10 Secrets From The Set Of John Carpenter's Halloween 1978
Michael Myers wasn't the only thing hiding in Haddonfield...
Halloween remains one of the most successful, long-running horror franchises in Hollywood. Beginning in 1978, Michael Myers has managed to scare the pants off of movie-goers for more than forty years, with sequels and remakes galore.
It's also one of the most documented films in history, with almost every moment of production covered in various interviews. In fact, there's so much out there, lists of information from behind the scenes could be as long as the franchise itself, and would still only scratch the surface of the Myers/Strode family feud.
There are now thirteen films in the series - along with several others that vanished into production hell - but the OG movie has a special place in the hearts of countless horror fans. There are simply so many iconic and disturbing scenes that Halloween 1978 will forever be a truly unforgettable experience.
Listed here are some of the tidbits that are often overlooked when discussing the making of the film, despite the many, many, MANY discussions this film inspires!
10. The Setting Doesn't Make Sense
Halloween is of course at the end of October, when the world is just touching on Winter. The film, however, was shot in the spring of 1978, with an incredibly short 20 day shooting schedule. Because of this, the set they worked on caused issues from the beginning.
The autumnal setting needed for the film had to be created artificially (more on that later!). But it also led to a fairly large discrepancy in the film.
In many scenes, the ground is strewn with browned leaves hand painted by production designer Tommy Lee-Wallace, yet the trees and bushes surrounding them are green, in more or less full bloom. There are, for the eagle-eyed, palm trees that appear as well, as the shoot occurred in California, not Illinois.
Carpenter wanted to do something to fix this issue, but the budget wouldn't allow it, so Halloween is a film that seems to be timeless in its setting - at least in so far as the greenery is involved.