I saw Halloween for the first time during its initial release, a couple months after its debut. I was prompted to go after watching a review of it on the old PBS show Sneak Previews with Siskel and Ebert. They both gave the movie a thumbs-up. So, I decided I had to see it.

 

I watched the movie at a half-full theater in Nampa, Idaho with my wife of less than six months. Both of us gripped our arm rests in sheer terror as the movie played out. Although I had seen some upsetting horror movies (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), I hadn’t seen anything like this in terms of sheer fear. 

 

After the movie, the lights in our small apartment stayed on all night. For a long time, merely hearing the music was enough to stir up the old feelings of terror from that initial viewing.

 

Now, some forty plus years on, the movie seems tame in light of all that has come after it, but so many of today’s horror movies can trace their heritage back to this groundbreaking film.