Blu-ray Review: Halloween (1978)

"The best Slasher movie ever made."

(aka The Babysitter Murders.)
Release Date: October 25th, 1978.
Country: USA.
Rating: R.
Written by: John Carpenter and Debra Hill.
Directed by: John Carpenter.
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasance, P.J. Soles, Nancy Loomis, and Charles Cyphers.

Halloween Night, 1963, Haddonfield Illinois: A six-year-old kid named Michael Myers, watches his sister take a boy upstairs to have sex with him, and decides that she's got to go. Dressed in his clown costume, he stabs her to death.

HE LOOKS LIKE HE'S KIND OF SORRY.

For fifteen years, Michael has been committed to Smith's Grove Sanitarium, under the care of Dr. Sam Loomis. On Halloween Night, 1978, he escapes from his confines, stealing a car (which he really shouldn't be able to operate, unless they gave inmates driving lessons or something), and speeds off into the night. Dr. Loomis knows that he's going home, and gives chase, determined to find Michael before he can kill again.

WHICH HE KINDA SUCKS AT.

Back in Haddonfield, sweet and pious young Laurie Strode has accepted a babysitting job on Halloween, because she's too square to party. She doesn't know that she and her friends are about to meet the business end of Michael's butcher knife, but by the end of the night, she'll know that the Boogeyman is indeed real.

Excellence ensues.

YOU KNOW HOW IT ENDS.

The first time I ever saw Halloween, I was maybe 9-years-old, and it was running on a local TV channel. I remember getting as far as Michael heading up the stairs to kill his sister, when I said "Nope" and turned it off. The music, the mood, the promise of what was to come next... it was all just too much for this kid to handle.

Years later, I wish that movies still scared me like that, and while Halloween doesn't make me hide my eyes and run for cover anymore, it still catches me up in its terrifying, dark intensity, because it's brilliant.

PANTS WERE SHAT.

Made on a modest (even for the time) budget of around 350K, John Carpenter made the most of his fiscal limitations and gave the world what may be the most atmospheric, intense, terrifying, well-paced Slasher flick ever made. There's not many Slasher flicks that have come since that haven't taken their cues from this classic.

And of course, this was the break-out role for Jamie Lee Curtis, which makes it even more special.  

THE SHAPE.

As good as it is, Halloween has its share of plot holes. On such a small budget, certain limitations are to be expected, but these issues have always stuck out to us, none the less.

• It's set in Illinois, but cars have California license plates. 
• You can also see mountains in the background of one scene. 
• it's also clear that the weather, foliage, and the hours of daylight are how they'd be in California, not Illinois, in October. 
• Michael was able to find his way back to Haddonfield from Smith's Grove with no problem. I suppose you could chalk this one off to some sort of evil GPS in his brain maybe?

YES DONALD, WE'RE NITPICKING.

The one thing about this movie that's always bugged us is how in the hell Michael Myers knew how to drive a car. He'd been locked up since he was 6, and from what Loomis says, all he does is sit and stare, never speaking or doing much of anything... so how was he able to drive a car like a well-trained adult?

THEN AGAIN, HOW DID HE COME BACK TO LIFE 19 DIFFERENT TIMES OVER THE COURSE OF THE SERIES? PROBABLY MAGIC.

Michael Myers stabs, slices, strangles and slashes his way through 5 people (and two dogs.), It's lightly gory, not over-the-top gory like many Slasher flicks that came after. A few of the killings happened off-screen too.

THAT TILTING OF THE HEAD THOUGH...

Sandy Johnson goes topless while being stabbed to death through the POV of a mask's eye-holes; and P.J. Soles gives us some of the most iconic nudity in Horror History.

MAN, WE HAD A BIG CRUSH ON HER.

This is the best that we've ever seen Halloween look. Balanced and sharp, perfect black levels, and exactly the way that Director of Photography Dean Cundey says it should be seen, this is a visually stunning disc. Keep in mind that there are plenty of Videophiles out there that say the picture's color timing is wrong, despite the DP of the film's claim that it isn't.

The 7.1 TrueHD lossless audio track is equally as impressive.

Special Features: 

• The Night She Came Home!!
• On Location: 25 Years Later.
• TV Version Footage.
• Trailer.
• TV Spots.
• Radio Spots.

AND JAMIE LEE LOOKS GREAT IN HIGH DEF.

As a Horror movie, Halloween is Slasher perfection, and about as good as it gets. As a Blu-ray, this 35th Anniversary Edition is about as good as it gets, HD-wise. This movie should be in every self-respecting Horror Fan's Collection. There's really no other way to say it. 

A+

Halloween is available now on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD.

Jamie Lee, P.J., and Nancy, and Sandy.

You can also check out Jamie Lee Curtis in her very own Horror Hottie post, right over HERE.