Ready for the new installment of the Halloween franchise? The release is right around the corner, 10/19.
Halloween Horror Nights announced Tuesday that the Halloween franchise will have a maze this year, following suit with its retro horror theme. Are you ready to see more of Mr. Myers? In the meantime, here are a few interesting facts about the 1978 horror classic:
Halloween grossed over $70 million with its initial release making it the most profitable independent film ever made until 1999’s The Blair Witch Project.
Though the film is set to take place in Haddonfield, Illinois, the production was filmed in Southern California in spring time so the crew faced plenty of challenges when trying to create the feeling of fall. The crew struggled to keep palm trees out of the shots, bags of painted leaves were dumped and blown around with fans and it was so difficult to find pumpkins.
In the scene where Laurie thinks she sees someone behind the hedge and Annie goes to investigate, you can see smoke enter the shot due to Carpenter smoking too close to the frame.
The Myers house was an actual abandoned property and filmed as is for the entire shoot until the young Michael sequence was needed. Production saved this scene until the very last day of filming and the house was then painted and furniture brought in to make it look lived in.
John Carpenter was paid $10,000 for his work on the film which was low even for the 70’s.
Carpenter’s first choice for Laurie was Annie Lockhart, who was just starting her career but from a long family line of professional actors. Annie turned down the role and it was extended to Jaime Lee Curtis.
Since films are shot out of sequence, Carpenter would instruct Curtis on a scale of 1 to 10 of how scared she should be going into that scene.
In 2006, the Library of Congress selected 1978’s original Halloween film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
The film was originally titled The Babysitter Murders but rebranded to Halloween. With the new holiday-themed title and premise, the film’s production had to be moved up to accommodate an October release. The film was shot in four weeks total!
