Halloween (1978) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 10, 1978

The holiday may have come and gone, but the first ever theatrical release of John Carpenter's Halloween was just around the corner in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here we have a handful of sneak preview screenings hoping to generate some positive word of mouth for the film's opening on Wednesday, November 15th.

Terror Train (1980) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - October 2, 1980

I saw this at the Southshore in Alameda, on a double-bill with The Children (1980). 

This would be the third horror movie released in 1980 featuring Jamie Lee Curtis, following The Fog and Prom Night. It would also serve as the directing debut of Roger Spottiswoode, who would go on to make far better movies than this. Top billed Ben Johnson had already been in quite a few better films than Terror Train, such as Mighty Joe Young (1949) and The Wild Bunch (1969), but he had also been in far worse, most notably the debacle that was Irwin Allen's Production of The Swarm (1978).

While I do have a pretty decent recall of this film, I doubt that I have watched it more than twice, at most. Once on the big screen and, maybe, once more on either HBO or home video. Maybe.

The Fog (1980) / Phantasm (1979) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - September 12, 1980

The listing box in the lower right hand corner, next to the See Theatre Guide for Policy, is where I saw this re-release double-bill of The Fog (1980) and Phantasm (1979). The Century, at that particular time, was a two-screen dome theater. It was where I first saw The Swarm (1978), Orca (1977), The Thing (1982), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), The Enforcer (1976), An American Werewolf in London (1981), and many, many more.

It was also where I would first see Phantasm. We had already seen The Fog, which had been released earlier that same year, at the Coliseum Drive-In. There it had been paired with a reissue of House By the Lake (1976). A movie that my father refused to sit through.

My dad did sit through Phantasm and, because he would jerk and jump in his seat, I legit thought it was because he was scared. Turns out he had been writhing in utter agony at having to be forced to sit through what he considered to be a rancid and godawful hunk of cinematic junk. At least he held back his raging contempt for the film until it was over, so my brother and I could enjoy it in peace.

The Fog had been well underway when we had arrived, so dad let us stay and watch the film until it reached the scene we had entered at. That is when he snapped, "We are not sitting through the rest of this thing for a second time, let's go." Which we did.

I also remember the TV spots for this re-release:

Spot 1 -

Spot 2 -

These spots may have gotten a generous amount play during the commercial breaks for the Captain Cosmic show, as well as those for Chiller Diller and/or Creature Features, on KTVU. Which is probably why I remember them with such clarity and fondness.

Prom Night (1980) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - August 28, 1980

I saw Prom Night (1980) on the big screen, on home video, and watched its network television debut. I am also reasonably certain that I even watched it, once or twice, when it aired on HBO. Maybe. Which means that, of all the date-themed cash grabs that were pumped out in the money-making wake of Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980), Prom Night is the one I have watched the most. Go figure.

Prom Night (1980) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner]

February 22, 1981

The Canadian slasher cash grab Prom Night debuted on network television a mere six months after its being shown at theaters and drive-ins around the San Francisco Bay Area. It might even have been on home video by then, I have no idea.

My first time seeing it would be at the Alameda Southshore Twin. I did not remember it having a co-feature, so I thought it best to double check the listings and it did not. But the other screen at the Southshore Twin had a double-bill of Battle Beyond the Stars and The Big Brawl. Heh, I am really sorry that I missed out on seeing that.

I also remember watching this broadcast and dreading all the cuts that would no doubt have been made in order to sanitize the film for TV.

Halloween (1978) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune - November 15, 1978]

On October 25th my Facebook feed was peppered with posts celebrating the fact that John Carpenter's Halloween opened in theaters and drive-ins for the very first time on October 25, 1978. Because, more than likely, that is the earliest date that is listed on its IMDB page.

While this might be true, the number of theaters it played in was quite small. I was surprised to learn that Halloween never had a wide theatrical release. That it never played in more than 200 theaters at any given time. It would open in a market, play for a week or two, then move on to the next.

Which explains how and why Halloween first opened at a theater or drive-in near me on November 15, 1978. NOVEMBER!?! The celebration of Halloween would already have been a distant memory to 11-year-old me. My heart would be focused on Thanksgiving and, even better, Christmas.

So it should come as no surprise that I have no memory of this release, at all.

Halloween would first ping my blossoming horror geek radar when this issue of Newsweek arrived in the family mail.

Newsweek - June 18, 1979

This is where, buried amongst the coverage of the looming releases of Alien, Prophecy, and Dawn of the Dead, that I learned that a movie called Halloween existed. I am pretty sure that Phantasm, The Brood, and maybe even The Dark were also mentioned in the cover article.

Although the positive word of mouth of audiences, and the acclaim of critics, was beginning to grow around Halloween, the article's coverage was pretty basic. It stated that Halloween, a scary sleeper hit, would be getting another release in the fall and offered a single image from the film. That of a sheeted figure standing in a doorway. But it was enough to get me interested and excited about seeing this movie called Halloween.