In celebration of the release of Halloween Kills, we thought that we'd revisit the original film that started off the terrifying tale of Michael Myers and Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode and tell you seven things you (probably) didn't know about 1978's Halloween.
From Michael Myers' mask being a transformed mask of Captain James T. Kirk to the film's iconic music only happening thanks to an unimpressed executive, we're confident you'll learn something today that will make you appreciate this classic horror film even more.
1. Many of the Names and Locations Are From Co-Writers John Carpenter and Debra Hill's Past
Halloween was co-written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill and damn near everything in the movie is named after something from their personal lives. For instance, Haddonfield, IL was named after Haddonfield, NJ, Debra Hill’s hometown, and Smith’s Grove was named after a town near where Carpenter grew up.
Laurie Strode was named after Carpenter’s first girlfriend and Michael Myers was named after the European distributor of Assault on Precinct 13 as sort of a weird thank you. Sheriff Leigh Brackett is a reference to writer Leigh Brackett, who wrote Rio Bravo, a film that inspired Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13, and Laurie and Tommy watch The Thing From Another World, one of Carpenter’s favorite movies.
2. Halloween Pays Homage to Alfred Hitchock's Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho plays a major influence on Halloween, from the camera movements to creative bloodless murders. The homage doesn’t stop there though. Carpenter went so far as to cast his own Hitchcock's Blonde – Jamie Lee Curtis, whose mother, Janet Leigh, played the iconic Marion Crane in Psycho. Casting Jamie not only paid tribute to Hitchcock’s famous muses, but also launched the era of scream queens and final girls in the process.
And how's this for another Psycho reference? Donald Pleasance’s Dr. Sam Loomis is named after John Gavin's character in the film. Boom, bonus Hitchcock thing.
3. Michael's Mask Was a Transformed $2 Captain Kirk Halloween Mask, But It Could Have Been Another Star's Face
Now, you may already know that the infamous Michael Myers mask is actually a transformed $2 Captain James T. Kirk Halloween mask. What you may not know is that there were other options for the famous facade: such as Richard Nixon, Mr. Spock, and Emmett Kelley’s “Weary Willie”.
The script specifically called for “the pale, neutral features of a man weirdly distorted by the rubber” and Captain Kirk’s expressionless face fit the bill. Production gave the mask a makeover by teasing the hair, ripping off the sideburns, widening the eyeholes, and spraypainting it white to create one of the most iconic horror figures in movie history. And while William Shatner had no say in his contribution to the film, he has admitted that he’s actually gone trick or treating with the infamous Michael Myers mask on.
4. The Myers House Was Literally an Abandoned House Due to the Film's Low Budget
Speaking of transformations, at the time of filming, the Myers house was literally an abandoned house. With the film’s small budget, finding this house was a Halloween miracle by providing a proper spooky production value that the film literally could not afford. However, that meant that the opening tracking shot of the house had to be filmed on the last day. It took the crew all day to clean and paint the exterior of the house.
Production could only afford to decorate what would be shown in the frame, meaning that the Panaglide operator had to be precise or else any movement in any other direction would show a dusty, broken down corner… or a ghost of the last low budget film that used the house?
5. Halloween's Iconic Music Only Happened After an Unimpressed Executive Saw an Early Cut
Everybody knows the score. It’s one of the most iconic pieces of music in movie history and it’d be hard to imagine the film without it. However, you may not know, it came after Carpenter screened the film to an executive who was not impressed with the film and said that it wasn’t scary. So Carpenter played octaves on a piano using a 5/4 time signature his father taught him as a child and wrote the score in just 3 days, and later the same executive told Carpenter the film was terrifying.
In the credits, Carpenter lists himself as The Bowling Green Philharmonic Orchestra, a reference to his hometown in Kentucky. But, that’s not the only place you can hear Carpenter’s musical prowess in the film though. The band playing in the car in this scene is his band, the Coup De Villes, composed of himself, and Nick Castle, and Tommy Lee Wallace.
6. Production Designer Tommy Lee Wallace Had to Paint Three Trash Bags Worth of Leaves Brown to Make the Movie Feel Like It Took Place in Fall
With a $300,000 budget and a 21-day shoot, the filmmakers had to find creative ways to sell the story of a Halloween haunting. Amid a lot of usual budget shortcuts, like John Carpenter’s own car doubling as the Strode’s car here, maybe the biggest challenge for Wallace was that production took place in March IN California.
You can see green trees and palm trees in some of the shots. Wallace had to paint three trash bags worth of leaves brown and reused them throughout the film, with crew scrambling to collect the leaves after each cut, and I bet Wallace let Carpenter hear about what a pain in the ass that was at the Coup de Ville’s next rehearsal.
7. Five Different People Played Michael Myers/The Shape in Halloween
Five different people played The Shape in the film: Two-thirds of the Coup de Ville’s including Nick Castle and Tommy Lee Wallace pulling double duty, stuntman James Winburn, co-writer Debra Hill and actual actor Tony Moran, and all for different, practical reasons. Nick Castle played the role through most of the film, and had that specific body language that’s made The Shape so terrifying even all these years later.
Tommy Lee Wallace, the production designer slash editor, by the way he edited the film too, stepped in during scenes where The Shape had to break stuff because he was good at breaking it correctly on the first take. Cheap movies can only afford to break stuff once after all. James Winburn was the stuntman who literally took the fall off the balcony after being shot by Dr. Loomis in this scene. Debra Hill not only stood in for The Shape in this shot, but she also lent a hand playing young Michael’s… well, hand in the opening sequence POV shot. And Tony Moran took the honor of being the face of Michael Myers for the few split seconds you can actually see it.
This all just reinforces the idea that Michael is not a normal man. He’s actually four men and one woman. Or an editor, a production designer, a co-writer, a bandmate who went on to direct The Last Starfighter, a stuntman and briefly an actor's face. Which is why he’s inspired nightmares for 40 years.
For more, check out our Halloween Kills review, how the film fared in its weekend box office debut, our explainer of the ending, and director David Gordon Green's thoughts on what makes the perfect Michael Myers kill. You can also see a full list of everything Halloween here.