On October 24,1978 one of the biggest horror films of all time was released and since that day horror movies have not been the same. American film-maker John carpenter released a movie about a silent masked killer stalking a girl and her friends in Haddonfield, Illinois murdering anyone that got in their way. This film would lead the way for an entire sub-genre of films known as the slasher, without Halloween we don’t get Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, or scream. It showcased that whatever we were imagining would be twice as scary as anything that was shown on the screen, the film is known for not really showing Myers violent killings or even showing blood. This film also has the grand distinction of being the most profitable independent film ever grossing $70 million against a $300,000-$325,000 budget and spawning a franchise that is still going strong after more than forty years, with the latest entry in the series being released October 15,2022. But how did this movie come to be and what lead one man to want to create this ultimate embodiment of evil.
Creating the film that would become Halloween was quite the process and it was made on an almost minuscule budget, even in the 70’s the budget was seen as very small compared to the hits of this time. The movie idea was created by movie producer Irwin Yablans, a recent movie producer, who coming off a recent moderate success with a film by John Carpenter called “Assault on Precinct 13” wanted to make another film. He had the idea of creating a film around a man who tries to kill a group of babysitters, it is said that the original title of Halloween was the Babysitter Murders but Carpenter/Irwin decided to set it during Halloween, Irwin wanted to make a cheap horror movie so he offered the job of directing the film to recent collaborator John Carpenter. Although the initial idea was Irwin’s the movie really became Carpenter’s who decided to make the movie if he could write, compose, and direct the film. Carpenter also asked for his name to be above the movie’s title, which as a relatively new director was a big deal, and have Debra Hill be producer. Irwin agreed and the movie began work.
What Can be Done with a small budget?
As mentioned before this was an independent film which also meant it had a very small budget, especially during this time in filmmaking. Irwin was able to get about $300,000-$325,000 in funding and actually most of this budget was actually spend on a camera. The Panaglide camera was a relatively new camera during this time, it was only ever really used in one movie before Halloween, but Carpenter insisted on using it, and he could not have been more correct. One aspect that sets the original Halloween apart from its sequels and other slasher films is actually its lack of blood and gore, from just this aspect the movie has almost no blood or gore. The reason for this was because producer Irwin would tell carpenter about how when he was younger and would listen to horror stories on the radio whatever he was imagining in his head was much more scary than anything that could be shown on screen. So Carpenter listened to this idea and with his trusty Panaglide camera which were equipped with a mount for operator stabilization, allowing for pristinely crisp shots. The cameras also allowed Carpenter and director of photography Dean Cundey the ability to capture smooth shots through varying degrees of focus and misdirection. These filmmaking techniques were essential factors in establishing Michael Myers’ iconic aura. The film relied much more on having this spooky aura instead of trying to showcase a bloody scene.
There was also the overall casting of the film. In order to give the movie a sense of more pedigree, that this wasn’t some B movie that should be ignored Carpenter and Irwin decided on getting noted Thespian Donald Pleasence to play the part of Michael’s psychiatrist. Although reluctant to play the part Pleasence did sign on. Then there was trying to get a good lead for the movie, to play the main female heroine part of Laurie Strode there were several female leads considered but the person that Carpenter decided on was Jamie Lee Curtis, who at this point had only been in a few movies. But Curtis came from some important movie stock herself, her father acclaimed actor Tony Curtis and her mother being one of the original scream queens, Janet Leigh, who is probably best known for her part as the first victim of Norman Bates in the notorious shower scene in Alfred Histchock’s “Psycho”
Creation of Michael Myers
There are several factors that lead to the creation of Michael Myers but for director John carpenter there was one specific moment from his life that lead to Michael’s demeanor and his silence. While attending Western Kentucky University Carpenter visited a local mental institution where Carpenter described seeing some of the most serious and mentally ill patients, including a young boy, no older than 13, with a “schizophrenic stare.”This moment combined with Caprenter’s study of Celtic tradition of halloween where evil souls are let out to wreak havoc on everyone, there is one specific idea in the tradition that Carpenter zeroed in on and it is the idea that evil cannot be stopped or killed. Myers through carpenter’s eyes represents the ultimate evil it only lives to cause destruction and ruin people’s lives, Myers is just a monster who’s only goal is to kill and nothing else, he never shows emotions or even says a word. Then there was simply the issue of getting Meyer’s look. The creation of one of the most iconic mask in horror films was created due to the simple fact that the film didn’t have a large budget. John Carpenter sent art director Tommy Lee Wallace to a store to buy any mask he could use for the movie, so he chose a captain kirk mask. He took the mask shaved the facial hair and eyebrows, widened the eyes, colored the mask white, and darkened the hair. This created an expressionless face that ended up terrifying the crew and they loved it, this emotionless monster was just around the corner ready to kill whoever got in their way. Then the role of the hulking Michael Myers was given to John Carpenter’s friend Nick Castle who during filming was just always around where the crew was filming and John gave him the part.
What Happened once it was released?
The movie finally wrapped up on filming in May 1978. Although an amazing movie in its own right. Producer Irwin decided to first have a very limited release of the film in Kansas city. Initially a slow start but soon through word of mouth more and more people began buying tickets. Then the movie opened in more and more theatres across the U.S selling millions of tickets in the USA the movie grossed $47 million and $23 million internationally. Then there was the simple fact that the movie was named ” Halloween” the reason this is important is that then for years after the initial run we would see the movie played again and again during halloween time. The movie has spanned countless sequels, of varying degrees of critical acclaim and also began an era of countless slasher movies and villains, Halloween directly influenced the “Friday the 13th” film series and character of Jason Voorhees, with the big difference between the Franchises is that “Friday the 13th” does have all the gore, blood, and over the top violence that “Halloween” tried to avoid.
Halloween Stats:
- Budget: Estimated $300,000-325,000
- Gross: $70 Million
- Combined gross of Franchise: $773 Million, and rising
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