DID YOU KNOW?

1. The original title of Halloween was 'The Babysitter Murders'.

2. There were 7 different taglines considered, including the one that was used: 'The Night HE Came Home', 'HE Came Home For Halloween', 'Everyone Is Entitled To One Good Scare', 'Trick Or Treat...Or Die!', 'Let's Celebrate The Horror', 'Happy Halloween', and 'The Trick Is To Stay Alive!'

3. Laurie Strode's character is named after John Carpenter's first girlfriend.

4. Tommy Doyle's character is from 'Rear Window'.

5. Sam Loomis's character is named after the character in 'Psycho'.

6. Bennett Tramer's character is named after a USC college friend of Debra Hill and John Carpenter, who went on to write for the TV show 'Saved By The Bell'.

7. The Myers House originally looked how it did throughout most of the original 'Halloween'. Toward the end of shooting, the cast and crew painted it and fixed it, to make it look like it did in the beginning when Michael kills Judith.

8. When Dr. Loomis drives away from Dr. Wynn in the original 'Halloween', "Dr. Chance, to ward C please," can be heard over the intercom outside. John Carpenter went under the name of James T. Chance when he edited 'Assault on Precinct 13'.

9. The laundry room that Annie gets trapped in from 'Halloween' was not in the same backyard as the Wallace house. The laundry room was filmed elsewhere in Hollywood.

10. The scenes in the original 'Halloween' in which Annie and Laurie drive to their babysitting jobs were totally improvised, while Debra Hill sat in the back seat with a cameraman recording their talk.

11. Rumor has it that John Carpenter wore the Michael Myers mask for some of the scenes in 'Halloween'. Tommy Lee Wallace did, in fact, wear it for the infamous closet scene and stated that several crew members wore it throughout the course of filming.

12. Inside Laurie's bedroom, there is a poster of a painting by James Ensor (1860-1949). Ensor was a Belgian expressionist painter who used to portray human figures wearing grotesque masks.

13. The original Michael Myers mask was a modified William Shatner mask from the movie 'The Devil's Rain'. It was bought for $1.98 and some modifications were made, including spray-painting the face white, teasing out the hair, and re-shaping the eye holes.

14. Jamie Lee Curtis' entire wardrobe was bought for around $100 at JCPenney's. The rest of the cast wore their own clothes, as there was not enough money for a clothing department.

15. Halloween was shot in 21 days in the spring of 1978.

16. Jamie Lee Curtis made $8,000 for Halloween. She shot it while on hiatus from her sitcom 'Operation Petticoat' (1977).

17. Donald Pleasence made $20,000 for Halloween.

18. Nick Castle, who played Michael Myers, made only $25 per day.

19. In the scene where Laurie and Annie are talking on the phone and Tommy looks out the window and notices Michael, 3 trick or treaters run down the street. Well, one of those trick-or-treaters is Debra Hill, the producer (Thanks to Steven Badcock).

20. Both actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee turned down the role of Dr. Loomis before Donald Pleasence accepted it.

21. John Carpenter uses references to his hometown (Bowling Green, Kentucky) many times in the movie. Most noticeably, he used the town of Smith's Grove, named after the real town of Smith's Grove, about 15 miles from Bowling Green.

22. Since the crew filmed in the spring, they had to physically cut and color their own leaves. After each scene, they would gather them up and use them again in the next scene.

23. Tommy and Lindsey watch 1951's movie 'The Thing From Another World', a movie John Carpenter would later re-make in 1982 re-dubbed 'The Thing'.

24. The town of Haddonfield was named after Debra Hill's hometown of Haddonfield, New Jersey.

25. The musical score is credited to the 'Bowling Green Philharmonic Orchestra'. Well, there is no philharmonic orchestra in Bowling Green. The music was actually done by John Carpenter and a few of his friends.

26. In the beginning, when 6-year-old Michael reaches for the knife, you see his hands. Those hands are actually of producer Debra Hill.

27. The character of Michael Myers was named after the European distributor of Carpenter's previous film, 'Assault On Precinct 13'. It was kind of weird "thank you" for the film's overseas success.

28. The Halloween costume Tommy wears is an Alphan uniform from 'Space: 1999'.

29. John Carpenter plays Annie's boyfriend Paul in the film, although he is never seen on screen (only talks to Annie on the phone).

30. The name of the sheriff is Leigh Brackett. Leigh Brackett was also the name of the screenwriter of Howard Hawks' classic "Rio Bravo" (1959), which was the inspiration for John Carpenter's previous film, 'Assault On Precinct 13'.

31. Marion Chambers' character name has a dual meaning. The name Marion was the first name of the female protagonist in 'Psycho', and Chambers was the last name of the sheriff in that movie.

32. Kyle Richards, who plays Lindsey Wallace, is the sister of Kim Richards, who appeared in 'Assault On Precinct 13'.

33. Half of the $300,000 budget was spent on the Panavison cameras so the film would have a 2:35:1 scope.

34. Laurie's father's black Fleetwood (seen in the driveway when he is talking to Laurie early in the movie) belonged to John Carpenter, while the Phelps Garage truck was owned by the company that catered for the film.

35. Actress Anne Lockhart was John Carpenter's first choice for the role of Laurie Strode.

36. Michael Myers' middle name is Audrey.

37. P.J. Soles was dating Dennis Quaid at the time of filming, so John Carpenter and Debra Hill wanted to cast him in the role of Bob. Unfortunately, Quaid was busy working on another project and John Michael Graham was cast in the role instead.

38. The cinematography for the Halloween sequence in 'Meet Me in St. Louis' (1944) and 'Chinatown' (1974) were said to be the inspiration for the look of Carpenter's color scheme.

39. The opening point-of-view sequence is a tribute to Orson Welles' 'Touch Of Evil'.

40. Sandy Johnson, who played Judith, was Playboy Playmate of the Month in 1974.

41. There are three invisible cuts in the film during the opening sequence, even though it appears to be one continuous shot.

42. When Michael is watching Laurie outside the school, you can clearly see him standing behind the car when Laurie looks out. This is most visible on the Blu-Ray release.

43. Although Annie was supposed to be 17 in the film, Nancy Loomis was actually 28 at the time of filming.

44. Dean Cundey, the director of photography for the film, went on to huge success, and was the DP for Steven Spielberg's blockbuster 'Jurassic Park' in 1993.

45. Nick Castle, who played Michael Myers, also starred in 'The Last Starfighter' alongside Lance Guest, who went on to play Jimmy in 'Halloween II'.

46. According to P.J. Soles, Lynda says "TOTALLY!" 11 times in the film.

47. This film was the first time in cinema history that the steadicam was used.

48. Tony Moran, who played Michael Myers unmasked in the film, made $25 per day (the same as Nick Castle).

49. Tony Moran is the brother of Erin Moran, who played in the TV show 'Happy Days'.

50. The original script had the events take place over the space of several days. It was a budgetary decision to change the script to have everything happen on the same day (doing this reduced the number of costume changes and locations required) and it was decided that Halloween, the scariest night of the year, was the perfect night for this to happen.

51. This film was voted the fifth-scariest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

52. Don Post Studios, the famous California mask making company, were approached about custom making an original mask for use in the film. The filmmakers explained that they could not afford the numerous costs involved in creating a mask from scratch, but would offer Post points in the movie as payment for his services. Post declined their offer, as he received many such proposals from numerous unknown filmmakers all the time.

53. Much credit for the concept must go to its producer Irwin Yablans, who had the concept originally for a horror film called 'The Babysitter Murders'. Upon further research, Yablans discovered to his surprise that no previous film had been titled 'Halloween' and thought it would be a great concept to set these "babysitter murders" on the holiday. With these ideas, Yablans convinced an excited John Carpenter to write and direct a film around them.

54. The wealthy film producer Moustapha Akkad had admittedly little interest in this film and helped make it primarily due to the enthusiasm of John Carpenter and Irwin Yablans. However, when the film turned out to be a huge box-office smash, Akkad saw an opportunity and facilitated every 'Halloween' sequel. This does not include the two remakes, which were produced after his death in 2005.

55. John Carpenter was quite intimidated by Donald Pleasence, of whom he was a big fan and who was easily the oldest and most experienced person on set. Although Pleasance asked Carpenter difficult questions about his character, Pleasance turned out to be a good-humored, big-hearted individual and the two became great friends.

56. Of the female leads (all the girls are supposed to be in high school), only Jamie Lee Curtis was actually a teenager at the time of shooting.

57. Before Don Post became involved, Michael was going to wear a clown mask.

58. Laurie remarks that she would rather go out with unseen character Ben Tramer. The name came from Bennett Tramer, an old college friend of director John Carpenter.

59. A young Jamie Lee Curtis was so disappointed with her performance that she became convinced she would be fired after only the first day of filming. When her phone rang that night and it was John Carpenter on the phone, Curtis was certain it was the end of her movie career. Instead, Carpenter called to congratulate her and tell her he was very happy with the way things had gone.

60. The 'Halloween' theme is written in the rare 5/4 time signature. John Carpenter learned this rhythm from his father.

61. 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.

62. That Michael Myers could drive a car despite having gotten committed to an asylum at the age of six inspired many guffaws. The first movie novelization came up with a simple but effective explanation: when Doctor Loomis drove Michael to sanity hearings over the years, Michael simply watched very closely and carefully as Loomis operated the car. Remember, even if Michael sat in the back seat and there was a screen of bulletproof glass partition, Michael could still look over the Doctor's shoulder without Loomis realizing the significance.

63. Carpenter wrote the part of Lynda for P.J. Soles after seeing her performance in Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976).

64. The opening POV sequence took 2 days to film.

65. John Carpenter composed the score in 4 days.

66. For its first airing on television, extra scenes had to be added to make it fit the desired time slot. Carpenter filmed these during the production of 'Halloween II' (1981) against his better judgment.

67. Donald Pleasence confessed to John Carpenter that the main reason why he took the part of Loomis was because his daughter Angela loved Carpenter's 'Assault On Precinct 13' (1976).

68. 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).

69. John Carpenter's intent with the character of Michael Myers was that the audience should never be able to relate to him.

70. Carpenter and co-writer Debra Hill have stated many times over the years that they did not consciously set out to depict virginity as a way of defeating a rampaging killer. The reason why the horny teens all die is simply that they're so preoccupied with getting laid that they don't notice that there's a killer at large. Laurie Strode, on the other hand, spends a lot of time on her own and is therefore more alert.

71. As the film was shot out of sequence, John Carpenter created a fear meter so that Jamie Lee Curtis would know what level of terror she should be exhibiting.

72. Debra Hill wrote most of the dialog for the female characters, while John Carpenter concentrated on Dr Loomis's speeches.

73. As the film was made in spring, the crew had huge difficulty in procuring pumpkins.

74. Prior to the movie, a book was written by Curtis Richards, and reveals more of the story behind Michael's rage. However, the book is very rare.

75. P.J. Soles went to a screening of the movie after it was released, sitting in the 4th row of a regular audience. She was very amused, when during her nude scene and line of "see anything you like?" a male audience member in front yelled out "hell yes I do!" unaware she was right behind him.

76. On the 25th anniversary disc, John Carpenter states that the original title sequence was to show a long shot of a sidewalk ending with a Halloween mask on the floor. The idea was dropped and the more iconic title sequence of the Jack O'Lantern was used.

77. John Carpenter told production designer Tommy Lee Wallace to go out and find a "government-looking" car to be used by Dr. Loomis and Marion in the opening scenes, which Michael Myers ultimately steals and uses throughout the film. Wallace went to the nearest car-rental agency and a 1976 Ford LTD station wagon was the only car there that looked the part. Wallace rented it for two weeks, installing a wire-mesh divider between the front and rear seats, and slapping Illinois state decals on the front doors. Carpenter loved it, and the car-rental agency had no idea of the LTD's use in the film.

78. Originally, Nick Castle 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.

79. None of the comic books ('Neutron Man', 'Tarantula Man', etc.) in Tommy's collection are real. Copies of Howard the Duck comics stood-in for the fictional titles.

80. In an interview, Moustapha Akkad said that John Carpenter had envisioned making the movie for around $320,000. Coincidentally, Moustapha Akkad said he was producing and filming a major motion picture at the same time starring Laurence Olivier which was costing his company roughly around $320,000 a day (Laurence Of Arabia). When John Carpenter told him the fixed price of his movie, he immediately agreed to fund it.

81. John Carpenter was the voice of Annie's boyfriend, Paul, while they talk on the phone.

82. Aside from dialogue, the script cites Michael Myers by name only twice. In the opening scene, he is in a POV until he is revealed at age 6. From the rest of the script on out he is referred to as a "shape" until Laurie rips his mask off in the final scene (which he never reapplies in the script). The Shape, as credited in the film, refers to when his face is masked or obscured.

83. Originally the script had Dr. Loomis having a surprised reaction to the disappearance of Michael Myers's body from the lawn at the end of the film. Donald Pleasence suggested his character's reaction should instead be an "I knew this would happen" look on his face. They shot it both ways and ended up using Pleasance's idea.

84. 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 given the role because he 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.

85. Because P.J. Soles' shirt was open for the scene where she is strangled with the telephone cord, an alternate version was shot for the trailer and publicity shots where she is wearing a bathrobe.

86. The only blood seen in the movie is when Judith Myers is killed and on Laurie's hand and arm after escaping from Michael.


Know any assorted facts that we don't have here? E-mail them to us at: lairofhorror@yahoo.com and you will get credit for them.



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