As some of you have kindly pointed out I say Smiths Groove instead of Grove and called Blofeld 'Hans Blofeld' instead of ‘Ernst Stavro Blofeld’. I shouldn’t have watched Die Hard as I writing my script, haha and the name Hans must have just slipped in as I was writing my review. I do sometimes mispronounce the odd word here and there and I do my best to correct the mistakes before videos are published. This review, in particular, was seen by like 100 people before it was made live on KZfaq and no one pointed out the mistakes. So I apologise for the slight errors.

I first saw this movie in 1980 on cable. I was babysitting the neighbor kids on Halloween night. The walk home later that night was...tense.

Robert Englund actually worked on the film for one day throwing dead leaves around the houses to make it look like autumn.

There are movies when it is obvious that the makers are talented and they are pushing themselves to their limits in the circumstances. That means that I'll overlook flaws and won't knit-pick what there wasn't time or money to do better. 'Halloween' is one of those movies.

The original is one of the best horror movies ever made

*HALLOWEEN (1978)* released exactly 40 years ago, today

The scratching of “Sister” can be seen as unrelated to Laurie if you’re one to dismiss the family connection between them, like I am. It can simply refer to Michael’s fixation on Judith (hence why he steals her tombstone for use in the tableau later) and it’s what points Loomis in the right direction of Haddonfield. Remember, Loomis was ignorant of Laurie’s relation to Michael until near the end of the sequel.

one of the greatest movies ever made

Halloween, and the Thing are classics for me, both are films I tell people to add onto their watchlist!

Oliver never stop these, great retrospective Halloween is my favourite slasher by a large mile!

Something I've never noticed before; Whenever you see the colour red, Michael appears moments later. Look out for it.

OMFG.. That "AH BOOGEYMAN!!!" cut away was genius. Youre the best in the movie retrospective game Oliver.

The girlfriend told me she hadn't ever seen Halloween 1 or 2, the originals. We fixed that today, she enjoyed both of them. Anyway, as we were watching the first film something dawned on me that I never thought of before. When Loomis is making his way to Haddonfield to find Michael, he makes it a point to try and get help from the local police department in finding Michael. When he gets help and Bracket and him are searching for Michael, he talks about how hard he tried to keep Michael locked away. Later when Bracket offers to get the radio and TV involved, Loomis says no because people will see Michael everywhere, so he wants to keep the community as safe as possible. Makes sense. When Loomis finds the facility car and knows Michael's in the area, Bracket shows up and says he'll call in his mean and Loomis cuts him off, directing him to take his men and cover the back end of the neighborhood. He wants to make sure if Michael tries to slip away, the police will cut him off. When the two kids come running from the Doyle house to get help and Loomis knows where to go, he heads inside for the showdown (my favorite part of the film). Of course, Loomis stops Michael from killing Laurie with a well placed shot, and when he reaches the bedroom he unloads on Michael with five more shots. It occurred to me as I'm watching this, and I could be wrong, that Dr. Loomis never had any intentions of taking Michael back to the facility. He talks about finding Michael, never capturing him. He keeps Michael off the TV/Radio so no one will get in his way of killing Michael. He gets Bracket, who has more men, and more firepower, to keep away as he approaches Michael's location so Bracket doesn't try to take Michael into custody. When he reaches Michael, he makes no attempts to take Michael into custody, but instead unloads every bullet he has. I don't think it was written with this intention, but it's something I think is interesting to think about. Am I just slow on realizing this? Before I just assumed Loomis was trying to capture Michael but when he found Michael he instead let his fear take over and just shot the fuck out of him. Thoughts?

Carpenter is probably the most underrated director ever - never did ONE bad movie and several masterpieces. Great video as always, Oliver!

Extra Trivia: John Carpenter was also inspired by Bob Clark's Black Christmas (1974). Basically, long story short, if it wasn't for Black Christmas, we wouldn't have Halloween today. Seriously. I love this movie! I can't go through October without watching it! I watch it every Halloween year! After all, it shares the name! Great review as always, Oliver! Thanks for reviewing this wonderful classic! : )

My sister is a film student at Western Kentucky University (where Carpenter studied before transferring to USC) and apparently the guy who plays Michael in the new film is playing him in a haunted house down there.

When I worked for a movie theater, as a thank you for all our hard work the manager had a special employees screening of Halloween after hours one weekend. It was amazing seeing it on the big screen. I had not seen a lot of horror movies at the time apart from The Thing (1982) and They Live (1988). I was on the edge of my seat the whole time I watched it. I can see why John Carpenter is such a popular director with horror fans.

I watched this when I was a kid, and i remember it being one of the scariest movies ever. I still find it to be one of the scariest slashers ever, and an all time classic horror.

The first is still THE best and always will be! I remember seeing this in the theater and the many times through the 80's when it played on TV every Halloween. One of THE greatest movies ever made, in my opinion. It's on the top shelf of my Blu-Rays right next to the Exorcist.

"Assault on Precient 13" (1976) is a solid Action Urban-Western movie. It also has fantastic synth soundtrack.

You rock for publishing this review 40 years after its release. I wondered when you would post a "Halloween" review, I see it was for a special occasion.

While I'll agree that Halloween 5 and 6 are very lackluster, I rate Halloween 4 higher than the likes of H20 and personally it is my favourite of the sequels. Although I should point out that H4 doesn't include anything regarding the Thorn cult storyline as that was (barely) introduced in H5 and then expanded upon in H6. Plus that ending to H4 is probably the best ending the franchise ever pulled off, it's just a shame that they pretty much wasted the potential it had when H5 came out.

Love this man. Could listen to you talk about movies all day.

I think one of the things I love about this movie, having only seen it a few weeks ago, is the unrealistic moments didn't bother me. They're still dumb, but I think here you could argue that it's happening in a town where nothing really happens. Okay, that one thing happened a decade and a half ago, but you would chock that up as an unfortunate accident that would never happen again, I'd imagine. I guess what I'm saying is that unlike some other films I've seen, this one handled the "stupid moments" really well.

Absolutely love watching your reviews.

Oliver, I can't thank you enough for the content, and I honestly never knew there was an extended TV version of the film. That is amazing! How after all of these years, nobody has ever bothered to mention that, is beyond me.

Awesome retrospective on a classic. I kind of like the choose your own adventure aspect that this franchise has become. My preferred timelines are Halloween '78, Halloween 2 '81 and Halloween H20. Then Halloween '78 and Halloween 2018.

Great review and nice touch in adding Homer Simpson's "Boogeyman" scream......that definitely woke me up

Happy 40th Anniversary, Halloween! :D

Do FRIGHT NIGHT!

Halloween 4 is a great popcorn flick! ;)

BTW Oliver,you're not totally wrong on how Michael looks in Rob Zombies film. He's played by Tyler Mane, who was a pro wrestler, best known as Sabertooth in the original X-Men film.

Calling Halloween:Resurrection “laughable” is giving it too much credit...it is LOATHSOME!

Halloween III had the best music in the franchise.

I have to say your intro to this vid is put together better than any of the original trailers for this film. Well done.

I never saw the *SISTER* scratched in the door as a give away because as far as Dr. Loomis and the audience knows, Michael was talking about Judith

Such a fantastic film. I was able to catch a viewing on DVD the other night. Every time I see it, I'm amazed at how well it was crafted, how well it holds up, and how effective it still is.

AHHH Oliver...! Ya beautiful man. I can't even watch it yet.. I need to prolong the excitement. Love the retro/review stuff man. Your a natural.

Thanks for this Oliver! I d much rather watch this rather than sitting through a 40 year old movie to get up to speed before see the new one. Great work as usually!!!

*_Halloween_* is my #1 all-time favorite horror/slasher film (it is tied with _Scream_ at the #1 spot). I had gotten to see this on VHS as a very small kid (prob 5) when my Mama had introduced me to it, so I credit my Mama for getting me into it. Very atmospheric and suspenseful, Michael Myers being mysterious in terms of backstory, motive and actions are done very well, I'd prefer him that way, something the new 2018 film retains successfully. And the cinematography is spectacularly stellar at best, every shot is important and serene to watch. This is a film I will happily watch any time if I just want to watch it, no matter what point during the year, definitely in October. It may not be as scary now as a young adult as it used to be as a kid, but it is still a very effective scary movie to watch for its achievements from John Carpenter and his crew.

You really hit the nail on the head when you mentioned Haddonfield representing the ideal community with its security threatened. The town is actually based on producer and co-writer Debra Hill's memories of the real Haddonfield, which is in New Jersey. I met her right after she finished Halloween with John Carpenter. She went on to do "The Fog," "Escape from New York," etc. - Brian McFadden, author "The Real Woman Behind Halloween."

Hands down the best review channel ever. Footage ive never seen, insights and so on. And the best man to ever assemble a movie trailer. People always say "I never clicked so fast"...That was quite literally the case for me and this video. Lol

Bravo Oliver, another solid Retrospective! Being a huge fan of this movie, I was very aware of facts and stories regarding the making of it already but it’s always a pleasure to hear you talk about it ! Plus you’re editing at the beginning and end of the video is always exemplary and you always doing a super job at making the movie look incredible 👍

Saw the new Halloween film-It was cool- but this is still the best

One of the best retrospectives yet. Excellent movie and proof that sometimes less is better, specially in the horror genre

I was watching this on my phone and then I turned it off until I got back to my house to watch in on my television. Your content deserves to be watched on no less.

Please do King Kong 1976!

Thank you so much for this amazingly well put together content

Re-watching this review on October 31st, 2021. A Very Happy Halloween to you Oliver. 🎃👻💀🦇

Fun fact I learned driving through Kentucky. Adjacent to Bowling Green Kentucky (where Carpenter grew up)the next exit is the town of "Smiths Grove". That gave me a chuckle

Excellent work as always. Proud to be a patreon.

Absolutely brilliant film

Great retrospective, but Smith's Groove made me laugh 😂 That's a misconception about Halloween 4 that it introduced 4, it didn't, it was 5 that started that off. 4 gets unfairly lumbered in with 5 & 6. It's a good sequel.

Nothing gets rid of that 2018 Halloween bad taste than watching the classic Halloween movie review.

Great as always Oliver. It wasn't until I was in High School I got to watch the original "Halloween" on AMC, back when they were showing the "Halloween" movies (yep, including 3). I freaking love this movie, it is a true horror movie in the sense. I, like Jame Rolfe and probably others, would love to make this movie a traditional Halloween watch. I too like it when Michael Myers's backstory is more shrouded in mystery as apposed to giving him a straight forward backstory and some form of motivation (looking at you "Halloween 6, Halloween 6 Producer's Cut, and Rob Zombie's remake). I hope you have a great Halloween. 🎃

John Carpenter considered the hiring of Jamie Lee Curtis as the ultimate tribute to Sir Alfred Hitchcock who had given her mother, Janet Leigh, legendary status in Psycho (1960) (for the same reason, Dr. Sam Loomis was named after Sam Loomis from Psycho). During the same period, Universal studio producers and director Richard Franklin were trying to enroll Jamie Lee in the new production of Psycho II (1983). From a budget of $300,000 over a 20 day shoot, the film went on to gross $47 million at the US box office. In 2008, takings that would be the equivalent of $150 million, making 'Halloween' one of the most successful independent films of all time. The stabbing sound effect is a knife stabbing a watermelon. Robert Englund of the A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) film series revealed in an interview that John Carpenter had him throw bags of dead leaves on set for one day. John Carpenter's intent with the character of Michael Myers was that the audience should never be able to relate to him. Of the female leads (all the girls are supposed to be in high school), only Jamie Lee Curtis was a teenager (being 19) at the time of shooting. The story is based on an experience John Carpenter had in college touring a psychiatric hospital. Carpenter met a child who stared at him "with a look of evil, and it terrified me." Half of the $300,000 budget was spent on the Panavision cameras so the film would have a 2.35:1 scope. Donald Pleasence was paid $20,000 for five days work. The original script, titled "The Babysitter Murders," had the events take place over the space of several days. It was a budgetary decision to change the script to have everything happen on the same day (doing this reduced the number of costume changes and locations required) and it was decided that Halloween, the scariest night of the year, was the perfect night for this to happen. As the film was shot out of sequence, John Carpenter created a fear meter so that Jamie Lee Curtis would know what level of terror she should be exhibiting. All of the actors wore their own clothes, since there was no money for a costume department. Jamie Lee Curtis went to J.C. Penney for Laurie Strode's wardrobe. She spent less than $100 for the entire set. She shot the film while on hiatus from the sitcom Operation Petticoat (1977). The dark lighting comes from necessity: the crew didn't have enough money for more lights. The Halloween theme is written in the rare 5/4 time signature. John Carpenter learned this rhythm from his father. A young Jamie Lee Curtis was so disappointed with her performance that she became convinced she would be fired after only the first day of filming. When her phone rang that night and it was John Carpenter on the phone, Curtis was certain it was the end of her movie career. Instead, Carpenter called to congratulate her and tell her he was very happy with the way things had gone. The fact that she was Janet Leigh's daughter probably didn't hurt. According to Hill, Curtis wasn't Carpenter's first choice. She says he wanted the daughter of the person on Lassie. Jamie Lee Curtis' first feature film. She was paid a reported $8,000 for her efforts. John Carpenter wrote the role of Lynda for P.J. Soles after seeing her performance in Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976). Jamie Lee Curtis admits she made up the "Just the two of us" song she sang to herself at the movie's beginning when she was walking home from school. The scene where The Shape seems to appear out of the darkness behind Laurie was accomplished by using a simple dimmer switch on the light that slowly illuminated the mask. Director of photography Dean Cundey likened it to eyes getting adjusted to the dark. The character Michael Myers was named after the European distributor of Carpenter's previous film, Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), who had entered that film into a British movie contest, where it won first price and became a bigger success than in the USA. The naming was a kind of weird "thank you" for the film's overseas success, although Mr. Myers reportedly joked that the makers technically owed him royalties for the use of his name. The movie that Tommy and Laurie are watching is The Thing from Another World (1951). John Carpenter went on to direct the remake, The Thing (1982). John Carpenter's direction for Nick Castle in his role as Myers was minimal. 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. Carpenter also instructed Castle to tilt his head a couple of times as if he was observing the corpse, particularly in the scene when Myers impaled one of his victims against a wall. Originally, Dr. Loomis was supposed to have a phone conversation with his wife. Donald Pleasence didn't do it, saying he thought the character shouldn't have a family or a past. The writers' goal was to write the film like a radio play, with scares every ten minutes. According to screenwriter Debra Hill, the character Laurie Strode was named after John Carpenter's first girlfriend. As has been noted, the killer is referred to as The Shape in the script and credits for this film. The word "shape" was used by the Salem Witch Trials judges to describe specters (or spirits) of the accused doing mischief or harming another person. John Carpenter was a huge fan of the original Canadian slasher film Black Christmas (1974) and asked Bob Clark if he could write a sequel to the film and received his permission. The script eventually evolved into a separate project inspired by the film In spite of her Scream Queen status, Jamie Lee Curtis admitted, "I loathe horror movies. I don't like to be surprised." John Carpenter demanded $10,000 to write, produce, direct and score the film, which was a considerable fee for a director who had only done two small movies. He also wanted to be billed above the title (calling it 'John Carpenter's Halloween'). Producer Irwin Yablans agreed as long as the budget didn't exceed $300,000. The film takes place primarily in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois. Haddonfield, New Jersey is the hometown of screenwriter Debra Hill. To achieve the shot of Michael Myers strangling the dog, the trainer on set held the dog in his arms and dropped him naturally. This was shot in slow motion to make it look as if the dog had been killed. Dr Sam Loomis is Michael Myers' psychiatrist. Sam Loomis is also the name of Marion Crane's secret lover in Psycho (1960). Marion Crane was played by Jamie Lee Curtis's mother, Janet Leigh, and Annie is played by actress Nancy Kyes, who was credited as Nancy Loomis. The name Loomis was also used in Scream (1996). In addition to Psycho being a major influence, the name "Marion" also makes an appearance in the movie as that of the nurse played by Nancy Stephens. Like Marion Crane and Sam Loomis, Marion Chambers is closely connected to Dr Sam Loomis. Jamie Lee Curtis has played Laurie Strode in films released in Six different decades from the 1970s to the 2020s: This film, Halloween II (1981), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills (2021) On the 25th anniversary disc, John Carpenter states that the original title sequence was to show a long shot of a sidewalk ending with a Halloween mask on the floor. The idea was dropped and the more iconic title sequence of the Jack O'Lantern was used. Jamie Lee Curtis said in interviews that William Shatner was initially not happy his likeness was used to be the mask of this demonic, and hideous serial killer. She has also said Mike Myers, the Canadian comedian from Saturday Night Live (1975) who is behind Saturday Night Live (1975), as well as the Austin Powers franchise, is not happy there is a serial killer who has the same name as he does. When Laurie Strode and Annie Brackett are driving in the car, they are listening to "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult. This is on while Michael Myers is driving behind them. Tommy Lee Wallace cut out the pumpkin for the opening credits. William Shatner did not find out until years later that a mask bearing his likeness was used to make Michael Myers mask. He sued for past royalties. They settled out of court. Shatner donated the settlement to charity. Ironically the case could have been easily dismissed; as the mask was a likeness of Captain Kirk to which Shatner does not own the rights. The initial budget of $300,000 was increased to $325,000. The added $25,000 was Donald Pleasence's salary for only five days of shooting. The voice of Judith Myers' boyfriend (David Kyle) was dubbed by Tommy Lee Wallace. Jamie Lee Curtis stated on the film's commentary that her favorite part of the movie is when Laurie is walking across the street to the Wallace house to kick off the confrontation between her and Michael. She praises John Carpenter for taking his time to make that scene as slow as possible, and frequently cutting between Laurie and the dark house, making the audience dread what Laurie will find. Although Don Post Studios turned down an offer by the filmmakers to receive points in the movie in exchange for an original mask, it was the company's own 1975 Star Trek (1966) Captain Kirk mask of actor William Shatner, after alteration, that epitomized the face of Michael Myers. However, they would agree four years later to provide the Silver Shamrock masks for Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). Body Count: 7 - Judith Myers, unnamed truck driver, two dogs, Lynda van der Klok, Bob Simms and Annie Brackett.

So simple, so original and so very atmospheric. It's a stamp on horror movies.

Bro...your video retrospectives ALWAYS make me have to watch the films right after.

Jesus this is the best horror doc and goes on. It’s just perfect.

My local theater played a remastered version a week before 2018's release. I've seen this maybe a dozen times, but seeing it in a big dark room was the best experience. I agree though, Donald sitting in a bush that long seems redundant. Than again, people were more simple n patient before smart phones.

Hey Oliver Harper I’m loving your videos as you put so much care and detail into your videos you teach me things I didn’t know about my favourite movies and your one of the best KZfaq review channels out there. Could you pleas review all the child’s play movies because I think you could find so much interesting information on the movies especially child’s play 3.

Cracking review Ollie and great timing too obviously with this time of year and the new just coming out. I always watch this timeless gem every Halloween night, then the 2nd one straight after, sort of a tradition for me and it's quite funny because I I can more or less word these films and know exactly what's gonna happen but they're so spot on and amazing that they always give me chills. One of those very rare breeds that the sequel is as good as the original too. I know it's not 'cannon' now since the new one but I absolutely love the 2nd film as much as the first, always will, everything's so thoughtful and wicked and the soundtrack alone for those films are better than a lot of horror films these days.

This is still the best Halloween review on KZfaq excellent job Oliver.

I dated a girl from Haddonfield, NJ, years ago; this girl’s father dated Debra Hill at one time. Her dad was a character in the book, just my little weird imput. If you ever saw Haddonfield, they did a great job matching it up in the movie. Super safe little town, a place where people would leave doors unlocked.

Hey Oliver, I'm surprised you never mentioned the link between Bob Clark's Black Christmas and John Carpenter's Halloween. 👍

Another retrospective gem. Thank you for the continuously fantastic uploads

Always love your retrospectives and I'm very glad you've covered Halloween. :)

Being a lifelong lover of horror films, my mother brought me to see this when I was a kid. Sacred the heck out of me then; and still does. "Classic"!

Thanks so much for this video!! When I was 10, my sister and I watch this a week before Halloween, and it scared the crap out of me!! I'm 28 next week, the day before Halloween!!😮😮

Great, great Video as usual Mr. Harper, but i was hoping for a couple Choice Words about the Atari Adaptation of the Movie :D

Fantastic editing for the opening, Oliver

I must say, I always enjoy your reviews! Keep up the good work Oliver!

You do such a great job editing trailers. Love your channel

Happy 40th anniversary, Halloween! (1978-2018)🎃🎂🎊

Technically there are a handful of fan cuts of Halloween 6 in all someone is the blue Myers cut that is pretty satisfying it's as close to perfect as the movie will ever get

It's crazy how few subscribers you have, in contrast to how good content you make!

Would love to see a Scream movie retrospective!

I love this horror movie. Oldie but GOODIE. This one and Halloween part 2. A solid fuckin movie 1978. This movie NEVER gets old. The best hands down.

I’m loving this channel so much! I love horror!!

Love the retrospective videos.

Awesome review! This is my favorite review of my favorite film of all time! Awesome job! I’m a fellow subscriber!

That intro was perfect in displaying exactly what Halloween is and who Michael is.

Great timing of me seeing this upload, because Halloween is literally up next on the TV.

Always love your work, mate. Keep it up.

Look at The Omen films.

Could you retrospect, “Black Christmas?”

Nancy Loomis is also in halloween 3 season of the witch where she plays as the ex wife of the main character.

Great to see you have over 100k subs. Should be over a million but you'll get there one day!

The intro and outro are epic. The added music has a few moments of not fitting too well, but overall very well done.

Lori forgot to bake me some Halloween cookies...

This is a great review Love This Videos of retrospective/reviews of Halloween

This movie was pretty good. They did a good job with Halloween

Barry Norman was another respected critic who praised HalloweeN early on. He also included HalloweeN in his all time top 100 movies.

Your editing is so good

Another excellent review

8:40 Mr Harper, you magnificent bastard you. Well done!

While I agree, I can’t call Halloween the best horror film ever made (The Shining, The Exorcist, & Alien all ahead on my list) it is without question, the best Slasher film ever made. It invented the final girl and invented the unstoppable human antagonist. It was a seminal film, there is only before and after. Unlike most actors who have starred in slasher movies, nobody disowns Halloween, Pleasance and Curits have always worn the Halloween badge with honor.

Thanks for uploading!

Great review, but I believe the Shatner mask was actually modeled after a 1975 horror film A Devil’s Rain. The facials that Shatner presents in that movie might make that claim.

Halloween(1978) is a classic and appropriately and fittingly best suited for enjoying every Halloween