Halloween (1978)
Halloween is a 1978 American slasher 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 plot tells about serial killer Michael Myers who was committed to a sanitarium for murdering his teenage sister on Halloween night. Fifteen years later, he escapes and returns to his hometown, where he stalks a female babysitter and her friends, while under pursuit by his psychiatrist.
In 1963, on Halloween night in Haddonfield, Illinois, six year-old Michael Myers inexplicably stabs his older sister Judith to death with a kitchen knife in their home, and is incarcerated at Smith’s Grove sanitarium. Fifteen years later, on October 30, Michael’s psychiatrist, Dr. Samuel Loomis, and his colleague, Marion Chambers, arrive at the sanitarium to escort Michael to court. Michael escapes by stealing their car and returns to Haddonfield on Halloween, killing a mechanic for his coveralls, as well as stealing a white mask and knives from a local hardware store.
When high school student Laurie Strode drops off a key at his former home so her father can sell it, Michael begins stalking her throughout the day to which she notices, but her best friends Annie Brackett and Lynda Van der Klok dismiss her concerns. Loomis arrives in Haddonfield in search of Michael, who finds Judith’s tombstone missing from the local cemetery. He meets with Annie’s father, sheriff Leigh Brackett, and they both investigate Michael’s house, where Loomis convinces Brackett about the danger Michael poses. Brackett patrols the streets, while Loomis waits at the house, expecting Michael to return.
Later that night, Laurie babysits Tommy Doyle, while Annie babysits Lindsey Wallace just across the street, unaware that Michael has followed them. When Annie’s boyfriend, Paul, calls her to come and pick him up, she takes Lindsey over to the Doyle house to spend the night with Laurie and Tommy. Before Annie can leave in her car, Michael appears in the backseat, strangles her and slits her throat. Soon after, Lynda and her boyfriend, Bob Simms, arrive at the Wallace house. After having sex, Bob goes downstairs to get a beer for Lynda, where Michael stabs him. Michael then poses as Bob in a ghost costume and confronts Lynda, who teases him to no effect. Annoyed, Lynda calls Laurie, but Michael strangles her with the telephone wire just as Laurie picks up. Meanwhile, Loomis discovers the stolen car and begins searching the streets.
Suspicious, Laurie goes over to the Wallace house, and finds the bodies of Annie, Bob, and Lynda, as well as Judith’s headstone. A horrified Laurie cowers in a hallway, where Michael appears and attacks her. Barely escaping, Laurie flees back to the Doyle house which Michael enters, but she manages to fend him off long enough for Tommy and Lindsey to escape. Loomis sees the two children fleeing the house and goes to investigate, finding Michael and Laurie fighting upstairs. Loomis shoots Michael six times, knocking him off the balcony; when Loomis goes to check, he finds Michael’s body missing. Unsurprised, Loomis stares off into the night, while Laurie begins sobbing in terror.
