this movie is amazing, the storyline is amazing, the actors are good, and the whole creation of micheal myers is awesome, John Carpenter is a genuis!!!

Greatest horror film that has ever been made. This movie is amazing and will always be my favorite. It is so creepy and scary without even showing blood and gore. I can't imagine not loving this movie. This movie is horror! You can't top Michael Myers. John Carpenter is amazing!!

Halloween One of the best horror movie's 0f the 70's The Exorcist (1973). The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) . The Omen (1976). Carrie (1976). Halloween (1978)

Nothing special about this movie, very dull - all the action is packed into a 20 minute block. The worst thing is it wasn't even scary - very disappointed.

The twists of the movie and the soundtrack is what causes the suspense!! That's what horror movies lack in these days, particurally the remake of this CLASSIC

This is a fun, scary movie. "Halloween" is the horror flick that provided the formula for all slasher flicks to come. Though by today's standards it looks really low budget, it thrives in thrills, and the use of atmosphere rather than gore only intensifies our adrenaline. Jamie Lee Curtis gives a great performance (and the one that ruined her career for years), but the real star is director John Carpenter, who directs each scene who loads of tension. "Halloween" is constantly suspenseful, and a work of art among the horror genre-- just avoid all of the needless sequels.… Expand

One of the greatest horror films ever made; Halloween has an impeccable system of suspense, and echoes the great classic, Psycho.

Film di suspence e non di splatter, nonostante con il tempo si è creato un mito il quale vedeva coinvolto halloween come uno dei primi horror splatter, ciò nonostante di sangue nel film se ne veda davvero poco. Carpenter ha inventato un mito, intrattiene, stupisce e induce lo spettatore a immedesimarsi con la protagonista Lorie Strode, interpretata da una appena 21 Jamie Lee Curtis. La colonna sonora divenuta un cult, venne poi riadattata nei successivi capitoli, tutti inferiori al primo. ma il vero protagonista è il killer: "Michael Myers" forse uno dei migliori killer, grazie al fatto che si discosti dalla realtà dato che nn si veda mai la sua faccia, tranne nella scena iniziale. Un cult superiore a tutti i film horror degli anni 70-80. Capolavoro.… Expand

One of my favorites! This film scared the crap outta me first time I saw it, I was probably 10 or 11 at the time. These days I still appreciate it for what it was. A cult classic, first of it's kind, genuine terror and tension filled fun. This movie was atmospheric and errie. The score is really what gets to you, making the hair stand up on the back of your neck. I cannont think of a better tense moment in any horror film than the scene from Halloween when Laurie is struggling to open the front door, calling for help, while Michael walks closer and closer, almost reaching her. If that didn't make you hang on to the edge of your seat the first time you watched it, then nothing will. A definite 10 in my book..always was, always will be!… Expand

The best horror film ever, a masterpiece.

What more can I say - One of the greatest horror movies of all time and a true example of how to build suspense and terror without lots of gore. A true masterpiece. I only wish I could wipe my memory and go back and watch it again for the first time.

(6.5) In this movie I found something redeemable in the slasher genre. Turned off by Scream (twice-over) and Scream look-alikes, I hate slashers even more than I hate Jamie Lee Curtis movies. And still, SOMEHOW, this movie worked for me. Maybe it's because 1978 pre-dates the Hollywood fake blood quota. The scariest scene for me involves no knife: just a faceless figure carring a limp body around a house and in the front door, with a little kid watching from across the street. The just-across-the-street scheme employed here is great. Far enough away that you can't make out the details, but close enough that you might be next....… Expand

Scared the living hell out of me when I was 7, and I'm seeing it again tonight and expect to be crapping again. Not much blood, but a lot of that "did I see something behind that bush??? did I??" Yeahhhh.

It's supposed to be a horror classic. Go ahead and watch it. I did. Get it over with. I have neighbors with thousand-yard stares, so no fright there. I suppose one could consider this film a damning indictment of our mental health system. But what's really scary is to think that Jamie Lee Curtis could have gotten trapped doing these roles and never moved on to Trading Places, Fish Called Wanda & True Lies. You go, girl. … Expand

This movie is fantastic and scary. Its been voted the best horror ever and why wouldn't it be!? Its fantastic! Fantastic performance by Jamie Lee Curtis, and dont forget this was the movie that started off her fantastic movie career!!

It may not be as gory as Friday the 13th or Nightmare On Elm Street but in my opinion, I think Halloween is more suspenseful and tells a better story.

An Amazing film, Halloween is one of the best horror movies i have ever seen. Classic story, great performances, top notch scares, if you haven't seen it, you are missing out big time. the best in the series.

If I could I'd rate it 10 1/2 but I cant so... Anyways Halloween is the best horror movie ever. Almost everyone of its sequels is good and it started the 80's slasher genre. It is something you have to see if you havent already seen it.

GREAT!! the best movie ever made. John Carpenter is a GOD. Honestly there are a bunch of cheesy horror movies out there. Halloween is in its own genre. Nothing will ever compare to it!!!

Cliched, dull and far from exciting.

One of the best horror movies ever, I noticed someone called it cliche... how? It's a man with a disturbed past, enough so that hate overpowers deaths itself. It's an original movie with good movies and a close-to-home feel. May not keep you up at night, but still it makes it scary to walk around a dark house.

Whoever calls it cliched obviously doesn't have a clue about this Classic. In 1978 it was the first of it's kind. Let me put it this way, if it wasn't for Halloween, there would never be a Jason, Freddy, Chucky.. etc. Do your homework before you write a review.

Funnily enough, the fact that it wasn't very action-packed seems to be its strength.

THIS is what they want! Genuinely frightening proto-slasher, without so much of the actual graphic slashing as future films in the genre (or indeed its sequels). Carpenter cranks up the suspense like a mad scientist with the world's biggest and most inviting lever, JLC screams very well - rather too well for her subsequent career - and of course there's lots of venerable old baldie Donald Pleasance. Let joy be unconfined. On second thoughts, make that "fear".… Expand

Possibly the scariest movie ever made. Different from The Exorcist in that this film is scary because of what you don't see, rather than what you do. It contains very little blood for a "slasher" film, but it doesn't need it. This film is so successful for three main reasons: the direction, the cinematography, the music. Carpenter borrows generously from Hitchcock in this film, but he does so to perfection. His camera placements and tracking shots were masterley thought-out and added layers of tension and suspense to the feel of the film. Watch Halloween again and pay particular attention to the how this film is shot, and the methods used. They only had a small budget to work with but showed that money isn't everything. The lighting too was very effective, cleverly alternating between light and dark, though most of the second half of the film keeps you in the latter. Finally the music. Carpenter also had a hand in this and it is one of the best examples of its kind. Creepy, foreboding, agonizing music. The only weak point about the film is the acting - it is only average. And that's the only reason I didn't give it full marks. Really, it deserves it. Watch this movie, if you dare. Watch it without expectations of blood and gore ('cause you don't get much). Watch it, by yourself, on a dark winter night, with no lights on. If you're not scared, check your pulse!… Expand

One of the absolute materpieces of horror, one of the most scaring film ever made, a night of fear and suspance, a night of evil, the night he came home!

This is the greatest movie thats all there is 2 say.

Creepy, but not scary enough to not make you sleep at night. Maybe it is because of the lack of violence which is the complete contrast of what we see today. Yet the way Michael pursues his victims and the chilling background score make the movie creepy and entertaining.

As good as it gets in the horror genre. "Halloween" is the perfect horror movie: atmospheric, well acted, masterfully directed by John Carpenter, and scary as hell. It is, essentially, a bloodless film, yet it is remembered as a brutal, gory slasher movie. Watch it on a late October night with all the lights out and the sound way up, and you'll see why it's the best/scariest horror movie ever.… Expand

The most frightening of its kind. The tension in this film is so real, so unsurpassed by any of the sequels that to simply call Halloween a masterpiece of suspense is an understatement. The acting is not great, but that does not matter. The only acting needed here is by the villain, who is incredibly horrifying.

Boy kills his sister, goes to asylum, escapes 15 years later, goes back to hometown to terrorise teenagers.
John Carpenter's benchmark slasher film which served as a template for many others to follow & created the horror that is Michael Myers.
Most of it still stands up quite well using Myers sparingly, sometimes only seeing Myers' mask standing out in the darkness in the corner of your eye.
It does get a bit silly in the last ten minutes but overall a solid horror film.… Expand

an excellent horror movie

Halloween was not the best in the series, because first of all, there was no blood. Which made the movie really suck, A horror slasher film needs to have blood.

Brilliant film. Great suspenseful movie, John Carpenter is a genius. Not much gore but certainly one of the best horror movies ever. The music is well-written and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Michael Myers is the ultimate horror movie character, well thought-out, a simple character yet creates an atmosphere which is incredibly scary. First saw this film when I was 10 and scared the life out of me, overall, a great film and possibly the best horror movie ever.… Expand

Even though this movie is technically a slasher flick the action doesn't come un till much later into the movie so if your looking for a plain blood bath this is probably not your type of thing however the story line is well developed and the suspense does build, as we know that at the end the killer (Michael Myers) will inevitably attack the main character (Laurie Strode) . The basis of the plot is that Michael Myers escapes from a mental institute and goes back to his home town where he starts Stalking a girl, After finding out about the escape his physiologist realises where he is heading and goes to the home town to find, and i will leave the rest of this brilliant movie for you to watch, since if you are a horror fan this is defiantly a must watch.… Expand

This is a great movie that has dated a bit, but the premise and atmosphere is creepier than Hell. No guts, no glory doesn't apply here, there is little or no blood and still manages to scare. The thought of being watched has always made the hair on the back of my neck stand.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Bottom Line: Why appreciate Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street when you can appreciate this? Halloween started it ALL.

The thing that truly makes this one a classic is that it is certainly a slasher, but it also manages to maintain the actual â… Expand

While it does suffer from terrible over acting - Halloween gives us an actual scary horror film classic that is not only entertaining but its interesting. I enjoyed it.

The horror movie of horror movies. Whenever someone is asked to listen a popular horror movie, A great majority of them will say Halloween for a reason. It's a must see classic for all horror fans.

Excessively overrated crap. How can I decently scare me when I know so little of the story? Why does Michael Myers kill? Why this girl? And why couldn't you integrate some additional stories, Mr. Carpenter? A good horror movie offers more than apparently purportless killings. Not scary, not intelligent, not good. At least I thought the Michael Myers characters was good. His mask and his groaning are pretty scary, you could've made a good film out of this.… Collapse

Extremely scary and well made low budget horror film that delivers quality scares without gore. Carpenter's direction is brilliant, as is his legendary soundtrack. Very atmospheric and chilling.

A brief retort to two common criticisms of this great, great movie.... 1) "Not a lot of big scares, lots of down time." These people have a very loose grasp, if any, on the concept of building tension... To them, the scenes where the killer is peering in from the background are meaningless if they don't immediately culminate in a satisfying kill scene. This may seem funny to say, but this movie was made at a time when nobody knew who Michael Myers was or what he was capable of. Watching this movie through the eyes of a newcomer might help these people appreciate suspense. 2) "They don't give us a reason for all the killing" That's the point! It's scarier that way, if you don't even know what motivates the killer, then he becomes even less human. There's no emotion, no reasoning, just a body walking around, taking death wherever it goes. People who have a problem with this are simply too used to having each and every background detail spoon-fed to them to enjoy a movie that purposely leaves the darkest parts to the imagination. 3) I read one review calling this movie "cliched"... which hilariously overlooks the fact that Halloween *started all those cliches!* So essentially, this person blames this movie for being too much like the movies that copied it... have fun with that one.... Yes, this movie does have its shortcomings (acting, editing, modest production values) but it still stands as an understated masterpiece, and the granddaddy of a sub-genre all its own. The buildup and release of tension are timed as skilfully as any scare flick ever made, and the near-total lack of blood only serves to underline the fact that the world's first slasher flick got its teeth from real directing and storytelling as opposed to cheap visuals and gratuitous violence. JUST REMEMBER: this movie must be seen in full widescreen, otherwise the framing will ruin some key scenes.… Expand

Talk about a classic. When people talk about the first slasher film, they actually say Psycho, but this is a close contender. Not that it's not as good as that film, in fact I think that Psycho is a bit better made compared to this, but I'm here to talk about Halloween. This is by far my favorite horror movie, and I'm a Jason fan above all. The killer is not what makes this film; entirely, some good casting and photography makes everything better. Sure by todays standards this not considered scary or horrifying, but then again what is? Anyways, ever so rarely do you get a timeless story for a horror movie, because by now they all run dry in trying to be in on the joke. But wasn't great when you could watch a horror movie and not have to watch them make fun of themselves and the clichés they follow? I'm always up for watching a movie, of almost any genre; drama is not my forte, but horror would be my first suggestion. I watched this with friends on Halloween, it was the start of my horror movie phase; in watching all the classic slasher films, and this one came out on top. If you must know the order of the other 3 main series would be: nightmare on Elm street, Texas chainsaw massacre, and ironically Friday the 13th. Like I said previously, the camera work works well with the suspense, adding to it and making it more "terrifying". Terrifying might be a bit extreme. The story is good, it was made at a time where the formula wasn't dried up yet. Along with timeless storytelling, it manages to create some interesting themes in it. Talking about suburbia and its effects on certain people, pro feminism in how it's a damsel saving the day. So this is not just a bunch of nostalgia for me, this is a well put together film by a talented writer(s), and I think this is the definitive horror movie that should be viewed by anyone who's interested in horror or just plain filmmaking.… Expand