Halloween, directed by John Carpenter, belongs to the category of out-and-out deconstructed slasher films, with one of the most captivating and creepy soundtrack scores of all time. This famous slasher masterpiece effectively elevated the genre by introducing us to an unstoppable terrifying force — a killer that demands no introduction.
With the 44th anniversary of the original film approaching this year and the 13th chapter of the franchise set to enter theatres in October, it is safe to say that this picture, which is all about terror at its most basic level, has had one of the longest lives of any slasher franchise.
Halloween is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential horror films ever made, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Bob Clark’s Black Christmas. In reality, the 1978 independent slasher film slashed its way to the top of Hollywood record books, with a screenplay by Carpenter and the legendary Debra Hill.
The Babysitter Murders was originally titled ‘The Babysitter Murders,’ and the story took place over a few days. However, due to the film’s poor budget, the script was subsequently rewritten to make the entire event take place in a single day. And, of course, Halloween was chosen as the night of terror for obvious reasons!
Today’s video is dedicated to all fans of the Halloween franchise! Prepare yourselves, because we are about to reveal 11 of the franchise’s most bizarre and unusual facts. You would best be prepared!
Haddonfield Is A Real Town But It Is Not In Illinois
Speaking of the location of the movie, Haddonfield, Illinois, serves as the ideal backdrop for our silent killer Michael Myers and his mission to hack up the town. It is a quaint little town with beautiful Victorian houses on both sides of the streets and a generous touch of all things green. So, it is quite natural on the part of the viewers to think of the place as a real town but that’s precisely where they are wrong.
Even if it gives you an impression, Haddonfield does not exist. But hats off to the crew members for being inventive enough to put together different locations as one and execute the vision that Carpenter had in mind. Now coming to the name, there is an actual town called Haddonfield but not in Illinois. It is somewhere in the southern part of New Jersey and to make things even more interesting, Debra Hill, the co-screenwriter and the producer of the movie was from Haddonfield. So now you finally know the origin of the town and why the name was kept.
The film was shot over a length of 20 days majorly in South Pasadena along with Alhambra, Sierra Madre, and Hollywood during the summer of 1978. To achieve the right atmosphere for the flick, Carpenter had his crew scatter around fake fall leaves on the ground.
The Character Of Michael Myers Is Based On A True Story
We have mentioned this before – according to the original script, the movie was initially titled ‘The Babysitter Murders’. With the team making up their minds to focus more on the primary story, they chose the spookiest night of the year Halloween to carry things ahead. Right from the settings, and characterizations to even the names, many of these details were primarily based on the real-life connections of both Hill and Carpenter.
In fact, the character of Michael Myers was also based on a personal encounter that Carpenter had experienced while he was at Western Kentucky University. A particular college trip had him visit a local mental institution filled with critically serious and mentally deranged patients.
One of them was a boy, clearly less than 13 years and he kept staring at Carpenter with a look of evil and it scared the living daylights out of him. This particular encounter had such a severe effect on Carpenter that he ended up making him the primary character of his movie. His entire experience is there in the 2003 documentary, Halloween: A Cut Above the Rest and if you ever get the time, do give it a definite shot.
The Original Halloween 1978 Screenplay Was Written In Two Weeks
Now that you are aware of what the original name of the script was, it is only fair for you to know how long it took for the original screenplay to be written. But before we dive into that, it is important on your part to know that Halloween was the first movie that laid full emphasis on the holiday while magnifying its source of terror at the same time. Previously, there was not a single movie that was based on the night of Halloween. This movie here not only defined the slasher genre but also paved the way for many horror franchises later.
Anyway, coming back to the original screenplay, apparently, there have been a few assertions in relation to the duration of the original movie screenplay. Some are of the opinion that Carpenter finished writing the script in 10 days or three weeks. But then we all know that filming something is very different from writing a script. Once, Carpenter was done co-writing the screenplay along with Hill, he went ahead with composing the creepiest musical score, something that he himself composed just in case you guys were not aware of it. It was in the spring of 1978 when Halloween was shot and in 20 days may we add!
Someone Called The Cops Thinking Danielle Harris Was Really In Danger While Shooting Halloween 4
Danielle Harris was only 11 years old when she starred as Laurie Strode’s daughter, Jamie Lloyd in the fourth installment of Halloween. Dwight H. Little’s Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers had on display a particular scene that had Danielle’s character running down the streets, frantically banging on doors, and screaming for help. Now imagine a little girl doing this at four in the morning. Of course, the neighbors thought that she was really in trouble and ended up calling the cops.
Halloween Was Inspired By Both Psycho And The Exorcist
When we have critics asserting that it was the 1978 independent slasher flick that defined the slasher genre and the movie continues to remain one of the most dominant flicks of the genre to this day, you do realize the effort that was put into making this movie here. Inspiration plays an exceedingly significant role in the life of a director and Carpenter has never really shied away from the fact that with Halloween, he paid an obvious tribute to Hitchcock’s Psycho. In case you are not able to join the dots, let us help you out here.
We will start with the casting – Jamie Lee Curtis as the leading girl does an outstanding job as Laurie Strode. You’re probably thinking how is this related to Psycho, well, Jamie’s mother was the iconic Janet Leigh or in other words, Marion Crane of Psycho.
Next, we go to the character names, particularly stressing on Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis. Well, if you go back to Psycho, Marion Crane’s boyfriend’s name was also Sam Loomis and it cannot be a coincidence. Speaking of the movie’s connection with The Exorcist, Halloween similarly has on display a haunted house; we are talking about the long-abandoned Myers house which was more than successful in effectively creating a claustrophobic setup.
No One Is Authorized To Kill Michael Myers
Those who have closely followed the Halloween franchise know how the seventh installment ended. It was sheer bliss to see Laurie decapitate Michael using an ax. However, if you look at the direct sequel to Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Michael is all hale and hearty. Wondering what kind of sorcery this is?
Well, full credits to Moustapha Akkad, who is best known for his involvement in the first eight Halloween films and as an executive producer may we add. It is quite natural that Moustapha never really wanted the character of Michael to be dead in the first place so he went to the extent of retaining the legal rights of the movie just so he could keep this character alive.
So, just when you think that he is dead and so does the audience, trust us when we tell you he is not dead. No matter what you do, you just cannot kill Michael Myers!
Freddy Krueger Worked On John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978)
Robert Englund is a popular name among every horror fan out there and he is most famous for essaying the role of the supernatural serial killer, Freddy Krueger. Well, don’t be surprised when we tell you that before he undertook the iconic role of Freddy and became someone who makes psycho killers look cute, he was assigned a rather significant task on the set of the original Halloween movie.
Remember how we mentioned that the film was particularly shot during the summer of 1978? Well, because the mood was set for Halloween, Carpenter had his crew scatter around fake fall leaves on the ground. No points for guessing, Englund happened to be the one who was assigned the job of throwing the dead leaves around to give the movie its due autumn effect. In fact, Englund said in a recent interview and we quote, “I actually had a roommate back when they did the original Halloween, the John Carpenter one. And he conned me into going to Pasadena one day with garbage bags full of dead leaves.”
Jaws Is The Distant Cousin Of Halloween II
Trying to figure out how are the two movies related? Okay, let’s give you a hint here. It’s got something to do with a stuntman, a very renowned one for that matter. We are specifically talking about Dick Warlock here. Even though he was uncredited in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 thriller classic, Jaws, it was his performance that made one of the film’s most frightful sequences come alive.
There’s a particular scene towards the end of the movie when the character of Matt Hooper is seen entering a shark-proof cage with the sole purpose of lethally injecting the shark with Strychnine. But with the shark ambushing the cage and doing everything it can to get a piece of Hooper, the scene is enough to send chills down the spine. Coming back to reality, it’s actually Warlock who is inside the cage and facing the shark.
It was much later at a fan convention that Warlock disclosed how he was almost drowning thanks to how violent the robotic shark was. This shows the extent he was ready to go to get the scene right and make the audience believe it like it was real. Coming back to Halloween II, Warlock was cast as Michael Myers and there’s this rather intriguing story that we bet many of you don’t know.
After Warlock managed to score a meeting with Debra Hill and Rick Rosenthal, he knew he had to prove himself. They were re-casting Myers and you know it’s not an easy job to fill in the shoes. An idea struck Warlock when he saw the Myers mask lying outside the office of Rick Rosenthal. He decided to wear the mask and then go inside the office.
Once he was in, he just stood there and did not utter a single term despite Rosenthal asking him who he was again and again. Well, that worked wonders and he ended up essaying not only Michael Myers but also one of the patrolmen in the movie. Mind you, Rick Rosenthal’s Halloween II is filled with stunts and has Myers engulfed in flames. And if that’s not enough, he also gets shot in both the eyes. Does that stop him? You know the answer already!
The Fate Of Jimmy the Paramedic Revealed In the TV Edit Of Halloween II
You do know about The Television Cut, right? It is the alternate version of the second movie that aired on network television and had most of the scenes featuring blood and gore edited and some minor scenes added. It is hard to forget Lance Guest as the paramedic Jimmy, who clearly has a crush on Laurie. The movie version has him first slipping in a pool of blood and giving himself a concussion.
Next, he is seen passing out while trying to drive a car and take Laurie to safety. With his head landing right on the horn, he is able to let Michael know where Laurie is hiding instead. The movie does not really show if he’s killed or not but it is mostly assumed that he met his death in the hands of Myers. Coming to the TV version, Jimmy is seen surviving in the end along with Laurie. In fact, he is also shown to be inside the same ambulance as Laurie.
Blink It & You Miss It – Jamie Lee Curtis Had A Quick Cameo In Halloween III
Well, if there is this one Halloween film in the franchise that did not feature Michael Myers, it is the third installment – Tommy Lee Wallace’s Halloween III: Season of the Witch. The motive was to focus on an entirely different narrative revolving around magical Halloween costumes. There was not a single mention of Myers or Laurie Strode for that matter but somehow the 1982 science fiction horror flick did have its plans for Jamie Lee Curtis in an unconventional fashion. An uncredited Jamie is seen doing two vocal cameos lending her voice as the telephone service provider as well as the one that announces the town curfew.
Artist Bob Gleason Accidentally Hid An Ominous Monster In The Original Movie Poster
Try remembering the iconic theatrical poster of the 1978 movie where there is a knife-wielding pumpkin on a black background. Now if you tend to look a bit more closely at the hand that is holding the knife, you will easily be able to see an ominous open-mouthed face on the knuckles. Cut to the year 2016, the poster was put up for an auction and that is when Bob Gleason incorporated a letter further elucidating how the whole thing happened just by chance.
Well, according to Gleason, he was quite occupied painting the hand, and all he had in his mind back then was to have dramatic lights and dark shapes just so he could match the strobe stabbing effects of the pumpkin. But what he did not realize was the fact that he was actually infusing a screaming face at the back of the hand, one that had worms coming out of its mouth, eye, and nose.