By JA Kerswell

Today, John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN is justifiably seen as a bona fide classic; the slasher film that, if it didn’t start it all, sparked the slasher movie boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, on its initial theatrical release, critical reception was decidedly mixed: some called it a new classic of the genre, while others said it was a lifeless thriller. So, for spooky season, let’s look back at some quotes from newspaper reviews of the film …  

 “A CULT FILM IS BORN! There are people who do not simply go to a movie. They latch onto it and live with it - three, four times a week as long as the run lasts. THE CULT PHENOMENON IS AT WORK HERE.” Susan Stark, Free Press

“A boogeyman who can't be killed is the featured attraction of "Halloween," a moderately effective B movie thriller at local theaters. … The movie pushes just enough of the buttons necessary to generate chills in the nervous system of the impressionable.” Joseph Gelmis, Newsday

“'HALLOWEEN' IS A SUPERB EXERCISE IN THE ART OF SUSPENSE... THE MOST FRIGHTENING FLICK IN YEARS!” Newsweek

“John Carpenter may not have had The Phantom of the Opera in mind while he wrote and directed Halloween, but it's unlikely that he could have come up with a better tribute if he had tried. His new film, which is independently distributed, should attain the cult popularity of his earlier Dark Star.” Paul Wood, The Daily Illini

“John Carpenter's 'Halloween' is a sleeper that's here to stay. It can stand proud alongside Night of the Living Dead and Hitchcock's 'Psycho.' 'Halloween' is a movie of almost unrelieved chills. The trickiest thriller of the year.” Tom Allen, N.Y. Village Voice

“The picture's most impressive moments, from the straight filmmaking point of view, occur just after the opening credits. NO QUESTION, that is good filmmaking - moody in the extreme and loaded with information. For the rest, "Halloween" settles down to re-hashing the hackneyed scare tactics of sub-standard horror movies - blowing curtains, doors that open or shut as if they had a will of their own, things that go bump and click in the night, heavy breathing. After Darth Vader, heavy breathers tend to make us go limp with laughter instead of going tense with fright, but apparently Carpenter has not caught on to that yet.” Susan Stark, Detroit Free Press

“Halloween is a lifeless thriller … “'Halloween, playing throughout the South Bay, is a horror genre film that can't quite decide whether it wants to be a legitimate thriller or just another blood-and-guts B movie. … Director John Carpenter (he coauthored ‘The Eyes of Laura Mars') makes a futile attempt to build legitimate suspense through the use of shadowy, wide-angle photography. But the script, which he co-wrote, is so thin and unimaginative that the film has to rely on gruesome death scenes to build any type of terror.” Warren Robak, The Daily Breeze

“'Halloween' Is A Pointless Film Of Morbidity … WHAT IS MOST depressing about "Halloween, " a well-made exercise in unredeemed morbidity, is that it is the work of talented young University of Southern California film school alumnus John Carpenter, who received a short-subject Oscar for his highly affecting "Resurrection of Bronco Bill'' and much praise for his "Dark Star," a student project he developed into a feature-length film.”” Kevin Thomas, The LA Times

“‘Halloween’ frightfully uneven … All of this is strictly B-movie material. But the acting ranges from adequate to good, and Carpenter's direction is imaginative, if heavy-handed. He uses every trick he can think of to hype the suspense. Some of the ideas - such as never clearly showing the killer's face - work effectively, but many others wear thin over an hour and a half.” Jim Wright, The Record

“John Carpenter's Halloween, for my money the most capable sustained nightmare committed to film since Hitchcock's Psycho and, more recently, Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. If you're at all interested in being frightened by a movie, this is the shock-show for you. It's as unrelenting as a white-knuckle midway ride jammed on DANGEROUS - OUT OF CONTROL! It begins with a bizarre murder and never lets up. Even the ending itself is one more prod at the nervous system.” Glenn Lovell, Fort Lauderdale News

“The first thing you have to ask yourself is when was the last time you were so totally scared out of your wits by a movie that you almost dreaded the next scene. People who have tired of so-called "horror" flicks probably haven't even considered going to see it. If you don't, you'll be missing something. This one is for real, packing all of the suspense of any of the great thrillers of the past. It's not just for kids, although they'll be doing most of the shrieking during the movie.” Gary Franchi, Pueblo Chieftan (sports reporter)

“… it proves that the mere genetic fact of womanhood does not necessarily yield any more class than that exhibited by your standard run-of-the-mill disgusting male. The woman in question is Debra Hill, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Carpenter, who directed and wrote the music. Filmmaking is a collaborative art form.” John L. Wasserman, The San Francisco Chronicle

“'Halloween': So Gross It Could Gag a Ghoul … Generally, my feeling has always been the less said about tripe like ‘Halloween' the better, but this movie is so revolting it cries out for contemptuous comments. … The only thing more frightening than the thought someone gets paid for producing such blood feast shockers, is that somewhere in this country there are enough people who enjoy watching them to make it worth their while.

Sorta makes you think twice about taking out the garbage at night, doesn't it?” Bob Michaels, The Palm Beach Post

“Ah, well, why use a hammer to hit a flea? "Halloween" is a tediously familiar thing produced by Debra Hill and directed by John Carpenter, who probably thinks he is paying homage to Alfred Hitchcock by imitating the director's style. He makes the movies done by the "master of suspense" look like art. There is a lot of heavy breathing in "Halloween." There is also a lot of wasted time; I have never known a film that took so long to dispense with three victims.” Lou Cedrone, The Evening Sun

“Carpenter uses the standard suspense devices of the horror film genre - doors and windows opening and shutting, rainstorms, tombstones - but he manipulates them masterfully. You can feel the terror of his victims as he comes after them. The slow, deliberate footsteps up the stairs. The victim frantically trying to unlock a door or window. The release of tension when escape seems possible and then - BAM! Carpenter manipulates his audience so well that some people in the theatre scream along with the victims. 

What is offensive about Halloween is the sexual voyeurism and puritanism linked to the violence. The female victims are shown partially nude before they're hacked to death. The murders occur just after the victims engage in sexual intercourse. It's a disturbing. punitive attitude toward sexuality. It's one thing for a film to deal with the connection between sex and violence, but it's another for it to cater to an audience's worst salacious fantasies. Too bad. If it were not for its sick sexuality, Halloween would deserve to be ranked as a horror film classic.” Helen Melnyk, Edmonton Journal

“The action, though grisly, is drearily predictable, and there are a number of holes in the script written by Carpenter with Debra Mill, particularly the ludicrous ending.” Jeanne Miller. The San Francisco Examiner

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