HALLOWEEN
1978 ***** 96 mins. (Extended Edition - 2001 ****1/2 104 mins.)
1978 ***** 96 mins. (Extended Edition - 2001 ****1/2 104 mins.)
John Carpenter's classic horror film succeeds admirably in its original intent: to scare the hell out of its viewer. Don't go into this film expecting some deep, meaningful plot. That's not its intent. This is, without a doubt, one of the greatest horror films ever. It is leagues above all of the other teenage slasher films that have come out through the years. In fact, I hardly think of this as a slasher film. It's such a fantastically envisioned film that it's hard to classify it with all of the worthless crap films that are considered "slasher flicks." Halloween II is respectable, as well, and I enjoy Halloween III: Season of the Witch. After those two, though, just tune out. You're much better off.
To explain the extended editions release: the film originally came out in 1978, the extra scenes were filmed in 1980 for the television broadcast, and the complete film was released on video in 2001. The added scenes are useless (aren't they always?). The scenes at the beginning with Dr. Loomis tell us nothing that we can't figure out for ourselves anyway. The three-way phone conversation between the girls is pointless. I could live with those, though, and still give this film five stars. What ruins this version, though, is the fact that in this version, Michael is given a motive for going on his killing spree. For me, the brilliance of the original Halloween is that Michael was just crazy; he didn't have a set motive. The added scenes were filmed during the time when Halloween II was being made. In the sequel, Michael has a motive. So, they put that in this version. Anyway, this is still a great film, nonetheless.
Rated R for violence, nudity, sexual content, and language.
Sritten by
John Carpenter and Debra Hill
Directed by
John Carpenter