Halloween (1978)

Halloween (1978)

Director: John Carpenter

Synopsis

On Halloween night of 1963, 6-year old Michael Myers stabbed his sister to death. After sitting in a mental hospital for 15 years, Myers escapes and returns to Haddonfield to kill.

Male Deaths

• Barry Bernardi [Chris Hastings]
• John Michael Graham [Bob Simms]

Female Deaths

• Sandy Johnson [Judith Myers]
• Nancy Kyes [Annie Brackett]
• P.J. Soles [Lynda Van Der Klok]

Gallery

Sandy Johnson

Barry Bernardi

P.J. Soles

John Michael Graham

Nancy Kyes

Trivia

1. Halloween was shot in 20 days in the spring of 1978.
2. The stabbing sound effect is actually a knife stabbing a watermelon.
3. From a budget of $300,000, the film went on to gross $47 million at the US box office. In 2008, takings that would be the equivalent of $150 million, making 'Halloween' one of the most successful independent films of all time.
4. The scene where The Shape seems to appear out of the darkness behind Laurie was accomplished by using a simple dimmer switch on the light that slowly illuminated the mask.
5. John Carpenter approached Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee to play the role of Dr. Sam Loomis (that was eventually played by Donald Pleasence), but both turned him down due to the low pay. Lee later said it was the biggest mistake he had ever made in his career.
6. Robert Englund of the A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) film series revealed in an interview that John Carpenter had him throw bags of dead leaves on set for one day.
7. John Carpenter considered the hiring of Jamie Lee Curtis as the ultimate tribute to Alfred Hitchcock who had given her mother, Janet Leigh, legendary status in Psycho (1960). During the same period, Universal studio producers and director Richard Franklin were trying to enroll Jamie Lee in the new production of Psycho II (1983).
8. The adult Michael Myers was portrayed by Nick Castle in almost every scene, except for some pick-up shots and the unmasking scene, where he was replaced by Tony Moran. Castle was a school buddy of John Carpenter and was on set just to watch the movie be filmed. It was at the suggestion of John Carpenter that he took up the role of Michael Myers, as he was tall and had what Carpenter considered an interesting walk. Castle admitted he was disappointed to not be the face shown, but understood that Carpenter wanted a more "angelic" face to juxtapose with Myers' ghastly deeds. Castle has gone on to become a successful director.