Halloween (1978) | RGP Review | A Classic That Has Aged Like Wine 

I see Psycho and Peeping Tom as photo-slashers. They pointed the way, but didn't establish a lot of the tropes that came to define the modern slasher. I think the first film to do that was Mario Bava's A Bay of Blood (1971). But Halloween, without a doubt, is the film that truly popularized the genre. It will always be my favorite slasher. I actually saw it on its opening weekend. There weren't many people in the theater. But those of us who saw it that first weekend went out and told everyone how scary it was. More people went to go see it and it grew to become the most successful independent film in history, a record it held for over 20 years. I saw it in the theater five times myself. No sequel, remake or rip-off will ever equal it.

John Carpenter considered the hiring of Jamie Lee Curtis as the ultimate tribute to Sir Alfred Hitchcock who had given her mother, Janet Leigh, legendary status in Psycho (1960) (for the same reason, Dr. Sam Loomis was named after Sam Loomis from Psycho). During the same period, Universal studio producers and director Richard Franklin were trying to enroll Jamie Lee in the new production of Psycho II (1983). From a budget of $300,000 over a 20 day shoot, the film went on to gross $47 million at the US box office. In 2008, takings that would be the equivalent of $150 million, making 'Halloween' one of the most successful independent films of all time. The stabbing sound effect is a knife stabbing a watermelon. Robert Englund of the A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) film series revealed in an interview that John Carpenter had him throw bags of dead leaves on set for one day. John Carpenter's intent with the character of Michael Myers was that the audience should never be able to relate to him. Of the female leads (all the girls are supposed to be in high school), only Jamie Lee Curtis was a teenager (being 19) at the time of shooting. The story is based on an experience John Carpenter had in college touring a psychiatric hospital. Carpenter met a child who stared at him "with a look of evil, and it terrified me." Half of the $300,000 budget was spent on the Panavision cameras so the film would have a 2.35:1 scope. Donald Pleasence was paid $20,000 for five days work. The original script, titled "The Babysitter Murders," 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. 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. All of the actors wore their own clothes, since there was no money for a costume department. Jamie Lee Curtis went to J.C. Penney for Laurie Strode's wardrobe. She spent less than $100 for the entire set. She shot the film while on hiatus from the sitcom Operation Petticoat (1977). The dark lighting comes from necessity: the crew didn't have enough money for more lights. The Halloween theme is written in the rare 5/4 time signature. John Carpenter learned this rhythm from his father. 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. The fact that she was Janet Leigh's daughter probably didn't hurt. According to Hill, Curtis wasn't Carpenter's first choice. She says he wanted the daughter of the person on Lassie. Jamie Lee Curtis' first feature film. She was paid a reported $8,000 for her efforts. John Carpenter wrote the role of Lynda for P.J. Soles after seeing her performance in Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976). Jamie Lee Curtis admits she made up the "Just the two of us" song she sang to herself at the movie's beginning when she was walking home from school. 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. Director of photography Dean Cundey likened it to eyes getting adjusted to the dark. The character Michael Myers was named after the European distributor of Carpenter's previous film, Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), who had entered that film into a British movie contest, where it won first price and became a bigger success than in the USA. The naming was a kind of weird "thank you" for the film's overseas success, although Mr. Myers reportedly joked that the makers technically owed him royalties for the use of his name. The movie that Tommy and Laurie are watching is The Thing from Another World (1951). John Carpenter went on to direct the remake, The Thing (1982). John Carpenter's direction for Nick Castle in his role as Myers was minimal. For example, when Castle asked what Myers' motivation was for a particular scene, Carpenter replied that his motivation was to walk from one set marker to another. Carpenter also instructed Castle to tilt his head a couple of times as if he was observing the corpse, particularly in the scene when Myers impaled one of his victims against a wall. Originally, Dr. Loomis was supposed to have a phone conversation with his wife. Donald Pleasence didn't do it, saying he thought the character shouldn't have a family or a past. The writers' goal was to write the film like a radio play, with scares every ten minutes. According to screenwriter Debra Hill, the character Laurie Strode was named after John Carpenter's first girlfriend. As has been noted, the killer is referred to as The Shape in the script and credits for this film. The word "shape" was used by the Salem Witch Trials judges to describe specters (or spirits) of the accused doing mischief or harming another person. John Carpenter was a huge fan of the original Canadian slasher film Black Christmas (1974) and asked Bob Clark if he could write a sequel to the film and received his permission. The script eventually evolved into a separate project inspired by the film In spite of her Scream Queen status, Jamie Lee Curtis admitted, "I loathe horror movies. I don't like to be surprised." John Carpenter demanded $10,000 to write, produce, direct and score the film, which was a considerable fee for a director who had only done two small movies. He also wanted to be billed above the title (calling it 'John Carpenter's Halloween'). Producer Irwin Yablans agreed as long as the budget didn't exceed $300,000. The film takes place primarily in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois. Haddonfield, New Jersey is the hometown of screenwriter Debra Hill. To achieve the shot of Michael Myers strangling the dog, the trainer on set held the dog in his arms and dropped him naturally. This was shot in slow motion to make it look as if the dog had been killed. Dr Sam Loomis is Michael Myers' psychiatrist. Sam Loomis is also the name of Marion Crane's secret lover in Psycho (1960). Marion Crane was played by Jamie Lee Curtis's mother, Janet Leigh, and Annie is played by actress Nancy Kyes, who was credited as Nancy Loomis. The name Loomis was also used in Scream (1996). In addition to Psycho being a major influence, the name "Marion" also makes an appearance in the movie as that of the nurse played by Nancy Stephens. Like Marion Crane and Sam Loomis, Marion Chambers is closely connected to Dr Sam Loomis. Jamie Lee Curtis has played Laurie Strode in films released in Six different decades from the 1970s to the 2020s: This film, Halloween II (1981), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills (2021) 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. Jamie Lee Curtis said in interviews that William Shatner was initially not happy his likeness was used to be the mask of this demonic, and hideous serial killer. She has also said Mike Myers, the Canadian comedian from Saturday Night Live (1975) who is behind Saturday Night Live (1975), as well as the Austin Powers franchise, is not happy there is a serial killer who has the same name as he does. When Laurie Strode and Annie Brackett are driving in the car, they are listening to "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult. This is on while Michael Myers is driving behind them. Tommy Lee Wallace cut out the pumpkin for the opening credits. William Shatner did not find out until years later that a mask bearing his likeness was used to make Michael Myers mask. He sued for past royalties. They settled out of court. Shatner donated the settlement to charity. Ironically the case could have been easily dismissed; as the mask was a likeness of Captain Kirk to which Shatner does not own the rights. The initial budget of $300,000 was increased to $325,000. The added $25,000 was Donald Pleasence's salary for only five days of shooting. The voice of Judith Myers' boyfriend (David Kyle) was dubbed by Tommy Lee Wallace. Jamie Lee Curtis stated on the film's commentary that her favorite part of the movie is when Laurie is walking across the street to the Wallace house to kick off the confrontation between her and Michael. She praises John Carpenter for taking his time to make that scene as slow as possible, and frequently cutting between Laurie and the dark house, making the audience dread what Laurie will find. Although Don Post Studios turned down an offer by the filmmakers to receive points in the movie in exchange for an original mask, it was the company's own 1975 Star Trek (1966) Captain Kirk mask of actor William Shatner, after alteration, that epitomized the face of Michael Myers. However, they would agree four years later to provide the Silver Shamrock masks for Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). Body Count: 7 - Judith Myers, unnamed truck driver, two dogs, Lynda van der Klok, Bob Simms and Annie Brackett.

It ain't a film that I love, but it's one I respect. Really admire the kinds of movies that are made with low resources and go on to be cultural touchstones

Bro just subbed to your channel a few days ago. Awesome work, man. Huge horror nerd myself here.

Only discovered your Halloween Ends video this morning. So had to come back and look for more. Really entertaining!!! Gonna watch the ones for Halloween 2018 and Kills now.

Regardless of who sang the first rock ‘n’ roll song, Elvis Presley is still Elvis Presley And Michael Myers is still Michael Myers

as a big horror nerd myself stepping into almost gate keepy sometimes in some ways the bit about the "first slasher movie" really got me its great! that being said *puts gate keep vest on* i think imo it is infact halloween HOWEVER the others act as sorta "proto slashers" setting up the ideas and themes that would blend together into halloween fully forming into the Slasher film... lol kinda like how we have xenomorphs in the alien prequals before xenomorphs are a thing like they are clearly a thing but proto versions. if you understand what im trying to say lol

Halloween, a true classic. Great review Evan, love the passion you put into this review.

Don Post Emmet Kelly clown mask was tested too

you did it some great justice, bud!!

Awesome video! Great mix of humor, personality and trivia. And Devon Graham driving by you probably is foreshadowing bad things for you 😂

The thing with the suburbs... It makes michael scarier not only because it feels more relateable but because michael doesnt mind the stress of keeping control in such a crowded place Its like he is playing cod zombies like it was tetris He is extreemly confident and skilled What jason does seems super eazy compared to that his victims are served on a silver plate

Halloween is a masterpiece. It’s such an awesome film. So freaking great and one of the best films ever made.

I love that final scene where they flash to the different houses in the neighborhood. This will always be one of my favorite movies.