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The Halloween Franchise: 50 Wild Facts

We know you Bidites love your Halloween, so, why not bring you 50 cool, lesser known facts that span the reach of the entire franchise? Don’t await an answer: that was a rhetorical question! Check out a slew of rare facts from each and every ngle Halloween film below!

Halloween 1978

http://youtu.be/ljchb1tsLfs

1. According to screenwriter/producer Debra Hill, the character of Laurie Strode was named after John Carpenter's first girlfriend.

2. The film takes place primarily in Haddonfield, Illinois. Haddonfield, NJ is the home town of screenwriter Debra Hill.

3. The character of Michael Myers was named after the European distributor of Carpenter's previous film, Assault on Precinct 13 as a kind of weird "thank you" for the film's overseas success.

4. Donald Pleasence was paid $20,000 for 5 days work.

5. Anne Lockhart was John Carpenter's first choice for the role of Laurie Strode.

Halloween II 1981

http://youtu.be/7VsVailcqeo

6. Jamie Lee Curtis had begun to wear a much shorter hairstyle in the 1980s, she had to wear a wig that matched her original hairstyle for the film.

7. This is the only Halloween film to show the morning after the 31st, every other movie ends on Halloween night.

8. The voice of Alice's friend (heard over a telephone) is the voice of Nancy Kyes, who played Annie in Halloween, and appears in Halloween II as the corpse of Annie.

9. Dick Warlock wore lifts in order to appear taller.

10. Was filmed at Morningde Hospital, 8711 South Harvard, Los Angeles which had recently closed and has nce been torn down.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch

http://youtu.be/2tvVla5AHmA

11. A milk factory was used for the setting of the lver Shamrock factory.

12. Michael Myers does appear briefly in this film, on a televion adverting the original Halloween. It comes near the beginning when Dan Challis is drinking in a bar.

13. The muc playing on the radio when Marge Guttman notices the tag on the floor was also played in John Carpenter's The Fog.

14. 'John Carpenter' revealed in an interview with Gilles Boulenger (for the book John Carpenter: The Prince of Darkness) that the original director for Halloween III: Season of the Witch was 'Joe Dante'.

15. Dick Warlock, the stunt man who played Michael Myers in Halloween II, is credited under 'assasn' in the credits.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

http://youtu.be/ZNKsJWF39q0

16. After viewing a rough edit it was decided that the movie was too soft, so they brought in special effects wizard John Carl Buechler for one day of extra "blood" filming. The thumb in the forehead and the redneck's head getting twisted were both done by him.

17. Alan B. McElroy wrote the script in 11 days and beat the writer's strike by mere hours.

18. The shoot lasted about 41 days and Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris were required to be on set for 36 of those days.

19. The drugstore set was also used in Stephen King's "The Stand".

20. In the original script, Rachel hit Michael with the truck five times. While shooting they reduced it to three and in editing it came out as one.

Halloween 5

http://youtu.be/TcSf6VjLSbM

21. The bus that the Man in Black gets off of stops outde the exact same store where Jamie and Rachel went to get a Halloween costume in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.

22. The Man In Black shots were re-shot in the UK for unknown reasons with an unknown British extra. The extra was uncredited.

23. The scene where Michael Myers drives a car while wearing a different kind of mask was initially scripted to have him wear a Ronald Reagan mask. However, the idea of a Reagan mask was soon rejected in order to keep the film devoid of any political subtexts.

24. On the audio commentary for the DVD it's stated that Greg Nicotero and Wendy Kaplan were seeing each other during filming.

25. As part of the opening, an alternate scene was shot but never used. The scene shows a man who finds Michael Myers body at the beginning and removes his mask, staring at it weirdly. The filming of it can be seen in the documentary, "Inde Halloween 5".

Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers

http://youtu.be/WMoJcAY_jHc

26. 'Howard Stern' was originally offered the role as radio "shock jock" Barry mms, but turned it down.

27. The script went through eleven different drafts.

28. The original director was to be Fred Walton, who directed the original When a Stranger Calls.

29. Many of Donald Pleasence's scenes were edited out of the film because Joe Chappelle found him "boring".

30. The producers of the movie wanted Brian Andrews to reprise his role as Tommy Doyle from the original Halloween. However, Andrews did not have an agent, so they could not get in contact with him. He regrets misng the opportunity.

Halloween H20

http://youtu.be/vCOvCMYldNA

31. Charles S. Dutton originally had a small role in the film as a detective, however his part was removed as script rewrites came in.

32. In certain scenes, Michael can be seen wearing two different masks. The director decided well into production, to go with a different mask, so certain scenes were re-shot. Some scenes with the original mask can still be seen, and in one shot it had to be altered with CGI to replace Michael's old mask with the new one.

33. In the original Halloween when Laurie is in class we hear the teacher talking about fate. In Halloween H20 when Laurie is teaching, Michelle Williams gives an answer about fate.

34. The movie was made after a suggestion by Jamie Lee Curtis. She wanted to "20-year Anniversary" movie with John Carpenter, but the director declined.

35. P.J. Soles was originally approached for the role of Keri Tate's/Laurie Strode's secretary. Soles never gave a straight answer as to what she wanted to do, skeptical about returning to the series as someone completely different then her character Lynda, originally killed off in Halloween. She eventually lost the role to Jamie Lee Curtis's mother, Janet Leigh, who was approached after not getting an answer from Soles.

Halloween: Resurrection

http://youtu.be/Qwt_Qx4OQE4

36. Was first named "Halloween: The Homecoming" but producers wanted a title that said Michael Myers is alive so in Feburary 2002, the film was officially named "Halloween: Resurrection."

37. Tyra Banks's character's death was cut. You can still see the aftermath in the movie.

38. Bianca Kajlich cannot scream and her screams had to be dubbed in post production.

39. Jamie Lee Curtis agreed to do her part, only to make sure her character, Laurie Stode (or herself) wouldn't appear in another sequel.

40. The name of the psychology professor at Haddenfield Univerty is Dr. Mixter. This was also name of the doctor in Halloween II that treated Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Rob Zombie’s Halloween

http://youtu.be/_u8blffLgtc

41. Before deciding to go with Rob Zombie's veron, the studio was about to green light "Halloween: The Misng Years", which would have been a prequel, set within Michael Myers' early days at the Asylum.

42. Adrienne Barbeau's role was cut from the final finished film.

43. William Forsythe actually injured his leg prior to shooting, which is why his leg is in a cast in the film. In the script the character only had an arm brace, but Forsythe's leg injury was also worked into the film.

44. The film underwent re-shoots as a result of poor test screenings. These included a new escape for Micheal from the hospital as well as an alternate ending.

45. Danielle Harris was 29 years old when she was cast as the teenage Annie Brackett. The movie was released nearly three months after her 30th birthday.

Rob Zombies Halloween 2

http://youtu.be/cHslouUNi00

46. Tyler Mane is only the second person to portray Michael Myers twice. George P. Wilbur previously portrayed Michael in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.

47. John Carpenter was offered a cameo in the film by Rob Zombie, but he turned it down.

48. First Rob Zombie movie not to star Zombie regulars d Haig, Bill Moseley and Tom Towles.

49. This is the first film in which Micheal Myers is seen eating.

50. The young Michael Myers was replaced due to a growth spurt in the actor from the previous film.

Source: HorrorBid

Some great little tidbits here...wonderful article as usual. I could have sworn Resurrection's title at one point was "www.MichaelMyers.com", correct me if I'm wrong.

Surpringly, I knew everyone of these. I love imdb and commentaries.

Surpringly, I knew everyone of these. I love imdb and commentaries.

Hahaha. Me too. I constantly read trivia and listen to DVD commentaries for fun.

director commentaries are seriously one of the greatest additions to the home viewing experience EVER.

Here's another fun fact...

If I'm not mistaken, in the added scenes shot for the TV veron of the original Halloween, when Annie calls Laurie (I believe Laurie is in bathrobe with towel on her head) Annie's calling from the same bedroom that would be Nancy Thompson's room in A Nightmare on Elm Street, years later. Yep, the interior of that house is the same one for the Elm street house interior...

director commentaries are seriously one of the greatest additions to the home viewing experience EVER.That's completely true. One of my absolute favorite is The Thing with JC and Kurt Russel. They are genuinly funny and tell great stories the whole time. Worst ones are bacally anything with Tim Burton like Batman Returns mostly because he bacally just watches the movie and talks every once in awhile but says nothing relevant.

there are actually 3 masks in H20 including a re-tooled H6 mask, 4 if you count the CGI one

In halloween 6 the mask is actually a casr of george p. wilbur's face with a few modifications.

Some great little tidbits here...wonderful article as usual. I could have sworn Resurrection's title at one point was "www.MichaelMyers.com", correct me if I'm wrong.

Correct, but it was only ever a working title, Halloween: Reckoning was also a title before The Homecoming