Cult 101: Halloween (1978)
Director: John Carpenter Run Time: 91 min. Rating: R Release Year: 1978
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes, Tony Moran
Country: United States
Language: English
Cult 101 at Gateway Film Center
A celebration of the best cult films of all time.
See more Cult 101About the film:
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, to kill again.
“John Carpenter’s relentlessly terrifying masterpiece”
—Jason Zinoman, The New York Times
In Halloween (1978), icon Jamie Lee Curtis made her feature film debut as Laurie Strode, the role that launched her career. Curtis has portrayed Laurie for more than four decades now—most recently in Halloween Ends (2022)—one of the longest actor-character pairings in cinema history.
Halloween (1978) set a new standard for the horror genre and became one of the most profitable independent films of all time. Considered one of the greatest and most influential horror films ever made, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2006.
About the filmmaker:
John Carpenter is a director, writer, composer, and founding father of the modern slasher film. He is the mind behind classics Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), and more. Called “a creative genius of raw, fantastic, and spectacular emotions,” Carpenter was awarded the prestigious Golden Coach at Cannes 2019 for his innovative projects. One of his first, the short film The Resurrection of Broncho Billy, won an Academy Award in 1971.
Halloween (1978) is co-written by regular collaborator Debra Hill, who worked with Carpenter on many of his major projects.
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