Compass International Pictures released Halloween on 25 October 1978. Shortly after, Aquarius Releasing distributed the film in the northeast. And eventually, Astral Films released it across the US. It was something of a sleeper. Although it went on to make a lot of money, it didn’t come out of the gate that strong.

Halloween is the film that made John Carpenter a star. He also started working with Debra Hill at this time — an important and underappreciated collaboration. I’m fond of Dark Star and Assault on Precinct 13. But it was very clear that Halloween is on a different level, even though it didn’t have that big a budget.

But the film raises an important question. Why don’t I enjoy it more? Why don’t I still watch it? The film works really well. The story is compelling. The acting is great. And it looks good — both the lighting and camera work are wonderful.

Others have copied Halloween so much over the years. But I don’t think that’s the problem. The film is still far better than pretty much everything that came later.

But was Halloween a big break from the past? The truth is that everything is does well was also done well in Black Christmas. And if I’m going to watch one of them, it will always be Black Christmas.

I think it is simple. Carpenter and Hill basically remade Black Christmas. But they did it in a much more accessible way. It presents a perfect heroine with thigh-high socks. Yes, she does smoke a bit of the demon weed, but she coughs a lot, so you know she doesn’t do it a lot.

The film also provides a happy ending. Black Christmas presents evil injected into a fallen world. Halloween presents evil injected into an idyllic, vaguely 1950s suburban world. And I think that explains why Black Christmas was only modestly successful at the box office and Halloween was a huge hit. And also, why I haven’t watched Halloween in decades (until today).

Or maybe it’s just the Captain Kirk mask…

Other 25 October Birthdays & Releases

Filmmakers

• Leo G Carroll (1886-1972): Character actor best known for his work with Alfred Hitchcock (eg, North By Northwest) but also in Tarantula and One Spy Too Many.
• Whit Bissell (1909-1996): Character actor who was in films like Creature from the Black Lagoon, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein.
• Billy Barty (1924-2000): Actor known for The Undead but also as the title character in the TV show Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.
• Anthony Franciosa (1928-2006): Actor known for Web of the Spider, Ghost Writer, and more.
• Marion Ross (1928-): Actor best known as Mrs C in the TV show Happy Days, but she also appeared in Lizzie, Colossus: The Forbin Project, and Grand Theft Auto.
• Gloria Katz (1942-2018): Screenwriter and producer, with her husband Willard Huyck, of Messiah of Evil, Howard the Duck, and more.
• David S Ward (1945-): Screenwriter of The Sting and writer-director of Cannery Row, Major League, and more.
• Gale Anne Hurd (1955-): Producer of The Terminator, Aliens, and the TV series The Walking Dead.

Films

• Flying Disc Man From Mars (1950): A man takes on an attack from Mars.
• When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970): Busty women live on the sea and fight dinosaurs.
• Thinner (1996): A fat lawyer runs over a Gypsy woman and gets away with it,, so her father curses him to lose weight.
• 13th Child (2002): A woman investigates a bunch of superhuman murders.
• Ghost Ship (2002): A ship thought lost for 40 years appears and salvagers try to bring it to port not knowing it is haunted.
• Dead Men Walking (2005): A murderer who claims to be infected with a zombie virus is sent to a prison.
• Predator Island (2005): Space aliens crash on the Earth and they are hungry.
• Santa’s Slay (2005): The deal is off so now Santa can be his evil self.
• Unspeakable (2007): A family is kidnapped and dark secrets are revealed.
• Countdown (2019): A woman downloads an app that tells her she has 3 days to live.
• Rattlesnake (2019): A woman makes a deal with the Devil when her daughter is bitten by a rattlesnake.

Halloween (1978) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.