50 Fun Facts About Halloween (1978)

The white mask Michael Myers wears in Halloween (1978) began as a cheap mask of which Star Trek actor?

William Shatner's face, sold as a Captain Kirk mask for $1.98, was what the tiny budget allowed. The crew widened the eye holes and spray-painted it a bluish white.

Which actress made her film debut as teenage babysitter Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978), for a fee of $8,000?

Jamie Lee Curtis was 19 and unknown to John Carpenter, who had wanted a different actress. She worried she was wrong for quiet Laurie, having been a cheerleader at school.

What name does the boy Laurie Strode babysits give the masked figure he sees outside in Halloween (1978)?

The boogeyman is his word for the figure he spots from the window, though Laurie looks, sees nothing and brushes it off. By the end of the night she believes him.

Which fictional Illinois town, named after a real one in New Jersey, does Michael Myers stalk in Halloween (1978)?

Haddonfield takes its name from the New Jersey town where the film's co-writer was raised. Several of its street names were borrowed from John Carpenter's own Kentucky hometown.

Which Alfred Hitchcock star is the real-life mother of the actress who plays Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978)?

Janet Leigh's fame made her daughter's casting free publicity in the eyes of the film's producer. Mother and daughter later shared the screen in John Carpenter's The Fog.

What costume is six-year-old Michael Myers wearing when he kills his sister in the opening of Halloween (1978)?

A clown costume, whose mask the camera looks through for the whole murder. The view only pulls back once the boy is standing on the lawn between his stunned parents.

On which instrument did John Carpenter play the simple repeating melody of his famous theme for Halloween (1978)?

Piano carries the tune, which John Carpenter composed and performed himself. He set out to save the film with music after a studio executive watched a cut without any and was not scared at all.

In which U.S. state was Halloween (1978) actually filmed, with artificial autumn leaves reused from scene to scene?

California stood in for the Midwest during a 20-day spring shoot around South Pasadena and Hollywood. The crew picked streets with few palm trees, though some still sneak into shot.

What weapon does Michael Myers carry in Halloween (1978), after stealing a pair of them from a hardware store?

A kitchen knife is all he needs, in a film that shows remarkably little blood for a slasher. He takes two from the store along with a rope and his mask.

Which director remade Halloween (1978) in 2007 as part origin story, on John Carpenter's advice to make it his own?

Rob Zombie, already known for House of 1000 Corpses, felt obliged to tell Carpenter about the plan himself out of respect. His film is both a prequel and a remake.

What does Laurie Strode use to stab Michael Myers in the neck after he climbs in through a window in Halloween (1978)?

A knitting needle drops him to the floor, and Laurie assumes he is dead. She is wrong: he rises and follows her upstairs.

What is the profession of Dr. Sam Loomis, the man who hunts the escaped Michael Myers through Halloween (1978)?

Psychiatrist to Michael Myers for fifteen years, Loomis is on his way to take his patient to a court hearing when the escape happens.

What is the first name of the teenage sister Michael Myers stabs on Halloween night 1963 in Halloween (1978)?

Judith is killed at her dressing table moments after her boyfriend leaves the house. The whole scene plays as one gliding shot seen through her little brother's eyes.

Which object fills the opening credits of Halloween (1978) as the camera creeps toward its left eye?

A jack-o'-lantern flickers against a dark screen until the camera reaches its eye and the light goes out. The crew struggled to find real ones during a spring shoot.

Which slasher did Sean S. Cunningham advertise in Variety, script unfinished, after the success of Halloween (1978)?

Friday the 13th was advertised while its screenplay was still being drafted. It moved the formula to an abandoned summer camp, where counselors are picked off one by one.

Which star of The Great Escape played Dr. Loomis in Halloween (1978) as the highest-paid member of its cast?

Donald Pleasence, also the Bond villain Blofeld, earned $20,000 for the part. He agreed because his daughter had liked the music in an earlier John Carpenter film.

The 1981 sequel Halloween II opens at which point relative to the closing scene of Halloween (1978)?

The same night: the sequel opens straight after the cliffhanger and follows Laurie to the local hospital. John Carpenter co-wrote it but left the directing to someone else.

In which 1996 slasher does film buff Randy watch Halloween (1978) on TV, unaware a killer is right behind him?

Scream has Randy shouting at Laurie to look behind her while the killer creeps up on him. Its writer drafted the script while listening to the Halloween score.

Which costume does Michael Myers wear to pose as Lynda's boyfriend Bob just after killing him in Halloween (1978)?

A ghost costume lets him stand in silence while Lynda teases the figure she takes for her boyfriend. Bob is already dead, pinned to a wall downstairs.

Made for about $300,000, John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) went on to gross roughly how much in cinemas worldwide?

$70 million made it one of the most profitable independent films ever. John Carpenter took just $10,000 for writing, directing and scoring it, plus a share of the profits.

Which producer co-wrote Halloween (1978) with John Carpenter, using her babysitting years for the female dialogue?

Debra Hill wrote most of the young women's lines, while John Carpenter handled the doctor's grim speeches. By her account the script took three weeks.

Which band's hit (Don't Fear) The Reaper plays on the car radio as Annie drives Laurie in Halloween (1978)?

Blue Öyster Cult's song about death drifts from the radio while Michael Myers tails their car through town. It had been the band's biggest chart hit two years earlier.

Hiding in a closet in Halloween (1978), Laurie Strode jabs Michael Myers in the eye with which household object?

A coat hanger to the eye is followed by a stab to the chest with his own blade. Even that only keeps him down for a few moments.

Under which name do the end credits of Halloween (1978) bill the masked adult Michael Myers?

The Shape is how the credits list him, a name that suits a villain designed to be a pale, faceless presence. The unmasked killer glimpsed at the end was a different actor.

Dr. Sam Loomis in Halloween (1978) takes his name from the boyfriend character in which Alfred Hitchcock thriller?

Psycho gave him the name: its Sam Loomis is the boyfriend of the doomed Marion Crane. John Carpenter also named the sheriff after a Hollywood screenwriter.

Which term did Carol J. Clover coin for slasher survivors such as Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978)?

The final girl is the one who outlives her friends and faces the killer at the end. Clover argued the role turned women in horror from helpless victims into heroines.

Which future Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star played little Lindsey Wallace in Halloween (1978)?

Kyle Richards was a child actress when she played the youngster Annie is meant to be minding. She returned to the role as an adult more than forty years later in Halloween Kills.

What does Michael Myers steal from the local cemetery and leave in an upstairs bedroom in Halloween (1978)?

A tombstone, taken from his sister's grave, is what Loomis finds missing. Laurie later discovers it laid out beside her friends' bodies.

Which Chicago critic gave Halloween (1978) four stars and put it among his ten best films of the year?

Roger Ebert called it a visceral experience that happens to the viewer rather than one that is merely watched. His rival Gene Siskel at the Tribune gave it three and a half.

What does Michael Myers use to strangle Lynda in an upstairs bedroom of the Wallace house in Halloween (1978)?

A telephone cord does it: Lynda is ringing Laurie, who listens on the other end without understanding what she is hearing.

Which film-school friend of John Carpenter wore the mask as the adult Michael Myers in Halloween (1978) for $25 a day?

Nick Castle was told simply to walk from one mark to the next and not act. He went on to direct The Last Starfighter, and returned for a cameo in the 2018 sequel.

Which 1951 sci-fi film, whose story John Carpenter later filmed himself, plays on television in Halloween (1978)?

The Thing from Another World is on the screen as a deliberate homage. Four years later Carpenter went back to that story for a film of his own.

From which sanitarium does Michael Myers escape in a stolen station wagon at the start of Halloween (1978)?

Smith's Grove, his home for fifteen years, shares its name with a small Kentucky city near where John Carpenter grew up.

In 2006 the Library of Congress chose Halloween (1978) for which list of films worth preserving?

National Film Registry entries are chosen as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. Five years earlier the American Film Institute had ranked it 68th among the most thrilling films.

Which Dracula star called turning down the part of Dr. Loomis in Halloween (1978) the biggest mistake of his career?

Christopher Lee later admitted as much to John Carpenter himself. Peter Cushing had been offered the part first, but his agent rejected the low fee.

Which actress from Carrie played Laurie's friend Lynda in Halloween (1978), in a part written with her in mind?

P. J. Soles had played a classmate in Carrie two years earlier, and was told John Carpenter wrote Lynda for her. She went straight on to star in Rock 'n' Roll High School.

John Carpenter credited his Halloween (1978) score to a made-up philharmonic named after which Kentucky hometown?

Bowling Green Philharmonic Orchestra is the joke name in the credits, though it was really Carpenter at a keyboard with help from one music professor. He admitted he could not read or write a note.

Which breed is Lester, the Wallace family dog that Michael Myers kills in Halloween (1978) to show how deadly he is?

German Shepherd Lester dies while Michael is spying on Annie. The co-writer said the killing was there to show the audience that he is really evil.

Which Celtic festival, when souls were said to roam among the living, helped inspire the story of Halloween (1978)?

Samhain is never named in the first film, but its idea that evil cannot be killed drove the plot. The sequels brought the festival into the story openly.

What does Laurie Strode leave at the old Myers house for her father on the morning of October 31 in Halloween (1978)?

A key is the errand: her father, a realtor, is trying to sell the abandoned house. Michael begins stalking her from the moment she drops it off.

Which cinematographer shot Halloween (1978) and later filmed Back to the Future and Jurassic Park?

Dean Cundey was recruited by the film's producer after a run of low-budget pictures. He stayed with John Carpenter for The Fog and the first Halloween sequel.

Which Syrian-American financier put up the budget for Halloween (1978) and backed its sequels until his death in 2005?

Moustapha Akkad was won over when John Carpenter told him the whole story aloud, almost frame for frame. He also directed the desert epics The Message and Lion of the Desert.

Which boy does Laurie Strode babysit in Halloween (1978), a character named after a detective in Rear Window?

Tommy Doyle borrows his surname from the policeman friend in the Hitchcock film. He spots the masked man from the window that night, and Laurie does not believe him.

Which 1974 Canadian slasher, set in a sorority house, used killer's-eye camera shots before Halloween (1978) did?

Black Christmas keeps its killer unseen, showing his climb into the attic through his own eyes. Its director later said Halloween may have been influenced by his film but was no copy.

For which network did John Carpenter shoot twelve extra minutes of Halloween (1978) to fill a two-hour TV slot?

NBC bought the television rights in 1980, and the new scenes were filmed during the making of the sequel. Laurie wears a towel on her head in one because the actress had since cut her hair.

Yul Brynner's unstoppable android in which 1973 sci-fi film helped inspire Michael Myers in Halloween (1978)?

Westworld has a robot gunslinger who stalks a theme-park guest without tiring. John Carpenter wanted that quality in a killer who might be more than human.

Which rival clone of the Steadicam filmed the floating killer's-eye shots in Halloween (1978)?

Panaglide was a clone of the then-new Steadicam, letting the camera drift smoothly through rooms as the eyes of the killer. The whole film was shot in just 20 days.

Tony Moran, the unmasked face of Michael Myers in Halloween (1978), had a sister starring in which hit sitcom?

Happy Days featured his sister Erin Moran as Joanie Cunningham. He earned $250 for a few seconds on screen, after a job dressing up as Frankenstein on a Hollywood street corner.

At which department store was Laurie Strode's entire wardrobe for Halloween (1978) bought for about $100?

J.C. Penney supplied the lot, and many of the other actors simply wore their own clothes. Money was so tight that the cast helped carry equipment between set-ups.

For which console did Wizard Video release a 1983 game based on Halloween (1978), starring an unnamed babysitter?

Atari 2600 owners got a game so cheaply made that many cartridges carried only a strip of tape with the title written in marker. Its gore went further than the film's.