10 Interesting Behind The Scenes Facts About The 'Halloween' Franchise
Image Source: IMDB
Released on October 25, 1978, John Carpenter’s Halloween has been a favorite of horror fans for more than four decades. The franchise now includes twelve films with a thirteenth releasing on October 14th. The franchise has been shrouded in controversy since the 1982 release of Halloween III: Season of the Witch. With a non-linear storyline, the death of its protagonist in multiple films, and a creator who stepped away from the franchise completely after the third film it’s impossible to know everything about the franchise.
Buckle up horror fans because it is time to dive into ten of the most interesting behind-the-scenes facts about the Halloween franchise!
10. A Familiar Face
Image Source: Bloody Disgusting
Since the 1978 release of Halloween, Michael’s mask is unmistakable to anyone that has seen or heard of the film. Many fans may not know that the original mask was actually a Captain Kirk mask that was customized by the production team. According to production designer, and editor, Tommy Lee Wallace, they went to a magic store and saw multiple masks of pop culture icons and presidents. After seeing the Captain Kirk mask, he bought it but knew that it was not scary enough to be the face of a killer. Wallace said that he enlarged the eyeholes, removed the eyebrows and sideburns, darkened the hair, and painted the mask white. The rest is cinematic history.
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9. An Anthology
Image Source: IMDB
John Carpenter never intended for Halloween to be a franchise. Originally, he planned for the film to be a one-off to show his talent as a horror director. Since he was contractually obligated to create a second film he chose to kill off Michael Myers and keep the film from becoming a franchise. When the studio asked for a third film, he decide to turn Halloween into an annual anthology that would feature different stories focused around the holiday. Unfortunately, fans were not thrilled with this idea, and after the backlash Halloween III: Season of the Witch received, Carpenter chose to step away from the franchise altogether. That is until he was asked for his blessing for the 2018 film of the same name.
8. True Terror
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During the filming of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, there is a scene where Danielle Harris, who played the star of the film Jamie Lloyd, is running down the street begging for help. The scenes were filmed at 4 am and neighbors thought that Harris was genuinely in danger, so they called the police. Luckily, there were no issues once police realized that they were filming, and Harris now looks back on the situation with a laugh.
7. The Babysitter Murders
Image Source: Dread Central
While fans cannot imagine Halloween being called anything else, according to Carpenter the original title of the film was The Babysitter Murders, and it was planned to take place over the course of multiple days. Producer Irwin Yablans is the one that suggested Carpenter change the title to Halloween, and Carpenter said that is when the film truly took shape. They also changed the timeline of the film to occur all on Halloween night thus saving money on filming locations and costume changes.
6. A Connection To A Galaxy Far Far Away
Image Source: Bloody Disgusting
A fun fact that many fans may not know is that Halloween has an interesting tie to Star Wars. During the casting of Dr. Loomis, Peter Cushing, aka Grand Moff Tarkin, and Sir Christopher Lee, aka Count Dooku, were both offered the role. Unfortunately, both actors declined due to the tiny budget of the film. The role was then passed onto the incredible Donald Pleasence who gave us the Dr. Loomis we know today. Lee did later voice his regret at turning down the role, but I think we can all agree that everything worked out in the end!
5. The Birth Of Michael Myers
Image Source: Looper
John Carpenter says that he got the idea for Michael Myers when he was in college. While touring a psychiatric hospital, he met one of the patients, a little boy who he said stared at him with cold, evil eyes. This is exactly how Dr. Loomis describes Michael in the film when trying to express the true level of evil that resides within the character.
4. Low Budget, Big Reward
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John Carpenter made Halloween in 1978 as an exploitation film to show his work. He said that he planned to throw everything he wanted to see in a horror film into this movie in hopes that it would lead to him getting another job. He was paid $10,000 to direct the film, and Nick Castle, the actor who played Michael Myers, was only paid $25 a day. With a budget of only $300,000, Carpenter made a film that would bring in $47 million at the box office securing the title of the most profitable horror film ever made. He kept this title for 20 years until it was taken by The Blair Witch Project in 1999.
3. Like Mother, Like Daughter
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John Carpenter said that hiring Jamie Lee Curtis was an ode to Alfred Hitchcock who made Curtis’ mother, Janet Leigh, into an icon by casting her as Marion Crane in his 1960 film, Psycho. Janet Leigh would be featured alongside her daughter in the 1998 film Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, where she played Curtis’ secretary, Norma. As another ode to Hitchcock’s classic film, Janet Leigh uses the same car in H20 that she used in Psycho, the license plate is the same, and a piece of the soundtrack from Psycho can be heard in the background.
2. Library Of Congress
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In 2006, The Library of Congress selected the 1978 film to be added to the National Film Registry for being “ culturally, historically, or aesthetically accurate”. It was noted in the press release that Carpenter used shots and elements that while common today were not common in the 70s when the film was made.
1. “You Can’t Kill The Boogeyman”
Image Source: Syfy
Little Tommy Doyle was right when he told his babysitter, Laurie Strode, that “you can’t kill the boogeyman”. In Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, it seems as though Laurie Strode, now Keri Tate, has finally defeated Michael Myers. Fans would not learn until the release of Halloween Resurrection four years later that Michael was still very much alive. It turns out that Moustapha Akkad put a clause in the legal contract for the film that Michael was not allowed to be killed. Fans finally have an answer as to why nothing can seem to kill Michael Myers. It will be interesting to see if this clause still exists since fans have been promised that this year’s Halloween Ends truly is the end of the Michael Myers and Laurie Strode saga.
Halloween Ends will hit theaters and be available to stream on Peacock Friday, October 14!
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