It was 45 years ago, on October 25 1978, that John Carpenter's classic horror movie
Halloween (1978) was released. Although regarded as a classic now, many critics at the time were dismissive of the film, with only a very few praising it.
Audiences apparently did not agree with the critics, as the movie did well at the box office despite very little in the way of promotion. In the end it would prove to be one of the most influential horror movies of all time, sparking a host of imitators and a cycle of slasher movies that lasted into the Eighties.
Of course,
Halloween was not the first slasher movie. Both the Val Lewton f
ilm
The Leopard Man (1943) and the Sherlock Holmes movie
The Scarlet Claw (1944) can be considered forerunners of the genre.
Peeping Tom (1960) and
Psycho (1960) would have a huge impact on the genre, and there are those who would classify both movies as outright slasher movies.
Psycho would be followed by several imitators, including a entire series of psychological horror movies from Hammer (including 1961's
Taste of Fear and 1963's
Maniac) and William Castle's
Strait-Jacket (1964). Also emerging in the Sixties were such giallo films as Mario Bava's
Blood and Black Lace (1964), which would also prove to be an influence on slasher movies. The Seventies would see the release of such outright slasher movies as
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and
Black Christmas (1974).
Black Christmas in particular can be considered a forerunner of
Halloween (1978) in that it includes a holiday theme, young women being victimized, and even its own Final Girl (the last woman left alive in a slasher movie who confronts the killer in the end).
For those unfamiliar with
Halloween (1978), the movie centres on the return of Michael Myers to his home town of Haddonfield, Illinois. When he was only six years old Myers had stabbed his teenage sister to death. Escaping from custody on October 30 1978, he makes his way back to his home town, where he begins a killing spree. There is a lot more to the movie than that, but I really don't want to give it away for the few people who have never seen it.
The origins of
Halloween (1978) go back to its producer Irwin Yablans, who, after attending the Milan Film Festival, conceived the idea of a movie in which babysitters are terrorized by a killer. It was also Irwin Yablans who came up with the idea of the movie being set at Halloween. Irwin Yablans had seen
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), directed by John Carpenter, at the Milan Film Festival, and he thought Mr. Carpenter would be a good fit for his movie in which a psychopath is stalking babysitters. John Carpenter agreed to direct the movie only so long as he had complete creative control. Ultimately, he not only directed
Halloween (1978), but he also scored the film and co-wrote the screenplay with his girlfriend of the time Debra Hill. For all of this he was paid $10,000.
As to the screenplay, Debra Hill had been a babysitter when she was a teenager, and she wrote most of the female character's dialogue. John Carpenter handled much of the dialogue of Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance), Michael Myer's psychiatrist. Debra Hill had grown up in Haddonfield, New Jersey, so that name was used for the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois. Many of the street names in the movie were drawn from John Carpenter's home town of Bowling Green, Kentucky. For the backstory of Michael Myers, John Carpenter used the haunted house legends common to small towns. Much of the character of Michael Myers also came from a trip John Carpenter had made in college while in psychology classes to a mental institution, including a ward where the most disturbed patients were kept. Some of the names of the characters in
Halloween (1978) were inspired by the cinema. Sheriff Leigh Brackett's name was taken from Leigh Brackett, the screenwriter of such classics as
The Big Sleep (1946) and
Rio Bravo (1959), and a science fiction author often known as "the Queen of Space Opera." Both Dr. Loomis and Tommy Doyle's names came from Hitchcock movies, Dr. Loomis's name from the character of Sam Loomis (John Gavin) in
Psycho and Tommy Doyle's name from Lt. Thomas J. Doyle (Wendell Corey) in
Rear Window (1954).
Although Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance are now so firmly identified with their roles that it is hard picturing anyone else playing Laurie Strode and Dr. Loomis, the movie could have had a very different cast. Legendary horror actor Peter Cushing was approached about playing Dr. Loomis, but his agent turned the role down to the small salary. Peter Cushing's frequent co-star Christopher Lee was then approached for the role of Dr. Loomis, but he turned it down for fear that he would continue to be typecast in horror movie roles. It was producer Irwin Yablans who suggested Donald Pleasance for the role of Dr. Loomis. For the role of Laurie Strode, John Carpenter had wanted Anne Lockhart, the daughter of actress June Lockhart of
Lassie and
Lost in Space fame. It turned out that Anne Lockhart was unavailable due to prior commitments. John Carpenter also considered another unnamed actress who appeared in
Jaws 2 (1978). That would likely be Ann Dusenberry, who is the same age as Anne Lockhart. Ultimately, Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of Janet Leigh (who played Marion in
Psycho) and Tony Curtis, was cast as Laurie. At that point in her career, Jamie Lee Curtis had appeared in guest appearances on television and had a regular role on the short-lived sitcom
Operation Petticoat.
Halloween (1978) marked her movie debut.
The role of Anne Brackett, the daughter of Sheriff Brackett (Charles Cyphers) and Laurie's friend, was filled by Nancy Kyes, who had appeared in John Carpenter's
Assault on Precinct 13. P. J. Soles was cast as Lynda Van Der Klok, another one of Laurie's friends. P.J. Soles had already appeared in a classic horror movie, Brian De Palma's
Carrie (1976), as well as various television appearances (including the TV movie
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble). She would later star in the cult film
Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979).
The budget for
Halloween (1978) was extremely small for the era, only around $300,000. It also had a tight shooting schedule. It was filmed in 20 days.
Halloween (1978) also had to be shot around Donald Pleasance's busy schedule. That the movie was shot in the spring of 1978 complicated matters. Pumpkins were hard to come by, and artificial fall leaves had to be used in multiple scenes. Because the budget was so low, many of the actors wore their own clothes. The entire wardrobe for Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie was purchased at J.C. Penney for about $100. Props in the movie had to be bought inexpensively or often made by hand. Even Michael Myers's famous mask cost very little. Two masks were bought. One was an Emmet Kelly mask from Don Post. It was decided that it was not frightening enough. The mask ultimately used in the movie was one of Captain James T. Kirk from
Star Trek, bought on Hollywood Boulevard for $1.98. Production designer Tommy Lee Wallace widened the eye holes on the mask and painted it a bluish white.
As a low-budget, independent feature,
Halloween (1978) was shot on location around Los Angeles County. Locations were chosen for their resemblance to small, Midwestern towns and as few palm trees as possible (although a few do creep into some frames). Much of the film was shot in a small Los Angeles County town I won't mention due to personal reasons (my long-time readers know which town I am talking about and
why I won't mention it), including Lynda's house (on Montrose Avenue), Michael Myer's home (on Mission Street), the hardware store (The Frame Shop on Mission Street), Laurie's house (on Oxley Street), and various other places around town. Other scenes were shot in other locations around Los Angeles County. The Smith's Grove Sanitarium was actually La Vina Respiratory Hospital in Altadena, California. The Wallace's home and the Doyle's home were both on Orange Grove Avenue in Hollywood. The cemetery in
Halloween (1978) is Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery. The elementary school in Haddonfield was actually Garfield Elementary in Alhambra. Yet other scenes were shot in City of Industry, Rosemead, Burbank, and Pasadena.
Halloween (1978) premiered on October 24 1978 at the AMC Empire Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. It was released the following day, on October 25 1978. As mentioned above, while
Halloween (1978) is now regarded as a classic, many critics at the time were dismissive of the film. Pauline Kael in
The New Yorker was particularly hard on the film, stating in her review, "...the style is reminiscent of the Halloween episode in Minnelli’s
Meet Me in St. Louis. But Carpenter isn’t very gifted with actors, and he doesn’t seem to have any feeling at all for motivation or for plot logic.
Halloween has a pitiful, amateurish script (by Carpenter and his producer, Debra Hill)." Gary Arnold of
The Washington Post also gave the movie a negative review, writing, "Since there is precious little character or plot development to pass the time between stalking sequences, one tends to wish the killer would get on with it." Lou Cedrone in
The Baltimore Evening Sun referred to
Halloween (1978) as being "tediously familiar."
Halloween (1978) did receive its share of positive reviews. Gene Siskel of
The Chicago Tribune called it, "a beautifully made thriller." His fellow Chicago critic, Roger Ebert of
The Chicago Sun-Times, also gave it a positive review, stating, "
Halloween is a visceral experience--we aren't seeing the movie, we're having it happen to us. It's frightening. Maybe you don't like movies that are really scary: Then don't see this one." Tom Allen in
The Village Voice also praised
Halloween (1978), opening his review with "It’s useless to take a lofty view on an instant schlock horror classic, but there are reasons why John Carpenter’s
Halloween, alone in the last decade, stands with George A. Romero’s
Night of the Living Dead and, before that, with
Psycho, in which Hitchcock subverted the subgenre to different ends." Since the initial release of the film, time has proven those critics who gave
Halloween (1978) positive reviews right. It is considered a classic and currently boasts a 96% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes.
As mentioned in the opening of this post, while some critics were dismissive of
Halloween (1978), audiences embraced the film. As an independent, low-budget film it had little in the way of a promotional budget, so that it primarily relied on word of mouth to draw audiences into theatres. Despite this, it ultimately made $70 million worldwide. This made it the most profitable independent film for its time. It was because of the success of
Halloween (1978) that NBC paid about $3 million for the television rights to the film. John Carpenter and NBC's Broadcast Standards fought about various cuts to the film, and as
Halloween (1978) was only 91 minutes, an additional twelve minutes were filmed by Mr .Carpenter for the network broadcast.
Halloween (1978) made its television debut on NBC on October 30 1981.
Of course, the success of
Halloween (1978) meant that there would be sequels. The first of these,
Halloween II (1981), was released on October 30 1981 and takes place almost immediately following the events of
Halloween (1978).
Halloween II would not repeat the success of the first movie, although it did respectably well at the box office. With the third sequel,
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). John Carpenter and Debra Hill returned as producers, but only on the condition that the movie would not be a direct sequel to
Halloween (1978). John Carpenter and Debra Hill reconceived the
Halloween series as a series of stand-alone movies in which each film centred around the holiday of Halloween.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is then the only
Halloween movie in which Michael Myers does not appear. Unfortunately,
Halloween III: Season of the Witch not only received negative reviews, but did not perform as well as expected at the box office. It has since become a cult film.
Given the box office disappointment of
Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the next film would be a direct sequel to
Halloween (1978),
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988). It would be followed by
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) and
Halloween 5: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995). The next movie,
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), ignored all of the movies following
Halloween II and was Jamie Lee Curtis's first
Halloween movie since
Halloween 4. It was followed by a sequel,
Halloween Resurrection (2002).
It was in 2007 that a "reimagining" of
Halloween (1978),
Halloween (2007), directed by Rob Zombie, was released. It was followed by a sequel,
Halloween II (2009). The two films directed by Rob Zombie would be followed by
Halloween (2018). Despite its title,
Halloween (2018) was not a remake of
Halloween (1978), but instead a direct sequel to the film, ignoring all the previous sequels (including 1981's
Halloween II). It has been followed by the sequels
Halloween Kills (2021) and
Halloween Ends (2022). All three films star Jamie Lee Curtis as an older Laurie Strode.
Halloween (1978) would prove to be one of the most influential horror movies of all time. It spawned a cycle of slasher movies that lasted from the late Seventies into the Eighties. It was followed by a slough of slasher movies, such as
Friday the 13th (1980),
Prom Night (1980),
Graduation Day (1981), and
My Bloody Valentine (1981), often centred around a holiday or special event. Most of these slasher films would be more graphic and featured more gore than
Halloween (1978), which featured almost no graphic violence. Unfortunately, with but a few exceptions, the slasher films following
Halloween (1978) were often poorly made and followed a strict formula.
Halloween (1978) would even have an influence on horror movies outside the slasher genre. Although often counted as a slasher movie, given Freddy Krueger is essentially a ghost who can manipulates dreams,
Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) is better counted as a supernatural horror movie that was heavily influenced by
Halloween (1978). The same can be said of
Candyman (1992). Ultimately, there are probably very few horror movies in the last forty years, whether they are slasher movies or not, that have not been influenced by
Halloween (1978) in some way, shape, or form.
Another way in which
Halloween (1978) would prove influential is the fact that it was the most successful independent film of its time. This opened the doors for other independent films, whether they were horror movies or not. The movie
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) would prove that not only could independent movies be financially successful, but they could receive a good deal of acclaim as well. Low-budget, independent movies would find more opportunities for wide releases, through such venues as Focus Features, Fox Spotlight, Miramax, Savoy Pictures, and Sony Pictures Classics.
Halloween (1978) was also pivotal in the career of John Carpenter. While he had gained notice with his second film,
Assault on Precinct 13, it was
Halloween (1978) that would put John Carpenter on the map. He would go onto direct such films as
Escape from New York (1981),
The Thing (1982),
Christine (1983),
Big Trouble in Little China (1986), and
They Live (1988). He is now counted as one of the greatest horror directors of all time. It also launched the career of Jamie Lee Curtis. She would go onto appear in such movies as
Trading Places (1983),
A Fish Called Wanda (1988),
True Lies (1994), and
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), among other films.
Dismissed by some critics upon its original release,
Halloween (1978) is now regarded as a classic and often makes lists of the greatest horror movies of all time. It launched the cycle of slasher movies that lasted into the Eighties, and its influence is still being felt to this day. Few films, let alone horror movies, have had the impact that
Halloween (1978) had.
