On Halloween night in 1963 young Michael Myers stabs his older sister to death. Michael is sent to the Smith’s Grove sanitarium. His doctor is Dr. Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence). Fifteen years later it is Dr. Loomis’s belief that Michael should never be allowed to leave the sanitarium. To that end Loomis and nurse Marion Chambers (Gwen Van Dam) arrive at the sanitarium on October 30, 1978 to take Michael to court. That is the night Michael escapes. Michael heads for Haddonfield, Illinois, the town he used to live in. Michael is going home.
Laurie Strode’s (Jamie Lee Curtis) father is a Real Estate agent. On her way to school she drops off a key to the old Meyers home under the mat. Her father has a potential buyer. Michael is in the house at the time and sees Laurie through the window. He begins stalking her. In class she sees him in the distance across the street. She sees him walking behind her on the way home. Her friends Annie (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda (P. J. Soles) turn to look but he’s not there. Then she sees him outside her bedroom window. Laurie is beginning to get a little freaked out.
That night Dr. Loomis reaches Haddonfield and notifies Sheriff Brackett (Charles Cyphers) of Michael’s escape. They check the Meyers house. He was there but now he is gone. Loomis decides to wait believing Michael will come back. The sheriff alerts his men to keep an eye out for him.
In the meantime Laurie is babysitting for Tommy Doyle (Brian Andrews) while Annie is across the street babysitting for Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards). Annie is expecting Lynda and her boyfriend Bob to come over. She gets a call from her boyfriend Paul to come pick him up. Annie drops Lindsey off for Laurie to watch while she gets Paul. But Michael has been watching. And he’s ready to play trick or treat.
“Halloween” was released in 1978 and was directed by John Carpenter. So far, there have been thirteen movies in the “Halloween” franchise. The movie was selected in 2006 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
“Halloween” is probably one of the scariest movies to watch at night. It’s not overly bloody but it’s got a creep factor that stays with you even if you have all the lights on. There is something about the character Michael Myers that is totally devoid of emotion. When he stabs Bob and tilts his head while looking at him stuck to the wall by the knife pinning him you know there is no way you could talk your way out of not being killed. Michael is relentless and impervious to pain. He makes no sound and has no clear reaction when being stabbed or shot. You can’t kill the devil.
At least five people played the adult Michael Meyers. Tony Moran during the unmasking, Nick Castle as “the shape” for most of the film, James Winburn as stuntman, Tommy Lee Wallace during certain action shots and Debra Hill for distance shots. Will Sandin played Michael at age 6.
Carpenter and co-writer Debra Hill have been asked quite often over the years if they consciously set out to show virginity as a way to defeat a serial killer. Horny teens die because they are busy getting laid. I’m sure I have it on a list somewhere. Laurie Strode being a virgin means she’s not having sex and is therefore more aware of her surroundings.
The mask Michael Myers wears is the 1975 Captain James T. Kirk mask. It cost about a dollar. The eyebrows and sideburns were taken off and the mask was painted what they called a fish belly white. Then the hair was spray painted brown, and the eye holes were opened up more. They decided that the Kirk mask was creepy because it was emotionless.
The stabbing sound effect is a knife stabbing a watermelon. The scene where The Shape seems to appear out of the darkness behind Laurie was done by using a dimmer switch on the light that slowly illuminated the mask.
The creepy shot showing the dog being strangled was done just by the trainer holding the dog and letting him slowly slip to the ground. The film was then slowed down to make it look like the dog had been killed. The voice on the phone as Paul talking to both Lindsey and Annie was John Carpenter.
John contacted Moustapha Akkad for the funds to produce the film. John believed he could make the movie for about $300,000. Akkad was currently producing and filming a major motion picture starring Laurence Olivier that was costing his company roughly $300,000 a day. When John told him the fixed price of his movie, Akkad immediately funded it. The film went over budget by $25,000 due to Donald Pleasence’s salary. The film went on to gross $47 million at the US box office. Moustapha Akkad had little interest in the film and primarily got involved due to the enthusiasm of John Carpenter and Irwin Yablans. Once the film turned out to be a huge box-office smash, Akkad facilitated every 'Halloween' sequel until his death in 2005. I guess there’s a reason Akkad was rich.