In 1978 John Carpenter terrified movie audiences and gave birth to the slasher genre with Halloween, an independent film following the blood trail of Michael Meyrs, psychotic serial killer being hunted by his psychiatrist, Dr. Lumas (Donald Pleasence), as he slaughters his way to innocent teenage babysitter Lori Strode's (Jamie Lee Curtis) life.

Five years later another b-movie mogul got his hands on the home video rights to Halloween and decided that the horror flick would make a terrifically violent addition to the Atari 2600 video game library.

Basic Facts:

• Title: Halloween
• Platform: Atari 2600
• Publisher: Wizard Games
• Developer: VSS, Inc. / MicroGraphicImage
• Release Date: 1983

As an offshoot of his home video distribution company Wizard Video, Charles Band set his sights on the console market releasing Atari 2600 video game versions of the cult movies he had acquired the VHS rights to, forming Wizard Games.

Only two games ever ended up getting released by Wizard Games, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween. The problem was, home video games were still seen as a toy for the kids market and the concept of ultra violent video games was a completely foreign concept. The games were too controversial for toy stores, and those few retailers that did carry the games kept them hidden behind the counter.

Homicidal Maniac Kills on The Atari:

While Charles Band had the rights to use the Halloween title and music, it doesn’t look like he was able to obtain the use of the characters names, so in Halloween for the Atari 2600, Michael Myers is simply known as "Homicidal Maniac" and his intended victim Lori Strode is just “a babysitter.” as explained in the games manual...

From the manual:

“A homicidal manic has escaped from a mental institution. On Halloween night, the killer returns to his hometown to wreak havoc! You are babysitting for a family in a large, two story house. Somehow the vengeful murderer has gotten inside! Can you protect the children and yourself from the fury of his knife?”

As the manual promises, players take control of a babysitting young girl who must search the house to find wandering kids, take them to one of two safe rooms while dodging attacks from the white masked serial killer who tips you off to his presence with the blaring Halloween movie theme sounding surprisingly good as it bleeps thought in Atari 2600’s signature audio style.

Familiar Gameplay With Gruesome Graphics:

The game screen is split into the first and second floor's of the house, which you can switch between via the only doors in the game (apparently this house does not have a front or back exit).

All of the rooms look nearly the same with the exception of the walls changing colors to let you know you’ve moved into a new location. Besides that, the only difference between the two floors is that the top level has the lights cut in and out.

The babysitter must traverse thought the screens and between the floors, avoiding the slow moving attacks from Michael Myers as they search for the wandering rug rats. Once the kids are found they must individually be dragged to one of two safe rooms on the far sides of the house. There is no apparent reason why these rooms are so safe, but Michael seems to keep out, and if you go off screen and come back you’ll find that the little brat has snuck away into the house for you to hut down once again.

The only way to defend yourself is to find the knife placed randomly in the environment. This won’t stop Myers, but if you stab him by pressing the fire button right when he is upon you, he runs away like a scared little girl. After you've used the knife on Michael, it disappears.

The gameplay is much like a simplified version of Adventurefor the Atari 2600, but instead of moving keys to special castles, you move kids to rooms, with Michael Myers taking the place of the dragon; and just like Adventure, you can’t hold the knife and the kid at the same time, forcing the player to chose between saving the child or themselves.

The Goriest 2600 Game Ever:

Not only do you have to save your own life, but that of the little kids you were hired to watch. If Michael Myers makes his way to one of the tots they are slashed down into a heap of squirting blood. Pretty strong stuff, but not nearly as bad as the babysitter’s fate if they get too close to killer. When Michael catches up with her, the babysitter gets decapitated and runs off the screen like a bloody chicken with it’s head cut off.

At a time were blood never appeared in console games, the idea of squirting plasma and children getting murdered was unheard off. Even today a decapitation in a video game will get you an automatic M-Rating, so it’s no wonder the game was controversial. While it’s obvious this is what Wizard Games was going for, it ended up doing more harm than good as retailers either kept it hidden behind the counter or refused to carry the game entirely.

The Game Ends When You Die!:

There is no specific end or levels to Halloween; the game keeps going with the same repetitive gameplay until you lose all three of your lives. Player’s gain points by bringing the kids to safety, but lose points if a kid gets killed; however the only way to lose a life is to get kacked themselves.

Tossing in the Towel With Masking Tape:

Eventually Wizard gave up on the gaming market, and quickly liquidated their stock. To save money they shipped the remaining game cartridges without labels. Instead they slapped on a piece of masking tape on the cartridge and wrote “Halloween” across it in magic marker.