What differentiates Halloween from its worst copycats, though, is that its narrative decisions were made because they made sense for its characters, and not because they were considered staples of the genre.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Dec 17, 2024

It’s left largely to the cast to lend the film personality, which they do in spades: Jamie Lee Curtis’s casting was almost accidental (Carpenter wanted someone else) but the film might not have worked at all without her grounding, relatable presence.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 12, 2024

If he is the Boogeyman, the Reaper, Death, she is the counterforce sharing some of his characteristics, but only using them for good. Unlike Michael, who is mad by societal terms, but exhibits no emotion, Laurie is emotional, and violence affects her.

| Jun 10, 2024

... a beautifully-made made picture by a director who brings a visual intelligence to a genre that was so often reduced to hack directors and gimmicks in place of storytelling.

| Nov 4, 2023

The greatest slasher film of all time.

| Jul 18, 2023

There's nothing like Carpenter's original...

| May 3, 2023

A favorite of both the Film Comment set and the Fangoria crowd because, at heart, it’s a minimalist art film.

| Nov 5, 2022

Even 40 years later, this proves to be a timeless classic. Carpenter shows his early greatness at executing a simple, yet frightening, concept with style and excellence. Michael Myers is an icon and it's all because of this original gem.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 19, 2022

The film set the standard for horror and the slasher film genre and is one of the most influential, imitated, and commercially successful independent films in history.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 14, 2022

Halloween is a cipher that moviegoers, critics, and film scholars have filled in with countless readings.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 14, 2022

This is meticulously made, with every decision working to craft the stylistic, iconic film many of us hold so dear.

| Nov 12, 2021

The best moments of Halloween take their lead from its exemplary opening: that iconically spare musical score-cum-leitmotif, and the film's slippery command of perspective.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 10, 2021

Carpenter's meticulously crafted film doesn't waste a single second, the gold standard of the slasher genre with its most effective score.

| Oct 21, 2021

Halloween is still the best slasher in movie history.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 16, 2021

Episode 13: Raison D'être

| Original Score: 78/100 | Sep 1, 2021

I can recognize good filmmaking and that's what we have here

| Original Score: 7/10 | Oct 10, 2020

Halloween remains one of the most frightening films ever released.

| Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 10, 2020

One of the first, most memorable, and undeniably influential slasher movies of the '70s.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Aug 30, 2020

Aside from the ideas presented by the movie, Carpenter and his team have also crafted a visually rich and well-paced thriller that provided the framework for all the future slasher films

| Mar 31, 2020

The quintessential popcorn horror film, a thrill ride with few equals.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 30, 2019