Michael’s mask is actually a William Shatner Star Trek mask. They altered it by whitening the mask, removed some hair and made the eye holes bigger. Which gives it that creepy look.
The suburbs were seen as the safe alternative to living in the city. Civilised, middle-class, decent income, family friendly, low crime, and everyone knew the people in the neighbourhood. This movie was about shattering the illusion of safety. At the time it shocked people.
Yeah, there was a time in small town America where people felt so safe that they didn't even bother to lock their doors. And before this movie, most horror films took place in distant, remote lands that were far removed from the perceived safety of society. But the movie's message is that evil or chaos can happen anywhere, even in your own back yard. Nowhere is safe.
@@lainwakura They show the film to their patrons first. Anyway, the suburbs in the US are still 99% safer than the major cities but there are still some crimes and bad things going on. I've spent 50-50 of my life in both and you don't go out alone ever at night in a city, especially not slightly tipsy. Whereas in a small town, almost everyone is inside at night.
@@joelwillems4081 You're quite right that suburbia has less murder ... but there's another means of dying prematurely that is far more common. Namely, car accidents on undivided highways. As a result, unnatural death (per capita) is far more common in the "less violent" countryside. If self-driving cars are achievable, that has the potential of disadvantaging murderous cities (on a much less dramatic scale of risk).
@@ForEternia “The Shape” of Evil. Micheals original schtick early on was he was the embodiment of evil itself. That’s why he can’t die, why he’s always lurking and why the movie ends the way it does. It’s meant to show that evil is a constant and always lurking. I mean Loomis literally says “This isn’t a man” as well as “The Evil is gone” when Micheal escapes. Obviously this changed later on but Halloween 1 was always supposed to be a single film as the Trilogy was meant to be 3 different films that took place on Halloween. This is also the reason H3 is completely different. Micheal just became so iconic the series ended up revolving around him.
Pretty sure that he might have been credited as Shape in a couple others but I'd have to watch them to check. Feel like one of them mentioned Thorn in the credits too but that might have been another character.
@@okeefe757you could perhaps make an argument that Scream spoils the beginning of Halloween since it tells you the killer is Michael, whom Judith mentions, but who doesn’t already know that?
@shasiiishi4281sort of. There’s the soundtrack playing and a couple scenes but most of what the kids watching Halloween say isn’t even what happens. “The blood is sooo red.” There’s no blood in that scene.
@shasiiishi4281 I get what you mean but a 3 second clip that implies somebody got stabbed in a slasher movie isn’t much of a spoiler. Especially when they start talking and it’s all wrong. Certainly less of a spoiler than the Mrs. Voorhees reveal.
One of the people hired to help spread leaves on the roads to make the season look like Autumn (the film was shot in California), was an upcoming actor named Robert Englund aka Freddy Krueger 😃
really?ive never head that before but i have heard of jamie herself and everyone involved helping out picking up leaves putting leaves on the ground helping with equiment they were the crew!
The novelization of the book explained that Michael would watch Loomis drive whenever he was being brought back and forth from court appearances, appointments and back to the sanitarium. I mean, he is a very good (and safe) driver. He waited for an opening to turn on the main street when Loomis meets the sheriff 😂
You have to realize that a lot of the horror tropes you are referring to actually started with this movie. People weren't used to that yet. The "he's getting back up" thing wasn't really common before this. Also, besides having the daughter of Psycho's Janet Leigh star in this, there is also another Psycho reference. The name of the doctor is Loomis, which was the name of the boyfriend in Psycho.. If you want another fun John Carpenter film, check out "They Live."
As a super old dude, I distinctly remember seeing this in theaters when it first came out and I had never been so scared at a movie in my life. The suspense was almost unbearable and I thought I was going to have to leave. It was another level of horror film from what I'd seen before (I had skipped The Texas Chainsaw Massacre a few years earlier because it sounded too scary). When Michael was gone at the end after falling off the balcony, it was such a surprise and the first time I can remember seeing a film set up a sequel like that. This was the real start of the "slasher film" era, and the realistic, gross effects didn't start until a few years later with the first Friday the 13th film, with the exception of Dawn of the Dead which wasn't as popular and mainstream, and the goriness in that one was SO much worse than anything we'd seen yet. Great reaction, as always.
I didn’t see this, but I did see Halloween II in theaters when I was 12 & it scared the hell outta me. I spent that entire night awake in my bedroom, staring at the closet door, waiting for Michael to come waltzing out if it with a big fuckin’ knife🤣
I was just a kid back in 78 and my parents didn`t allow me to see it because of its plot. But i recall how everybody talked about this film as one of the scariest at that time along with The Exorcist. When my father bought our first set of Betamax we rented that film around 1980. I was still a boy and my parents were right. I couldn`t sleep, it was too scary.
@@blakemeads9225 I think Texas Chainsaw Massacre was considered an exploitation film and didn`t reach a wide audience. Nobody talked about that film when i was a kid in the70's. After Halloween, a lot of these "weird killer" films started to have a re-release.
"It's Halloween, everyone's entitled to one good scare." It was Jamie Lee Curtis' first film! They didn't plan on making a second one, the breathing at the end was to symbolize that evil never dies. However, it was such a big success that people wanted another. So, in 1981 we have the second one which was a direct continuation of the first one. Sidenote: Her mother Janet Leigh was Marion Crane in "Psycho" (1960). Also, what's great about the first "Halloween" is that Michael Myers is kept in the shadows on purpose to enhance the suspense. Always on the edge of the shot.. making you think he's somewhere close.
If you're wondering why Annie didn't change her clothing after spilling butter on her clothes, remember that she's babysitting Lindsey Wallace at the Wallace house, she's not at her own house. Annie didn't bring a change of clothes because she wasn't expecting to spill popcorn butter on herself.
You actually got the ending correct. According to John Carpenter, the whole idea of the end shot , with the breathing and the review shots of where we'd been throughout the film, is that Michael is just evil and he's everywhere.
They seem to miss a lot of what's in front of them. Like Annie changing and it's NOT her house, it's Lindsey's house. Like, I love them and their reactions but, God, it's so frustrating.
@@fynnthefox9078 eh it happens sometimes, and when you watch hundreds of movies and post them all online, youll have a record of all the times it happens. Usually they seem to catch onto other things pretty quickly though so im not too bothered
You really need to watch part 2 soon... it continues on the same night and explains a lot more about who he is and why he chose Laurie. Fun fact: The mask they used for Michael Meyers was a cheap William Shatner Star Trek mask.
The sequel was forced onto Carpenter. There was never supposed to be a reason. But he was kinda pushed into making that, so he drunkenly wrote the sequel. He hates the sequel.
Part 2 is easily my favorite in the series. The setting is scarier and Dick Warlock makes Michael so much scarier. He really nails the whole "He's not human, he's a force of nature" thing.
Annie wasn't at her house, she was babysitting at the parents house. She couldn't put her pants back on until it finished going through the laundry. William Shatner starred in The Devil's Rain. A mold was made of his face for the movie to be used for make-up effects. It ended up being re-purposed to produce Captain Kirk masks. That's why it has a blank look to it. One of John Carpenter's guys bought a few different masks from a store, and that was the one that they chose to use. There are currently 13 movies, but they don't have continuity; even the ones with Jamie Lee Curtis. The series has been rebooted 3 times. 4, if you include Halloween 3 which has nothing to do with Michael Myers.
I’ve grown to really love the more subtle moments of this film. Like the girls dialogue as their walking home from school, which was primarily written by producer Debra Hill. She and John Carpenter were an item back then. The dialogue is kind of cheesy, but has and authenticity about it. I was 5 when this came out in 78’ and have had baby sitters like Laurie who’s studious and better with kids, and I’ve had baby sitters like Annie that was more interested in getting her boyfriend over there:) Love Donald Pleasance as gun toting shrink Doctor Sam Loomis, and I love the filming locations which were primarily shot in South Pasadena , California in the spring of 78, trying make it look like a small Illinois town on Halloween by importing leaves, and blocking out as many palm trees as possible:)
Pretty much all slasher horror movies over the past nearly 50 years owe a debt to this one. All the slasher tropes and clichés CAME from this movie. That's why not many young people today find it all that scary - because it was the first to do a lot of this, so many horror movies since have aped it. I still love the idea behind it though. It's not a monster, or an alien, or a mythical being, it's just a guy. A regular guy staring at you, popping up everywhere, coming to get you. The simplicity is its brilliance.
You haven't seen Black Christmas, have you? It's my #1 all time favorite horror film..... I'm not saying, you're factually wrong. Halloween had a huge impact on the genre FOR SURE. Just as a fan of Black Christmas, which came before, I am a little pissed.... 🤭🤷♂️
@@chanceneck8072 yeah I remember learning Black Christmas was the first horror to do the killers pov filming. It definitely deserves some of the credit for the stalker genre
@@thajuice100ify It's SOOO good... 🤤 Not only the pov stuff. The atmosphere, the cinematography, it's gorgeous. It has a few scenes, I can only describe as "iconic", early Margot Kidder even, I love her role in it. And it also has arguably one of the scariest, most demented slasher killers of all time. Plus it even tackles some deep themes and character drama with our main lead, I just don't wanna go into details, in case people haven't seen that film yet. Just make damn sure, you watch the 1974 original movie!!! 👍
Black Christmas was the Prototype Slasher movie. With the group of archetype girls getting picked off one by one. The POV of the Killer. What John Carpenter did with Halloween was refine it so that every scene built the suspense and terror. He even wrote most of the music including the main theme.
I love the shot of Loomis with Michael driving past him in the backgroud. People still argue about how he'd know how to drive a car. We all probably had a grasp of the very basics at a young age. What's far more impressive is that he comes to a complete stop and looks both ways before turning. He's got better traffic etiquette than a whole lot of people.
I was 11 years old when this film came out theatrically and I was too young to see it, the commercials on TV alone were enough to terrify me. This movie deserves all of the credit it receives. John Carpenter is a master filmmaker and I hope the two of you continue your journey in his filmography.
i was around 11 when i saw it, not in the theater but on an early home cable service called WHT, my upstairs neighbors had it and we all went up to watch it, i scared the hell out of me and i loved it.
Now that I know that George has chops in cinematography, you should check out the John Carpenter movies „The Fog“ and „Escape from New York“, for which DP Dean Cundey also did excellent work. One of the reasons they managed to produce Halloween so cheaply was the fact that Cundey had a van full of camera equipment.
Someone had to have mentioned this already, but I'm going to mention it too. When it comes to the mask, the grabbed a Captain Kirk (William Shatner) mask at the last minute and spray painted it white.
There are different timelines so take that into account when watching the others. And if you didn't notice, Michael likes to get creative with his kills and how he sets up the bodies lol
5:30 You have no idea! Because they were on a tight budget and they were filming in southern California, they needed to make the neighborhood look like an Illinois suburb in autumn. They needed fallen leaves all around that looked like fall leaves. So they got a bunch of leaves and painted them fall colors until they had a couple bags. Then they'd spread them around before a scene. But then...after a scene, cast and crew would have to scramble around and collect all the leaves back up so they could reuse them in a different place. Couldn't really do anything about the palm trees though you see once in a while in the background. 😅
Carpenter originally wanted Halloween to be the beginning of an anthology style franchise with different villians/monsters/antagonists/ in each movie. The Michael Myers character was so good and terrifying that it immediately got a direct sequel with Halloween 2 taking place right after the end of the first film. Halloween 3 tried to do the anthology thing and has nothing to do with the Michael Myers character but it is the only one that does so. After 3 it is officially the Michael Myers franchise.
You two should totally watch at least some more of this franchise! I recommend at least Halloween 2 (1981), Halloween H20 (1998), and Halloween (2018).
The one set of clothes comment from Simone was really intuitive because not only were some of the clothes owned by the cast but they amended the script to make it take place on a single night to reduce the wardrobe budget.
This movie was made (and set in) 1978. Stalking (though that term was not used at the time) didn't become a criminal offense in the US or Canada until the early 90's. So there really wasn't much the police could do about "I keep seeing this creepy dude around town.": Edit: Carpenter didn't direct, but did co-produce and co-write the script, for Halloween 2. It is a very direct sequel, starting exactly where the first ends. Halloween 3: Season of the Witch is a truly odd film that is unrelated to the first two outside the name. Carpenter is a producer on the film and has said that he wanted the franchise to be an anthology instead of just a bunch of direct sequels. It did poorly both critically and commercially, but has a strong cult following and is worth a watch just for its sheer weirdness. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers went back (obviously from the title) to the original formula and all the subsequent sequels and remakes and sequels of remakes have stuck with the plan. I wouldn't particularly recommend any of them
This movie ranked at #14 in the 100 scariest movie moments, excellent thumbnail of Simone, so frightening and especially George in the dark. Cool reaction as always Simone & George, you both take care and have a great weekend
Another great John Carpenter film, and one of my personal favorites, is The Fog (1980). It has both Jamie Lee and Nancy Kyes (Annie), as well as Jamie Lee's mother Janet Leigh of Psycho fame. It's a ghost story and very atmospheric, would love to see you react to it some time!
Halloween has several continuities. Halloween, Halloween 2, Halloween 4, 5, 6 (Curse of Michael Myers) Halloween, Halloween 2, Halloween H20, Halloween Resurrection Halloween, Halloween 2018, Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends Then there's Rob Zombie's 2 movies (Halloween [2007], Halloween 2 [2009]) And Halloween III is a stand alone because it was envisioned at one point as an anthology series, but fan backlash was so great they went back to the Michael Myers formula. Hope this has been helpful!
Fun watching you watching this. Simone was asking what the first jump scare was. It's hard to peg that kind of thing because different stuff scares different people but I think you can trace it back to Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur with the original "Cat People" (1942)---Tourneur also directed "Curse of the Demon", which had two or three. I think it was Wes Craven, in the 70s, who turned it into a real trope......or a cliche, depending on whether you happen to like them.
16:32 A lot of reactors mention this, but I'm pretty sure she got melted butter or oil on herself, from making popcorn; I'd wanna get that off asap too~
I’m sure somebody has already said it but the michale myers mask is just a William shatner mask with the eye holes cut out larger and spray painted white. The film was an Independent film on a budget and managed to become one of the most recognized franchises of all time
I grew up about a mile from where it was filmed. The house they used for Michael Myers house is still there, and very creepy. But the city of South Pasadena decided to build a replica at the corner of the main street because of all the tourists who came by to take pictures. Also, my brother was dating the girl who lived in that house, and met J.L.C.
I'm so thrilled, you've got to be the first reactors to this movie that I've seen that actually understand the version of The Thing the kids are watching was the old 1950's B-movie one, not carpenters version, which he made a few years AFTER Halloween. Also you asked about the mask. It was a William Shatner (Star Trek) mask they bought in a store and painted it up to look more ghoulish.
Another home invasion movie that will have you jump out of your seat is Wait Until Dark. A classic thriller with Audrey Hepburn. Stephen King said it was the scariest movie of all time. Just turn off the lights during the final 10 minutes. Makes it easier to see the screen
The character of Tommy Doyle is named after Detective Thomas Doyle from Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. Carpenter gave Tommy that name as a reference to the Hitchcock film, given that Tommy is always looking out his window at the house across the street, suspecting that something sinister is going on, similar to James Stewart's character in Rear Window.
I can remember being 8ish and watching this on TV for the first time. USA Network did a back to back of Halloween and Halloween 2. The first thing I think about that ultimately scared the living crap out of me as a kid was seeing the Nurse and Loomis pull up to Smith's Grove and seeing all the mental patients just wandering around in the pouring rain. That paired with Carpenter's score made me extremely uncomfortable and creeped out, and that was only the beginning.
"I can just imagine a PA behind the camera dropping leaves." Better than that. They filmed during the summer, so the leaves are all cut from construction paper. And the 'don't buy the murder house' trope started with 'The Amityville Horror'.
That's funny you mentioned Nobody buying murder houses... because they literally just sold the original Michael Myers house for 1.68 million dollars lmao.
the mask for Mike Myers is a captain Kirk mask spray painted white. so yes, they DID just buy it from the store. just a minor modification, et voila! a new horror legend is born!
George's comment about the PA dropping leaves is closer than he knows. Shooting this in California Summer, they needed several bags of leaves o give it the midwest fall feel. To save on cost they would rake up the leaves after each sceen to reuse them.
Couple fun facts... Micheal Meyers mask ( though I don't see the similarities) is supposed to be a William Shatter mask and if you're familiar with Mark Calloways the Undertaker, Mark takes his characters inspiration from Michael Myers.
Shave off the eyebrows, give the mask a bit of a haircut, tussle the hair, widen the eyeholes... That and it was like a dollar forty nine, so there's a good chance the appearance isn't the most accurate.
According to Google, the first jumpscare was in the 1942 film Cat People. I haven't seen the film but I did see a clip of it so I think it may have been a scene where a woman is walking down a dark, quiet street and keeps looking behind her because she feels like she's being followed, gets nervous and quickens her pace, and suddenly a bus pulls up loudly in front of her.
I love that we get to see grown up Michael without the mask briefly in this moviie, and that Carpenter chose to make him an attractive young, blonde haired, blue eyed, all American looking guy. The dichotomy of the attractive face hiding the monster underneath makes the character more grounded and therefore more threatening IMO.
Yes, that was just for that ending scene, Nick Castle played " The Shape' entire film ( even jumping on Loomis's car when going to Psych ward) ..Carpenter told old pal Nick: He wasnt 'angelic ' looking for unmasking scene& another actor did it 😁🎃🎃
To think, all it took was a William Shatner mask to have people shatting their pants when this came out in 1978. God bless John Carpenter. Hope you guys react to They Live or Escape from New York sometime soon. His whole ‘80s career is worth watching, but those are his other great films from that era besides The Thing.
You're very wrong if you think it was the mask that scared people back then - it was the entire concept and it could have worked just as well without any mask. By your erroneous comment I assume you weren't around by the time this movie was released. Oh well.
My favorite thing about this movie that you guys missed is in the credits. "Stunt: James Winburn" One stunt for the whole film. For some reason, it struck us as hilarious and laughed for about a week.
This is a great slasher film, definitelyonf of my all-time favorite horror movies. The issue about this is that it has become a long-running franchise that consistently retcons itself to make more movies to make more money. There's like three movies in this franchise that just have the title as just Halloween!
"Paranormal Activity", "The Blair Witch Project" and this movie are among the most profitable films ever made because their budgets were so low. It pays to invest in horror, I guess. I first saw this in high school, by then it was at least ten years old and many other slashers had followed it. But I could see why it was so popular...it's very simple, but done very well. I love the last scene where Michael gets blasted off the second floor, but then Loomis looks down again...and he's just gone. And then the theme music comes back. Simple and perfect.
Just a note, "Halloween III: Season Of The Witch" (1983) does not involve Michael Myers. When the series began, they intended it to be an anthology series. But Michael Myers became an iconic villain, so after the third film didn't have him and underperformed, they made it a slasher series about Michael Myers. For the record, I really like "Halloween III", and I recommend y'all watch it next year for Halloween.
Simone: have we reacted any John carpenter films on the channel before? George: the Thing. Simone: oh yeah duh Me: and Big Trouble In Little China Another John carpenter’s cult classic that I want you to react is “Escape From New York” it’s an awesome movie
There are a couple before this, like Peeping Tom and Black Christmas that also helped build the "rules" and tropes. This is one of the original creators of said rules. It inspired so much. Number 2 and H20 are good as well. The new ones are worth watching, especially the 1st one. Jamie Lee and Donald are fantastic. The shape, Michael, is a true terror.
Come to think of it, I even liked the 3rd one. Even though it didn't have Michael in it. I haven't seen parts 5 or 6 yet. But I think the only Halloween movie I have seen, but really disliked was Halloween: Resurrection.... 😅 But all the others I've seen have at least SOMEthing good or interesting in them. (for the record, I have NOT seen the Rob Zombie ones either)...
The actor playing Loomis is named Donald Pleasence. One of the roles he’s famous for is that of Blofeld in the James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice”. Doctor Evil in the Austin Powers movies was directly inspired by his turn at the character Blofeld and was of course played by…….Michael Myers!
Christopher Lee turned down role of Dr.Loomis( biggest mistake of his " Career" he called it)- Pleasence told Carpenter he took role because his daughter loved Carpenter's 'Asssult on Precinct 13"🎃🎃🎃
The reason why Michael Meyers is the most iconic and terrifying slasher villain isn't just because he's an immensely powerful supernatural evil, it's also because his mask is Captain Kirk (William Shatner) with a coat of white paint over it. I love William Shatner, but as anyone who's spent any significant time with him can tell you, he's terrifying.
8:32 - He took the victim's jumpsuit. 19:48 - She was babysitting, so she only had the clothes she was wearing. 24:23 - They made The Shape's mask from a Captain Kirk mask. 29:29 - The inspiration for the Undertaker. Fun watch!
I'm sure a few people have explained this, but there are multiple canons within the Halloween franchise. Canon 1: Halloween (1978) > Halloween II (1981) > Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) > Halloween 5: Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) > Halloween: Curse of Michael Myers (1995) Canon 2: Halloween (1978) > Halloween II (1981) > H20: Twenty Years Later (1998) > Halloween: Resurrection (2002) Canon 3: Halloween (2007) > Halloween II (2009) Canon 4: Halloween (1978) > Halloween (2018) > Halloween Kills (2021) > Halloween Ends (2022) Also, I suppose Halloween III: Season of the Witch by itself could be Canon 5. It is a stand-alone movie unrelated to any of the other Halloween movies. When Carpenter was first asked to make a sequel to Halloween, his pitch was for a "Twilight Zone"-style ongoing series where every movie takes place on Halloween but has a new and unrelated plot. They let him try it with Halloween III, after he was convinced to do a direct sequel with Halloween II, but it was unsuccessful at the time, and so they returned to Michael Myers with Halloween 4. In my opinion, all of the sequels are kind of inessential compared to the original, but most of them are at least entertaining. I really enjoy Halloween II (1981), Halloween 4, and Halloween II (2009), and I like the legendary producer's cut of Halloween 6, most of Halloween (2007), Halloween Kills, and most of Halloween Ends. H20 and Halloween (2018) are OK. The worst entries are Halloween 5, the theatrical cut of Halloween 6, and Halloween: Resurrection, which could be skipped entirely.
DON'T WATCH PART *THREE!* Unless you want the Silver Shamrock song to live in your head, rent free, forever... but especially every October for a whole month.
So glad you asked, Simone: One of the very first jump scares in film history was in a movie called Cat People, from 1942. They built up some tension, and then, out of nowhere (via clever editing)... the blast of air brakes as a bus appeared from off-screen. Because of that movie, for many years, the film industry used the term "a bus" or "The Lewton Bus" to refer to a "jump scare." The latter version of the term was because Lewton was a producer on Cat People, and he made sure to include similar moments in the films he did afterward. Since it's tangential to this movie: The Thing from Another World (1951) features one of the earliest full-body burn stunts. The amount of fire and the length of the scene is... really something: Talk about guts. Halloween (1978)... So simple, so clean, so understated, so good. It's not bloody, it's not gory, it's just atmospheric, spooky, fun. Minus the murder and being in the wrong part of the U.S., it feels much like the autumns of the 80s. I can guarantee you, if this movie took place a few years later, and there was a full-grown adult male, roaming around a suburb, alone, wearing a mask in the middle of the day, even on Halloween, audiences would be wondering why no one was calling the police. By the time 1981 rolled around, Adam Walsh had been kidnapped and murdered (I'll leave the sad details to Wikipedia) and parents all over the country had become VERY paranoid about kidnappers. Generation X fit into a unique place in U.S. history, where children had the free time and means to go wander, while it was also considered safe enough to give them the freedom to do so. With the threat of kidnapping looming large (not to mention the growing drug epidemic), the brief era of "free range children," who left home on their bikes in the afternoon and came back in time for dinner, were very much numbered.
Trivia: One of Laurie’s friends lives in the same house as used in Mama’s Family, the 1980s sitcom. You barely see the corner of the house as she walks home across the lawn. But it’s the same house on the same street. You can tell from surrounding houses. Even the shrubs Michael hides behind are still there in the 1980s.
Jamie Lee was in Halloween 1,2, H20 (20 years later), Resurrection, Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends - the rest were other "final girls". In a commentary, they said the breathing at the ends was indeed supposed to make the audience think that Michael was "everywhere" and could appear at any time.
24:22 "Did they _make_ that Halloween mask _for_ this movie, or was that like- Is it a _monster_ from something?" It is, in fact, a mask of that famous Canadian, William Shatner, that has been _painted._
In Cat People (1942), which featured the Lewton Bus technique, considered the first jump scare. Though not intended as a scare, the film Citizen Kane (1941) included an abrupt scene transition of a shrieking cockatoo.
The leaves were all made, scattered around for a scene, gathered up and moved to the next scene. John Carpenter made use of a rhythm he practiced on the bongos, and set that to a piano tune. Friday the 13th (1980) took the framing of Halloween and changed the setting and ending twist.
A lot of people today don't realize how groundbreaking Halloween was when it came out. It was unlike anything that came before with its unique (at the time) premise and how it went about its scares by building dread and tension as opposed to the jump scares and crazy gore that are prevalent in today's horror cinema.
To be fair, among all the Halloween movies there are several timelines/continuities, including a remake: Halloween (1978) - the original Halloween II (1981) - takes place the later the same night Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1983) - has nothing to do with Michael Myers, totally unrelated to all the other films Halloween IV (1988), V (1989) and VI (1995) - ignores III, follow up to the first 2 Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) and Halloween: Resurrection (2002) - Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the franchise, new timeline where only Halloween I and II happened Halloween (2007) - remake of the original by Rob Zombie Halloween II (2009) - sequel to the remake Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022) - another new timeline where only the events of Halloween (1978) happened So that’s five separate timelines : I, II, IV, V, VI III I, II, H20, Ressurection Remake, Remake sequel I, 2018, Kills, Ends
No, the neighborhood doesn't suck, it was Halloween night; the neighbors didn't open the door for Jamie Lee's character because they thought it was just another prank.
If you guys would like a modern take on the slasher film, I highly suggest "It Follows". It really capitalizes on what Halloween started, with the killer in plain sight throughout the film, and plays with the 'sex kills' trope in an interesting way.
So while there are 13 Halloween movies, they’re not all in the same universe (or order); there’s technically 5 different timelines in the Halloween universe. Let me break it down: The Loomis Timeline: Halloween (1978) leads to Halloween II (1981), and introduced the idea that Laurie and Michael are siblings and ends Jamie Lee Curtis’s character. Then it skips over Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Meyers (1988) which follows Michael’s niece, Jamie. This also leads into Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Meyers (1989). This ends with Halloween: The Curse of Michael Meyers (1995). Season of the Witch Timeline: This timeline consists of just Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982) that doesn’t include Michael Meyers. It’s a horror anthology movie that takes place on Halloween that John Carpenter wanted to do after the first film. The Laurie Strode Timeline: This begins with Halloween 1 & 2 but then disregards all the films I’ve mentioned and goes directly into Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later (1998) which picks up on Laurie Strode and then ends with Halloween: Resurrection (2002). This features the infamous Busta Rhymes vs. Michael fight. Rob Zombie timeline: This is essentially a remake of the first Halloween by Rob Zombie that takes place in Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009). No Jamie Lee Curtis but it’s different actors playing the same roles and the same story (for the most part). The 2018 Reinvention: This is the recent trilogy that discards every single movie and idea I’ve mentioned except for the original Halloween. This trilogy between 2018-2022 is meant to follow Jamie Lee Curtis 40 years later and is meant as a reckoning with Michael Meyers. This is meant to be a showdown between the two as well as showcasing how scary and terrifying Michael is over Haddonfield. Hope that clears it up!
So happy to see this film finally get a reaction from you guys, been waiting for this for so long lol. Got to see a 35mm print of this film at a small local theater in Rochester NY and it was glorious.
George is right about a PA dropping leaves as this was shot in summer and also shot in California rather than Illinois The Halloween franchise is a little twisted around. Halloween 2 was a direct sequel to this one, but 3 was meant to be a different story, the idea being turning the series into an anthology series with a new Halloween movie every year, but each one dealing with different things. But after 3 didn’t do well at the box office, they went back to Micheal. After a couple of movies, Rob Zombie did a remake of 1&2, then recently there was a new trilogy of movies that follow directly on from the first film by basically retconning everything else that happened after the 1st movie as “did not happen”
John Carpenter wrote the theme song in a matter of hours on a 3,2 beat on the piano. It set the stage for spine tingling scenes. The absence of gore and blood forced the viewer to focus on the suspense side of things and when the “shape” would attack next. A blue light filter was used to create mood and allow a stronger shadowing and highlight on the Shape and scenery. Amazing the entire film was shot in 20 days over a 4 week period.
Halloween was intended as a stand alone movie. Halloween 2 is the sequel made due to the commercial success of the first movie. Halloween 3 tried to break away from the Michael Myers story and is a stand alone, Halloween themed movie. Halloween 4 - 6 continued the story of Michael Myers. Halloween H20 and Halloween Resurrection brought back Jamie Lee Curtis to conclude the franchise. Halloween (2007) and Halloween 2 (2009) were remakes by Rob Zombie. Halloween 2018, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends brings back Jamie Lee Curtis to reboot the franchise, by ignoring the events from the original 6 sequels and act as direct sequels to the very first Halloween movie.
I'm in the minority, I actually really liked Halloween Kills and even Ends. The 2018 reboot?.... hmmm.... Kinda meh. But the other two were very entertaining and interesting respectively. Even though most people hate at least one of them, I liked them both. I think the only Halloween movie I saw, that I didn't like and couldn't get into was Halloween Resurrection, the Busta Rhyme one....
The voice of the cemetery groundskeeper did the voice of Mr. Ages in The Secret Of NIMH. I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU WATCH THIS MOVIE! It's a 1982 animated flick and it will blow your minds that children were allowed to see it. Almost every scene is memorable. It's fantastic.
The Rob Zombie Halloween remake was actually really good too. It gives Michael some backstory, which may not be necessary per se, but I always like the psychological and philosophical aspects over just watching some killer.
One of my favorite things about Michael Myers is that we don’t really know if he’s supernatural or not (although he is ridiculously strong and durable). He’s often referred to as supernatural, but we don’t see him basically teleport (like a certain other horror villain). I can’t say how excited I am for you guys to watch Scream. It’s my favorite horror series. Have a lovely day!
The Director of Photograhy is Dean Cundey .Othe movies he shot ,4 other movies with John Carpenter -The Thing ,The Fog ,Escape from New York snd Big Trouble in Little China .For Robert Zemeckis he shot all 3 Back to the Future movies ,Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Romancing the Stone .For Spielberg Dean Cundey shot Hook and the first Jurassic Park .On T.V lately he shot episodes of The Mandalorian .
I love seeing people watch this film for the first time. Not knowing that a child killed his sister in the opening is such a great twist. Michael is referred to as The Shape. An just a killer without remorse. The mask is a William Shatner mask with the sideburns and eyebrows removed. It was painted white and the hair was messed up.
Fun fact: Both Donald Pleasence (Dr.Loomis) and Jamie Lee Curtis have been in episodes of Columbo. Pleasence, who was the original Blofeld in James Bond, played a quite beloved murderer in one episode while Jamie Lee Curtis was an uncredited waitress in another in '77.
Almost all of the Halloween sequels are highly skippable. The original, and then the 2018 sequel that basically retcons out all of the other sequels are exceptional. The rest delve into Cinecringe territory IMO, there is fun to be had, but not essential viewing.
AFAIK, the big franchises from the golden age of slasher films were: - Halloween (the one that started it), main antagonist Michael Myers. - A Nightmare On Elm Street (Freddy Kreuger) - Friday the 13th (Jason Vorhees) and, to a lesser extent, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (which predates the golden age, but was later revitalised).
Michael’s mask is actually a William Shatner Star Trek mask. They altered it by whitening the mask, removed some hair and made the eye holes bigger. Which gives it that creepy look.
And it only cost them $1.98
Apparently Shatner took his kids trick or treating wearing a Michael Myers mask. So he was dressing as himself.
💯
It's actually not from Star Trek. It's from a movie called The Devil's Rain.
@@MatthewMortensen1 Kind of. The mask from The Devil's Rain was recycled and mass produced to be sold as cheap Captain Kirk masks.
The suburbs were seen as the safe alternative to living in the city. Civilised, middle-class, decent income, family friendly, low crime, and everyone knew the people in the neighbourhood. This movie was about shattering the illusion of safety. At the time it shocked people.
Yeah, there was a time in small town America where people felt so safe that they didn't even bother to lock their doors. And before this movie, most horror films took place in distant, remote lands that were far removed from the perceived safety of society. But the movie's message is that evil or chaos can happen anywhere, even in your own back yard. Nowhere is safe.
how is your comment from 8 days ago
@@lainwakura They show the film to their patrons first. Anyway, the suburbs in the US are still 99% safer than the major cities but there are still some crimes and bad things going on. I've spent 50-50 of my life in both and you don't go out alone ever at night in a city, especially not slightly tipsy. Whereas in a small town, almost everyone is inside at night.
@@joelwillems4081
You're quite right that suburbia has less murder ... but there's another means of dying prematurely that is far more common.
Namely, car accidents on undivided highways. As a result, unnatural death (per capita) is far more common in the "less violent" countryside.
If self-driving cars are achievable, that has the potential of disadvantaging murderous cities (on a much less dramatic scale of risk).
The movie makers did a good job of making the Los Angeles location pass as a suburban town (Haddonfield) in Illinois.
My favorite detail about this movie is frequently overlooked-how Michael is listed in the credits:
*The Shape*
Downright _sinister._
That's what I adore the most too, unfortunately almost all the other movies ignore this detail.
What do suppose they mean by, The Shape ?
Going by memory here, but in the original Frankenstein I think there was a "?" instead of Boris Karloff's name.
@@ForEternia “The Shape” of Evil. Micheals original schtick early on was he was the embodiment of evil itself. That’s why he can’t die, why he’s always lurking and why the movie ends the way it does. It’s meant to show that evil is a constant and always lurking. I mean Loomis literally says “This isn’t a man” as well as “The Evil is gone” when Micheal escapes. Obviously this changed later on but Halloween 1 was always supposed to be a single film as the Trilogy was meant to be 3 different films that took place on Halloween. This is also the reason H3 is completely different. Micheal just became so iconic the series ended up revolving around him.
Pretty sure that he might have been credited as Shape in a couple others but I'd have to watch them to check. Feel like one of them mentioned Thorn in the credits too but that might have been another character.
Scream does not spoil Halloween. It absolutely spoils Friday the 13th.
@shasiiishi4281 Sure, but Scream reveals the ending of Friday the 13th. Nothing important is spoiled about Halloween in Scream.
@@okeefe757you could perhaps make an argument that Scream spoils the beginning of Halloween since it tells you the killer is Michael, whom Judith mentions, but who doesn’t already know that?
@shasiiishi4281sort of. There’s the soundtrack playing and a couple scenes but most of what the kids watching Halloween say isn’t even what happens. “The blood is sooo red.” There’s no blood in that scene.
@shasiiishi4281 I get what you mean but a 3 second clip that implies somebody got stabbed in a slasher movie isn’t much of a spoiler. Especially when they start talking and it’s all wrong. Certainly less of a spoiler than the Mrs. Voorhees reveal.
And in Scream 2, Randy said, "Mrs. Voorhees was a terrific serial killer." She really was, imo
One of the people hired to help spread leaves on the roads to make the season look like Autumn (the film was shot in California), was an upcoming actor named Robert Englund aka Freddy Krueger 😃
really?ive never head that before but i have heard of jamie herself and everyone involved helping out picking up leaves putting leaves on the ground helping with equiment they were the crew!
The novelization of the book explained that Michael would watch Loomis drive whenever he was being brought back and forth from court appearances, appointments and back to the sanitarium.
I mean, he is a very good (and safe) driver. He waited for an opening to turn on the main street when Loomis meets the sheriff 😂
You have to realize that a lot of the horror tropes you are referring to actually started with this movie. People weren't used to that yet. The "he's getting back up" thing wasn't really common before this.
Also, besides having the daughter of Psycho's Janet Leigh star in this, there is also another Psycho reference. The name of the doctor is Loomis, which was the name of the boyfriend in Psycho..
If you want another fun John Carpenter film, check out "They Live."
As a super old dude, I distinctly remember seeing this in theaters when it first came out and I had never been so scared at a movie in my life. The suspense was almost unbearable and I thought I was going to have to leave. It was another level of horror film from what I'd seen before (I had skipped The Texas Chainsaw Massacre a few years earlier because it sounded too scary). When Michael was gone at the end after falling off the balcony, it was such a surprise and the first time I can remember seeing a film set up a sequel like that. This was the real start of the "slasher film" era, and the realistic, gross effects didn't start until a few years later with the first Friday the 13th film, with the exception of Dawn of the Dead which wasn't as popular and mainstream, and the goriness in that one was SO much worse than anything we'd seen yet. Great reaction, as always.
Hahaha my friend's brother took us to see it when we were 9. Scared the hell out of us.
I didn’t see this, but I did see Halloween II in theaters when I was 12 & it scared the hell outta me. I spent that entire night awake in my bedroom, staring at the closet door, waiting for Michael to come waltzing out if it with a big fuckin’ knife🤣
I was just a kid back in 78 and my parents didn`t allow me to see it because of its plot. But i recall how everybody talked about this film as one of the scariest at that time along with The Exorcist. When my father bought our first set of Betamax we rented that film around 1980. I was still a boy and my parents were right. I couldn`t sleep, it was too scary.
My god, I can’t imagine how terrifying The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was when it first came out.
@@blakemeads9225 I think Texas Chainsaw Massacre was considered an exploitation film and didn`t reach a wide audience. Nobody talked about that film when i was a kid in the70's. After Halloween, a lot of these "weird killer" films started to have a re-release.
"It's Halloween, everyone's entitled to one good scare."
It was Jamie Lee Curtis' first film! They didn't plan on making a second one, the breathing at the end was to symbolize that evil never dies. However, it was such a big success that people wanted another. So, in 1981 we have the second one which was a direct continuation of the first one. Sidenote: Her mother Janet Leigh was Marion Crane in "Psycho" (1960).
Also, what's great about the first "Halloween" is that Michael Myers is kept in the shadows on purpose to enhance the suspense. Always on the edge of the shot.. making you think he's somewhere close.
> evil never dies
"evil dies tonight !!!", sorry I had to
@@carlos_hb"This IS the end, friend " Sorry, wrong movie 😅
Her mother is also in Halloween H20 and says the same line “it’s Halloween,everyone’s entitled to one good scare”.
Her mother was co-star of Psycho.
If you're wondering why Annie didn't change her clothing after spilling butter on her clothes, remember that she's babysitting Lindsey Wallace at the Wallace house, she's not at her own house. Annie didn't bring a change of clothes because she wasn't expecting to spill popcorn butter on herself.
You actually got the ending correct. According to John Carpenter, the whole idea of the end shot , with the breathing and the review shots of where we'd been throughout the film, is that Michael is just evil and he's everywhere.
The man killed in the truck for no reason, "Phelps Garage", is where Michael wouldve gotten his mechanics coveralls from
They seem to miss a lot of what's in front of them. Like Annie changing and it's NOT her house, it's Lindsey's house. Like, I love them and their reactions but, God, it's so frustrating.
@@fynnthefox9078 eh it happens sometimes, and when you watch hundreds of movies and post them all online, youll have a record of all the times it happens. Usually they seem to catch onto other things pretty quickly though so im not too bothered
You really need to watch part 2 soon... it continues on the same night and explains a lot more about who he is and why he chose Laurie. Fun fact: The mask they used for Michael Meyers was a cheap William Shatner Star Trek mask.
The sequel was forced onto Carpenter. There was never supposed to be a reason. But he was kinda pushed into making that, so he drunkenly wrote the sequel. He hates the sequel.
Part 2 is easily my favorite in the series. The setting is scarier and Dick Warlock makes Michael so much scarier. He really nails the whole "He's not human, he's a force of nature" thing.
@@slimbrady6691I disagree. Dick Warlock's Michael is too ridged and robotic.
Annie wasn't at her house, she was babysitting at the parents house. She couldn't put her pants back on until it finished going through the laundry.
William Shatner starred in The Devil's Rain. A mold was made of his face for the movie to be used for make-up effects. It ended up being re-purposed to produce Captain Kirk masks. That's why it has a blank look to it. One of John Carpenter's guys bought a few different masks from a store, and that was the one that they chose to use.
There are currently 13 movies, but they don't have continuity; even the ones with Jamie Lee Curtis. The series has been rebooted 3 times. 4, if you include Halloween 3 which has nothing to do with Michael Myers.
I’ve grown to really love the more subtle moments of this film. Like the girls dialogue as their walking home from school, which was primarily written by producer Debra Hill. She and John Carpenter were an item back then. The dialogue is kind of cheesy, but has and authenticity about it. I was 5 when this came out in 78’ and have had baby sitters like Laurie who’s studious and better with kids, and I’ve had baby sitters like Annie that was more interested in getting her boyfriend over there:) Love Donald Pleasance as gun toting shrink Doctor Sam Loomis, and I love the filming locations which were primarily shot in South Pasadena , California in the spring of 78, trying make it look like a small Illinois town on Halloween by importing leaves, and blocking out as many palm trees as possible:)
18:43 "She got _stuck_ in the window. She'll be right here."
What a snot. ☺
When Laurie is singing at the beginning, she just came up with it on the spot.
Pretty much all slasher horror movies over the past nearly 50 years owe a debt to this one. All the slasher tropes and clichés CAME from this movie. That's why not many young people today find it all that scary - because it was the first to do a lot of this, so many horror movies since have aped it. I still love the idea behind it though. It's not a monster, or an alien, or a mythical being, it's just a guy. A regular guy staring at you, popping up everywhere, coming to get you. The simplicity is its brilliance.
You haven't seen Black Christmas, have you? It's my #1 all time favorite horror film.....
I'm not saying, you're factually wrong. Halloween had a huge impact on the genre FOR SURE. Just as a fan of Black Christmas, which came before, I am a little pissed.... 🤭🤷♂️
@@chanceneck8072 yeah I remember learning Black Christmas was the first horror to do the killers pov filming. It definitely deserves some of the credit for the stalker genre
@@thajuice100ify It's SOOO good... 🤤
Not only the pov stuff. The atmosphere, the cinematography, it's gorgeous. It has a few scenes, I can only describe as "iconic", early Margot Kidder even, I love her role in it. And it also has arguably one of the scariest, most demented slasher killers of all time. Plus it even tackles some deep themes and character drama with our main lead, I just don't wanna go into details, in case people haven't seen that film yet.
Just make damn sure, you watch the 1974 original movie!!! 👍
@@chanceneck8072 oh yea of course, I used to think the remake was creepy n twisted but after I saw the original I cant even take the remake serious
Black Christmas was the Prototype Slasher movie. With the group of archetype girls getting picked off one by one. The POV of the Killer.
What John Carpenter did with Halloween was refine it so that every scene built the suspense and terror. He even wrote most of the music including the main theme.
Bahahaha! Dude, the thumbnail looks completely real & it’s HILARIOUS. Well done👏
What I love about this movie is that it is scary and tension building without being gory and gross.
Yeah, it doesn't need over the top blood and gore to be scary. It relies on atmosphere and suspense more.
This is the movie that started it all. This hit so big that picture companies started concentrating on this craze
I love the shot of Loomis with Michael driving past him in the backgroud. People still argue about how he'd know how to drive a car. We all probably had a grasp of the very basics at a young age. What's far more impressive is that he comes to a complete stop and looks both ways before turning. He's got better traffic etiquette than a whole lot of people.
I was 11 years old when this film came out theatrically and I was too young to see it, the commercials on TV alone were enough to terrify me. This movie deserves all of the credit it receives. John Carpenter is a master filmmaker and I hope the two of you continue your journey in his filmography.
i was around 11 when i saw it, not in the theater but on an early home cable service called WHT, my upstairs neighbors had it and we all went up to watch it, i scared the hell out of me and i loved it.
He’s the “The Shape”
Now that I know that George has chops in cinematography, you should check out the John Carpenter movies „The Fog“ and „Escape from New York“, for which DP Dean Cundey also did excellent work.
One of the reasons they managed to produce Halloween so cheaply was the fact that Cundey had a van full of camera equipment.
Oh the fog is an amazing film I'd love to see them react to it
Someone had to have mentioned this already, but I'm going to mention it too. When it comes to the mask, the grabbed a Captain Kirk (William Shatner) mask at the last minute and spray painted it white.
There are different timelines so take that into account when watching the others. And if you didn't notice, Michael likes to get creative with his kills and how he sets up the bodies lol
Yesss so glad more people finally reacting to this one.
Wait, i said that somewhere else before.
5:30 You have no idea!
Because they were on a tight budget and they were filming in southern California, they needed to make the neighborhood look like an Illinois suburb in autumn. They needed fallen leaves all around that looked like fall leaves.
So they got a bunch of leaves and painted them fall colors until they had a couple bags.
Then they'd spread them around before a scene.
But then...after a scene, cast and crew would have to scramble around and collect all the leaves back up so they could reuse them in a different place.
Couldn't really do anything about the palm trees though you see once in a while in the background. 😅
Carpenter originally wanted Halloween to be the beginning of an anthology style franchise with different villians/monsters/antagonists/ in each movie. The Michael Myers character was so good and terrifying that it immediately got a direct sequel with Halloween 2 taking place right after the end of the first film. Halloween 3 tried to do the anthology thing and has nothing to do with the Michael Myers character but it is the only one that does so. After 3 it is officially the Michael Myers franchise.
Misinformation. Halloween was just going to be a one and done. It wasn't until after 2 that they wanted to take the franchise down into anthologies.
You two should totally watch at least some more of this franchise! I recommend at least Halloween 2 (1981), Halloween H20 (1998), and Halloween (2018).
The one set of clothes comment from Simone was really intuitive because not only were some of the clothes owned by the cast but they amended the script to make it take place on a single night to reduce the wardrobe budget.
also remember they are babysitting at someone else's house so they probably didn't bring a change of clothes...
@@gsf23 Yep. That’s why she’s wearing Lindsey’s father shirt.
@@gsf23Makes me wonder if Simone always brings another set of clothes wherever she goes.
This movie was made (and set in) 1978. Stalking (though that term was not used at the time) didn't become a criminal offense in the US or Canada until the early 90's. So there really wasn't much the police could do about "I keep seeing this creepy dude around town.":
Edit:
Carpenter didn't direct, but did co-produce and co-write the script, for Halloween 2. It is a very direct sequel, starting exactly where the first ends.
Halloween 3: Season of the Witch is a truly odd film that is unrelated to the first two outside the name. Carpenter is a producer on the film and has said that he wanted the franchise to be an anthology instead of just a bunch of direct sequels. It did poorly both critically and commercially, but has a strong cult following and is worth a watch just for its sheer weirdness.
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers went back (obviously from the title) to the original formula and all the subsequent sequels and remakes and sequels of remakes have stuck with the plan. I wouldn't particularly recommend any of them
H20 was good, though. But that's it.
This movie ranked at #14 in the 100 scariest movie moments, excellent thumbnail of Simone, so frightening and especially George in the dark. Cool reaction as always Simone & George, you both take care and have a great weekend
Another great John Carpenter film, and one of my personal favorites, is The Fog (1980). It has both Jamie Lee and Nancy Kyes (Annie), as well as Jamie Lee's mother Janet Leigh of Psycho fame. It's a ghost story and very atmospheric, would love to see you react to it some time!
YES!!
A movie set in Illinois, based on a town in New Jersey, but filmed in California. You gotta love Hollywood 😏
Halloween has several continuities.
Halloween, Halloween 2, Halloween 4, 5, 6 (Curse of Michael Myers)
Halloween, Halloween 2, Halloween H20, Halloween Resurrection
Halloween, Halloween 2018, Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends
Then there's Rob Zombie's 2 movies (Halloween [2007], Halloween 2 [2009])
And Halloween III is a stand alone because it was envisioned at one point as an anthology series, but fan backlash was so great they went back to the Michael Myers formula.
Hope this has been helpful!
Fun watching you watching this. Simone was asking what the first jump scare was. It's hard to peg that kind of thing because different stuff scares different people but I think you can trace it back to Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur with the original "Cat People" (1942)---Tourneur also directed "Curse of the Demon", which had two or three. I think it was Wes Craven, in the 70s, who turned it into a real trope......or a cliche, depending on whether you happen to like them.
This film is all about the suspense and theater of the mind, there's no gore and barely any blood.. one of my all-time faves..
Fun fact - it was filmed in spring so leaves were brought in and scattered by Robert Englund who would later play Freddy Krueger.
16:32 A lot of reactors mention this, but I'm pretty sure she got melted butter or oil on herself, from making popcorn; I'd wanna get that off asap too~
I’m sure somebody has already said it but the michale myers mask is just a William shatner mask with the eye holes cut out larger and spray painted white. The film was an Independent film on a budget and managed to become one of the most recognized franchises of all time
I grew up about a mile from where it was filmed. The house they used for Michael Myers house is still there, and very creepy. But the city of South Pasadena decided to build a replica at the corner of the main street because of all the tourists who came by to take pictures. Also, my brother was dating the girl who lived in that house, and met J.L.C.
I'm so thrilled, you've got to be the first reactors to this movie that I've seen that actually understand the version of The Thing the kids are watching was the old 1950's B-movie one, not carpenters version, which he made a few years AFTER Halloween. Also you asked about the mask. It was a William Shatner (Star Trek) mask they bought in a store and painted it up to look more ghoulish.
Another home invasion movie that will have you jump out of your seat is Wait Until Dark. A classic thriller with Audrey Hepburn. Stephen King said it was the scariest movie of all time. Just turn off the lights during the final 10 minutes. Makes it easier to see the screen
The character of Tommy Doyle is named after Detective Thomas Doyle from Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. Carpenter gave Tommy that name as a reference to the Hitchcock film, given that Tommy is always looking out his window at the house across the street, suspecting that something sinister is going on, similar to James Stewart's character in Rear Window.
I can remember being 8ish and watching this on TV for the first time. USA Network did a back to back of Halloween and Halloween 2.
The first thing I think about that ultimately scared the living crap out of me as a kid was seeing the Nurse and Loomis pull up to Smith's Grove and seeing all the mental patients just wandering around in the pouring rain. That paired with Carpenter's score made me extremely uncomfortable and creeped out, and that was only the beginning.
"I can just imagine a PA behind the camera dropping leaves."
Better than that. They filmed during the summer, so the leaves are all cut from construction paper.
And the 'don't buy the murder house' trope started with 'The Amityville Horror'.
That's funny you mentioned Nobody buying murder houses... because they literally just sold the original Michael Myers house for 1.68 million dollars lmao.
I recall Jamie Lee Curtis's very first role. She played a bit part as a waitress in an old episode of the TV cop show 'Columbo'.
the mask for Mike Myers is a captain Kirk mask spray painted white. so yes, they DID just buy it from the store. just a minor modification, et voila! a new horror legend is born!
The girl in the green jacket was also in Stephen Kings " Carrie " in the late 70's. That movie was directed by Brian De Palma.
Michael Meyers' mask is a Captain Kirk mask.
George's comment about the PA dropping leaves is closer than he knows. Shooting this in California Summer, they needed several bags of leaves o give it the midwest fall feel. To save on cost they would rake up the leaves after each sceen to reuse them.
Couple fun facts... Micheal Meyers mask ( though I don't see the similarities) is supposed to be a William Shatter mask and if you're familiar with Mark Calloways the Undertaker, Mark takes his characters inspiration from Michael Myers.
Shave off the eyebrows, give the mask a bit of a haircut, tussle the hair, widen the eyeholes... That and it was like a dollar forty nine, so there's a good chance the appearance isn't the most accurate.
According to Google, the first jumpscare was in the 1942 film Cat People. I haven't seen the film but I did see a clip of it so I think it may have been a scene where a woman is walking down a dark, quiet street and keeps looking behind her because she feels like she's being followed, gets nervous and quickens her pace, and suddenly a bus pulls up loudly in front of her.
I love that we get to see grown up Michael without the mask briefly in this moviie, and that Carpenter chose to make him an attractive young, blonde haired, blue eyed, all American looking guy. The dichotomy of the attractive face hiding the monster underneath makes the character more grounded and therefore more threatening IMO.
Yes, that was just for that ending scene, Nick Castle played " The Shape' entire film ( even jumping on Loomis's car when going to Psych ward) ..Carpenter told old pal Nick: He wasnt 'angelic ' looking for unmasking scene& another actor did it 😁🎃🎃
Love that Myers just walks around in broad daylight.
To think, all it took was a William Shatner mask to have people shatting their pants when this came out in 1978.
God bless John Carpenter. Hope you guys react to They Live or Escape from New York sometime soon. His whole ‘80s career is worth watching, but those are his other great films from that era besides The Thing.
you could say she shatner pants
Let's not forget In the Mouth of Madness
You're very wrong if you think it was the mask that scared people back then - it was the entire concept and it could have worked just as well without any mask. By your erroneous comment I assume you weren't around by the time this movie was released. Oh well.
@@Vinterfrid You must be so fun at parties
My favorite thing about this movie that you guys missed is in the credits. "Stunt: James Winburn"
One stunt for the whole film. For some reason, it struck us as hilarious and laughed for about a week.
This is a great slasher film, definitelyonf of my all-time favorite horror movies. The issue about this is that it has become a long-running franchise that consistently retcons itself to make more movies to make more money. There's like three movies in this franchise that just have the title as just Halloween!
Jason (Friday the 13th) and Michael (Halloween) are either immortal or they are zombies. In universe, they are just too evil to die. 😅
"Paranormal Activity", "The Blair Witch Project" and this movie are among the most profitable films ever made because their budgets were so low. It pays to invest in horror, I guess. I first saw this in high school, by then it was at least ten years old and many other slashers had followed it. But I could see why it was so popular...it's very simple, but done very well. I love the last scene where Michael gets blasted off the second floor, but then Loomis looks down again...and he's just gone. And then the theme music comes back. Simple and perfect.
It's how Blumhouse got so huge. Put out a horror movie that cost 7-12 mil, make 50-80 mil at the theatre.
Just a note, "Halloween III: Season Of The Witch" (1983) does not involve Michael Myers. When the series began, they intended it to be an anthology series. But Michael Myers became an iconic villain, so after the third film didn't have him and underperformed, they made it a slasher series about Michael Myers.
For the record, I really like "Halloween III", and I recommend y'all watch it next year for Halloween.
Halloweem III does not make a lot of logical sense in the plot of that movie, but it is fun.
Simone: have we reacted any John carpenter films on the channel before?
George: the Thing.
Simone: oh yeah duh
Me: and Big Trouble In Little China
Another John carpenter’s cult classic that I want you to react is “Escape From New York” it’s an awesome movie
You have to love those tropical mid west trees
There are a couple before this, like Peeping Tom and Black Christmas that also helped build the "rules" and tropes. This is one of the original creators of said rules. It inspired so much. Number 2 and H20 are good as well. The new ones are worth watching, especially the 1st one. Jamie Lee and Donald are fantastic. The shape, Michael, is a true terror.
I also kinda liked the 4th one because of the ending.
But I friggin' LOVE Black Christmas!! 🤩🤩🤩👍👍👍
Come to think of it, I even liked the 3rd one. Even though it didn't have Michael in it.
I haven't seen parts 5 or 6 yet. But I think the only Halloween movie I have seen, but really disliked was Halloween: Resurrection.... 😅
But all the others I've seen have at least SOMEthing good or interesting in them. (for the record, I have NOT seen the Rob Zombie ones either)...
More than any one director, Moustapha Akkad was the producer that sort of tied all these movies together before the Rob Zombie reboot.
The actor playing Loomis is named Donald Pleasence. One of the roles he’s famous for is that of Blofeld in the James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice”. Doctor Evil in the Austin Powers movies was directly inspired by his turn at the character Blofeld and was of course played by…….Michael Myers!
Christopher Lee turned down role of Dr.Loomis( biggest mistake of his " Career" he called it)- Pleasence told Carpenter he took role because his daughter loved Carpenter's 'Asssult on Precinct 13"🎃🎃🎃
The twist is given away when you see the hand reach for the knife it's a small hand!!!🎩
The reason why Michael Meyers is the most iconic and terrifying slasher villain isn't just because he's an immensely powerful supernatural evil, it's also because his mask is Captain Kirk (William Shatner) with a coat of white paint over it. I love William Shatner, but as anyone who's spent any significant time with him can tell you, he's terrifying.
8:32 - He took the victim's jumpsuit.
19:48 - She was babysitting, so she only had the clothes she was wearing.
24:23 - They made The Shape's mask from a Captain Kirk mask.
29:29 - The inspiration for the Undertaker.
Fun watch!
I'm sure a few people have explained this, but there are multiple canons within the Halloween franchise.
Canon 1: Halloween (1978) > Halloween II (1981) > Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) > Halloween 5: Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) > Halloween: Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
Canon 2: Halloween (1978) > Halloween II (1981) > H20: Twenty Years Later (1998) > Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Canon 3: Halloween (2007) > Halloween II (2009)
Canon 4: Halloween (1978) > Halloween (2018) > Halloween Kills (2021) > Halloween Ends (2022)
Also, I suppose Halloween III: Season of the Witch by itself could be Canon 5. It is a stand-alone movie unrelated to any of the other Halloween movies. When Carpenter was first asked to make a sequel to Halloween, his pitch was for a "Twilight Zone"-style ongoing series where every movie takes place on Halloween but has a new and unrelated plot. They let him try it with Halloween III, after he was convinced to do a direct sequel with Halloween II, but it was unsuccessful at the time, and so they returned to Michael Myers with Halloween 4.
In my opinion, all of the sequels are kind of inessential compared to the original, but most of them are at least entertaining. I really enjoy Halloween II (1981), Halloween 4, and Halloween II (2009), and I like the legendary producer's cut of Halloween 6, most of Halloween (2007), Halloween Kills, and most of Halloween Ends. H20 and Halloween (2018) are OK. The worst entries are Halloween 5, the theatrical cut of Halloween 6, and Halloween: Resurrection, which could be skipped entirely.
DON'T WATCH PART *THREE!*
Unless you want the Silver Shamrock song to live in your head, rent free, forever... but especially every October for a whole month.
So glad you asked, Simone: One of the very first jump scares in film history was in a movie called Cat People, from 1942. They built up some tension, and then, out of nowhere (via clever editing)... the blast of air brakes as a bus appeared from off-screen.
Because of that movie, for many years, the film industry used the term "a bus" or "The Lewton Bus" to refer to a "jump scare." The latter version of the term was because Lewton was a producer on Cat People, and he made sure to include similar moments in the films he did afterward.
Since it's tangential to this movie: The Thing from Another World (1951) features one of the earliest full-body burn stunts. The amount of fire and the length of the scene is... really something: Talk about guts.
Halloween (1978)... So simple, so clean, so understated, so good. It's not bloody, it's not gory, it's just atmospheric, spooky, fun. Minus the murder and being in the wrong part of the U.S., it feels much like the autumns of the 80s.
I can guarantee you, if this movie took place a few years later, and there was a full-grown adult male, roaming around a suburb, alone, wearing a mask in the middle of the day, even on Halloween, audiences would be wondering why no one was calling the police.
By the time 1981 rolled around, Adam Walsh had been kidnapped and murdered (I'll leave the sad details to Wikipedia) and parents all over the country had become VERY paranoid about kidnappers.
Generation X fit into a unique place in U.S. history, where children had the free time and means to go wander, while it was also considered safe enough to give them the freedom to do so. With the threat of kidnapping looming large (not to mention the growing drug epidemic), the brief era of "free range children," who left home on their bikes in the afternoon and came back in time for dinner, were very much numbered.
Trivia: One of Laurie’s friends lives in the same house as used in Mama’s Family, the 1980s sitcom. You barely see the corner of the house as she walks home across the lawn. But it’s the same house on the same street. You can tell from surrounding houses. Even the shrubs Michael hides behind are still there in the 1980s.
The Thing shown on TV in this movie was from 1951 film in which James Arness AKA Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke played the creature!
Jamie Lee was in Halloween 1,2, H20 (20 years later), Resurrection, Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends - the rest were other "final girls". In a commentary, they said the breathing at the ends was indeed supposed to make the audience think that Michael was "everywhere" and could appear at any time.
24:22 "Did they _make_ that Halloween mask _for_ this movie, or was that like- Is it a _monster_ from something?"
It is, in fact, a mask of that famous Canadian, William Shatner, that has been _painted._
In Cat People (1942), which featured the Lewton Bus technique, considered the first jump scare. Though not intended as a scare, the film Citizen Kane (1941) included an abrupt scene transition of a shrieking cockatoo.
The leaves were all made, scattered around for a scene, gathered up and moved to the next scene.
John Carpenter made use of a rhythm he practiced on the bongos, and set that to a piano tune.
Friday the 13th (1980) took the framing of Halloween and changed the setting and ending twist.
A lot of people today don't realize how groundbreaking Halloween was when it came out. It was unlike anything that came before with its unique (at the time) premise and how it went about its scares by building dread and tension as opposed to the jump scares and crazy gore that are prevalent in today's horror cinema.
Not unique, stolen as what would have been the sequel to Black Christmas. True story
To be fair, among all the Halloween movies there are several timelines/continuities, including a remake:
Halloween (1978) - the original
Halloween II (1981) - takes place the later the same night
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1983) - has nothing to do with Michael Myers, totally unrelated to all the other films
Halloween IV (1988), V (1989) and VI (1995) - ignores III, follow up to the first 2
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) and Halloween: Resurrection (2002) - Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the franchise, new timeline where only Halloween I and II happened
Halloween (2007) - remake of the original by Rob Zombie
Halloween II (2009) - sequel to the remake
Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022) - another new timeline where only the events of Halloween (1978) happened
So that’s five separate timelines :
I, II, IV, V, VI
III
I, II, H20, Ressurection
Remake, Remake sequel
I, 2018, Kills, Ends
Y’all’s thumbnails always give me a real good laugh and this one made me spit out my drink 😂
No, the neighborhood doesn't suck, it was Halloween night; the neighbors didn't open the door for Jamie Lee's character because they thought it was just another prank.
If you guys would like a modern take on the slasher film, I highly suggest "It Follows".
It really capitalizes on what Halloween started, with the killer in plain sight throughout the film, and plays with the 'sex kills' trope in an interesting way.
So while there are 13 Halloween movies, they’re not all in the same universe (or order); there’s technically 5 different timelines in the Halloween universe. Let me break it down:
The Loomis Timeline:
Halloween (1978) leads to Halloween II (1981), and introduced the idea that Laurie and Michael are siblings and ends Jamie Lee Curtis’s character. Then it skips over Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Meyers (1988) which follows Michael’s niece, Jamie. This also leads into Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Meyers (1989). This ends with Halloween: The Curse of Michael Meyers (1995).
Season of the Witch Timeline:
This timeline consists of just Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982) that doesn’t include Michael Meyers. It’s a horror anthology movie that takes place on Halloween that John Carpenter wanted to do after the first film.
The Laurie Strode Timeline:
This begins with Halloween 1 & 2 but then disregards all the films I’ve mentioned and goes directly into Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later (1998) which picks up on Laurie Strode and then ends with Halloween: Resurrection (2002). This features the infamous Busta Rhymes vs. Michael fight.
Rob Zombie timeline:
This is essentially a remake of the first Halloween by Rob Zombie that takes place in Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009). No Jamie Lee Curtis but it’s different actors playing the same roles and the same story (for the most part).
The 2018 Reinvention:
This is the recent trilogy that discards every single movie and idea I’ve mentioned except for the original Halloween. This trilogy between 2018-2022 is meant to follow Jamie Lee Curtis 40 years later and is meant as a reckoning with Michael Meyers. This is meant to be a showdown between the two as well as showcasing how scary and terrifying Michael is over Haddonfield.
Hope that clears it up!
So happy to see this film finally get a reaction from you guys, been waiting for this for so long lol. Got to see a 35mm print of this film at a small local theater in Rochester NY and it was glorious.
Jack-o-lanterns don’t waste food. Different kind of pumpkin. We used to roast the seeds and eat them when I was kid.
George is right about a PA dropping leaves as this was shot in summer and also shot in California rather than Illinois
The Halloween franchise is a little twisted around. Halloween 2 was a direct sequel to this one, but 3 was meant to be a different story, the idea being turning the series into an anthology series with a new Halloween movie every year, but each one dealing with different things. But after 3 didn’t do well at the box office, they went back to Micheal. After a couple of movies, Rob Zombie did a remake of 1&2, then recently there was a new trilogy of movies that follow directly on from the first film by basically retconning everything else that happened after the 1st movie as “did not happen”
Also, one of the PAs dropping leaves was Robert Englund.
John Carpenter wrote the theme song in a matter of hours on a 3,2 beat on the piano. It set the stage for spine tingling scenes. The absence of gore and blood forced the viewer to focus on the suspense side of things and when the “shape” would attack next. A blue light filter was used to create mood and allow a stronger shadowing and highlight on the Shape and scenery.
Amazing the entire film was shot in 20 days over a 4 week period.
Halloween was intended as a stand alone movie.
Halloween 2 is the sequel made due to the commercial success of the first movie.
Halloween 3 tried to break away from the Michael Myers story and is a stand alone, Halloween themed movie.
Halloween 4 - 6 continued the story of Michael Myers.
Halloween H20 and Halloween Resurrection brought back Jamie Lee Curtis to conclude the franchise.
Halloween (2007) and Halloween 2 (2009) were remakes by Rob Zombie.
Halloween 2018, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends brings back Jamie Lee Curtis to reboot the franchise, by ignoring the events from the original 6 sequels and act as direct sequels to the very first Halloween movie.
I'm in the minority, I actually really liked Halloween Kills and even Ends. The 2018 reboot?.... hmmm.... Kinda meh.
But the other two were very entertaining and interesting respectively. Even though most people hate at least one of them, I liked them both. I think the only Halloween movie I saw, that I didn't like and couldn't get into was Halloween Resurrection, the Busta Rhyme one....
The voice of the cemetery groundskeeper did the voice of Mr. Ages in The Secret Of NIMH. I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU WATCH THIS MOVIE! It's a 1982 animated flick and it will blow your minds that children were allowed to see it. Almost every scene is memorable. It's fantastic.
The Rob Zombie Halloween remake was actually really good too. It gives Michael some backstory, which may not be necessary per se, but I always like the psychological and philosophical aspects over just watching some killer.
I really did not like that the movie made people feel bad for Myers. You kind of cheered for him.
The Halloween mask was molded from William Shatner's face. 😆
One of my favorite things about Michael Myers is that we don’t really know if he’s supernatural or not (although he is ridiculously strong and durable). He’s often referred to as supernatural, but we don’t see him basically teleport (like a certain other horror villain).
I can’t say how excited I am for you guys to watch Scream. It’s my favorite horror series.
Have a lovely day!
Michael absolutely teleports more than Jason lol
@@jesusramirezromo2037Yeah
The Director of Photograhy is Dean Cundey .Othe movies he shot ,4 other movies with John Carpenter -The Thing ,The Fog ,Escape from New York snd Big Trouble in Little China .For Robert Zemeckis he shot all 3 Back to the Future movies ,Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Romancing the Stone .For Spielberg Dean Cundey shot Hook and the first Jurassic Park .On T.V lately he shot episodes of The Mandalorian .
I love seeing people watch this film for the first time. Not knowing that a child killed his sister in the opening is such a great twist. Michael is referred to as The Shape. An just a killer without remorse. The mask is a William Shatner mask with the sideburns and eyebrows removed. It was painted white and the hair was messed up.
Fun fact: Both Donald Pleasence (Dr.Loomis) and Jamie Lee Curtis have been in episodes of Columbo. Pleasence, who was the original Blofeld in James Bond, played a quite beloved murderer in one episode while Jamie Lee Curtis was an uncredited waitress in another in '77.
Almost all of the Halloween sequels are highly skippable. The original, and then the 2018 sequel that basically retcons out all of the other sequels are exceptional. The rest delve into Cinecringe territory IMO, there is fun to be had, but not essential viewing.
Agreed, 2018 is brilliant and James Jude Courtney did an incredible michael myers, arguably the best
AFAIK, the big franchises from the golden age of slasher films were:
- Halloween (the one that started it), main antagonist Michael Myers.
- A Nightmare On Elm Street (Freddy Kreuger)
- Friday the 13th (Jason Vorhees)
and, to a lesser extent, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (which predates the golden age, but was later revitalised).