‘Halloween’ Trivia and Movie Mistakes [VIDEO]
41 years after the premiere of John Carpenter's classic hit 'Halloween', people are still getting scared watching Michael Meyers return to his home town of Haddonfield, Illinois to terrorize teenagers on Halloween night. It was voted the 5th Scariest Movie of All Time by Entertainment Weekly, and star Jamie Lee Curtis was only paid $8,000 for her debut on film.
There is tons of interesting trivia associated with the movie. Fascinating stuff, actually. Did you know that the actors all wore their own clothes because there was no budget for wardrobe? Everything Laurie Strobe (Jamie Lee Curtis) wore came from JC Penney.
The famous mask that was worn by Michael Meyers was actually a Star Trek William Shatner mask, bought for only $2. It was later spray painted, the eye holes were enlarged, and the hair was teased out. By the way, William Shatner had no idea about any of this for years!
'Halloween' was shot in 20 days in the spring of 1978. It was made for $300,000, and later became the highest-grossing independent movie ever made, at that time. Also, since it was spring, and not fall, leaves for the Halloween afternoon sequences had to be bought, painted, and reused. The opening sequence - the creepy tune you hear and associate with the movie, was actually written by director John Carpenter, who had no musical training whatsoever. Nick Castle, who just happened to be standing around the set during filming, was actually asked by the director if he wanted to be Michael Meyers. The answer was yes, and was paid a cool $25 a day for his efforts.
There were also a colossal amount of mistakes in the film, which were never fixed, and can still be seen to this day. A couple of examples include John Carpenter's cigarette smoke wafting up from behind the hedge when Jamie Lee Curtis spots Michael Meyers, The television that plays scenes from The Thing from Another World are out of order, and, after finding their 6 year old son running out of the house holding a bloody knife, Michael Myers' parents DON'T DO ANYTHING. They just stand there, looking at him.
Also, if you are a Bravo TV fan, then you surely know that the cute little girl in the film, Lindsey Wallace, was portrayed by 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star Kyle Richards.
Despite the goofs, and the extremely low budget look of the film, it's still one of the scariest movies I've ever seen, and I can't wait to see it again this Halloween!