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yestolerancepro · 7 months ago

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Happy Halloween from the Tolerance project-Halloween Special The Michael Myers Saga

Part 1 Halloween 1978

Introduction

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 2 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 will deal with the various spin offs and reboots

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)

Concept.

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."

Casting

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.

To watch 2 tribute's to Donald Pleasance click here (18) a Donald Pleasence tribute - YouTube and here (18) Halloween 6 Cast & Crew Tribute to Donald Pleasance - YouTube

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