 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Halloween
- Review Date: September 21, 2006
- R
- Genre: Horror
- 1978
Common Sense Media says
First Michael Myers slasher fest isn't for kids.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that, while the blood and gore are left to your imagination in this horror classic, there are numerous stabbings and slayings. And most (though not all) of the victims seem to be sexually active teenagers.
What's the story?
On Halloween in 1963, Michael Myers stalks and kills his own sister after she has sex with her boyfriend. Some 15 years later, Michael escapes from an asylum on the anniversary of the murder. He soon becomes fixated on three high school girls who are looking forward to hot dates and a horror-movie marathon on trick-or-treat night -- all except for bookish Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), who has to babysit. While Michael's psychiatrist leads a skeptical sheriff around town in search of Michael, the killer gets to the schoolmates, one by one, until he's left with just Laurie, who's like Sigourney Weaver in Alien, terrified but resourceful enough to fight back. (Of course, she's not caught unawares in bed with a boyfriend, either.)
Is it any good?
If critics could send a Terminator robot back in time to destroy a movie at the film-processing lab, all because of the countless trashy ripoffs and imitations it would inspire, HALLOWEEN would probably be the main target. But many critics hail the original Halloween as a masterpiece, and it earned then-largely unknown director John Carpenter a reputation as the new Alfred Hitchcock (maybe Orson Welles is more accurate, since Carpenter has never been quite able to make as big a hit again).
Halloween may be saddled with some unnecessary R-rated elements, but it still provides frightening moments with more taste and subtlety (you rarely ever see any blood -- you just think you do) than its imitators. Like Hitchcock, Carpenter has an innate sense of exactly where to put the camera, how to light a scene, and what to have going on in the frame to make you shudder and jump. His use of careful silences and the sudden bursts of his now-famous pulsating electronic musical score are especially unnerving and effective.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about what makes the movie so scary, especially because it doesn't fall back on using gore-makeup effects or fancy, swooping digital camera angles. Parents might point out that director Carpenter pays tribute to the science-fiction classic The Thing (1951), which took a similar straightforward approach to a homicidal space monster (and somehow avoided sex-minded teenagers and curse words in the process).
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- Teens & kids
AGE
Seriously people?
I'm just going to quote a few of the other reviews first:
"There is toplessness but nothing that a kid over the age of 10 hasn't seen."
"'Halloween' is very frightening at times and it does contain SOME drug use and sexual content but nothing a mature seven-year old can't handle."
"classic horror my first R rated horror movie saw it when i was 6. Ok for 2 and up."
I would continue, but what's the point?
Ok, so this is not The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Saw. Does that mean you want your young impressionable children being exposed to this? There are so many studies that show that violence in movies (particularly sadistic violence like the violence portrayed in horror films like this one) has an awful effect on young children. So, what if they can handle it? I could probably handle having my legs chopped off too, but does that mean I would go do it? And just because your kids have probably seen a woman's breasts before they turn ten (and I certainly hadn't seen many breasts when I was ten) doesn't mean that you should willingly expose them to more.
I'll stop now before I get really upset. I guess I should have known when I was reading reviews by people who enjoy these kinds of movies that they would have different views about films.
Just out of curiosity, how old do you think your kids should be before they see the Saw movies? Twelve?
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AGE
Watch Carefully.
In this film, there are scenes of violence, sex, and drinking that is not appropriate for younger viewers. As a film, it is Groundbreaking, Atmospheric, and Extremely Creepy. It is amazing that this film can age so well, Michael is still scary, Laurie is still fearless, and everyone is still having fun (until they are impaled).
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AGE
great
This movie is the scariest i have ever scene. It is a little inopropiate but it isn't that bad. There is not much blood or gore. No cusing. And Laurie Strode is a great role model for the most part
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AGE
Don't show this to young kids!
I can't say I didn't like the movie, in fact I thought it was very good for a old horror film. But in it theres nudity, violence, two girls are smoking some sort of drug and hiding it from there father, and profanity. We had to fast forward scenes. However it's good for people who love scary movies but not blood.
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AGE
Even to this day, this film is still one of the most entertaining horror movies ever made
The original John Carpenter directed 1978 slasher film Classic Halloween is still relevant today, still effective and still a very, very entertaining little movie, and also one that I am very glad that it isn't even close to forgotten, yet, even if the Rob Zombie remake/sequel kind of hurt the originals status just a little bit. We all know how this movie goes, by now: As a 6 year old child, Michael Myers killed his teenage sister, he was brought into a mental hospital, and now, 15 years later, he's back and he is going to raise some hell. Jamie Lee Curtis is still a huge standout in this cast of still mostly unknowns (except for the great Donald Pleasence, or course), who is very believable as the shy high school student who babysits two young children, only for the whole evening to go completely crazy with Michael being back in town. Now, even though this movie is Rated R, it is still much tamer than almost every horror movie out there today: But, with the biggest exception, there is a fair amount of teen sexuality, with one after sex scene showing bare breasts, one topless seen showing the actresses bare back, and one actually fairly graphic sex scene with lot's of thrusting, moaning and bare breasts. But, even with the frequent amount of violence, while it is often brutal, it is almost never bloody or overly graphic. Finally, there is some brief teenage pot smoking and some infrequent mild language that could fit easily into a PG-13 Rated movie if it were made today. Thanks for reading, and I hope that this got you wanting to see this movie, if you haven't done so already.
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AGE
Amazing movie, perfect for horror movie fans
Halloween is the mother of all slasher films. The suspence will keep you on your toes, and Michael Myers is scary as heck. Of course, it's not for everyone though; there is slight cursing and some female nudity (it's subtle though, not in your face). And being a slasher, there is violence. Although you never really see much, if any blood, so it should be fine for kids over 10, maybe younger if they're pretty mature. Laurie Strode is a good role model, going out of her way to protect the kids (although she does suffer from a few things characters in horror movies usually do, such as turning your back on the killer and not keeping the killer's weapon with you so he can't grab it again. But overall she's a fine role model). Halloween is possibly my favorite movie of all time, and will probably stay that way for a long time. Even if you're not crazy about horror movies, give Halloween a try. You may be surprised.
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AGE
great first horror movie!!
this is my first horror movie and i am 13. it didnt show any blood, violence not an issue. sex nothing that hasnt been seen.
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AGE
Wait until your kids are older.
I watched it and it was a great movie. It wasn't really that violent by today's standards. For me it was scary, but not too scary to give me nightmares.
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AGE
Great for teens
Very little blood and gore. A little mature content but it didn't go over the top. Language suprisingly wasen't very bad. Overall its suspensful and a great movie
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Kid, 12 years old
January 23, 2011
AGE
A Good Scary Movie
This movie is great. I liked it. I've nearly finished all of the Halloweens. I'm on the 6th one. Overall, there is violence,but a great film.
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| Studio: | Anchor Bay Entertainment |
| Director: | John Carpenter |
| Cast: | Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes |
| Genre: | Horror |
| Run time: | 93 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | October 25, 1978 |
| DVD release date: | September 28, 1999 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | violence, sex, profanity. |
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