DID YOU KNOW?
1. Originally, this film was going to be the ninth installment of the 'Halloween' franchise, titled 'Halloween: Retribution'. It was rumored that both Bianca Kajlich (Sara) and Brad Loree (Michael Myers) were initially asked to reprise their roles from 'Halloween: Resurrection', and Lindy Booth ('Wrong Turn') was one of the rumored cast additions.
2. Josh Hartnett was rumored to return to 'Halloween: Retribution' as John, reprising his role of John from 'Halloween: H20'. The story would have centered around him returning to Haddonfield looking for Michael, whom he believes is still alive, seeking revenge for his mother's death. That was later tabled.
3. Another idea tabled was to bring back Jamie Lee Curtis for one final cameo, this time revealing that she didn't die when she fell off the roof in 'Halloween: Resurrection', but rather the bushes cushioned her fall, and she fled. And when in seclusion, she would learn of her son John's involvement in Haddonfield, and return in the nick of time to save him and kill Michael once and for all.
4. When the 'Halloween: Retribution' idea was tabled, another idea surfaced: to pit Michael Myers against Pinhead from the 'Hellraiser' series. Banking on the success of 'Freddy vs. Jason' (2003), this idea initially had legs, but fan response was so negative that no official script was ever commissioned.
5. One of the other ideas tossed around was to do a prequel titled 'Halloween: The Missing Years', concentrating on Michael's early years and incarceration at Smith's Grove. This, however, became a central part of Rob Zombie's story, and was intricate in his re-make/re-visioning.
6. Director Oliver Stone (JFK) was rumored to be attached to 'Halloween' before he decided to make 'World Trade Center' (2006) instead.
7. Rob Zombie did not agree to direct 'Halloween' until it was made absolutely clear that this would not be 'Halloween 9', but rather, his own unique re-make/re-visioning.
8. The movie's production was delayed due to the untimely death of Moustapha Akkad, the "godfather" of the 'Halloween' film series, who produced all eight of the previous films. Akkad died as the result of a terrorist attack in Jordan in 2005.
9. The first trailers for 'Halloween' premiered in early 2007 with the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature 'Grind House'.
10. The movie was not released in the U.S. on Halloween weekend, as was the original, for fear of going head to head with 'Saw IV' (2007). It was instead released two months earlier on the last weekend in August 2007.
11. It was initially thought that Danielle Harris would take on the role of Laurie Strode, but it was felt she was a better fit to play Annie, so she was cast in that role instead, despite being almost 30 years old.
12. The hoodie worn by Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) was provided by Total Skull, Sheri Moon-Zombie's clothing line.
13. Other taglines for the film included "When Darkness Fell, HE Arrived" and "Evil. Unmasked." before they ultimately decided on "Evil Has A Destiny".
14. In the opening scene of the movie, the song "God of Thunder" by KISS is played and young Michael Myers is seen wearing a KISS t-shirt. KISS is a major influence on Rob Zombie's music career and the inspiration for the make-up and costuming for his band 'White Zombie' as well as his solo career.
15. In an early scene in the film, the movie 'White Zombie' (1932) is playing on the TV while Ronnie (William Forsythe) is badgering Michael. The band ‘White Zombie’, whose name comes from the film, is where Director Rob Zombie first gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s.
16. William Forsythe actually injured his leg prior to shooting, which is why his leg is in a cast in the film. In the script the character only had an arm brace, but Forsythe's leg injury was also worked into the film and did not delay shooting.
17. One of the most complex scenes in the film was shot on Monday, February 26, 2007, on the campus of Los Angeles City College. The day's shooting facilitated the use of 160 extras and about 100 crew people.
18. In his director commentary, Rob insists that this movie is not time specific, and that it is assumed Michael was a kid growing up in the 1970's and that the present day action takes place in 2007.
19. The film was shot on location in Altadena, Pasadena, and Los Angeles, California, along some of the same streets as the original. The original Myers House was actually moved and now sits two blocks from its original location.
20. The babies used to play young Laurie found William Forsythe's voice soothing and it was hard for them to get the babies to cry during filming.
21. Hanna Hall (Judith) was also known for her roles as young Jenny in 'Forrest Gump' (1994) and Cecilia Lisbon in 'The Virgin Suicides' (1999).
22. The school scenes were shot at Eliot Middle School in Altadena, while class was in session. Some of the kids recognized Wesley (Daryl Sabara) from his roles in the 'Spy Kids' trilogy, and mobbed him, interrupting filming.
23. The scenes at Haddonfield High School were shot near where the old Haddonfield High School was lensed in 1978. That high school was torn down after John Carpenter filmed the original.
24. Griffith Park, where young Michael (Daeg Faerch) kills Wesley (Daryl Sabara) burned to a crisp just two weeks after filming due to wildfires in the area.
25. The newspaper ad featuring Debra Myers (Sheri Moon-Zombie) was lost during filming, so when it came time to film the death scene of Wesley (Daryl Sabara), the crew frantically scrambled to find it in time.
26. Originally, the shots at the Rabbit in Red lounge were supposed to earlier in the film, shown in between Michael getting in trouble at school. They were moved to Halloween night, when Michael kills Ronnie, Steve and Judith.
27. Deborah (Sheri Moon-Zombie) originally danced to Alice Cooper's 'Only Women Bleed', but it was later changed to Nazareth's 'Love Hurts'.
28. The character of Deborah Myers is named after the late Debra Hill, who produced the first three films of the series.
29. Every upstairs room of the Myers House was shot in a different location. The downstairs had its own set, including the kitchen.
30. The two trick-or-treaters who walk by Michael when he is sitting on the front sidewalk are actually adults.
31. When Steve (Adam Weisman) takes the Michael mask out of the bag to try to scare Judith, the bag actually says "Nichols Hardware" on it, a nod to where Michael stole the mask in the original.
32. The scene where young Michael kills Steve was shot two weeks after the rest of that act.
33. When young Michael rubs his hands across Judith's leg, it is done by a stunt girl, for legal reasons.
34. The babies portraying young Laurie before and after the murders are two different babies. Overall, three babies were used to fill the role.
35. The freeze-frame scene after the police arrest young Michael was actually shot that way. Rob had the entire cast stand absolutely motionless.
36. While that was going on, Daeg sat in the back of the police car playing his PlayStation Portable (PSP) to pass the time.
37. The Smith's Grove Sanitarium was actually shot at the North Hills Veteran Hospital in Los Angeles.
38. Some of the voiceovers done by Loomis in the Unrated Director's Cut were done over the phone after filming had completed.
39. The advice given by Ismael (Danny Trejo) to "look beyond those walls" was appropriately put into the script, given that Danny Trejo spent time in prison before becoming an actor.
40. In the scene were Deborah goes to visit Michael in the rain, there was actually a crew member on a ladder spraying a hose directly down onto her while she walked.
41. The Smith's Grove scenes were shot a month after principal photography began.
42. The home movies shown during Deborah's suicide were the first shots filmed. The actual first scene filmed was of Deborah's suicide. There was also part of the home movie filmed where Michael is given the now-infamous aluminum baseball bat for his birthday.
43. Rob wanted to give Michael a 'Birdman of Alcatraz' look, where he is locked away and forgotten about.
44. He also wanted to show that everyone stopped paying attention to him, a la the character of Chief in 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'.
45. Lew Temple, cast as a geeky guy in Rob's previous film, 'The Devil's Rejects', was this time cast as a "mean asshole".
46. When Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) is giving his speech at L.A. City College, a large picture of young Michael (Daeg Faerch) is shown in the background. This was Rob's way of showing that Loomis is trying to move on in his life, but Michael still looms large.
47. The death scene of Ismael (Danny Trejo) was cut from the work print after studio heads complained about it. Zombie lobbied to them, stating it was important to show how brutal and uncompassionate the character truly is. In the final cut, Zombie won and was allowed to put the scene in.
48. Ismael's death scene was shot at a different hospital several months after the film was completed.
49. During that scene, Danny Trejo held onto the sink while Michael (Tyler Mane) was drowning him. Even when Tyler tried to pull him out, Danny held on and refused to be pulled out, giving the death scene a more authentic look.
50. When Michael (Tyler Mane) kills Ismael with the TV, he actually dropped the TV by mistake before he was supposed to, breaking it. To cover this, Rob cuts to black from the scene.
51. All the people at the Truck Wash were real truckers, not actors.
52. The Truck Wash scenes were filmed across the street from where they filmed the Rabbit in Red scenes.
53. The day of the Truck Wash filming was Ken Foree's birthday, so the crew gave him a cake to celebrate.
54. The bathroom scene where Michael kills Joe Grizzley was filmed in a fake hallway location used for Haddonfield High School. This was done because the original set that was built was completely destroyed by Tyler Mane and Ken Foree during some of the other takes.
55. Ken Foree's favorite line of the film, "what we got here is a failure to communicate" is a nod to Paul Newman's in the film 'Cool Hand Luke'.
56. The only CGI shot in the entire film takes place when they are showing Joe Grizzley's dead body. During filming, Ken Foree could not stop his eyelids from blinking or his chest from rising. This was later fixed in editing.
57. All the bushes shown in the film are actually palm trees wrapped in shrubs.
58. Every time Tyler Mane would put the Shatner mask on, they would have to remove his wig. This was because Wayne Toth, who designed the mask, molded it to Tyler's face and did not take into the account how large the wig would be.
59. There was some question about how Michael knew where Laurie lived. Well, in the scene where Laurie delivers the envelope to the Myers House, Michael picks it up, and you can see that it says 'Strode Realty', and gives the address. That should answer your question.
60. During the library scene, Michael (Tyler Mane) actually stood in front of the old Strode House used in filming in 1978.
61. Also during that scene, Michael was filmed wearing his orange mask, because Rob wasn't sure where he would place that shot in the film. It was later decided to use the shot with the Shatner mask.
62. The shots of Haddonfield High School were taken right across the street from the elementary school where a lot of the earlier action took place.
63. In the scene where Chester (Sid Haig) shows Dr. Loomis the graveyard, all the gravestones are fake. They actually had to construct a cemetery using an empty field inside Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena.
64. Also in that scene, take notice of several of the fake gravestones. The names on them include 'Garland', 'Gould', and 'Tremblay'. This was done as nods to several members of the crew- editor Glenn Garland, producer Andy Gould, and production designer Anthony Tremblay. I'm sure there were others, but these were the three I noticed on camera.
65. According to Rob, the hardest scene to film was when Lynda and Bob back up the van alongside the Myers House. It took 15 takes, and even had a take where one of the headlights fell off!
66. Rob made it a point to mirror Lynda's sex scene with Judith's, including using the same room and having Lynda listen to the same music as Judith (Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear The Reaper').
67. When Michael is wearing the bed sheet and glasses, the glasses were actually sewn on with fishing wire because they kept falling off.
68. The scene where Dr. Loomis buys a gun was filmed on the same day as Wesley's death in Griffith Park.
69. The death scene of Cynthia Strode (Dee Wallace) wasn't originally in the script. It was shot two months later to bring more depth and make the kill more gruesome on-screen.
70. The owners of the Wallace House granted permission to film there on one condition-- that no blood get spilled on the floor. As a result, each scene was carefully crafted to make sure they complied.
71. In the scene where Annie is on the phone, the owners of the house were home at the time, and were upstairs keeping quiet.
72. When Michael is towering over Lindsey Wallace, he is watching the ending of 'The Thing From Another World'. This was mirrored to reflect when Michael killed Ronnie White after watching the same film as a youth.
73. The first babysitting scene was Tommy Doyle (Skyler Gisondo)'s first day on set, complete with his Halloween costume.
74. Some people of the neighborhood actually threw rocks at the cast and crew during filming. They really didn't like them or want them there filming.
75. Tommy and Lindsey ad-libbed quite a bit during filming, and Rob loved it, so he kept much of it in the script.
76. The office used for Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif) was actually the back office of the Los Angeles Police Museum.
77. While calling 911 to get help, Laurie identifies the street she is on as Winchester Road. Winchester is the name of the production company which produced the horror classic 'The Thing From Another World' (1951) by Howard Hawks. The movie prominently appears on the TV during a horror movie marathon on both this version and the original film by John Carpenter. Carpenter later re-made 'The Thing'. This was Rob's nod to the originals and re-makes of both films.
78. Because Annie (Danielle Harris) is topless in the film when Michael Myers attacks her, alternate versions were shot with her wearing a shirt for the trailer. The two main scenes are when Annie tries to run out of the house only to be yanked back inside by Michael and when he's dragging her across the kitchen floor.
79. Rob makes a cameo in the film, doing the voice work of the police operator who notifies Sheriff Brackett and Dr. Loomis of the emergency at the Wallace House.
80. On their first day filming together, Tommy and Lindsey were genuinely freaked out when Michael busted in through the front door. That was the first time either had seen Tyler Mane in his full costume.
81. The scene where Sheriff Brackett and Dr. Loomis arrive on scene was the first scene for both Brad Dourif and Malcolm McDowell.
82. Malcolm McDowell developed a reputation as a jokester on set. He constantly made the cast members laugh, interrupting filming. This includes scenes with Sheri Moon-Zombie, Richard Lynch, and Udo Kier, among others.
83. The basement scene where Michael chases Laurie was the first scene for both Tyler Mane and Scout-Taylor Compton.
84. When Laurie first escapes Michael and hides by the trap doors, it is on a high-story set. Well, Michael comes bursting through, causing Laurie to lose her balance and almost fall. Fortunately, Tyler Mane was able to grab Scout in time.
85. In the original script, adult Michael was supposed to talk, calling Laurie "Boo" like he did as a youth. This was later taken out, after news of it leaked to the Internet and caused a backlash from fans.
86. The swimming pool was not originally in the script, but when Rob arrived on scene and saw it in the backyard, he knew he had to use it and worked it in.
87. Only one shot of Michael in the entire movie is not Tyler Mane, and that is at the end, when Michael and Laurie go crashing out the top window of the Myers House. Tyler Mane was adamant about always wearing the mask, but in this case, it couldn't be helped. Stuntman Casey Hendershot took Michael's lumps in that scene.
88. When Dr. Loomis and Laurie are recovering in the police car, Malcolm McDowell was never told that Michael would break the window and attack her. Thus, Loomis' reaction of "Jesus Christ! What The Hell!" was Malcolm McDowell's authentic scream.
89. During the final scene, Laurie's stunt double (Michelle Sebek) was injured when the stunt went wrong, and had to be rushed to the hospital. This is why that scene cuts to black.
90. The ending in the work print (often called the 'Sonny Corleone' ending by Rob) was never intended to be the real ending, and was filmed and used in the work print to keep the real ending secret, and keep Internet fans guessing. In it, Dr. Loomis survives and Michael is gunned down by Sheriff Brackett and several other officers.
91. Adrienne Barbeau originally had a role in the film, but that was cut from the theatrical version.
92. The Misfits were one of Rob Zombie's influences during his musical career, and the band's track 'Halloween II' is playing on the stereo during the kill scene while Lynda and Bob are having sex. Also, Tommy's costume is that of the Crimson Ghost character 'The Fiend'. This character has been used as The Misfits' band mascot since the band's inception.
93. When talking about Michael, Ronnie says, "He's probably gonna end up cutting his dick and balls off and changing his name to Michel." Daeg Faerch would later play a character named Michel in 'Hancock' (2008).
94. Skyler Gisondo auditioned for the role of 10-year-old Michael Myers, but was cast as Tommy Doyle instead.
95. Max Van Ville auditioned for the role of Steve, but was cast as Paul instead.
96. Emma Stone ('Easy A') was among those who auditioned for the role of Laurie Strode.
97. Prior to working on the film, Rob Zombie called John Carpenter to let him know he was going to do it. John gave his blessing and told Rob to "make it his own".
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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