It's the perfect slasher movie. Often imitated, never duplicated, John Carpenter's Halloween is a masterpiece of suspense and terror, giving the horror movie world one of its best-known masked villains: The Shape, aka Michael Myers. Reboots, remakes, endless sequels, love them or hate them, there's no beating the 1978 original.

The film is over 40 years old, yet it still makes a lasting impact as new generations discover this timeless classic. Due to the nature of the title, the movie is revisited by many every Halloween as a must-watch. With how many times people have seen there, there is plenty they may not know. Here are killer facts about John Carpenter's Halloween.

Update October 31, 2023: Happy Halloween! With the holiday that the film is named after, this article has been updated with more facts about John Carpenter's iconic 1978 film.

Was Going To Be Called The Babysitter Murders

John Carpenter and his longtime producing partner, the late Debra Hill, co-wrote the script for Halloween in just ten days. They nearly called this movie The Babysitter Murders. They settled on Halloween because they discovered that nobody actually owned the rights to the title Halloween, which they thought for sure would have been taken. They snatched up the rights, and the rest is history.

Quick Turnaround and Was Made for Cheap

The production itself was remarkably short. Preproduction, principal photography, and post-production took place over a combined 12 weeks. That averages out to be about one month per each phase of production. Carpenter composed the almost instantly iconic Halloween score in just three days.

John Carpenter received $10,000 to write, direct, and score Halloween, and Jamie Lee Curtis earned only $8,000 for her role as Laurie. Since the budget was so low—reported at around $300,000— Carpenter relied on his friends to help crew the movie. Without funds for a wardrobe department, all the actors wore their own clothes.

The lack of funds for more lighting also contributed to many of the film's dark scenes—something that wasn't intentional. In the end, Carpenter also retained 10 percent of the film's profits, making his payday worthwhile in the end.

Haddonfield Has Real Roots

Film producer Debra Hill wrote the first draft of Halloween, and it was her idea to set it in a town called Haddonfield, even though Haddonfield, Illinois, is a fictional town. Hill grew up in Haddonfield, New Jersey, which actually resembled the small town besieged by Michael Myers throughout the years. Carpenter and Hill felt the idea that the movie's horrific events could happen in any suburban town added to its fear factor.

The irony is that despite taking place in Illinois, the film was actually filmed in California. Pasadena specifically, as it is clear by the palm trees in background shots, which is not a tree anyone in Illinois would find.

Michael, Michael, Michael

Carpenter's old USC classmate Nick Castle, who played the Beach Ball Alien and worked as a camera assistant on Dark Star, visited the Halloween set to watch his friend direct. Carpenter suggested he put on the mask and play the killer. 'Though it's actor Tony Moran's face when Michael is unmasked, it's Castle's movements and overall presence that became one of the most recognizable parts of the movie.

Castle collaborated with Carpenter several more times behind the scenes and went on to direct The Last Starfighter and The Boy Who Could Fly, among other movies. Halloween editor and production designer Tommy Lee Wallace, who himself went on to direct Halloween III: Season of the Witch, actually played The Shape during the classic closet scene.

What's In a Name?

Several of the characters in Halloween are named after people Carpenter knew in real life or in tribute to his influences. "Laurie" was an ex-girlfriend. "Michael Myers" was a film distributor who helped get Assault on Precinct 13 out in the UK. Sheriff Leigh Brackett is named after the author and screenwriter responsible for The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo, The Long Goodbye, and (together with Lawrence Kasdan) The Empire Strikes Back. (Sadly, Brackett passed away the same year Halloween was released.)

Laurie's off-screen crush, Ben Tramer, was named after Carpenter pal Bennett Tramer, who went on to be a writer/producer on TV's Saved by the Bell. Tommy Doyle is named after the detective from Rear Window. Dr. Sam Loomis was named after a character from another Alfred Hitchcock classic, Psycho, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Jamie Lee Curtis' famous mother, Janet Leigh.

Family Ties

Carpenter's first choice to play Laurie Strode was Anne Lockhart, later best known for her role as Lieutenant Sheba on the original Battlestar Galactica, but she turned him down. Jamie Lee Curtis, who had yet to appear in a feature film, loved Assault on Precinct 13 and was determined to work with Carpenter.

Debra Hill loved the idea of giving Janet Leigh's daughter a starring role in what had the potential to become another genre classic. Carpenter directed both women in his next movie, The Fog, and the mother/daughter duo worked together again in 1998's Halloween: H2O.

Hammer Horror

Carpenter offered the role of Dr. Loomis to Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, two veterans of the Hammer horror films. Unfortunately, the film's meager budget couldn't afford either of them. They were, however able to secure actor Donald Pleasance, who was famous for his role as Blofeld in the James Bond film, You Only Live Twice, and as SEN 5241 in George Lucas' THX-1138.

Donald Pleasence went on to play Dr. Loomis in five films: Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. He also played the President in Carpenter's 1981 sci-fi action classic Escape from New York. Dr. Loomis is role Plesance is now most famous for.

William Shatner

The now iconic mask was described in the script as little more than "the pale, neutral features of a man." Production designer Tommy Lee Wallace grabbed a couple of cheap masks from a local store for just $2 each. The mask in question was a Captain Kirk mask stretched out and painted white, which caught Carpenter's eye. Of course, now we call it the "Michael Myers mask." Shatner has even gotten in on the fun and wore a Michael Myers mask one year for Halloween.

Fun Cameos

John Carpenter has a voice cameo in Halloween as Annie's boyfriend on the other end of the phone. Debra Hill is in the movie, too; young Michael's hands actually belong to her in the opening scenes, as the child actor couldn't be on set for more than one day and certainly couldn't be around for all of that nudity. Jamie Lee has a Carpenter-esque voice cameo of her own in Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

New Scenes Were Shot for TV

NBC wanted to air Halloween in October 1981 to coincide with the release of the sequel (which Carpenter co-wrote and produced but did not direct). But once the nudity and some of the violence were cut for broadcast, the original's runtime was too short for its time slot. So Carpenter oversaw the completion of new footage during Halloween II's production, including some scenes that hinted at the eventual revelation in Halloween II that Michael and Laurie were actually brother and sister.

A Film Distributor Helped Get the Film Made

Irwin Yablans was a small-time film distributor when he met John Carpenter, who needed help getting his movie The Seige distributed. Yablans retitled the movie Assault on Precinct 13 and helped it find an audience. Yablans also claims it was his idea to make Halloween, saying in the documentary The Movies That Made Us, "Out of nowhere, I thought, why don't we make a movie about babysitters being terrorized in a single night." He claims it was also his idea to originally title the movie The Babysitter Murders.

John Carpenter Never Wanted to Make a Horror Film

Even though Halloween cemented John Carpenter's reputation as a master of horror, he originally got into filmmaking to make westerns. He claimed his favorite films were westerns and suspense, but he never set out to make a horror masterpiece. He told Interview magazine, "(Westerns) already died out as a genre, so I made 'Halloween' and everyone came running because it made money. That's the only reason why."

Every "Thing" Comes Full Circle

One of the movies that the kids are watching in Halloween is the 1951 film The Thing from Another World. Four years after the release of Halloween, director John Carpenter would direct the remake, The Thing. While originally a box office flop, The Thing is now regarded as one of the greatest horror movies ever made and one of the best remakes. It was clear Carpenter had the idea of remaking the film as far back as Halloween as he planted this fun easter egg that would become a fun fact years later.

The Script Uses a Term from Our Dark History

Even though most casual viewers know the killer of Halloween as Michael Myers, diehard fans know him better as The Shape, thanks to the movie's original script. Carpenter and Hill referred to the masked killer as The Shape — a term borrowed from the Salem Witch Trial judges who called spirits who harm others "shapes."

Witches would then become a major part of Halloween with Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which became infamous as the only Halloween film without Michael Myers. Halloween was originally intended as an anthology series, but following that film, disappointment brought back Michael Myers.

Halloween and the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Kyle Richards appeared in Halloween as Lindsay Wallace when she was just 9 years old. The small role as one of the kids that Laurie babysits might not seem like much, but Richards would go on to have one of the most interesting careers of the ensemble.

Starting in 2010, she became one of the main cast members of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hils. She has since spun this off into becoming a major reality television show star, appearing in 2017 on The New Celebrity Apprentice and then in 2021 starring in the Real Housewives spin-off, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. That same year, she reprised her role as Lindsay Wallace in Halloween Kills and returned one year later in Halloween Ends.

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