Halloween is a 1978 American independent slasher horror 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. The film was the first installment in what became the Halloween franchise.
The plot is set in the fictional Midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois. On Halloween night in 1963, a six-year-old Michael Myers murders his older sister by stabbing her with a kitchen knife. Fifteen years later, he escapes from a psychiatric hospital, returns home, and stalks teenager Laurie Strode and her friends. Michael's psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis suspects Michael's intentions, and follows him to Haddonfield to try to prevent him from killing.
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Synopsis and Preview[]
RiffTrax Halloween
[Spoilers Begin]
On October 31, 1963, in Haddonfield, Illinois, 6-year-old Michael Myers (Will Sandin) stabs his older sister Judith Myers (Sandy Johnson) to death with a kitchen knife. Fifteen years later, on October 30, 1978, Michael escapes Warren County Smith's Grove Sanitarium, where he had been committed since the murder, stealing the car that was to take him to a court hearing, the intention of which was for him to never be released.
The following day, Halloween, 21-year-old Michael, now dressed in a blue jumpsuit and a white mask, returns to his hometown of Haddonfield and begins stalking high school student Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Laurie informs her friends, Annie Brackett (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda van der Klok (P. J. Soles), but they dismiss her concerns. Later at her house, Laurie becomes startled to see Michael outside in the yard staring into her room. Elsewhere, Michael's psychiatrist, Dr. Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence), having anticipated Michael's return home, goes to the local cemetery only to discover that Judith Myers' headstone is missing. Later, Loomis approaches Annie's father, Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers), and the two quietly look for Michael.
That night, Laurie babysits Tommy Doyle (Brian Andrews), while Annie babysits Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards) across the street from the Doyle house. When Annie gets a call from her boyfriend Paul asking her to pick him up, she drops Lindsey off at the Doyle house. Annie gets in her car to pick up Paul but has her throat slashed by Michael, who was hiding in the backseat of her car. At the Doyle house, while he plays hide-and-seek with Lindsay, Tommy spots Michael carrying Annie's corpse and tries to tell Laurie, who doesn't believe in any "boogeyman" that Tommy says he saw. Later that evening, Lynda and her boyfriend Bob enter the Wallace house and have sex in one of the bedrooms. While downstairs to get a beer for Lynda, Bob is impaled on the wall by Michael with a kitchen knife. Michael appears in the bedroom doorway, pretending to be Bob in a ghost costume. Gaining no response from him, Lynda becomes annoyed and calls Laurie, just as Michael strangles her to death with the telephone cord.
Feeling unsettled, Laurie puts Tommy and Lindsey to bed and goes to the Wallace house, where she discovers the corpses of Annie, Bob, and Lynda. She is suddenly attacked by Michael and falls backwards down the staircase. Fleeing the house, she screams for help, but to no avail. Running back to the Doyle house, she realizes she lost the keys and the door is locked, as she sees Michael approaching in the distance. Laurie panics and screams for Tommy to wake up and open the door quickly. Luckily, Tommy opens the door in time and lets Laurie inside. Laurie instructs Tommy and Lindsey to hide and then realizes the phone line is dead and that Michael has gotten into the house through a window. As she sits down in horror next to the couch, Michael appears and tries to stab her, but she stabs him in the side of his neck with a knitting needle.
Laurie goes upstairs telling Tommy and Lindsey she killed the "boogeyman", but Michael reappears in pursuit of her. Telling the kids to hide and lock themselves in the bathroom, Laurie opens a window to feign escape and hides in a bedroom closet. Michael punches a hole in the closet door to get to her. However, Laurie frantically undoes a clothes hanger to stick Michael in the eye, causing him to drop his knife, which Laurie grabs and stabs him. Michael collapses and Laurie exits the closet, then tells the children to go find help. Dr. Loomis sees Tommy and Lindsey running away from the house and suspects Michael could be inside. Back inside, Michael gets up and tries to strangle Laurie, but Dr. Loomis arrives in time to save her. Loomis shoots Michael in the chest at point-blank range, who then falls from the second-story patio onto the lawn below. Laurie asks Loomis if that was the "boogeyman", to which Loomis confirms. However, when Loomis looks over the balcony, he finds Michael's body is missing.
[Spoilers End]
Cast and Crew[]
- Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode
- Nancy Kyes as Annie Brackett
- P.J. Soles as Lynda van der Klok
- Charles Cyphers as Sheriff Leigh Brackett
- Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace
- Brian Andrews as Tommy Doyle
- John Michael Graham as Bob Simms
- Nancy Stephens as Marion Chambers
Notes[]
- The Halloween franchise has produced several sequels, including different continuities and reboots.
- The 1998 sequel Halloween: H20 featured Jamie Lee Curtis and her mother Janet Leigh. A clip from that film had been used in the Mystery Science Theater 2nd Annual Summer Blockbuster Review special.
- In 2009, director Rob Zombie restarted the franchise with a new cast and continuity. This film starred Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Loomis.
- The mask that Michael Myers wears is a modified likeness of actor William Shatner.