Barnes & Noble

Even after repeated viewings, John Carpenter's Halloween remains a genuinely terrifying cinematic experience. It introduces psychopathic killer Mike Myers, who, 15 years after murdering his own sister on Halloween, returns home to wreak mayhem on good-girl teen Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her fun-loving friends (Nancy Loomis and P. J. Soles). Curtis turned her success here into a brief reign as moviedom's "Scream Queen," and she is touchingly vulnerable in her breakthrough role. The likable supporting cast is strong overall, so the inevitable carnage is all the more unsettling. Best of all, Donald Pleasance turns in a delightfully unhinged performance as Dr. Sam Loomis, the obsessed psychiatrist determined to take Myers down. With its numerous pop-culture references and gleefully clichéd storytelling, Halloween is the original model for Scream and its companions. And although there is humor in the movie (particularly in Loomis's single-minded obliviousness), pure, visceral horror clearly rules here. Carpenter's self-penned, Bernard Herrmann-influenced score provides creepy counterpoint to his impeccably composed images. Through six sequels, a TV series, and dozens of imitators, it never got any better than this. Amy Robinson

All Movie Guide

It was "The Night HE Came Home," warned the posters for John Carpenter's career-making horror smash. In Haddonfield, Ilinois, on Halloween night 1963, 6-year-old Michael Myers inexplicably slaughters his teenage sister. His psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) can't penetrate Michael's psyche after years of institutionalization, but he knows that, when Myers escapes before Halloween in 1978, there is going to be hell to pay in Haddonfield. While Loomis heads to Haddonfield to alert police, Myers spots bookish teenager Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and follows her, constantly appearing and vanishing as Laurie and her looser friends Lynda (P.J. Soles) and Annie (Nancy Loomis) make their Halloween plans. By nightfall, the responsible Laurie is doing her own and Annie's babysitting jobs, while Annie and Lynda frolic in the parent-free house across the street. But Annie and Lynda are not answering the phone, and suspicious Laurie heads across the street to the darkened house to see what is going on ... . Lucia Bozzola

Product Details

• UPC: 013131402681
• Source: STARZ / ANCHOR BAY
• Language: English
• Time: 1:32:00
• Sales Rank: 49,560

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Halloween: 30th Anniversary Commemorative Set

Features: