sheets) and very little blood. I was very lucky to see this film when it first came out with no knowledge of it. By the end of the film I was downright terrified! The whole audience was rooting for Curtis to get away and went wild cheering when she thinks she killed him. This was the first horror film (that I know of) where the killer lived and got away at the end. I have never forgotten the chill that went up my spine at the end when you realize he's still alive and on the loose.
It was nothing new plot-wise but it was well-shot (beautiful Panavision images and director John Carpenter makes full use of his wide screen), reasonably well-acted (this was before Jamie Lee Curtis hit it big and she's somewhat awkward) and very VERY scary!
**SPOILERS** The bodies falling out of closets, Michael jumping up from behind a couch and sitting up when he's supposed to be dead were terrifying. I had nightmares that night over this!
Unfortunately most people now see this after seeing the countless inferior copycat films which stole many things from "Halloween" like: sex=death; a masked killer; no motivation from the killer (in "Halloween" it's suggested that Michael is the boogeyman but I always found that kind of silly). What those copycats left out was: likable characters; suspense; teenagers who talk and act like teenagers; scares; logic and lack of gore. Also you're rooting for the girls in this picture not the killer as you are in some others. AND the girls in this one fight back when the killer is after them. Curtis' one on one with Myers at the end is just great and terrifying.
A must-see classic. Wide-screen viewing is essential. Great music score too.