In 1978, John Carpenter gave a big boost to the slasher film genre.
Halloween opened October 25th and became the highest grossing Indie film of its time. Made for a reported $320K, the film grossed $47M. Below are some interesting facts about John Carpenter's classic Halloween.
John Carpenter grew up in Bowling Green Kentucky. There are several homages paid to Carpenter's former home town. The music for the film is credited to The Bowling Green Philharmonic, which is fictional. The music was done by Carpenter and Dan Wyman who was a musical professor at San Jose State University. Also, the film mentions Smiths Grove, Ill which is actually a town near Bowling Green. Some of the streets in Haddonfield are also named after streets in the Kentucky town.
Halloween was filmed in early spring in sunny Southern California, land of palm trees, some of which can be seen in a few scenes of the film. The film is set in Illinois in late October. Fake leaves where bought from a decorator and painted autumn colors. They were strewn around the ground for certain scenes. However, the leaves on the trees in those scenes are fresh and green.
This was Jamie Lee Curtis' theatrical film for which she was paid $8,000.
Everyone knows the story about the mask that Michael wore during the film. It was a Star Trek William Shatner mask. It was spray painted, the hair was teased and the eye holes were reshaped. Mr. Shatner didn't know it was a mask of him until an interviewer told him. He was reportedly flattered.
Inside Laurie Strodes bedroom is a posted of a painting by James Ensor. The Belgian expressionist painter portrayed humans in grotesque masks.
All the actors wore their own cloths as there was no budget for costumes.
Donald Pleasence was not Carpenter's first choice to play Dr. Loomis. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were approached for the part, both turned it down. Christopher Lee said it was the biggest mistake of his career.
Anne Lockhart was Carpenter's first choice for Laurie Strode.
Carpenter made a cameo appearance in the film, did you catch it? Probably not, he was the voice of Annie's boyfriend Paul when she is talking to him on the phone.
The original script was entitled 'The Babysitter Murders'.
Jamie Lee was the only teenager of the female leads.
In the extended TV versions (which is available on DVD) it is revealed that Michael's middle name is Audrey! Maybe that was the problem all along?
Sam Loomis is also the name of Janet Leigh's secret lover in Psycho.
The total body count for this first installment of the Halloween franchise is seven. People will argue about this, but it is correct. Watch the film, count the deaths.
I would like to add one personal bit of information. WTH is up with Halloween 3 Season of the Witch? I felt so angry when I actually paid money to go see it.
Halloween is over for the year, but throwing this film in the old DVD player on a stormy winter night brings it all back.
Much of the information gathered for this article came from IMDb pro and Wiki.
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