Halloween
National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween Night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
What critics thought
Halloween was contentious on release — some original critics found it transparent and derivative, but many others were captivated by Carpenter's mastery of delayed tension and his near-bloodless restraint. The film's reputation grew substantially in the months after release and has solidified over decades, though a later generation of critics blamed it for inspiring a slasher cycle they considered misogynistic and sadistic.
“works because director Carpenter knows how to shock while making us smile. He repeatedly sets up anticipation of a shock and delays the shock for varying lengths of time. The tension is considerable. More than once during the movie I looked around just to make sure that no one weird was sitting behind me.”
Gene Siskel·Chicago Tribune
“a visceral experience—we aren't seeing the movie, we're having it happen to us. It's frightening. Maybe you don't like movies that are really scary: Then don't see this one.”
Chicago Sun-Times
“Carpenter doesn't seem to have had any life outside the movies: one can trace almost every idea on the screen to directors such as Hitchcock and Brian De Palma and to the Val Lewton productions”
Pauline Kael·The New Yorker
“Since there is precious little character or plot development to pass the time between stalking sequences, one tends to wish the killer would get on with it. Presumably, Carpenter imagines he's building up spine-tingling anticipation, but his techniques are so transparent and laborious that the result is attenuation rather than tension.”
Gary Arnold·The Washington Post
“the most honest way to make a good schlock film”
Tom Allen·The Village Voice
Genres
Horror, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorJohn Carpenter
StarringDonald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes, P. J. Soles, Charles Cyphers
ComposerJohn Carpenter
Halloween
National Film Registry
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween Night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
What critics thought
Halloween was contentious on release — some original critics found it transparent and derivative, but many others were captivated by Carpenter's mastery of delayed tension and his near-bloodless restraint. The film's reputation grew substantially in the months after release and has solidified over decades, though a later generation of critics blamed it for inspiring a slasher cycle they considered misogynistic and sadistic.
“works because director Carpenter knows how to shock while making us smile. He repeatedly sets up anticipation of a shock and delays the shock for varying lengths of time. The tension is considerable. More than once during the movie I looked around just to make sure that no one weird was sitting behind me.”
Gene Siskel·Chicago Tribune
“a visceral experience—we aren't seeing the movie, we're having it happen to us. It's frightening. Maybe you don't like movies that are really scary: Then don't see this one.”
Chicago Sun-Times
“Carpenter doesn't seem to have had any life outside the movies: one can trace almost every idea on the screen to directors such as Hitchcock and Brian De Palma and to the Val Lewton productions”
Pauline Kael·The New Yorker
“Since there is precious little character or plot development to pass the time between stalking sequences, one tends to wish the killer would get on with it. Presumably, Carpenter imagines he's building up spine-tingling anticipation, but his techniques are so transparent and laborious that the result is attenuation rather than tension.”
Gary Arnold·The Washington Post
“the most honest way to make a good schlock film”
Tom Allen·The Village Voice
Genres
Horror, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorJohn Carpenter
StarringDonald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes, P. J. Soles, Charles Cyphers
ComposerJohn Carpenter
Rent/Purchase