RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / Upcoming / Halloween
Halloween

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Bookmark and Share

Halloween (1978)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
91 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 43

Fresh: 39

Rotten:4

Average Rating: 8.3/10

Consensus: Scary, suspenseful, and viscerally thrilling, Halloween set the standard for modern horror films.

Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: Perhaps the most influential and successful independent film ever made, HALLOWEEN is the movie that put director John Carpenter on the map as a viable filmmaker. An exercise in simple, pure horror,... Perhaps the most influential and successful independent film ever made, HALLOWEEN is the movie that put director John Carpenter on the map as a viable filmmaker. An exercise in simple, pure horror, HALLOWEEN takes us into the world of a mad killer, Michael Myers, who at a very young age stabbed his older sister to death. Locked away for many years in a mental hospital Michael escapes one night and returns to his hometown to continue his killing spree. Jamie Lee Curtis, in her first role, plays the resourceful babysitter who is chased by the killer on Halloween night. Produced for very little money and a tight shooting schedule, HALLOWEEN was a stunning success when it was released. Written by John Carpenter and his longtime producer Debra Hill, the film set their careers on fire, with both of them working together many times over the next 25 years. The film also made a star out of Jamie Lee Curtis and turned the slasher movie into a viable, successful genre. HALLOWEEN has been copied, parodied and even turned into a franchise of its own, but the original is still considered the best of the bunch. HALLOWEEN was John Carpenter's first foray into horror, and remains the standard to which all other modern horror films are measured. [More]

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, P.J. Soles, Nancy Loomis

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, P.J. Soles, Nancy Loomis, Charles Cyphers, Kyle Richards, Arthur Malet, David Kyle, Nick Castle, Peter Griffith

Director: John Carpenter

Director: John Carpenter
Screenwriter: John Carpenter, Debra Hill
Producer: Debra Hill
Composer: John Carpenter

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Halloween

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

To call Halloween merely brilliant isn't giving it enough credit. As a horror film and as a historical milestone that single-handedly shaped and altered the future of an entire genre, it's downright transcendent.

Full Review Source: TheMovieBoy.com | comment 1 Comment
10/27/08
Dustin Putman
TheMovieBoy.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
10/18/08
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
10/18/08
John Paul Powell
Jam! Movies

Who could have predicted that the low-budget pic Halloween would have a profound influence on an industry, not to mention on the concept of Halloween itself?

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/07/08
Mike Emery
Austin Chronicle

Virtually perfect. It is the one horror film that I would beg each and every lover of movies to watch, if I could pick only one.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment 2 Comments
07/13/08
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

John Carpenter and Debra Hill's film is a genuine landmark in the horror-thriller genre.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/21/07
Channel 4 Film

The movie itself is repressed; Hitchcock would have admired the way Carpenter artfully avoids explicit bloodshed.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/17/07
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

The film hits us at a level deeper than most slasher films, and even as we are entertained by it, we are drawn in by its powerful suspense and implications.

Full Review Source: DVD Review | comment Comment
09/05/07
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
DVD Review

A modern horror classic.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
08/27/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

After a promising opening, Halloween becomes just another maniac-on-the-loose suspenser.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 20 Comments
08/27/07
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Regardless of how silly you think it all is, this will have you scared witless by the time the end credits roll; low budget horror hog heaven.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
08/27/07
Chris Hewitt (UK)
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

John Carpenter's 1978 tour de force, perhaps the most widely imitated film of the 70s.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
08/27/07
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

...the kind of fright flick in which the plodding monster has his victim in his grasp and then inexplicably stabs the couch five feet to the right of her.

Full Review Source: Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) | comment 19 Comments
08/23/07
Josh Larsen
Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)

Perhaps not quite so resonant as Psycho to which it pays due homage, but it breathes the same air.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Time Out

If Donald Pleasance tells you something is important, you should listen to him.

Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | comment Comment
03/24/06
Leo Goldsmith
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

One of the best horror films ever made. John Carpenter deserves a medal for his effective build-up of suspense, his knack for casting and his sensationally-scary Michael Myers!

comment Comment
03/18/06
Clint Morris
Moviehole

Halloween brilliantly uses its widescreen frame, a lot of hand-held camerawork, and scary foreground and background action.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
12/06/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

One of the scariest movies ever made.

comment Comment
10/21/05
Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com

Halloween is an absolutely merciless thriller, a movie so violent and scary that, yes, I would compare it to Psycho.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for Halloween

October 24, 2008: Get Spooked With RT's Best Horror Movies!
Well, would you look at that? It's almost Halloween again. But before you have to fill up the candy bowl and set the plastic cauldron of dry ice out on the porch, your good... More...

September 06, 2007: Box Office Guru Preview: Crowe vs. Bale in Box Office Shootout
Batman takes on Cinderella Man at the box office as the Russell Crowe-Christian Bale Western remake 3:10 to Yuma heads into the multiplexes over what is traditionally a... More...

August 30, 2007: Box Office Guru Preview: Halloween Strikes on the 31st
The four-billion-dollar-plus summer comes to a close over the long Labor Day holiday weekend with three new wide releases all targeting male moviegoers. Slasher fans get to... More...

August 29, 2007: Total Recall: Halloween Director Rob Zombie's Favorites
Under the "Hellbilly Deluxe" trappings, Rob Zombie is a true cinephile at heart: he's as likely to find inspiration in the works of Martin Scorsese and Sam Peckinpah as he is in... More...

See More Topics...

Related Forums for Halloween

Click here to be the first to post a message on this forum.

See All

More Movies

Coming Soon in Australia
Tomatometer Percentage Movie Date
—
Harry Potter and the H… 15/7
12%
12%
My Life in Ruins 16/7
72%
72%
The Escapist 16/7
—
Mes Amis, Mes Amours 16/7

What’s Hot On RT

Directors transform

Directors transform

What if Michael Bay wasn't director?

New Alice Pics

New Alice Pics

Glimpse Tim Burton's vision of Wonderland.

Public Enemies Clips

Public Enemies Clips

Latest videos from Depp and Mann

Best Movie Robots

Best Movie Robots

We pick the 50 best 'bots of all time

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
88
  • Brandon Routh Talks Superman's Future Source: Moviehole
90
  • Sony's Amy Pascal Explains Moneyball Balk Source: Los Angeles Times
6
  • Three Theaters Getting Harry Potter in IMAX Opening Day Source: Collider.com
18
  • Weekly Ketchup: Adam Sandler joins The Zookeeper, David Fincher joins Facebook
72
  • Zak Penn Talks The Avengers Source: Sci Fi Wire
20
  • Watchmen Director's Cut Headed to Theaters Source: Collider.com
32
  • Lorenzo di Bonaventura Talks G.I. Joe, Beverly Hills Cop 4, More Source: Collider.com
14
  • (Teaser) Trailer Bulletin: The Last Airbender Source: MTV
61
  • Johnny Depp Talks Alice, Pirates 4, Dark Shadows Source: Collider.com
12
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Critics Consensus: Solid Public Enemies Doesn't Quite Bring The Noise
104
  • Total Recall: Johnny Depp's Best Movies
88
  • Five Favorite Films with Fred Durst
87
  • RoboGeisha: 2009's Most Insane Trailer?
79
  • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
44
  • RT on DVD: Street Fighter, Transmorphers 2, and Uwe Boll's Tunnel Rats!
36
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Transformers and Ice Age Tie for Top Spot
32
  • Academy Invites Tyler Perry, Michael Cera, Seth Rogen to Join Oscar Ranks
28
  • Box Office Guru Preview: Dinosaurs and Gangsters Spark Fireworks
23
  • Karl Malden: 1912-2009
17
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • RT Interview: Director Carlos Cuaron on Rudo and Cursi
0
  • RT Interview: Tony Scott on The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
10
  • Cannes 2009: RT Interview - Sally Hawkins on We Want Sex
2
  • RT Interview: Tilda Swinton on Julia
5
  • Hollywood Legend Debbie Reynolds Reflects On her Life in Showbiz
10
  • Exclusive: McG Talks Terminator Salvation
24
  • Georgia Groome - Fresh Talent on RT
5
  • RT Interview: Reading The Reader with Stephen Daldry
11
  • RT Interview: Oscar Nominee Melissa Leo
7
  • Carey Mulligan - Fresh Talent on RT
7
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Halloween at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Halloween at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
10 Questions for JJ Abrams
10 Questions for JJ Abrams External Link

J.J. Abrams has done it all: writing, producing, and directing for TV and movies. He answers reader questions here for TIME.

50 Greatest Movie Trailers
50 Greatest Movie Trailers External Link

IFC channel counts down the best film trailers, ever. Allegedly...

Shut the f**k up, Donny
Shut the f**k up, Donny External Link

Forget the AFI, here's the other 100 Greatest Movie Quotes...

Competitions
Win <em>Transformers</em> Generation One Packs!
Win Transformers Generation One Packs! External Link

Prime old-school animation action to win, thanks to Madman

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.