Rotten
After a promising opening, Halloween becomes just another maniac-on-the-loose suspenser.
Variety Staff, Variety
Overview
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween Night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
97%
Tomatometer
Fresh
John Carpenter's 1978 tour de force, perhaps the most widely imitated film of the 70s.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Fresh
Perhaps not quite so resonant as Psycho to which it pays due homage, but it breathes the same air.
Tom Milne, Time Out
Fresh
Halloween is an absolutely merciless thriller, a movie so violent and scary that, yes, I would compare it to Psycho.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh
Halloween remains untouched -- a modern classic of the most horrific kind.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
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