I remember watching this with my Mom. I was 8 at the time and already a Halloween fan but it still scared the **** out of me every time I watched it. I was thankful there were commercial's. It was a brief break from the terror. If my Mom left the room you better belive I was right behind her. I remember her being in the bathroom and me setting outside the door waiting for her. LOL Thanks for posting this. Brought back good memories.
I remember the night this aired. I was eight years old and remebered the tv commercials from 1978 when I was five. My parents weren't aware it was on, and we got to watch part of it, but had to go to bed before it was over!
And two days later on Sunday I was seeing Halloween II in the theater. I was only eight years old (thanks Dad!) and it's one of my favorite movie memories. Horror flick treated like a rock concert.
@@hinglemccringleberry8100 - Before that my dad would tell me to close my eyes during the scary parts. But that viewing - with an opening weekend, packed theater - was so wild and raucous. People were yelling and cheering from the moment the opening credits and theme music began. It left such an impression on me at that age - going forward horror movies were more fun than scary to me.
@@ronaldh8446 man that’s an amazing story. I wish I can go in time and see that especially when you mention packed theater and cheering. Must have been crazy fun. Do you remember how it was like after watching it? Nightmares, etc?
@@hinglemccringleberry8100 there was pre-Halloween II where I'd have nightmares after seeing a scary movie and was afraid of the dark. Post-Halloween II... all I wanted to see were horror movies. 💪♥️
I was 9 when this came on too, Jennifer. My first horror movie. I watched with my dad and siblings. Scared me to death but watched it all. I'm obsessed with it still, many years later.
As a kid growing up ( I was 11 in 1981 ) i saw the poster of Halloween around in different cable magazines - but didn't get to see it for the first time until here Friday, Oct 30, 1981 - and it did scare the hell out of me. 2 days later, Sunday afternoon, I saw H2 with my Dad and brother -and it blew my mind how the night never ended.
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. I have been looking for this everywhere!! Brings back a lot of memories. This is the first horror film I had ever watched (I was 9 years old) and it scared the shit out of me! My love of horror till this day (age 37) started with this one airing. Now if someone would just post the abc night at the movies promo for "The Fog" (my favorite film), I'll be set!
What I liked most about this movie was there was minimal blood and gore, yet it left you on the edge of your seat and was still scary : ) (the music helped it along greatly creepy)
This is supremely cool. A taste of the past, when a movie on TV was a genuine *event* that many people stayed home to experience. It must have been shown on Friday evening, October 30th, based on a glance at the calendar for that year from a Google search. I watched it. I was 15 in '81. (Was too young to see it in theater circa '78.) Love reading all the fun memories here in the comments!
Haha I remember like it was yesterday! I was 14 and we were glued to the TV. My dad made popcorn while my mom decided to wait it out reading a book in another room. Then H2 came out!
It's "HALLOWEEN"! The night HE came home! When the deepest fears... are made real. When the darkest nightmares... come true. When the most courageous soul... cowers on the face of evil! First time on TV. The modern horror classic from John Carpenter! Parental Discretion Advised. This film contains elements of shock and suspense. And now "HALLOWEEN"! You won't be watching alone!
One of my all time favorite horror movies! Like many of us here, I still remember the network movie premieres back in the 70's and 80's and what a big deal they were. Good times! :)
I remember this...I had a sleepover.. I was a sophmore in HS...and my brother and his friends played a horrible trick on us... Oh my...lol RIP to two of my friends that have gone on...
zacharay harris -- I'm hoping that Halloween Returns (2018) begins w/ the everything from the end of Halloween (1978), beginning w/ Laurie exiting the closet, w/ Myers down on the ground.
hey jcubber i cant agree with you more aout posting the abc night at the movies the fog. I was 10 years old when that came on. Brings back so many memories.
Okay, but just for the fact that HBO debuted in 1972 and they first premiered this film in 1980, I'll give it to you... (Very long, yet fucking horrible flatulence occurs) There. Did that refresh your memory? It refreshed mine.
I was only 7 months old when this aired. I wouldn't see the film until Halloween night of 1992. What a weekend this was! Network premiere of the original film with the extended scenes for the first time, Halloween II opened at the theatre and Donald Pleasence hosted SNL. Not to mention Dark Night of the Scarecrow premiered the weekend prior. I agree that Halloween II should've premiered that same weekend. I think the airing of Halloween the same night Halloween II opened definitely hurt it's Friday Night box office.
I seen this the night it came on. i was just turned 9. and this kicked off my love for horror movies. i remember seeing the t.v. spot for halloween 2 on the last set of commericals.
@ Urvy1A - No NBC didn't air Halloween II. The broadcast premier was in October of 1985 through a syndicated movie showcase and aired on local independent outlets (WGN, and the like). It was a heavily rearranged version with much of the gore removed and an alternate ending. I didn't like this version at all.
KTXL in Sacramento aired the theatrical version instead in 1985, only censoring the F-word and cutting off the end credits (the nudity was left in!) I still have my off-air recording of it, have a few breaks from it posted here.
I still have a distant memory when this movie was shown for the first time on network tv back 30 years ago on Halloween night 1981(advice:first trick or treat than watch this movie).
what a great find. Do you have anything from when they aired Prom Night? I heard there were scenes in the NBC version that have never been seen in any version since.
I am a big fan of the "Halloween" franchise, and I remembered seeing this first film on Network TV. I believe that this film had also played on KTXL CH. 40 long before it had become a FOX affiliate.
I want to write that NBC aired Halloween on Friday October 30, 1981..that was the same day that Halloween 2 was released in theatres. i always thought it would have been better if they had aired Halloween on NBC on Thursday October 29, 1981 and one day before the theatrical release of Halloween 2 instead.
Funny. I was 13 in 1981. I guess we (my family and I) never watched NBC much back then, because I do not remember the NBC Movie opening at all. On the other hand, I vividly remember the ABC Movie of the week opening, including the “Star Tunnel” opening which began in 1982. Also, I had already seen “Halloween” on HBO uncut, so I guess I didn’t bother to watch it’s broadcast on network television. I do remember, however, that ABC was THE number one network for a long time, from the late ‘70’s throughout the ‘80’s until NBC took over the top spot in the ‘90’s.
I love Halloween: it was cool especially how John Carpenter added Atmonsphere and Suspence instead of blood and guts like you see in the Sequels and the Imitators in the Genre: Jamie Lee Curtis was a perfect choice for Laurie Strode and she certainly knows how to scream and Donald Pleasance was perfect choice as the Killer's Psychiatrist and love the plot p. s. only two shots of Blood while Halloween 2 had more
Halloween was just Awesome!! Nothing can go to the level of horror! Halloween II 1981 actually did pretty well! I'd especially loved Laurie's chase out of the hospital! I felt the hospital gave it more of a creepy feeling! The mask was great as well!!! I believe it still would have done better if John Carpenter did direct it; Instead of Rick Rosenthal! Who also created Halloween Resurrection!!😷😷😷🤐🤐🤐😱
My memory from this time. Isn't this movie. But when they showed creature from the Black lagoon. And you had to go to the gas station and get the 3D glasses. I would have been seven when they showed it on TV. The couch we watched the movie almost like the couches and Halloween.
Ironically, my mother, thought it'd be fun for she and I to watch it. Yet she didn't know what it was about. NOW, while I loved the movie and all the later rip-offs, she can’t stand the movie. Scares her to death, and she can’t stand slasher movies in general. Ugh! Parents. :(
djrage70 Thats one of the many things that makes it one of the greatest horror films ever. It's like Psycho, in the same way old time radio programs folks listened to forced you to use your imagination. We never clearly see Myers stab, stragle, whatever, like in Psycho we never see the knife go into Janet Leigh. It's all sound and our imaginations take over, which is more terrorfying.
@cheapcape yup all about ratings plus hocking their programs during end credits,.. during shows with graphics that take up 40 percent of the screen, most shows are crap.... I miss tv when it cared.
when horror films were believable nowadays they are mindless like scream and i know what you did last summer give me haloween and freddie kruger any day
Man I miss 1981. 2022 is like hell on earth.
It was broadcast on October 30, 1981 - the same day that the film's first sequel was released to theaters.
I remember watching this with my Mom. I was 8 at the time and already a Halloween fan but it still scared the **** out of me every time I watched it. I was thankful there were commercial's. It was a brief break from the terror. If my Mom left the room you better belive I was right behind her. I remember her being in the bathroom and me setting outside the door waiting for her. LOL Thanks for posting this. Brought back good memories.
I remember the night this aired. I was eight years old and remebered the tv commercials from 1978 when I was five. My parents weren't aware it was on, and we got to watch part of it, but had to go to bed before it was over!
And two days later on Sunday I was seeing Halloween II in the theater. I was only eight years old (thanks Dad!) and it's one of my favorite movie memories. Horror flick treated like a rock concert.
How was the atmosphere like watching Halloween 2 at the theater?
@@hinglemccringleberry8100 - Before that my dad would tell me to close my eyes during the scary parts. But that viewing - with an opening weekend, packed theater - was so wild and raucous. People were yelling and cheering from the moment the opening credits and theme music began. It left such an impression on me at that age - going forward horror movies were more fun than scary to me.
@@ronaldh8446 man that’s an amazing story. I wish I can go in time and see that especially when you mention packed theater and cheering. Must have been crazy fun. Do you remember how it was like after watching it? Nightmares, etc?
@@ronaldh8446 Cool man!
@@hinglemccringleberry8100 there was pre-Halloween II where I'd have nightmares after seeing a scary movie and was afraid of the dark. Post-Halloween II... all I wanted to see were horror movies. 💪♥️
I love NBC's theme.
Ha, I just got chills. I was 9 when this came on. I couldn't watch past the first 10 mins!
I was 9 when this came on too, Jennifer. My first horror movie. I watched with my dad and siblings. Scared me to death but watched it all. I'm obsessed with it still, many years later.
I was 11 y/o.
I Erin Lawlor was only a newborn 😂
This is definitely a blast from the past! 40 years ago. 💙
Contains elements of shock and suspense.....and stabbing....lots of stabbing....
As a kid growing up ( I was 11 in 1981 ) i saw the poster of Halloween around in different cable magazines - but didn't get to see it for the first time until here Friday, Oct 30, 1981 - and it did scare the hell out of me. 2 days later, Sunday afternoon, I saw H2 with my Dad and brother -and it blew my mind how the night never ended.
Saw this at 10 years old, after taking some younger kids around my building for Trick or Treat.. the good times!!!
aw darn. This is some really great stuff you have here. Brings back lots of memories of when TV was a little bit more...epic.
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. I have been looking for this everywhere!! Brings back a lot of memories.
This is the first horror film I had ever watched (I was 9 years old) and it scared the shit out of me! My love of horror till this day (age 37) started with this one airing.
Now if someone would just post the abc night at the movies promo for "The Fog" (my favorite film), I'll be set!
What I liked most about this movie was there was minimal blood and gore, yet it left you on the edge of your seat and was still scary : )
(the music helped it along greatly creepy)
Best horror movie ever made.
This is supremely cool. A taste of the past, when a movie on TV was a genuine *event* that many people stayed home to experience. It must have been shown on Friday evening, October 30th, based on a glance at the calendar for that year from a Google search. I watched it. I was 15 in '81. (Was too young to see it in theater circa '78.) Love reading all the fun memories here in the comments!
Haha I remember like it was yesterday! I was 14 and we were glued to the TV. My dad made popcorn while my mom decided to wait it out reading a book in another room. Then H2 came out!
I saw this when it came on!!!!!
Mom made me go to bed after an hour
I's give anything for an actual copy of this broadcast. This was the first time I saw the movie...
It's "HALLOWEEN"!
The night HE came home!
When the deepest fears...
are made real.
When the darkest nightmares...
come true.
When the most courageous soul...
cowers on the face of evil!
First time on TV.
The modern horror classic from John Carpenter!
Parental Discretion Advised.
This film contains elements of shock and suspense.
And now "HALLOWEEN"!
You won't be watching alone!
Thank you for posting this! It's great!
Thanks for the memories.
One of my all time favorite horror movies!
Like many of us here, I still remember the network movie premieres back in the 70's and 80's and what a big deal they were. Good times! :)
I was 12. This changed my life.
I remember this...I had a sleepover.. I was a sophmore in HS...and my brother and his friends played a horrible trick on us... Oh my...lol RIP to two of my friends that have gone on...
what was the trick??
@@tomt6142 Dying to know what the "horrible trick" was-- why would someone not even say what it was?! And it stinks when people don't reply here.
I liked how Halloween 2 1981 begins with Halloween 1979 ending
+zachary harris Yeah, but there are still continuity errors between where Halloween ends and Halloween II begins.
Uh,Halloween 1 came out in 1978 not 1979.
so?
zacharay harris -- I'm hoping that Halloween Returns (2018) begins w/ the everything from the end of Halloween (1978), beginning w/ Laurie exiting the closet, w/ Myers down on the ground.
I was watching that night
@videozfann - I was watching when this debuted. I think this stoked a lot of ppl. This movie really stands the test of time. An ageless CLASSIC.
hey jcubber i cant agree with you more aout posting the abc night at the movies the fog. I was 10 years old when that came on. Brings back so many memories.
back when TV cared..
HBO first premiered HALLOWEEN in 1980. So NBC was the 2nd channel to premiere it. Like if u agree.
HBO didn't exist in 1980.
@@111highgh Yes it did it was just starting to attract an audience
@@cinematicworldofbenji9311 Go fart.
Okay, but just for the fact that HBO debuted in 1972 and they first premiered this film in 1980, I'll give it to you...
(Very long, yet fucking horrible flatulence occurs)
There. Did that refresh your memory? It refreshed mine.
"Shock Treatment",the "Rocky Horror" follow up,opened in theatres the very night this aired. 10/31/1981.
Awesome post! Thank you for posting it!!!!!
I remember watching Halloween 💀👀 on TV for the first time with my brother... that iconic movie scared me I love it to this very day!
I was only 7 months old when this aired. I wouldn't see the film until Halloween night of 1992. What a weekend this was! Network premiere of the original film with the extended scenes for the first time, Halloween II opened at the theatre and Donald Pleasence hosted SNL. Not to mention Dark Night of the Scarecrow premiered the weekend prior. I agree that Halloween II should've premiered that same weekend. I think the airing of Halloween the same night Halloween II opened definitely hurt it's Friday Night box office.
That is so cool to share a memory with someone my age from that time. Maybe someone who has that promo will post it now.
This is when TV was fun..I'm glad I was born in time(the 90s) to experience enough of it
I seen this the night it came on. i was just turned 9. and this kicked off my love for horror movies. i remember seeing the t.v. spot for halloween 2 on the last set of commericals.
@ Urvy1A - No NBC didn't air Halloween II. The broadcast premier was in October of 1985 through a syndicated movie showcase and aired on local independent outlets (WGN, and the like). It was a heavily rearranged version with much of the gore removed and an alternate ending. I didn't like this version at all.
KTXL in Sacramento aired the theatrical version instead in 1985, only censoring the F-word and cutting off the end credits (the nudity was left in!) I still have my off-air recording of it, have a few breaks from it posted here.
I still have a distant memory when this movie was shown for the first time on network tv back 30 years ago on Halloween night 1981(advice:first trick or treat than watch this movie).
@whattheheck1000 The October 30, 1981 broadcast date is correct
I could not agree with you more. I've actually held off on buying the blu ray for many of my favorite horror movies for that reason.
It would be cool if you posted the entire movie, commercials and all
was this recorded of beta or vhs
Donald Pleasence hosted Saturday Night Live the very next night on Halloween night.
Nothing from "Prom Night" I'm afraid, though I do remember seeing it on TV
I remember watching Prom Night on TV as well. Those prank calls were creepy beyond belief.
Yes indeed!
This was also the first time we see new scenes John Carpenter added for the network premiere while Halloween 2 was being filmed.
HALLOWEEN NBC NEXT !
what a great find. Do you have anything from when they aired Prom Night? I heard there were scenes in the NBC version that have never been seen in any version since.
Sorry, I don't do that. No complete programs or movies ever.
I am a big fan of the "Halloween" franchise, and I remembered seeing this first film on Network TV. I believe that this film had also played on KTXL CH. 40 long before it had become a FOX affiliate.
@robatsea2009 I think this is the 1980-1981 season opening. 10/30/1981 would have been the 1981-1982 opening, which was totally different.
thanks for your comment yeah this is nbc. The fog came on abc back in 83 would love to see it again. Does bring back lots of memories.
I want to write that NBC aired Halloween on Friday October 30, 1981..that was the same day that Halloween 2 was released in theatres. i always thought it would have been better if they had aired Halloween on NBC on Thursday October 29, 1981 and one day before the theatrical release of Halloween 2 instead.
It would be funny if the warning said that Halloween contained scenes of Shock and Awe.
Funny. I was 13 in 1981. I guess we (my family and I) never watched NBC much back then, because I do not remember the NBC Movie opening at all. On the other hand, I vividly remember the ABC Movie of the week opening, including the “Star Tunnel” opening which began in 1982. Also, I had already seen “Halloween” on HBO uncut, so I guess I didn’t bother to watch it’s broadcast on network television. I do remember, however, that ABC was THE number one network for a long time, from the late ‘70’s throughout the ‘80’s until NBC took over the top spot in the ‘90’s.
What are you babbling about?
Did NBC also broadcast Halloween II and III?
I love Halloween: it was cool especially how John Carpenter added Atmonsphere and Suspence instead of blood and guts like you see in the Sequels and the Imitators in the Genre: Jamie Lee Curtis was a perfect choice for Laurie Strode and she certainly knows how to scream and Donald Pleasance was perfect choice as the Killer's Psychiatrist and love the plot p. s. only two shots of Blood while Halloween 2 had more
Halloween was just Awesome!! Nothing can go to the level of horror! Halloween II 1981 actually did pretty well! I'd especially loved Laurie's chase out of the hospital! I felt the hospital gave it more of a creepy feeling! The mask was great as well!!! I believe it still would have done better if John Carpenter did direct it; Instead of Rick Rosenthal! Who also created Halloween Resurrection!!😷😷😷🤐🤐🤐😱
It would be cool to see it how it was originally shown. Same with the original.
This was likely the T.V. version with the additional scenes, am I correct?
Yes. In fact, It was also available on DVD in a 16;9 enhanced widescreen release
My memory from this time. Isn't this movie. But when they showed creature from the Black lagoon. And you had to go to the gas station and get the 3D glasses. I would have been seven when they showed it on TV. The couch we watched the movie almost like the couches and Halloween.
They need to bring back them movie night thenes
I think II and III were shown only in syndication.
@gumbyman91 I hope someone will post that someday!! If only just for you and me to re-live! I was 10 too LOL
my dad did not let my watch movies like this, I think i was 11 or 12 at the time..
it contains shock and suspense
Michael rules!
Ironically, my mother, thought it'd be fun for she and I to watch it. Yet she didn't know what it was about.
NOW, while I loved the movie and all the later rip-offs, she can’t stand the movie. Scares her to death, and she can’t stand slasher movies in general.
Ugh! Parents. :(
interestingly there isn't very much gore or blood in this movie. Really just mostly suspense.
djrage70 Thats one of the many things that makes it one of the greatest horror films ever. It's like Psycho, in the same way old time radio programs folks listened to forced you to use your imagination. We never clearly see Myers stab, stragle, whatever, like in Psycho we never see the knife go into Janet Leigh. It's all sound and our imaginations take over, which is more terrorfying.
Cool
anyone here tonight?
@cheapcape not just NBC :P alot of tv do not care anymore..
commercials and all?
what?
@cheapcape yup all about ratings plus hocking their programs during end credits,.. during shows with graphics that take up 40 percent of the screen, most shows are crap.... I miss tv when it cared.
@drews1998 Beta
I wasn't even born yet (not that it matters just saying)
when horror films were believable nowadays they are mindless like scream and i know what you did last summer give me haloween and freddie kruger any day
La Discreción paternal Aconsejó. Esta película contiene elementos de golpe y ansiedad.
Halloween 1-6 Producers cut are all brilliant but after that the franchise turned to crap
You're a fart!
Robert you are SO right!!
@@PRHILL9696 You're the human equivalent of a shart.
@@PRHILL9696 You're the human equivalent of diarrhea.
too bad
Lamest parental advisory.