"[84] Susan Stark of the Detroit Free Press branded Halloween a bourgeoning cult film at the time of its release, describing it as "moody in the extreme" and praising its direction and music. "[11] By Hill's recollection, the script took three weeks to write,[20] and much of the inspiration behind the plot came from Celtic traditions of Halloween such as the festival of Samhain. [citation needed] On the film's 40th anniversary, coinciding with the release of Anthology: Movie Themes 1974–1998, a cover of the theme by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross was released. It begins exactly where Halloween ends and was intended to finish the story of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. "[32], The cast of Halloween included veteran actor Donald Pleasence and then-unknown actress Jamie Lee Curtis. One by one they are killed ... by Michael Myers an asylum escapee who years ago at the age of six murdered his sister for preferring sex to taking care of him. "[87] Lou Cedrone of The Baltimore Evening Sun referred to it as "tediously familiar" and whose only notable element is "Jamie Lee Curtis, whose performance as the intended fourth victim, is well above the rest of the film. As Tropical Storm Teddy made landfall in Nova Scotia on Wednesday, video … [30] Among those patients was an adolescent boy, who possessed a blank, "schizophrenic stare. Regional distribution in the Philadelphia and New York City metropolitan areas was acquired by Aquarius Releasing. Cue up these songs on YouTube or stream them from Amazon Music using your Prime account — we've got... Sam, creator of YouTube vlog Halloween Happy, has been obsessed with Halloween since she was a kid.... Few actors can match Paul Giamatti's talent. [119] In 2017, Complex magazine named Halloween the best slasher film of all time. Allen pointed out the stylistic similarities to Psycho and George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968). [159], Theatrical release poster by Robert Gleason. "[139] Critic Susan Stark described the film's opening sequence in her 1978 review: In a single, wonderfully fluid tracking shot, the camera establishes the quiet character of a suburban street, the sexual hanky-panky going on between a teenage couple in one of the staid-looking homes, the departure of the boyfriend, a hand in the kitchen drawer removing a butcher's knife, the view on the way upstairs from behind the eye-slits of a Halloween mask, the murder of a half-nude young girl seated at her dressing table, the descent downstairs and whammo! Film director Bob Clark suggested in an interview released in 2005[19] that Carpenter had asked him for his own ideas for a sequel to his 1974 film Black Christmas (written by Roy Moore) that featured an unseen and motiveless killer murdering students in a university sorority house. John Carpenter is known for two films: Halloween and The Thing. [77] To fill the two-hour time slot, Carpenter filmed twelve minutes of additional material during the production of Halloween II. It was simply a piece of tape with "Halloween" written in marker. Carpenter received $10,000 for directing, writing, and composing the music, retaining rights to 10 percent of the film's profits. [65] Critic James Berardinelli calls the score "relatively simple and unsophisticated", but admits that "Halloween's music is one of its strongest assets". Film scholar Pat Gill notes that in Halloween, there is a theme of absentee parents[128] but films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th feature the parents becoming directly responsible for the creation of the killer. Early VHS versions were released by Media Home Entertainment. [61] For example, when Castle asked what Myers' motivation was for a particular scene, Carpenter replied that his motivation was to walk from one set marker to another and "not act. A remake was released in 2007, which was followed by a sequel in 2009. An eleventh installment, which serves as a direct sequel to the original film that retcons all previous sequels, was released in 2018. Siskel, Gene (November 22, 1978). [103], The film was released for the first time on DVD in the United States by Anchor Bay Entertainment on October 28, 1998. This idea is demonstrated in the film when Dr. Loomis discusses Michael's history with the sheriff. After viewing Carpenter's film Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) at the Milan Film Festival, independent film producer Irwin Yablans and financier Moustapha Akkad sought out Carpenter to direct a film for them about a psychotic killer that stalked babysitters. Carpenter did not direct any of the subsequent films in the Halloween series, although he did produce Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the plot of which is unrelated to the other films in the series due to the absence of Michael Myers. Notorious “Halloween” antagonist Michael Myers may have finally met his match. Loomis also refers to Michael as "evil" when he steals his car at the sanitarium. "[144], A mass market paperback novelization of the same name, written by Curtis Richards (a pseudonym that was used by author Richard Curtis), was published by Bantam Books in 1979. "[63], Lacking a symphonic soundtrack, the film's score consists of a piano melody played in a 10/8 or "complex 5/4" time signature composed and performed by director Carpenter with Carpenter admitting that the music was inspired by both Dario Argento's Suspiria (which also influenced the film's slightly surreal color scheme) and William Friedkin's The Exorcist. [76] Finally, a scene was added in which Lynda comes over to Laurie's house to borrow a silk blouse before Laurie leaves to babysit, just as Annie telephones asking to borrow the same blouse. [78], In August 2006, Fangoria reported that Synapse Films had discovered boxes of negatives containing footage cut from the film. [35], In an interview, Carpenter admits that "Jamie Lee wasn't the first choice for Laurie. There is no sound in any of the reels so far, since none of it was used in the final edit". "[96] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Agreeing with Laurie that Michael is the "boogeyman", Loomis walks to the balcony and looks down to see that Michael has vanished. 2 days ago. The game's primary similarity to the film is the theme music that plays when the killer appears onscreen. [108] The following year, a "30th Anniversary Commemorative Set" was issued, containing DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film, the sequels Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, and a replica Michael Myers mask. When the babysitter is killed, her head disappears and is replaced by blood pulsating from the neck as she runs around exaggeratedly. [120] The following year, Paste listed it the best slasher film of all time,[121] while Michael Myers was ranked the greatest slasher villain of all time by LA Weekly. [72] The film grossed $47 million in the United States[8] and an additional $23 million internationally, making the theatrical total $70 million, making it one of the most successful independent films of all time. "[11] Hill adds that the "idea was to make him almost humorless, faceless—this sort of pale visage that could resemble a human or not. [11] Homage is paid to Alfred Hitchcock with two characters' names: Tommy Doyle is named after Lt. Det. Fifteen years later, on October 30, 1978, Michael's psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Loomis and his colleague Marion Chambers arrive at the sanitarium to escort Michael to court. "[88] Tom Allen of The Village Voice praised the film in his November 1978 review, noting it as sociologically irrelevant but ceding its Hitchcock-like technique as effective and "the most honest way to make a good schlock film". [50], Because of the low budget, wardrobe and props were often crafted from items on hand or that could be purchased inexpensively. The consensus reads: "Scary, suspenseful, and viscerally thrilling, Halloween set the standard for modern horror films. An eleventh installment was released in the United States in 2018. [71], The following month, Voice lead critic Andrew Sarris wrote a follow-up feature on cult films, citing Allen's appraisal of Halloween and writing in the lead sentence that the film "bids fair to become the cult discovery of 1978. Gabberman9000 Films 82,162 views. In the script it said Michael Myers's mask had 'the pale features of a human face' and it truly was spooky looking. The plot tells about a mental patient who was committed to a sanitarium for murdering his teenage sister on Halloween night when he was six years old. Another extra scene features Dr. Loomis at Smith's Grove examining Michael's abandoned cell after his escape and seeing the word "Sister" scratched into the door. Halloween is a 1978 American slasher film directed and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with producer Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut. I said it would be the next year and the guy would have actually been caught, escape from a mental institution, go back to the house and they would start all over again. Briefel further argues that these moments are masochistic in nature and give pleasure to men because they are willingly submitting themselves to the women of the film; they submit themselves temporarily because it will make their return to authority even more powerful. "[29] Carpenter's inspiration for the "evil" that Michael embodied came from a visit he had taken during college to a psychiatric institution in Kentucky. [11], Carpenter worked with the cast to create the desired effect of terror and suspense. [citation needed] It was subsequently released on Compact Disc in 1985, re-released in 1990, and again in 2000. www.michaelmyers.ws and UltimateKiller**** has provided this Halloween Music Video, montage of scenes from ... www.michaelmyers.ws and UltimateKiller**** has provided this Halloween Music Video, montage of scenes from the Halloween movies series. It took approximately 10 days to write the screenplay. Even without considering the third film, the Halloween series contains continuity issues, which some sources attribute to the different writers and directors involved in each film.[156]. "[40] Soles was an actress known for her supporting role in Carrie (1976) and her minor part in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976). [42] Soles's then-husband, actor Dennis Quaid, was considered for the role of Bob Simms, Lynda's boyfriend, but was unable to perform the role due to prior work commitments.[43]. [41] According to Soles, she was told after being cast that Carpenter had written the role with her in mind. [18][64] It took Carpenter three days to compose the entire score for the film. He said, 'Well what would you do if you did do a sequel?'