Retro news: How the "Halloween" films have been scaring us since 1978
25.10.2023
Translation: machine translated
John Carpenter revolutionised the slasher subgenre in 1978 with his first "Halloween" and created the cult figure Michael Myers. The franchise and pure evil have lived on without interruption ever since.
Michael Myers is a cult figure and one of the most famous film villains of all time. His legacy began exactly 45 years ago: On 25 October 1978, the first "Halloween" film premiered in Kansas City in the US.
John Carpenter wrote the screenplay together with his girlfriend at the time, Debra Hill, in just three weeks. The original idea of making a film about a mentally ill killer who hunts babysitters came from film producers Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad. The film was given a budget of 325,000 US dollars, which was very little even by the standards of the time. Carpenter, who directed, wrote the screenplay and composed the music, earned just 10,000 dollars and ten per cent of the proceeds. Michael Myers actor Nick Castle even received just 25 dollars a day.
"Halloween" brings the slasher film subgenre into the mainstream
John Carpenter revolutionised the horror film with "Halloween" and paved the way for numerous other slasher films such as "Friday the 13th", "Chucky", "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Scream" and "My Bloody Valentine". Although the subgenre already existed, Carpenter combined many influences - including the "final girl" as the last survivor who confronts the killer and the consistent use of subjective point-of-view shots from the killer's perspective - in his film, which were later taken up by other films of the same subgenre. "Halloween" was a huge success, grossing 47 million dollars in the USA alone and establishing the slasher film in the mainstream.
The music from the 1978 film was also revolutionary. Carpenter created one of the most powerful and creepy soundtracks of all time. He relied on the adventurous use of early synthesiser pads and stabs. [[video:244337]]
A "Halloween" TV series awaits us
There are now 13 films in the "Halloween" franchise. The last trilogy was released in 2018, 2021 and 2022 by David Gordon Green: "Halloween", "Halloween Kills", "Halloween Ends". In terms of content, this merely follows on from the original and ignores all other sequels. All three films proved to be successful at the box office. No wonder, then, that Miramax recently secured the television rights to the "Halloween" franchise and signed a wide-ranging deal with Trancas International Films to develop and co-produce a TV series, as Deadline.com reported.
The Michael Myers character is also likely to be brought back to life. It is also a very popular costume for Halloween. Did you know, for example, that the legendary Michael Myers mask consists of a Captain Kirk mask? The filmmakers bought this mask with the face of the then actor William Shatner in a costume shop for just under two US dollars. The mask was then redesigned by production designer Tommy Lee Wallace and coloured a striking white. The fascination with this character remains unbroken. Pure evil: hiding is impossible. He will get you. And he himself is indestructible. Or is he?
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Cover photo: Willrow Hood/Shutterstock
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