The Ebert segment is flagged as one of the most surprising for listeners, and the film is given four stars.
The review is quoted: a visceral experience in which "we aren't seeing the movie, we're having it happen to us"; if you don't like really scary movies, don't see this one.
Ebert also selected it as one of his top 10 films of 1978.
A host asks how anyone who saw it could not give it four stars.

Most Rewatchable Scene

The closet scene

In the discussion (20)

Approx. transcript time · 00:27:51Read transcript

The segment opens with a warning of Loomis monologue impressions; some people would pick the five-minute single-shot opening, likened to the Goodfellas shot.
The opening is left out of the picks: the older sister never stands up to a six-year-old with a butcher knife, the teenage boyfriend is upstairs only about two and a half minutes, and the parents just stare at Michael holding the bloody knife.
Loomis driving to Illinois State Hospital in the rain with the nurse Marion: patients wandering in gowns, no backup, Loomis running ahead to the phone while Myers takes the station wagon, and Loomis partly to blame.
The three girls walking home from school carrying books, Myers driving by in the wagon, and the "Speed kills" exchange; the speaker might own a Speed Kills coffee mug.
Their banter sets up the archetypes; the speaker's mom called the dialogue bad, while Debra Hill supposedly wrote the girls' scenes, and Annie's meanness to Laurie rings true for a friend group you are stuck with.
Laurie's crush on Ben Tramer and the sheriff bumping into her with "Everyone's entitled to one scare" are also liked; the sheriff is a little creepy.
Annie's last stretch: stuck in the laundry room, Myers floating in and around, the dog dying (the dog category may need to return), and a weirdly long, disturbing strangling in the car before the knife; the throat slit probably lacked blood because of the low budget.
Loomis parked outside the Myers house yells "Hey, Lonnie, get your ass away from there," is delighted with himself, and is then startled by the sheriff.
Loomis's monologue in the house about the six-year-old with "the devil's eyes" who was "purely and simply evil" is added as a rewatchable scene; the sheriff's muted response gets mayor-from-Jaws comparisons.
Loomis's "Death has come to your little town, sheriff" speech meets Brackett's "More fancy talk"; Brackett seems consumed by petty crimes like the hardware store break-in.
Bob going to get a beer and being pinned to the wall leads to the Myers head tilt, called the single scariest moment in probably any horror movie; widescreen and HD now make it visible.
Part two: Myers puts on the ghost costume with Bob's glasses, a playful Myers, then kills P. J. Soles's character while she calls Laurie.
Laurie's reaction on the phone is not terrified enough; the counterpoint is that she thinks her friends are fooling with her after a day of being told to get over what she saw.
The last 12 minutes play as one continuous scene: the long walk across, the Judith Myers tombstone, the mask out of the dark, the stabbing and the fall over the staircase, Myers coming down the stairs with his shoulders not moving, and "You can't kill the boogeyman."
The closet is called one of the greatest scenes in horror movie history, up there with anything Hitchcock did: the light, the wire hanger, his arms flailing, the window distraction, and his hands punching through; the reply agrees it is the single best scene in the movie.
Jamie Lee Curtis is praised as a great, believable scream queen, overqualified next to the Nightmare on Elm Street lead; the hosts doubt they could fashion a wire hanger into a weapon in 15 seconds.
The single best moment: Laurie standing in the doorway with her back turned while, in the wide shot, Myers rises and turns, maybe the single best horror movie moment of all time.
A host describes a YouTube clip of 1979 theater audio in which the crowd gasps when he stands up and someone yells "shoot him again!"
The last rewatchable scene is the ending: six shots, he is not there, and shots of all the scenes.
Asked for a pick: the final Michael chase, especially the closet, with everything in that bedroom named the most rewatchable scene; as a non-horror pick, the three girls walking home busting each other's chops and seeing Michael behind the bush.

Original Myers mask; Myers head tilts; lack of gore; the title; opening credits and music; Myers stalking Haddonfield all day; the driving exchange; the opening single take; nobody believing kids; neighbors shutting their lights; Bob's seventies van; the "blackest eyes" line; horny Myers; Kyle Richards as Lindsey; Sports Century Michael Myers column; Carpenter's filmmaking

In the discussion (16)

Approx. transcript time · 00:44:24Read transcript

The original mask is the best they ever did; the hosts recount that it was a Captain Kirk mask bought for two bucks on Hollywood Boulevard, eyeholes widened and spray-painted bluish white by Tommy Wallace, that Hill and Carpenter wanted him faceless and non-human, and that he becomes known as the Shape.
The hosts recount that a smiling clown mask with frizzy red hair was also tested but felt too weird, so they went with the Shatner mask.
The original mask was thrown out and never recreated, a big gripe of the host's buddy Jeff about the sequels; necessity was the mother of invention, including reusing leaves.
The head tilts, the smart lack of gore, and calling it Halloween rather than Halloween Massacre, The Shape or Michael Myers.
The opening credits with the pumpkin and the music, including the variations for Myers in motion versus Laurie crossing the street and the scare cue, with a Jaws comparison.
Michael stalking Haddonfield all day, though the girls should notice the same station wagon tailgating them.
The "For God's sake, Sam, he doesn't even know how to drive a car" exchange acknowledges how ridiculous his driving is.
The opening single take on a new camera, the "panel glide" as heard, is inventive, if maybe not a top-three single take.
The horror concept of nobody believing little kids, and the neighbors turning off their lights and closing their shades when Laurie comes to the door.
Bob's seventies van is added as an aged-best pick.
The "blank, pale, emotionless face, the blackest eyes, the devil's eyes" line; seeing little Michael makes the Shape scarier.
A host says deleted TV scenes on YouTube include Loomis before the medical board and "You fooled them all, Michael."
Horny Myers, watching hookups and the girl in the laundry room, "basically going through puberty in the movie."
A host notes that Lindsey was played by future Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards, who is in the new Halloween.
A personal pick: the speaker's own 2002 ESPN column written as a Sports Century episode about Michael Myers, satirizing media people and getting past Walsh's satire rule.
Carpenter's full filmmaking contribution: co-writing with Hill, directing and composing a score done in five days on a Casio, like Coppola also doing the Godfather music.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Myers killing his older sister at six; the Jamie Lee Curtis stunt casting; Myers's unrefined killing; most of the sequels

In the discussion (10)

Approx. transcript time · 00:52:28Read transcript

A six-year-old killing his older sister still bothers the speaker, who thinks his own daughter could fend one off even sitting down.
Casting Jamie Lee as the daughter of a Psycho star was a big deal in 1978, when Psycho had only been out 15 years, but no longer matters.
Myers still struggles with the killing, with the raw tools there but not yet formed, compared to a young basketball player.
The sexual-subtext reading, as a host lays it out: the virgin survives while flirting with the killer, sings "I wish I had you all alone," and keeps leaving phallic objects (knitting needle, knife, wire hanger) near Myers; the host quotes Carpenter on her repressed energy.
The reading is doubted as more thought than the filmmakers put in; Carpenter is said to have "whistled a couple of different tunes," earlier saying she lived because she was least distracted.
The disturbing, effective trigger is that his sister is having sex, with Laurie as her proxy.
Halloween 2 and H2O make Laurie his sister, which muddles the subtext; franchises of that era were retrofitted with "spit and dental floss."
Horror conditioned audiences to expect couples who walk off to have sex to die, through the nineties and maybe the 2000s; with 20 days and three babysitters, the filmmakers likely did not overthink it.
Most sequels: keep Halloween 1, a flawed Halloween 2 with some of Loomis's best stuff, H2O and the 2018 film; Halloween 4 is enjoyed, and Season of the Witch has defenders the host resists.
The other host has no further aged-worst picks; everything else is nitpicks.

Casting What-Ifs

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee turned down Loomis; Carpenter wanted Anne Lockhart; Dennis Quaid was supposed to be Bob

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 00:58:29Read transcript

The hosts say Pleasence was the third choice and that Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee both turned it down because the pay was too low; Lee, remembered as Dracula, would have been weird casting.
Cushing was coming off Star Wars; Star Wars and Halloween back to back would have been iconic.
The hosts describe Pleasence as having peaked as a Bond guy and being in The Great Escape, and say he hosted Saturday Night Live in 1981, is considered one of the weirdest hosts, and kept going through the sequels.
The hosts say Carpenter wanted Anne Lockhart, daughter of June Lockhart from Lassie, but she was in other stuff, so they went with Jamie Lee, whose mom was in Psycho.
The hosts say Dennis Quaid, then dating P. J. Soles, was supposed to be Bob but was doing another movie, and tell a screening story in which Quaid offers to fight a heckler.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Charles Cyphers

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:01:22Read transcript

The sheriff, Charles Cyphers as Sheriff Brackett, who was also in The Fog, Assault on Precinct 13 and Major League.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

P. J. Soles

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:01:22Read transcript

P. J. Soles is the pick ("Come on, Bob"); the giggling is a little overacting, and Annie also really goes for it.
A junior Vincent Hanna, the "Little Vince" award, goes to Tommy.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Cemetery guy who never finishes his story

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:02:14Read transcript

Nominees: Annie, though she may be in it too much as the fourth lead; Nancy Stephens as Marion Chambers; and Lonnie.
The winner is the cemetery guy in a Canadian tuxedo who never finishes his story before Loomis cuts him off, a strong 90 seconds.

Recasting Couch

Casting left intact; Kurt Russell as Bob

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:02:40Read transcript

Recasting is refused: the movie is perfect.
Asked whether Kurt Russell could fit as Bob or the sheriff, the answer is Bob, since Brackett has to be older as Annie's dad.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Carpenter's psychiatric-hospital inspiration; the fear meter; The Babysitter Murders script; California locations; Carpenter's $10,000 fee; character-name origins; the station wagon's fate; the Orange Grove Avenue houses

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 01:03:05Read transcript

The hosts report that Carpenter toured a psychiatric hospital in college and met a child who stared at him with "a look of evil," the source of the blackest-eyes idea.
The hosts report the film was shot out of sequence in 20 days, so Carpenter created a fear meter for Jamie Lee.
The hosts report the original script, The Babysitter Murders, took place over several days and became one day for budget reasons.
The hosts point to Southern California shooting visible in palm trees, California plates, and a hardware store on Genesee.
The hosts report that the producer heard as "Yoblins" and Akkad paid Carpenter $10,000 to write, direct and score, that the same producer suggested Halloween, that Carpenter pictured an old haunted-house film, and that the script took 10 days.
Name origins as the hosts give them: Haddonfield from Hill's New Jersey hometown, Bowling Green street names, Laurie Strode an old girlfriend, Michael Myers a producer, Tommy Doyle a Rear Window homage, Sam Loomis a Psycho homage, and Brackett after a screenwriter.
The hosts report the 1978 Ford LTD station wagon was rented from the Illinois government, auctioned in 1981, left in a barn for 37 years and restored; the host wants it and guesses $95,000 to $100,000.
The hosts say the two homes are on Orange Grove Avenue, chosen for few palm trees, between Sunset and Franklin.

Apex Mountain

Halloween (the holiday) movies

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:06:45Read transcript

For Carpenter, Escape from New York is the likely apex, though this is a pretty incredible job.
Jamie Lee: no; Trading Places is floated before True Lies is agreed as her apex.
For Michael Myers, a case could be made for H2O.
It is not a haunted-house movie, though it dips into that DNA; for P. J. Soles, Stripes.
The film is perpetual Apex Mountain for Halloween the holiday; nobody will steal that corner, and few movies must be watched at a specific time of year.
For movie serial killers, "probably yes," with Lecter the only comparison, and a joke that Lecter would get Myers to swallow his tongue.

Picking Nits

Premature boyfriend; repaired wagon window; tombstone theft; sheriff not warning his daughter; no TV or radio warning; conspicuous station wagon; slow hardware-store response; Loomis missing the wagon; phone-line cutting; Annie's butter strip; parents out on Halloween; extra knife

In the discussion (12)

Approx. transcript time · 01:08:56Read transcript

The teenage boyfriend finished fast, which saved his life.
The wagon's passenger window, smashed to take Marion out, is intact again when he follows Tommy.
Myers finds the graveyard and his sister's grave at night without a map and carries the heavy tombstone to his car.
A mailbag reader's point: the sheriff never warns his own daughter about the maniac on the loose.
Loomis rejects warning people via TV and radio because they would see him on every street corner.
Myers drives a reported-stolen wagon with Illinois State Hospital tags around town all day, and no red flag is raised.
The sheriff is still handling the hardware store break-in hours later.
Loomis stakes out the Myers house for hours and never turns around to see the station wagon.
Where did Myers learn to cut a phone line in the asylum? A joke imagines electives such as evasive driving and grave removal.
Annie stripping in the kitchen over a little butter is a porn-movie setup to get her naked and vulnerable in the laundry room.
All the parents are out on Halloween, as if at a key party; an indie movie from the parents' perspective is pitched.
A knife is left downstairs after he takes one upstairs, likely an editing error. — Craig Horlbeck

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:17:25Read transcript

Absolutely not; Netflix has already worked that blueprint with Stranger Things and Fear Street.
A season that is mostly a high-school show until Michael Myers shows up would still be better than another sequel where Myers survives again.
A joke imagines Euphoria season three with Michael Myers showing up.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

How Myers drives, navigates and refuels; opening the door to a screaming stranger

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 01:18:25Read transcript

Myers drives away in a rainstorm despite 15 years locked up, which the film acknowledges; Haddonfield is 150 miles away.
He would have to know the route from memory as a six-year-old.
At an average of 11 miles per gallon for 1970s cars, a 300-mile round trip needs gas; did he get it at the gas station?
After driving all day around Haddonfield, the car is "basically a Tesla."
A pitch for a movie about a nurse who gives asylum kids driving lessons and explains how to buy gas.
The answer landed on: if he is the boogeyman he is Satan, and Satan guides the car, gets the gas and cuts the phone lines.
A pseudo-unanswerable question: would you open the door to a screaming girl a week before Halloween 2021? One would; the other is unsure.
A late-70s razor-blade apple story in Brookline and stranger danger; neighbors would know the babysitter, so not calling the cops is unrealistic.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Original mask; Judith Myers's tombstone; station wagon; Loomis's raincoat

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:22:22Read transcript

The original mask is the obvious answer, since it no longer exists; the station wagon is also raised.
Judith Myers's tombstone as a headboard.
The mask or the station wagon would be two of the best props you could buy.
Loomis's raincoat is a little underrated, though it never rains that Halloween.

Who Won the Movie?

John Carpenter

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:23:17Read transcript

John Carpenter is the answer; the reply calls it an easy one, and Curtis is right there with him but it has to be Carpenter.

Podcast choices

Speaker not identified: John Carpenter

More from the conversation

A promo for The Ringer's 2018 Halloween Unmasked narrative podcast, hosted by Amy Nicholson, precedes the ads.

Approx. transcript time · 00:00:00Read transcript

A network plug is followed by a "hey, Lonnie" cold open.

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Chris Ryan is introduced; Halloween is called the greatest horror movie ever with no counter argument, unlike Meryl Streep as greatest actress, where someone could make the speaker think twice; a horror Rushmore would run nine or ten deep.

Approx. transcript time · 00:01:45Read transcript

Halloween put together the whole package of unkillable evil, the music and the final girl, with pieces in Hitchcock and Kubrick.

Approx. transcript time · 00:02:42Read transcript

A producer pitched babysitter killers; ideas in play in 1978 included a Halloween title, the boogeyman, a masked killer, a haunted house, girls in peril, cheap indie horror, and suspense over gore.

Approx. transcript time · 00:03:08Read transcript

Neighborhood haunted houses: a burned-down house in Connecticut and a forbidden part of a park.

Approx. transcript time · 00:04:32Read transcript

The film lucked into Carpenter, a young Jamie Lee Curtis and a ready audience; most carnage comes in the last 35-40 minutes; the latest Halloween sequel is disliked while the 2018 film was liked.

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The film is rooted in the seventies suburbs, with little supervision and no internet or cable; Scream was the late-nineties version.

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Halloween is the perfect day for a horror movie since anyone can wear a mask; a host dressed as Myers for H2O in 1998 at the Somerville theater.

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A host says half of the $300,000 budget went to Panavision cameras; widescreen shows the car behind Pleasence and the mask emerging behind Laurie, lost on square TVs; the film is still a banger 43 years later.

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Dean Cundey was a serious cinematographer.

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A host's history with the film: too young at nine, finally seeing it around summer 1980 after being scared by WHT, then TV deleted scenes and anniversary editions.

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About ten Halloween movies exist; a movie that tells you when to watch it, like Die Hard, Home Alone and Jaws, is a rewatchable secret.

Approx. transcript time · 00:15:33Read transcript

Showing the film to kids at five became a family tradition; the final-act street is on Orange Grove and the Myers house was in Pasadena.

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Setting Illinois in Los Angeles makes it feel like anywhere.

Approx. transcript time · 00:17:51Read transcript

Myers is the MJ of serial killers; an NBA 75 of serial killers is joked about, and Jason is called a Halloween ripoff.

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Sequel takes: Myers still learning in the first film, Halloween II fine for 20 minutes, III a mess, 4 seen with friend Jeff, H2O fun, 2018 good.

Approx. transcript time · 00:18:46Read transcript

A Blockbuster Michael Myers cutout, claimed around 1995, stood in a Charlestown living room for years.

Approx. transcript time · 00:20:08Read transcript

Budget and gross are given as "$300 million budget, 47 million" (garbled ASR, apparently $300,000 against 47 million); the franchise is guessed at a billion dollars, and Debra Hill reportedly got profit participation.

Approx. transcript time · 00:21:51Read transcript

Parents' movies, Psycho feeling dated, and Halloween sitting closer to Psycho than Friday the 13th.

Approx. transcript time · 00:22:42Read transcript

The final shots are among the best; it may be a top-five most ripped-off movie, echoed by Stranger Things and Summer of 84; it is a movie about watching.

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Before the categories, producer Craig is mentioned as the one who cuts in clips.

Approx. transcript time · 00:27:51Read transcript

Listeners are asked to tweet missed nitpicks; a host has seen the movie every year since 1980.

Approx. transcript time · 01:23:17Read transcript

Every limitation became a strength, like Carpenter scoring the film himself.

Approx. transcript time · 01:24:09Read transcript

Dr. Loomis is called a favorite character and an unintentional-comedy triumph but a bad doctor, echoing Brackett's "goddamn you for letting him out."

Approx. transcript time · 01:26:23Read transcript

Haddonfield geography: the Myers and Strode houses are close while the babysitting houses seem across town; trick-or-treaters seem done before dark; 20-day shoots cut corners.

Approx. transcript time · 01:27:42Read transcript

The close thanks Chris Ryan and credits Craig Horlbeck; the film is the third or fourth oldest they have covered, after Butch Cassidy, with The Exorcist and Jaws.

Approx. transcript time · 01:28:33Read transcript

Mentions across The Rewatchables

Double Feature

Halloween II

The Rewatchables · aired October 28, 2025

Halloween

Approx. transcript time · 01:42:16Read transcript

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