History YMMV / Halloween1978

--> '''Laurie''': ''"The keys?'' '''''OH THE KEEEEYYYS?!"'''''

** Laurie has finally kille'Wd Michael [[spoiler:(as far as she knows)]]. She doesn't run or keep stabbing; she just sits against the doorframe and silently cries, wiping tears with a finger.

** There's a behind the scenes picture of Jamie Lee Curtis passionately kissing Nick Castle in his Myers mask. In the next John Carpenter film ''Film/TheFog'', Jamie Lee Curtis's character hops into bed with a character called Nick Castle - who is indeed named after the actor.

* ValuesDissonance: Loomis diagnoses Michael as "pure evil" since childhood and takes after him with a gun when the latter escapes. While he's clearly right, given this is ''Michael Myers'' we're talking about, a doctor describing a mentally disturbed child like this would definitely be frowned upon today. It probably doesn't help that John Carpenter based Michael at least partially on a particularly glassy eyed patient he saw at a psych ward. Some people have even wondered if Loomis' approach to therapy [[HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook actually made Michael's behavior ''worse'' as an adult.]]

** In one scene, Laurie and the boy she's babysitting are seen watching ''Film/TheThingFromAnotherWorld''. Four years later, John Carpenter would direct its [[Film/TheThing1982 pseudo-remake]].

** Laurie has finally killed Michael [[spoiler:(as far as she knows)]]. She doesn't run or keep stabbing; she just sits against the doorframe and silently cries, wiping tears with a finger.

* MoralEventHorizon: Myers killing his sister at the age of six. While Annie, Bob and Lynda were {{Asshole Victim}}s, Judith seemed to be a caring and responsible older sister (seen worrying about where her brother is when he's hiding outside) - and she's senselessly killed for no reason.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/BlackChristmas1974'', to the point where ''Halloween'' was intended to be a sequel to the former.

** Laurie runs across the street with Michael stalking her. She runs up to the door of the house and reaches into her pocket to find the keys. She says, "The keys? Oh, the ''keeeeyyys''?!"

* FridgeBrilliance: For years, many people saw that the knife Michael dropped after being stabbed by Laurie with the knitting needle still sitting on the floor near the couch in the closing montage after he is seen with it upstairs, as well as the knife being used by Laurie on him after poking him in the eye with the clothes hanger. However, if you recall the scene where Laurie and Annie run into Sheriff Bracket, he says someone stole "a Halloween mask, some rope and a couple of knives." A couple of knives, meaning two knives. Michael had been carrying more than one knife with him when going after Laurie and her friends.

** Paul's death: He gets [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaled]] on to a piece of wood panelling with a kitchen knife, which doesn't really work logistically - the knife clearly isn't all the way through his body and there is no way it would be able to bear his weight enough to pin him against the wall.

* HilariousInHindsight: In one scene, Laurie and the boy she's babysitting are seen watching ''Film/TheThingFromAnotherWorld''. Four years later, John Carpenter would direct its [[Film/TheThing1982 pseudo-remake]].

* MoralEventHorizon: Myers killing his sister at the age of six.

** Laurie runs across the street with Michael stalking her. She runs up to the door of the house and reaches into her pocket to find the keys. Her line?
--> '''Laurie:''' ''The keys?'' '''''OH THE KEEEEYS?!'''''
** The theme is a bit overplayed in the beginning of the movie as well.
** The... odd way Dr Loomis turns around to check on Marion Chambers after she gets out of the car.

* RetroactiveRecognition: One of Michael Myers' actors, Nick Castle, would become a director and made films such as ''Film/TheLastStarfighter'', ''ComicStrip/{{Dennis the Menace|US}}'', and ''Film/TheBoyWhoCouldFly''.
** Also Kyle Richards of ''Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'' infamy, portrays Lindsey here.

** Assuming it was a failure, as the novelization explained that Michael used a wrench to break the locks on the cells of the other patients rooms to break them free before Loomis and Marion arrived.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt5rCgHN1Gc The main theme]] is considered one of the most bone-chilling pieces ever put on screen. What makes it all the more awesome is that John Carpenter, who did the music for the film, has stated that he cannot read or write sheet music, and plays by ear. "Fortunately, I've got a pretty good ear."
*** In a meta sense, when Carpenter initially screened the movie for one of the producers, the producer called it one of the most boring pieces of film he'd ever endured. After adding the music? The scariest movie he'd ever watched.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Bob has this joke when he and Lynda are about to go into the Wallace house.
--> "First I rip your clothes off, then you rip my clothes off. And then we'll rip Lindsey's clothes off."
** FYI, Lindsey is the ''little, 6-10 year old girl'' Annie was babysitting. To be fair, Bob was half-drunk.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Lynda gets the least screen time out of the three girls (disappearing for the second act) but is easily the most remembered - for her CatchPhrase "totally" and her {{Adorkable}} giggling.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Michael's initial targets (Annie, Lindsey, Bob) shirk their babysitting responsibilities to go fool around. Bob even cracks a joke about ripping off a little girl's clothes. Given how Michael spent much of his life in a mental institution, was some part of him [[ItsPersonal venting his own feelings of neglect]] when he killed them?

** Also Kyle Richards of ''Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'' infamy, portrays Lindsay here.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Michael's initial targets(Annie,Lindsey,Bob) shirk their babysitting responsibilities to go fool around. Bob even cracks a joke about ripping off a little girl's clothes. Given how Michael spent much of his life in a mental institution, was some part of him [[ItsPersonal venting his own feelings of neglect]] when he killed them?

** Laurie has finally killed Micheal [[spoiler:(as far as she knows)]]. She doesn't run or keeping stabbing, she just sits against the doorframe and silently cries, wiping tears with a finger.

* EvilIsSexy: When he's unmasked, Michael is surprisingly attractive. Naturally, [[KillItWithFire after the events of the sequel]], his face is never clearly seen again.

** The...odd way Dr Loomis turns around to check on Marion Chambers after she gets out of the car.

* NarmCharm: The film has equal measures of IdiotPlot and PurpleProse, but MundaneMadeAwesome RuleOfScary overshadows them so much that they're all excused.

* ToughActToFollow: Subverted with Creator/JohnCarpenter. Most of his films released afterward (''Film/TheThing1982'', ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'' and ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' among them) were not critical or commercial successes but have had second life on home video and cable going on to become classics and VindicatedByHistory. ''Film/TheThing1982'' in particular is now considered a heavy contender for his best film alongside ''Halloween''.

* HilariousInHindsight: In one scene, Laurie and the boy she's babysitting are seen watching Film/TheThingFromAnotherWorld. Four years later, John Carpenter would direct its [[Film/TheThing1982 pseudo-remake]].

* EarWorm: That theme...