96%Tomatometer 85 Reviews 89%Audience Score 250,000+ Ratings On a cold Halloween night in 1963, six year old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being transferred for a court date, a 21-year-old Michael Myers steals a car and escapes Smith's Grove. He returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, where he looks for his next victims. Read MoreRead LessWatch on Fandango at Home Buy Now
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Halloween
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Halloween
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Critics Consensus
Scary, suspenseful, and viscerally thrilling, Halloween set the standard for modern horror films.
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Jake Wilson The Age (Australia) Carpenter's 1978 slasher classic has inspired a million imitations as well as sequels, but few that demonstrate so clearly that a disreputable genre movie can also be a pure, rigorous work of art. Oct 26, 2018 Full Review Jason Zinoman New York Times In horror, the jack-in-the-box scare... is the quickest way to get a scream, but the still shocks... are the ones that linger with you. "Halloween" has them both, but it specializes in the second. Oct 24, 2018 Full Review Adam Kempenaar Filmspotting What's crucial isn't that Laurie survives because she's the only virgin; it's that she's the only virgin and still almost doesn't survive. Rated: 4/5 Oct 20, 2018 Full Review Sarah Vincent Sarah G Vincent Views If he is the Boogeyman, the Reaper, Death, she is the counterforce sharing some of his characteristics, but only using them for good. Unlike Michael, who is mad by societal terms, but exhibits no emotion, Laurie is emotional, and violence affects her. Jun 10, 2024 Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand ... a beautifully-made made picture by a director who brings a visual intelligence to a genre that was so often reduced to hack directors and gimmicks in place of storytelling. Nov 4, 2023 Full Review Howard Waldstein CBR The greatest slasher film of all time. Jul 18, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews
Audience Reviews
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Jacki A Great movie through the times! I was a kid when it came out and did not see it in the theater. I took my teenage daughter this time. Rated 5/5 Stars •Rated 5 out of 5 stars10/31/23 Full Review Steve U A classic that I love to watch on the big screen when possible! They dont make them like this anymore! Rated 5/5 Stars •Rated 5 out of 5 stars10/30/23 Full Review keith Needs a digital overhaul but still GREAT Rated 5/5 Stars •Rated 5 out of 5 stars10/29/23 Full Review Nicholas The Greatest Slasher Ever!! Rated 5/5 Stars •Rated 5 out of 5 stars10/28/23 Full Review Hussein i love the psychological suspense. this film is considered a classic by many people for good reason. It is the greatest Halloween Film of All Time. Rated 5/5 Stars •Rated 5 out of 5 stars10/28/23 Full Review Stephen I saw this film for the 1st time 44 years ago upon its initial release (finally reached my town in April 1979) and it still is way ahead of the rest of its ilk: it may not have been the first in the slasher genre, but it is still far and away the best. Beautifully shot - and musically scored - it is a real treat in its restraint of violence (not everyone that walks on-screen is "dispatched") lack of foul language and virtually bloodless 90 minute running time. Plenty of in-jokes and references for the film buff as well.Avoid viewing this on a TV - find a theater, where it was meant to be seen...last night's showing was sold out and judging by the audience's reaction, there were quite a few first-timers seeing this classic. Avoid the seemingly endless sequels, reboots and myriad clones. As one prominent film critic said at the time of its release: "...I would favorably compare it to 'Psycho"...". I say only far better. Happy Halloween! Rated 5/5 Stars •Rated 5 out of 5 stars10/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew
John Carpenter Director Donald Pleasence Dr. Sam Loomis Jamie Lee Curtis Laurie Strode Nancy Kyes Annie Brackett P.J. Soles Lynda Charles Cyphers Sheriff Leigh Brackett
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Halloween
Rotten Tomatoes is Wrong About... Halloween (1978)Rotten Tomatoes is Wrong About... Halloween (1978) 51:31 Halloween: Event TrailerHalloween: Event Trailer 0:34 Halloween: Trailer 1Halloween: Trailer 1 2:40 Halloween: Halloween Oral History - Part 2Halloween: Halloween Oral History - Part 2 10:44 Halloween: Halloween Oral History - Part 1Halloween: Halloween Oral History - Part 1 10:42 View more videos
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Halloween
Michael MyersJamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Loomis, P.J. SolesJamie Lee Curtis as Laurie.Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance)Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Lynda (P.J. Soles.)Michael Myers.Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) and Sheriff Brackett (John Cyphers).A scene from the film "John Carpenter's Halloween."A scene from the film "John Carpenter's Halloween."A scene from the film "John Carpenter's Halloween." View more photos
Movie Info
SynopsisOn a cold Halloween night in 1963, six year old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being transferred for a court date, a 21-year-old Michael Myers steals a car and escapes Smith's Grove. He returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, where he looks for his next victims.
Here, “close” means a movie that was in striking distance of being marked Fresh on the Tomatometer. A 60% score is what you need to be Fresh, and all the movies featured in this list are exactly one percentage point away: They are the members of The 59% Club.
The Tomatometer score represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show. A Tomatometer score is calculated for a movie or TV show after it receives at least five reviews.
Once again, Sinister and Host nabbed the top spots on the list, but this year saw twelve new additions to the experiment, including Smile, Talk to Me, The Dark and the Wicked, and Terrifier 2.
Melvin Defleur referred to it as "Perhaps the worst film of all time", and critic Gabriel Ricard listed it as the worst film ever made; stating, "not only is it pretty terrible, but Tiny Town is also pretty endearing."
On the film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, films that every surveyed critic considered bad have a 0% rating. As of 2023, only 40 films with 20 reviews have received this rating.
From religious groups denouncing its content as immoral to audience members fainting and vomiting during its theatrical run, the overblown reaction to The Exorcist is most of the reason why it's synonymous with the phrase “scariest film ever made” despite how comparatively tame it can now appear.
in Amityville, N.Y., are true, the murders that led to the story being written in the first place certainly are. On Nov. 13, 1974, 23-year-old Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr.
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