Donald Pleasence's role as Sam Loomis is named after a character of the same name in Psycho (1960).
Director John Carpenter was raised in Bowling Green, Kentucky. In one scene, the subtitle on the screen depicts the location as "Smiths Grove, Illinois." Smiths Grove, Kentucky, is a small town of about 600 people 15 miles from Bowling Green. There are many other references to other local towns and landmarks.
Since the movie was actualy shot in spring, the crew had to buy paper leaves from a decorator and paint them in the desired autumn colors, then scatter them in the filming locations. To save money, after a scene was filmed, the leaves were collected and reused.
Due to its shoestring budget, the prop department had to use the cheapest mask that they could find in the costume store: a William Shatner mask, from the movie "The Devil's Rain." They later spray-painted the face white, teased out the hair, and reshaped the eyeholes.
The kids watch the opening of Thing From Another World, The (1951) on TV. Carpenter would later re-make this film himself in 1982 as Thing, The (1982).
Halloween was shot in 21 days in the spring of 1978. Made on a budget of $300,000, it became the highest-grossing independent movie ever made at that time.
According to screenwriter/producer Debra Hill, the character of Laurie Strode was named after John Carpenter's first girlfriend.
Inside Laurie's bedroom there is a poster of a painting by James Ensor (1860-1949). Ensor was a Belgian expressionist painter who used to portray human figures wearing grotesque masks.
Halloween takes place primarily in fictional Haddonfield, Illinois. Haddonfield, NJ is the home town of screenwriter Debra Hill.
The performance of Halloween's musical score is credited to "The Bowling Green Philharmonic." There is no Philharmonic in Bowling Green. The "orchestra" is actually John Carpenter and assorted musical friends.
Goofs
The movie is set in Illinois, but snow-capped mountains can be seen when Doctor Loomis is using the payphone.
Set in October in Illinois, the trees should not have healthy green leaves.
Pavement changes quickly from dry to wet when Laurie is walking home from school.
The front door knob of the house where Laurie is babysitting is on the right when seen from both sides of the door.
Although the story takes place in Illinois, all the cars have California license plates.
When Laurie sees the shape near the bush, cigarette smoke from John Carpenter's cigarette can be seen floating into view.
While Bob and Lynda are heading up to the bedroom from the living room, Lynda trips on a dolly track and tries to ignore it. [widescreen only]
After Laurie thinks she's killed Michael in the living room, the knife is left laying on the floor by the sofa. Then Michael attacks her upstairs with it. At the very end, the knife is seen laying next to the sofa again.
When Michael Myers, as a child, walks through the living room with the knife, the clock on the wall reads 9:40, but just 5-7 seconds later, the clock chimes 10 times.
Tommy sees Michael carrying Annie back inside the house. However, when it cuts back to the shot, Michael is carrying Annie the other way.
When Michael breaks into the car at the beginning and steals it, the window is cracked. However, throughout the rest of the movie, it isn't cracked.
In a close up on the phone before Lindsay answers it, someone's shadow moves into the light.
When Laurie is trapped in the kitchen, she breaks away glass to move the rake. The shards of fake glass are clearly visible. However, when it cuts back to the shot, the shards of glass are gone.
When Annie arrives to pick up Laurie at 6:30pm on Halloween, it the sun is shining. In fact, in Illinois at 6:30 on Halloween, it's already dark.
When Annie drops off Laurie at the Doyle house, Laurie walks towards the front door which is a French door in this scene; throughout the rest of the movie the door is solid.
After Laurie escapes the Wallace house and is being pursued by Michael, it is clearly visible that all of the lights are off both in and outside of the Wallace house. At the end of the movie, however, the Wallace house is shown with the porch lights on.
The narrow windows on either side of the front door of the Wallace house are not the same pattern on the inside as they are on the outside.
When Bob is carrying Lynda from his van he leaves the passenger door open. Later, when Laurie sees the van as she's going to the Wallace house, the door is shut.
Annie opens her car door without unlocking it because Michael unlocked it and is waiting inside. While this could have aroused her suspicions if she were particularly alert, it might not registered until too late. It is a bit odd that she didn't even try to unlock it, though perhaps she doesn't always lock her car.
When Michael stabs his sister as a child, you see it from his point of view through the mask. As he is butchering her, he is not looking at her, but in fact he is staring at his own hand. This is presumably part of his sickness.
Michael Myers is said to have killed his sister in 1963, when he was six years old. With the rest of the film taking place in 1978 (15 years later), he is 21. However, in the end credits, the adult Myers is listed as age 23.
When Michael breaks the car window behind the nurse's head you can see a wrench tied to his hand.
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