HALLOWEEN (1978): The Making Of John Carpenter’s Slasher Masterpiece

October 31, 2024

Introduction

Often repeated but never bettered, John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) isn’t just a classic horror film, it changed the genre. It was also the most successful independent film of its time, grossing over $70 million in its initial release. Shot on a budget of $325,000 in just twenty-five days, Carpenter filmed it in Panavision (unheard of for a horror movie), used gorgeous tracking shots, and paid homage to his favorite directors. Namely, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. Perhaps most importantly, it portrayed female characters in the slasher sub-genre as dominating, empowered, and authentic people. Something that was sorely lacking up to that point.

With beautiful and creative cinematography and a believable screenplay written by Carpenter and producer Debra Hill, Halloween remains one of the very best horror films of all time. And let’s not forget about one of the most iconic film scores (in unique 5/4 time) of all time. Paving the way for popular franchises such as Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, and countless others and turning future Oscar-winner Jaime Lee Curtis into a ‘Scream Queen,” Halloween is the gold standard of slasher movies. We celebrate John Carpenter’s legendary film, by presenting a deep-dive retrospective.

Beginnings

Born in Carthage, New York in 1945, John Carpenter took an early interest in film. The 1950s was a good decade for the young boy, absorbing the westerns of John Ford and Howard Hawks as well as the fantastical science-fiction fare like Forbidden Planet (1956) and It Came From Outer Space (1953). After studying at the USC School of Cinematic Arts in the late 1960s, Carpenter co-wrote, edited, and composed the music for The Resurrection of Broncho Billy (1970). The film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. In 1974 the aspiring director released Dark Star, his first feature film as director. Two years later he released the low-budget action-thriller Assault on Precinct 13 (1976).

Assault on Precinct 13 got the attention of directors such as George Romero at various film festivals like Cannes, London, Milan, and Edinburgh. With Romero getting some critical attention, independent film producer Irwin Yablans and money man Moustapha Akkad approached Carpenter about directing a slasher film about a faceless killer that stalks babysitters. Yablans saw the talent that Carpenter had. He was also impressed by the ability he had to make a low-budget film look professional and of high quality. Producer and writer Debra Hill spoke to Fangoria Magazine about the concept and genesis of Halloween:

“The idea was that you couldn’t kill evil, and that was how we came about the story. We went back to the old idea of Samhain, that Halloween was the night where all the souls are let out to wreak havoc on the living, and then came up with the story about the most evil kid who ever lived. And when John came up with this fable of a town with a dark secret of someone who once lived there, and now that evil has come back, that’s what made Halloween work”

Pre-Production

Yablans and Akkad wanted to make something that would be a game-changer much like The Exorcist (1973). They also wanted to make money. Carpenter agreed to take on the project on the condition that he be given full creative control. Yablans and Akkad agreed and put up the $300,000 Carpenter needed to bring his vision to life. For writing, directing, and composing Carpenter was paid $10,000. He was also given a percentage of the film’s future profits in perpetuity, so it turned out OK for him. Carpenter and Debra Hill got to work on a script that would be called “The Babysitter Murders.”

Paying homage to his childhood and favorite directors, Halloween is peppered with references. Taking place in Illinois, the fictional town of Haddonfield is based on Haddonfield, New Jersey, where Hill grew up. Also, most of the street names in the film were based on streets in Carpenter’s hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky. The character of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) was named after Caepenter’s first girlfriend. Michael Myers was named after the European distributor of Assault on Precinct 13. As a hat tip to Hitchcock, Tommy Doyle is named after Detective Thomas J. Doyle from Rear Window

While there has been some debate as to whether the film was going to be called ‘The Babysitter Murders,’ there was no dispute that Carpenter had suggested setting the film on Halloween night. Except for a few obscure examples, it would be the very first Halloween-themed horror/slasher film. While Carpenter wrote the Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) scenes, Debra Hill focused on the dialogue between the three female high school-aged leads. The result is back-and-forth banter between high-school girls that is believable and authentic. This elevates Halloween to a level above standard slasher films.

Casting

The biggest name in Halloween is legendary character actor Donald Pleasance. Born in 1919, he was a known veteran of numerous legendary films. These included The Great Escape (1963), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Fantastic Voyage (1966), and You Only Live Twice (1967), to name a few. Pleasance wasn’t the first choice to play Loomis, however. That honor went to Peter Cushing who was hot off portraying Moff Tarkin in Star Wars (1977). Cushing said no for financial reasons, as did Christopher Lee. Lee later said it was the biggest mistake of his career. Pleasance was paid $20,000.

Jaime Lee Curtis wasn’t the first choice to portray Laurie Strode. The nineteen-year-old daughter of screen legends Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh had never been in a film before. Carpenter’s first choice was Anne Lockhart, daughter of stage and screen legend June Lockhart. However, Anne had prior commitments and couldn’t do it. Carpenter realized casting the daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh would be good publicity for his film. Jamie Lee was offered the role. The Oscar-winning actress reflected to how it all began to Vulture in 2022:

“I got fired from a TV show and I thought my career was over…I thought I was gonna have to go back to college. Chuck Binder said that they were casting a low-budget horror film in Hollywood…They sent over a scene, and I went and auditioned to play Laurie Strode. There are three parts for young girls: There’s a cheerleader — duh! I’m a total cheerleader. There’s a smart-aleck — I mean, super-duh! And then there’s the quiet, repressed virgin intellectual. Not duh! But John and Deborah somehow saw something, and they cast me as Laurie Strode. And my life has never, ever ceased to amaze me since that moment”

The part of Lynda was written for P.J. Soles as Carpenter had recently seen her in Carrie (1976). At the time, Soles was dating future star Dennis Quaid. Quaid was charismatic and both Hill and Carpenter wanted him to play Lynda’s boyfriend, Bob. Unfortunately, Quaid was busy and John Michael Graham was cast. Nancy Kyes, who had also appeared in Assault on Precinct 13, was cast as Laurie’s friend, Annie. Michael Myers/The Shape was played by Nick Castle, a friend of Carpenter’s at USC.

Filming

Carpenter was insistent that his slasher film looked different from all the rest. As a result, he spent $70,000 of the budget on Panavision equipment. Specifically, the Panaglide which was cutting-edge equipment in 1977. Even though this was a low-budget film, Carpenter wanted it to LOOK high-budget. This also made up for the lack of talent, costumes, and location. Carpenter also used the newly invented Steadicam to great effect. Stanley Kubrick would also effectively use it a couple of years later in his horror classic, The Shining (1980).

Because of the low budget, the crew needed to get creative. Wardrobe and props were put together on the fly from items lying around the set. Carpenter also needed a production designer to make cheap props look great. He turned to USC classmate Tommy Lee Wallace. Wallace also had to come up with a cheap and scary mask to be worn by Michael Myers. A clown mask was considered, then rejected. Wallace went to a magic store on Hollywood Boulevard and found a Captain Kirk mask. With the eye holes widened, the eyebrows shaved off, and the mask spray-painted a bluish-white, everyone knew that they had struck gold.

In addition to creating the Michael Myers mask for two dollars and a can of spray paint, most of the cast wore their clothes to save on production costs. Jaime Lee Curtis had purchased her entire wardrobe at JCPenney for around a hundred dollars. The film was shot in May 1978 in twenty-one days. With Pasadena, California standing in for Illinois, palm trees had to be hidden and artificial leaves were spray-painted brown, strewn all over the streets, and reused to save money. This created the Illusion of Illinois in October.

The Music

John Carpenter’s father was a music teacher. He taught John at an early age how to play the unique 5/4 time on a set of bongos. That 5/4 rhythm would become the main theme of Carpenter’s music output throughout his illustrious career. Also, like John Williams’ theme from Jaws (1975), the Halloween score is simple and effective. Also, like Jaws, once you’ve heard it, it’s stuck in your head forever. Carpenter had decided to score the film himself after a test screening audiences felt the film wasn’t scary enough. While the film credits the Bowling Green Philharmonic Orchestra as performing the soundtrack (made up by Carpenter), it was Carpenter in his home, creating the now iconic score in three days. Carpenter spoke to Dazed in 2018 about how important rhythm was to him as a youngster:

“I can’t recall exactly when I first discovered rhythm was so important, but that was a big one…That’s a vivid memory for me…I remember exactly where I was. I remember the pair of bongos. I remember my father suggesting the 5/4 timing. It was such a unique deal. I hadn’t thought about it before, really. Later on, I worked with other time signatures in scores, but then, I was just 13 and it blew my mind”

The Suspense

While it was Carpenter’s direction, music, and screenplay that made Halloween a success, it was also the building of suspense that played a huge part in the film becoming what it became. It’s an hour into the film before anyone is actually killed. In that first hour, Carpenter does what most slasher film directors didn’t do at the time, invest in the characters and build suspense. We learn about Laurie Strode, Dr. Loomis, and Laurie’s high school friends. The viewer becomes invested in them. As a result, when Carpenter starts killing them off an hour in, it’s brutal on the audience, who has come to care about these people.

Since Halloween was shot out of sequence, Carpenter had to work with his cast to build the proper suspense (when needed) and then scale it back (when needed) so that it all seemed sequential. Because this was Jamie Lee Curtis’s first film, she was a bit unsure of how to react from scene to scene. Subsequently, Carpenter created a ‘fear meter’ for Jamie Lee in which she could base her motivations and reactions. The director would state that ‘this scene is a six’ or ‘this scene is a nine.’ Jamie Lee would base her various screams and reaction shots on Carpenter’s meter readings.

Release and Legacy

Halloween was unleashed on October 24, 1978, in Kansas City, Missouri. For Carpenter, success came slowly. The film opened in a limited number of theaters and reviews were mixed. Legendary New York Times critic Pauline Kael trashed the film. Still, word of mouth began to spread and when New York City and Philadelphia screened it, the lines began to form. It went on to gross $47 million in the US and $23 million overseas, totaling $70 million. On a budget of $325,000, it became one of the most successful independent films of all time.

TV rights were eventually sold for $4 million in 1980. It would appear on television in October 1981. To accommodate a two-hour time slot, additional scenes were filmed by Carpenter during the production of Halloween II (1982). At the end of the network version, when Loomis shoots Myers, we only hear the shots, seen from outside the house. In the theatrical version, you see the shooting and Michael tumbling out the window. The network also replaced twelve minutes of footage with scenes that were less bloody.

Since its release, Halloween has become a critical darling and was widely considered one of the best films of the year. It opened the floodgates on the slasher genre and paved the way for film franchises like Scream, Candyman, Nightmare on Elm Street, and many others. The ‘final girl’ theme, used in so many horror films, started with Halloween. A musical cue accompanying the killer on screen? That also started with Halloween. Carpenter’s masterpiece ushered in a ‘new wave’ of slasher films. Over forty-five years later it remains essential viewing.

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