Happy Halloween from the Tolerance project-Halloween Special The Michael Myers Saga
Hello there and welcome to a revised edition of a blog I wrote about the Halloween Franchise for ease of reading I have split the blog into 3 parts
The first part deals with the making of the original Halloween film in 1978 as well a the unique 1980 television version the remake from 2007 and the reboot from 2018
Part 2 deals with Halloween II Halloween III Season of the Witch and Halloween 4 The Return of Micheal Myers Part Three which is totally new to the blog will deal with the other sequels and what links it to the Tolerance Project .
45 years of Halloween (1978)
This year marks 45 years since the release of the first Halloween film was released in 1978 this first article from people magazine where actress Jamie lee Curtis credits the filn with starting her acting career to read the article click here Jamie Lee Curtis Marks 'Halloween' 45th Anniversary with Touching Tribute (people.com)
This 2nd article highlights the best bits of Halloween 1978 to read it click here thanks to the coming soon website Halloween at 45: The Best Parts of John Carpenter's Slasher Classic (comingsoon.net)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent slasher film directed and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with producer Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis (in her film debut), with P. J. Soles and Nancy Loomis in supporting roles. Set mostly in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois, the plot centres on a mental patient, Michael Myers, who was committed to a sanitarium for murdering his teenage sister on Halloween night when he was a child. Fifteen years later, having escaped and returned to his home town, he stalks teenage babysitter Laurie Strode and her friends while under pursuit by his psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Loomis.
Filming took place in Southern California in May 1978. The film premièred in October, whereupon it grossed $70 million, becoming one of the most profitable independent films of all time. Primarily praised for Carpenter's direction and score, many critics credit the film as the first in a long line of slasher films inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and Bob Clark's Black Christmas (1974)
To watch the original trailer for Psycho (1960 click here (2) Psycho (1960) Theatrical Trailer - Alfred Hitchcock Movie - YouTube and a trailer for Bob Clarks Black Christmas click here (2) Black Christmas (1974) - Official Trailer (HD) - YouTube
It is considered one of the greatest and most influential horror films ever made. In 2006, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Halloween spawned a film franchise comprising thirteen films which helped construct an extensive backstory for its antagonist Michael Myers, sometimes narratively diverging entirely from previous instalments.
The Screenrant film website recently published this article on the preferred order you should watch all the Halloween films in read it by clicking here Watch All 13 Halloween Movies In This Order (screenrant.com)
After viewing Carpenter's film Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) at the Milan Film Festival, independent film producer Irwin Yablans and financier Moustapha Akkad sought out Carpenter to direct a film for them about a psychotic killer that stalked babysitters.
To learn more about Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) click here (12) What Happened To Assault On Precinct 13? - YouTube
In an interview with Fangoria magazine, Yablans stated: "I was thinking what would make sense in the horror genre, and what I wanted to do was make a picture that had the same impact as The Exorcist."Carpenter agreed to direct the film contingent on his having full creative control , for his work, which included writing, directing, and scoring the film. He and his then-girlfriend Debra Hill began drafting the story of Halloween.
There is an urban myth that the film at one point was supposed to be called The Babysitter Murders but Yablans has since debunked this stating that it was always intended to be called (and take place on) Halloween.Carpenter said of the basic concept: "Halloween night. It has never been the theme in a film. My idea was to do an old haunted house film.
Creating a memorable villain and that famous mask
In devising the backstory for the film's villain, Michael Myers, Carpenter drew on "haunted house" folklore that exists in many small American communities: "Most small towns have a kind of haunted house story of one kind or another," he stated. "At least that's what teenagers believe. There's always a house down the lane that somebody was killed in, or that somebody went crazy in." Carpenter's inspiration for the "evil" that Michael embodied came from a visit he had taken during college to a psychiatric institution in Kentucky.There, he visited a ward with his psychology classmates where "the most serious, mentally ill patients" were held.
Among those patients was an adolescent boy, who possessed a blank, "schizophrenic stare." Carpenter's experience inspired the characterization that Loomis gave of Michael to Sheriff Brackett in the film. Debra Hill has stated the scene where Michael kills the Wallaces' German Shepherd was done to illustrate how he is "really evil and deadly".
Because of the low budget, wardrobe and props were often crafted from items on hand or that could be purchased inexpensively. Carpenter hired Tommy Lee Wallace as production designer, art director, location scout and co-editor. Wallace created the trademark mask worn by Michael Myers throughout the film from a Captain Kirk mask[53] purchased for $1.98 from a costume shop on Hollywood Boulevard.
Carpenter recalled how Wallace "widened the eye holes and spray-painted the flesh a bluish white. In the script it said Michael Myers's mask had 'the pale features of a human face' and it truly was spooky looking. I can only imagine the result if they hadn't painted the mask white. Children would be checking their closet for William Shatner after Tommy got through with it."Hill adds that the "idea was to make him almost humorless, faceless—this sort of pale visage that could resemble a human or not."
The cast of Halloween included veteran actor Donald Pleasence and then-unknown actress Jamie Lee Curtis. The low budget limited the number of big names that Carpenter could attract,
In an interview, Carpenter admits that "Jamie Lee wasn't the first choice for Laurie. I had no idea who she was. She was 19 and in a TV show at the time, but I didn't watch TV." He originally wanted to cast Anne Lockhart, the daughter of June Lockhart from Lassie, as Laurie Strode. However, Lockhart had commitments to several other film and television projects. Hill says of learning that Jamie Lee was the daughter of Psycho actress Janet Leigh: "I knew casting Jamie Lee would be great publicity for the film because her mother was in Psycho." Curtis was cast in the part, though she initially had reservations as she felt she identified more with the other female characters: "I was very much a smart alec, and was a cheerleader in high school, I felt very concerned that I was being considered for the quiet, repressed young woman
Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Stroude would return in Halloween II (1981) Halloween H20 20 years later (1998) Halloween Resurrection (2002) and the three films in the Halloween reboot trilogy Halloween (2018) Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween ends.
If you want to know how Jamie Lee Curtis performances as Laurie Stroud in the Halloween films are rated read this article by the ScreenRant website Every Halloween Movie Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Ranked (collider.com)
This article from the Collider film website explains why Laurie Strode is not featured in every Halloween film Why Is Jamie Lee Curtis Not in Every Halloween Movie? (collider.com)
Donald Pleasence would play Dr. Samuel Loomis in 4 more films in the Halloween series. He would appear in Halloween II (1981) Halloween 4 the return of Michael Myers (1988) Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers 1989 and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995),
Pleasance died on February 2, 1995, nearly eight months before The Curse of Michael Myers was released The film was dedicated to his memory.
The Collider website published an article rating Donald Pleasense's performances as Samuel Loomis in the Halloween sequels to read click here Every Halloween Movie Starring Donald Pleasence, Ranked From Worst to Best (collider.com)
Nick Castle would only play Michael Myers once other actors would play the role over the next 13 films the Game Rant website produced this useful article telling you who played Michael Myers in each film you can find it by clicking here: Who Played Michael Myers In Each Halloween Movie? (gamerant.com)
To watch a reunion with John Carpenter the Writer and Director of Halloween with the original Micheal Myers click here Watch Halloween’s John Carpenter Reunite With The Original Michael Myers Actor (yahoo.com)
To read an article about what Nick Castle thought was the most painful moment was about playing Micheal Myers in the original Halloween click here Halloween's Original Michael Myers Reveals 'Most Painful' Moment | SYFY WIRE
Music creating that famous theme
Instead of utilizing a more traditional symphonic soundtrack, the film's score consists primarily of a piano melody played in a 10/8 or "complex 5/4" time signature, composed and performed by Carpenter. It took him three days to compose and record the entire score for the film. Following the film's critical and commercial success, the "Halloween Theme" became recognizable apart from the film. Critic James Berardinelli calls the score "relatively simple and unsophisticated", but admits that "Halloween's music is one of its strongest assets". Carpenter once stated in an interview, "I can play just about any keyboard, but I can't read or write a note." In Halloween's end credits, Carpenter bills himself as the "Bowling Green Philharmonic Orchestra", but he also received assistance from composer Dan Wyman, a music professor at San José State University.
To listen to the famous main theme click here (18) John Carpenter - Halloween 1978 (main Theme) - YouTube
Halloween 1981 Television version
If you had watched the original Halloween film at the cinema and then settled down to watch it again on its television premeire in America in 1981 you would have seen a very different film.
In 1980, the television rights to Halloween were sold to NBC. After a debate among Carpenter, Hill and NBC's Standards and Practices over censoring of certain scenes, Halloween appeared on television for the first time in October 1981. To fill the two-hour time slot, Carpenter filmed twelve minutes of additional material during the . The newly filmed scenes include Dr. Loomis at a hospital board review of Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis talking to a then-6-year-old Michael at Smith's Grove, telling him, "You've fooled them, haven't you, Michael? But not me." Another extra scene features Dr. Loomis at Smith's Grove examining Michael's abandoned cell after his escape and seeing the word "Sister" scratched into the door. Finally, a scene was added in which Lynda comes over to Laurie's house to borrow a silk blouse before Laurie leaves to babysit, just as Annie telephones asking to borrow the same blouse. The new scene had Laurie's hair hidden by a towel, since Curtis was by then wearing a much shorter hairstyle than she had worn in 1978.
To watch the additional footage click here(18) Halloween (1978) - TV Version Scenes - YouTube with thanks to Stacy Langenkamp
The Original Halloween film was also included on a Screenrant list of Franchises which peaked with the first film they said this about Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter's Halloween introduced the world to babysitter killer Michael Myers and is considered one of the most influential horror movies ever made. The movie became the first entry in the Halloween franchise, which now includes 13 films, with character backstories that became increasingly convoluted and contradictory. However, despite the criticism that later entries may receive, the original movie is largely responsible for the popularization of the slasher genre itself. It would act as the blueprint for countless imitation films about seemingly unstoppable lone serial killers
If your a big fan of the original Halloween from 1978 you might want to read this article from the CBR film website 10 details from Halloween 1978 that even Die Hard fans might have missed 10 Halloween (1978) Details Even Die Hard Horror Fans Missed (cbr.com)
If you want to watch a video review of the original Halloween from Oliver Harpers You tube Channel click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTuwz-X6VuA&list=PL17vqAEJv6CV1syq4_fFKgBwSqGdJzH9z&index=295&t=26s
If you want to find out more about the making of the original Halloween film click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPvUaH5rJLk&list=PL17vqAEJv6CV1syq4_fFKgBwSqGdJzH9z&index=269
To watch a video called What Happened To John Carpenter's Halloween? click here( What Happened To John Carpenter's Halloween? - YouTube
To watch a video called deconstructing John Carpenters Halloween 1978 click here (26) HALLOWEEN (1978) John Carpenter - Deconstructing - YouTube
Halloween 1978 in other media
Halloween Curtis Richards
A novelization so beloved that it spawned a commemorative re-release in 2023, Curtis Richards’s Halloween hit shelves on October 1, 1979, almost one year after the film dropped in theaters. Telling the story of “the most frightening night of the year,” the novelization extends John Carpenter’s script and combines it, somewhat, with the events that would come in 1981s Halloween II. (That movie still got its own novelization, though, as did Halloween III.) There’s a richer backstory in this for Michael Myers, with an opening that suggests he carries an ancient Druid curse cast that stems from Northern Ireland. Readers also get to experience some of Michael’s perspective along the way, so some might feel a bit more empathy for him—even if he is a knife-wielding maniac
The novelization of the original Halloween (1978), written by Curtis Richards (a pseudonym for novelist Dennis Etchison, who also wrote the novelizations for Halloween II and III), is one of the most significant horror tie-ins because it attempts to explain Michael Myers, a killer the film famously presented as pure, unexplained evil.
Here are the key differences and additions that set the novel apart from John Carpenter's classic film:
The most famous and far-reaching difference is the novel's attempt to provide a supernatural origin for Michael's evil, which later inspired elements in the sequels (like Halloween II and the controversial Halloween 6).
The Prologue: The book opens with an entirely new, ancient prologue set on the "eve of Samhain" (the Celtic origin of Halloween) in Northern Ireland. It tells the story of Enda, a deformed peasant boy, who murders a beautiful dancing couple, Deirdre and Cullain, out of jealousy. Enda is ripped apart by the villagers, and a Druid king curses his soul to roam the earth, reliving his crime, and being visited by the malevolent god Muck Olla.
The Voices: The novel explicitly states that Michael Myers is influenced by this ancient curse and hears voices telling him to kill. This voice is mentioned to have also plagued his grandfather. This directly contradicts the film's "blank face" philosophy of pure, motiveless evil.
The novel devotes significant time to Michael's life between 1963 (the murder of Judith) and 1978 (his escape), an era the film only vaguely references through Dr. Loomis's dialogue.
He Speaks: The novel shows Michael Myers speaking as an adolescent to his mother, grandmother, and Dr. Loomis. This is a massive break from the film and later sequels, which almost uniformly rely on his silence for effect.
Michael's Trial: There is a detailed account of Michael's trial following the murder of Judith, which is where his middle name, Audrey, is revealed (Judith's middle name is Margaret). This scene was later adapted into a deleted scene that was filmed for the TV broadcast of the movie.
Smith's Grove Mayhem: Loomis's commitment to Michael is justified with more specific events:
Michael is described as causing general chaos and scaring the older inmates.
He is suspected of poisoning a trustee and is involved in other "unpleasant occurrences" like a nurse "falling" down the stairs.
How He Learned to Drive: The novel provides a concrete explanation for how Michael learned to drive (a common question among film fans), detailing how he practiced in a parking lot at Smith's Grove.
Psychosexual Element: The novel gives Michael inner thoughts while he is stalking the girls, introducing a psychosexual element to his motivation. The book describes Michael feeling arousal when watching the teenagers, particularly Annie, and noting Laurie's resemblance to his dead sister, Judith.
More Gore: The comic medium allowed for more explicit descriptions of the kills. Judith's death is described in more detail, as are the other murders.
The Mask: Unlike the film, which used a Captain Kirk mask, the novel describes Michael's mask differently—as having a bluish color around the eyes and potentially a scar on the cheek, suggesting the novelization was written before the final mask design was settled upon.
Dr. Loomis's Life: The book mentions that Dr. Loomis has a wife and a teenage son who is skeptical of his father's generation—a minor detail that humanizes the frantic doctor.
Laurie's Macabre Fascination: The novel suggests Laurie Strode has a slight morbid fascination with death, a detail that adds a subtle layer to her character.
In essence, the Halloween novelization provides the "why" that John Carpenter famously and deliberately omitted from his film, creating a piece of supplementary lore that influenced the franchise for decades.
Halloween the remake and the Reboot
Halloween 1978 was subject to a remake in 2007 Halloween is a 2007 American slasher film written, directed, and produced by Rob Zombie. It is a remake of John Carpenter's 1978 horror film of the same name and the ninth installment in the Halloween franchise. The film stars Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie, Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor-Compton, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris, and William Forsythe. The "reimagining" follows Michael Myers who murdered his family as a child and becomes institutionalized at an asylum, before breaking out and stalking Laurie Strode and her friends on Halloween night.
Working from Carpenter's advice to "make [the film] his own",[5] Zombie chose to develop the film as both an origin story and a remake, allowing for more original content than simply re-filming the same scenes.
To watch a trailer for Halloween 2007 click here Halloween (2007) - Full Trailer [HD] (youtube.com)
The Halloween film franchise was effectively rebooted in 2018 directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Jeff Fradley and Danny McBride. It is the eleventh installment in the Halloween film series and a sequel to the 1978 film of the same name, while disregarding all previous sequels. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis who reprises her role as Laurie Strode. James Jude Courtney portrays Michael Myers, with Nick Castle returning to the role for a cameo. Halloween also stars Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Haluk Bilginer, and Virginia Gardner. Its plot follows a post-traumatic Laurie Strode who prepares to face Michael Myers in a final showdown on Halloween night, forty years after she survived his killing spree.
To watch a video called WTF to Halloween 2018 click here (43) WTF Happened to Halloween 2018? - YouTube
To watch a trailer for Halloween 2018 click here Halloween - Official Trailer (HD) (youtube.com)
According to this article on the Collider website Halloween 2018 is the highest grossing Horror film of all time click here What Is the Highest-Grossing Slasher Movie of All Time? (collider.com)
the above link looks at the Halloween 2018 Reboot trilogy as a whole The Underrated Brutality of Rob Zombie's Halloween Films | SYFY WIRE
Original poster for Psycho 1960
Original Poster for the Bob Clark film Black Christmas 1974
Original poster for Assault on Precinct 13 1976
4The original Halloween film poster from 1978*
5 Michael Myers as he appears in the Halloween series
6William Shatner as James T Kirk
7 Vintage ad for the 1975 Captain Kirk mask by Don Post Studios, later used as the mask of Michael Myers in Halloween (1978).
8 Newspaper advert for the Halloween TV debut
9Donald Pleasence as Doctor Samuel Loomis
10Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode
11 the Halloween Soundtrack album
12 writer Curtis Richards
14 Poster for the Halloween remake in 2007
15 Poster for the Halloween film Robot 2018
*According to this article on the slash film website film website the poster for the orignal Halloween film (1978) has a creepy hidden detail and it happened by accident.
The poster for John Carpenter's 1978 slasher "Halloween" is scary, subtle, and quite brilliant. It was painted by artist Bob Gleason, and his original poster design sold for $84,000 at an auction in 2016. As Business Insider reported in 2022, Gleason explained in a special auction letter that a hidden symbol in the poster wasn't supposed to be there. If one looks closely at the fist on the poster, one might be able to make out a face in the knuckles and veins. The second knuckle looks a little bit like a nose, while the third and fourth knuckles might be seen as lips (with the veins resembling worms crawling out of the face's orifices).
Gleason assured buyers: that wasn't his intent.
Speaking to Fangoria Magazine in 2022, Gleason explained that he came up with the "Halloween" poster design while working for the Santa Monica-based graphic design firm B.D. Fox and Friends. He noticed that the grooves that circumvent a pumpkin could be shadowed in a jagged, knife-like shape, an image he could use in conjunction with an actual knife. The poster, you may note, shows the hand of iconic "Halloween" killer Michael Myers holding a large, curved kitchen knife, melting into a repeated pattern that forms the face of a jack-o'-lantern.
Gleason's managers weren't too fond of his idea, feeling that Myers' white-faced mask should be placed front-and-center, not the knife. Shortly later, though, Gleason's managers came around and let him make the poster he wanted. (It took him three or four days.) 44 years later
When one sees the monster face, it's hard to unsee. Tony Moran, who played a 20-something Myers in Carpenter's "Halloween," even teased the attendees at a film convention about this once (via LADbible). "Do you see this hand? It's something other than a hand," he asked. "Well, I'm not going to tell you, you're going to have a look at it yourself, bro." When the attendees in question did, Moran replied, "If you see it, don't say a word. Do not say a word."
That said, it's easy to believe this detail was unintentional. Back in the 1990s, I recall hearing that the jagged pumpkin "teeth" on the "Halloween" poster, paired with the knife, spells out two capitals M's to indicate Myers' initials. This, too, was surely a coincidence. Indeed, it's likely that most "hidden details" in movie posters are merely unusual caprices of their artists.
Read More: https://www.slashfilm.com/1991228/halloween-movie-poster-hidden-monster-face-accident/
**The poster for the original Halloween film also featured in a Collider film website article called the 25 best movie posters of all time ranked landed at number 13 in their list the poster they had this to say about the poster designed by Robert Gleeson
While it could sound like a bold claim, it may well be the case that horror movies tend to have more iconic posters than any other genre of movies out there. That's not to say all horror movie posters are automatically great or even good, but there are countless beloved ones. The blunt, strong emotion-heavy nature of the horror genre just translates well to bold, memorable images placed on posters, and the wonderful straightforwardness of the original Halloween's poster, for example, demonstrates this excellently.
A slasher movie classic that helped establish John Carpenter as a great director and Jamie Lee Curtis as a star, Halloween is all about a dangerous individual breaking out of a psychiatric hospital and going on a murderous rampage during the titular holiday. The poster uses one of the most recognizable icons of Halloween - a jack-o'-lantern - and pairs it with a hand holding a knife, all against a pitch-black background. The title's Halloween, there's a carved pumpkin, and a scary-looking knife. What more do you need to know?
Thank you to wikipedia for a lot of the background notes including the Overview casting and concept notes Google images for the pictures thank you to following for the Halloween themed videos via Youtube Minty Comedic arts and Joblo Horror originals as well as the Collider and Screenrant websites for the various links to Halloween themed articles
