Product Description

Halloween is as pure and undiluted as its title. In the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, a teenage baby sitter tries to survive a Halloween night of relentless terror, during which a knife-wielding maniac goes after the town's hormonally charged youths. Director John Carpenter takes this simple situation and orchestrates a superbly mounted symphony of horrors. It's a movie much scarier for its dark spaces and ominous camera movements than for its explicit bloodletting (which is actually minimal). Composed by Carpenter himself, the movie's freaky music sets the tone; and his script (cowritten with Debra Hill) is laced with references to other horror pictures, especially Psycho. The baby sitter is played by Jamie Lee Curtis, the real-life daughter of Psycho victim Janet Leigh; and the obsessed policeman played by Donald Pleasence is named Sam Loomis, after John Gavin's character in Psycho. In the end, though, Halloween stands on its own as an uncannily frightening experience--it's one of those movies that had audiences literally jumping out of their seats and shouting at the screen. ("No! Don't drop that knife!") Produced on a low budget, the picture turned a monster profit, and spawned many sequels, none of which approached the 1978 original. Curtis returned for two more installments: 1981's dismal Halloween II, which picked up the story the day after the unfortunate events, and 1998's occasionally gripping Halloween H20, which proved the former baby sitter was still haunted after 20 years. --Robert Horton

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Product Details

Title	Halloween
Directed By	John Carpenter
Label	Starz / Anchor Bay
MPAA Rating	R (Restricted)
Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
Format	DVD Anamorphic NTSC
Original Release Date	1978-10-25
Brand	Fox
Studio	Starz / Anchor Bay
Starring	Donald Pleasence,Jamie Lee Curtis,Tony Moran,Nancy Kyes,P.J. Soles
Running Time	91 minutes
Release Date	2007-08-14
Manufacturer	Starz / Anchor Bay
Publisher	Starz / Anchor Bay
Region Code	1
Theatrical Release Date	1978-10-25
UPC	013131542899
EAN	0013131542899
Number Of Discs	1
MPN	013131542899
Creator	Debra Hill Irwin Yablans Kool Marder Moustapha Akkad

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Customer Reviews

Why, Why, Why...

Review by Squirrel Bait '68, 2010-08-19

Okay...maybe I'm just dumb, but why wouldn't a 30 year anniversary box set contain ALL of the releases over the past 30 years, whether stellar, crappy or or just a decent waste of time? Why not include the extended "TV" version of Halloween along with the modified "TV" version of Halloween II (doesn't exist on VHS or disc), along with all the original theatrical realeases thru Resurrection (all in Hi-Def, with Blu-Ray counterparts)? THAT, to me, would be a true 30th anniversary box set. 5 stars for Halloween and Halloween II, 4 stars for Halloween H20 (#7), 3 stars for #3 (Season of the Witch), 4, 5 (never watched #6), and Resurrection (#8), and honestly 4 stars overall for the entire series--I know, it doesn't average out right, but honestly it is a fun series despite the huge cheesy acting factor in most of the films. Are they waiting for the 50th anniversary to do that? We won't care anymore. 1 star for what they've done to the fans with this ridiculous box set.

Sorry, but I'd rather collect these individually and put them in a regular box. :-P

Side note: has anyone ever noticed that Rodney Dangerfield's English professor (Dr. Diane Turner played by Sally Kellerman) in the 1986 comedy hit Back to School lived in the Doyle house (from Halloween and Halloween II)? LOL! No wonder they had a "dead man's party!" No trick here! Just a tiny piece of trivia treat. Check it out.

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When Halloween Was Released On Television Via NBC....

Review by Scott A. Drost, 2010-08-15

I Remember I Was 14. And Remembered Seeing The Commercials For It All Week Long, Before The Viewing Expereince That Would FOREVER Change My Take On The Modern Horror Film. When The Movie Finally Began-I Remember The Moustapha Akkad Presents Logo Spilling Across The Screen With The Accompany Of Carpenters Chilling Piano Short Circuiting My Brain. I Just Could Have Never Imagined What I Was Truly In Store For. Now Rounding Out The Fine Age Of 42 My Love For Halloween Has Never Changed. It Is Just Simply Put, ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCES EVER COMMITED TO FILM.

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Classic

Review by Evren Akbay, 2010-08-14

Way better than Rob Zombies versions, they keep making remakes to all these classic horror films when they need to contiue the franshises, not only that, they're making the remakes look ridiculous Michael and Jason are silent killers they dont whine grunt or any of that and they made there characters a whole lot weaker Kane Hodder played the best Jason and whoever played Michael in pt. 1,2,4,5,6, and 7 played Michael very good, the resurrection was'nt all that how Michael gonna get his butt whooped by busta rhymes? and Jason does'nt run so yea aint nothing like the originals.

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Prepare to have the hell scared out of you.

Review by Anonymous, 2010-08-03

Alfred Hitchcock gave an interview where he defined suspense. It it, he presented a scenario involving two men on opposite sides of a desk having a conversation. Suddenly, (unaware by the audience and the two men in the scene) a bomb goes off. It offers a quick startle to the viewer. Now, recreate the same scene, only let the audience know there's a bomb underneath the desk ticking away while the men converse, and here you have suspense.

John Carpenter takes Hitchcock's theory and runs marathons with it. As a result, he has single-handedly managed to create one of the most chilling horror films in cinematic history. Everything in this movie is about the build up; the character build up of the antagonist, Michael Myers, and the build up of the final confrontation between him and the protagonist Laurie Strode (played with a mature actor's experience by the young newcomer, Jamie Lee Curtis).

The great and underrated Donald Pleasance plays psychiatrist Sam Loomis (a nod to Hitchcock's "Psycho") on the hunt for his escaped mental patient, Myers. With his scenes, we learn of Michael Myers the man, or as Loomis will only refer to him as, evil personified. His scenes are cut between those of innocent teenager Laurie Strode and her friends making short-term plans for what eventually becomes their short lives. Loomis tells the story, and the kids experience that story first hand.

There is minimal gore, because gore isn't what's scary. There is only a monster waiting for his unsuspecting prey. You know a trap has been set, and Carpenter allows the viewer to let their mind imagine the most horrible things. What is waiting in the shadows of the stairway? Will Laurie find her friends or will she find Myers? The climb upstairs and down the hallway to the bedroom is agonizing. This is how the build up bubbles over into terror at its highest level.

It's unfortunate that lesser directors with their lesser horror films have exploited what "Halloween" had acheived. Audiences today with their short attention spans wouldn't react the same way they did back in 1978, even though this film revamped and set a new standard for horror. "Halloween" is a very well made film. Pay attention to the stark contrast of the lighting, the driving screenplay, that frightening, minimalist and incredible music score by Carpenter and that damned, creepy mask that by itself is enough to enduce paralyzing fear.

This particular DVD is not the original theatrical release. When "Halloween" aired on network television, the censors made more cuts to it than Myers to one of his victims. As a result, Carpenter went back and filmed added footage to compensate for the lost time. These new scenes have been added to the theatrical release to offer a more complete version of the film. Purists may disagree (John Carpenter being one), but I find the added footage to be an enhancement rather than a hinderance. 32 years later, and I'm still looking behind me when I'm alone.

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A Bluray Review

Review by G. Dowling, 2010-07-25

I am assuming everyone reading this is more than familiar with the story of "Halloween", John Carpenter's unintentional masterpiece of suspense, horror, and atmosphere. I say unintentional because the film was made by a twentysomething John Carpenter and producer Debra Hill originally titled "The Babysitter Murders." Made on a tiny budget, the movie became the highest grossing independent film of all time (up until recently) and agruably the most oft replicated movie until this day, generating sequels, remakes, and launching the careers of many actors (Jamie Lee Curtis, PJ Soles, among others) "Halloween" gets the royal treatment on Bluray with this very satisfying HD transfer. The 1080p HD master reveals unprecendented detail and repairs many of the "soft" apearing scenes with incredible detail and clarity. The colors pop and some shots even have a 3D presence such as those where Laurie is walking home from school surrounded by the tress lining the streets and the bright orange leaves on the ground. The sound is mixed in an Uncompressed PCM 5.1 with a Dolby Digital 5.1. While the film will never sound like "Terminator Salvation', it offers crystal clear ambient and rear channel effects, crisp dialogue, and the classic music theme has never sounded better or more chlling. This one is priced to own, and a must for fans!

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