Introduced by critic Nick Pinkerton

Dir. John Carpenter. 1978, 91 mins. Restored DCP. With Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran. John Carpenter knew how to use the super wide CinemaScope movie frame better than any other horror director, and his proto slasher film, about a masked maniac with a vendetta, stalking babysitters in suburban Illinois, remains the most elegantly shot and composed film of its kind. This brilliantly paced movie of mounting anxiety and dread perfectly evokes an autumnal atmosphere and features a naturalistic, star-making performance by Jamie Lee Curtis. The underrated Village Voice critic Tom Allen recognized the film as "an instant schlock horror classic," and wrote "Halloween, a study in warm colors, dark shadows, and ceaselessly tracking dollies, owes more to the expressive possibilities raised by Vincente Minnelli in the Halloween sequence of Meet Me in St. Louis than to any films in the realistic school." The screening will be introduced by critic Nick Pinkerton, who is writing an appreciation of Tom Allen for Moving Image Source.

Tickets are free with Museum admission and free for Museum members. Advance tickets ($12 adults / $9 seniors and students) are available here or by phone at 718 777 6800. For more information about becoming a Museum member and to join online, please click here.