‹ All movies

The Rewatchables ·

Halloween

year 1978decade 70sdirector John Carpentergenre Horror
host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanproducer Craig Horlbeck
All 16 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 27:51

The closet scene

Chris Ryan: The segment opens with a warning of Loomis monologue impressions; some people would pick the five-minute single-shot opening, likened to the Goodfellas shot.

Chris Ryan: The opening is left out of the picks: the older sister never stands up to a six-year-old with a butcher knife, the teenage boyfriend is upstairs only about two and a half minutes, and the parents just stare at Michael holding the bloody knife.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie? · 1:22:22

Original mask

Bill Simmons: The original mask is the obvious answer, since it no longer exists; the station wagon is also raised.

The film

Halloween (1978)

Directed by John Carpenter · Horror

92 minutes

IMDb Find on JustWatch Find on Rotten Tomatoes
Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Donald Pleasence Dr. Samuel "Sam" Loomis
Jamie Lee Curtis Laurie Strode
Nick Castle The Shape (Michael Myers masked)
Tony Moran Michael Myers – age 21 (unmasked)
Will Sandin Michael Myers – age 6
Nancy Kyes Annie Brackett (credited as Nancy Loomis)
P. J. Soles Lynda Van Der Klok
Charles Cyphers Sheriff Leigh Brackett
Kyle Richards Lindsey Wallace
Brian Andrews Tommy Doyle
Nancy Stephens Marion Chambers
Arthur Malet Angus Taylor
Mickey Yablans Richie Castle
Brent Le Page Lonnie Elam
Robert Phalen Dr. Wynn
Sandy Johnson Judith Myers
Peter Griffith Morgan Strode
David Kyle Foster Judith's boyfriend (credited as David Kyle)

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

22:16

Roger Ebert's review
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:16Read transcript
  • The Ebert segment is flagged as one of the most surprising for listeners, and the film is given four stars. — Chris Ryan
  • The review is quoted: a visceral experience in which "we aren't seeing the movie, we're having it happen to us"; if you don't like really scary movies, don't see this one. — Chris Ryan
  • Ebert also selected it as one of his top 10 films of 1978. — Chris Ryan
  • A host asks how anyone who saw it could not give it four stars. — Chris Ryan
Share this discussion More Roger Ebert's review answers
27:51

Most Rewatchable Scene

The closet scene

The closet scene

In the discussion (20)
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:51Read transcript
  • The segment opens with a warning of Loomis monologue impressions; some people would pick the five-minute single-shot opening, likened to the Goodfellas shot. — Chris Ryan
  • The opening is left out of the picks: the older sister never stands up to a six-year-old with a butcher knife, the teenage boyfriend is upstairs only about two and a half minutes, and the parents just stare at Michael holding the bloody knife. — Chris Ryan
  • Loomis driving to Illinois State Hospital in the rain with the nurse Marion: patients wandering in gowns, no backup, Loomis running ahead to the phone while Myers takes the station wagon, and Loomis partly to blame. — Chris Ryan
  • The three girls walking home from school carrying books, Myers driving by in the wagon, and the "Speed kills" exchange; the speaker might own a Speed Kills coffee mug. — Chris Ryan
  • Their banter sets up the archetypes; the speaker's mom called the dialogue bad, while Debra Hill supposedly wrote the girls' scenes, and Annie's meanness to Laurie rings true for a friend group you are stuck with. — Chris Ryan
  • Laurie's crush on Ben Tramer and the sheriff bumping into her with "Everyone's entitled to one scare" are also liked; the sheriff is a little creepy. — Chris Ryan
  • Annie's last stretch: stuck in the laundry room, Myers floating in and around, the dog dying (the dog category may need to return), and a weirdly long, disturbing strangling in the car before the knife; the throat slit probably lacked blood because of the low budget. — Chris Ryan
  • Loomis parked outside the Myers house yells "Hey, Lonnie, get your ass away from there," is delighted with himself, and is then startled by the sheriff. — Chris Ryan
  • Loomis's monologue in the house about the six-year-old with "the devil's eyes" who was "purely and simply evil" is added as a rewatchable scene; the sheriff's muted response gets mayor-from-Jaws comparisons. — Chris Ryan
  • Loomis's "Death has come to your little town, sheriff" speech meets Brackett's "More fancy talk"; Brackett seems consumed by petty crimes like the hardware store break-in. — Chris Ryan
  • Bob going to get a beer and being pinned to the wall leads to the Myers head tilt, called the single scariest moment in probably any horror movie; widescreen and HD now make it visible. — Chris Ryan
  • Part two: Myers puts on the ghost costume with Bob's glasses, a playful Myers, then kills P. J. Soles's character while she calls Laurie. — Chris Ryan
  • Laurie's reaction on the phone is not terrified enough; the counterpoint is that she thinks her friends are fooling with her after a day of being told to get over what she saw. — Chris Ryan
  • The last 12 minutes play as one continuous scene: the long walk across, the Judith Myers tombstone, the mask out of the dark, the stabbing and the fall over the staircase, Myers coming down the stairs with his shoulders not moving, and "You can't kill the boogeyman." — Chris Ryan
  • The closet is called one of the greatest scenes in horror movie history, up there with anything Hitchcock did: the light, the wire hanger, his arms flailing, the window distraction, and his hands punching through; the reply agrees it is the single best scene in the movie. — Chris Ryan
  • Jamie Lee Curtis is praised as a great, believable scream queen, overqualified next to the Nightmare on Elm Street lead; the hosts doubt they could fashion a wire hanger into a weapon in 15 seconds. — Bill Simmons
  • The single best moment: Laurie standing in the doorway with her back turned while, in the wide shot, Myers rises and turns, maybe the single best horror movie moment of all time. — Chris Ryan
  • A host describes a YouTube clip of 1979 theater audio in which the crowd gasps when he stands up and someone yells "shoot him again!" — Chris Ryan
  • The last rewatchable scene is the ending: six shots, he is not there, and shots of all the scenes. — Chris Ryan
  • Asked for a pick: the final Michael chase, especially the closet, with everything in that bedroom named the most rewatchable scene; as a non-horror pick, the three girls walking home busting each other's chops and seeing Michael behind the bush. — Bill Simmons
Share this discussion More Most Rewatchable Scene answers
44:24

What’s Aged the Best?

Original Myers mask; Myers head tilts; lack of gore; the title; opening credits and music; Myers stalking Haddonfield...

Original Myers mask; Myers head tilts; lack of gore; the title; opening credits and music; Myers stalking Haddonfield all day; the driving exchange; the opening single take; nobody believing kids; neighbors shutting their lights; Bob's seventies van; the "blackest eyes" line; horny Myers; Kyle Richards as Lindsey; Sports Century Michael Myers column; Carpenter's filmmaking

In the discussion (16)
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:24Read transcript
  • The original mask is the best they ever did; the hosts recount that it was a Captain Kirk mask bought for two bucks on Hollywood Boulevard, eyeholes widened and spray-painted bluish white by Tommy Wallace, that Hill and Carpenter wanted him faceless and non-human, and that he becomes known as the Shape. — Chris Ryan
  • The hosts recount that a smiling clown mask with frizzy red hair was also tested but felt too weird, so they went with the Shatner mask. — Chris Ryan
  • The original mask was thrown out and never recreated, a big gripe of the host's buddy Jeff about the sequels; necessity was the mother of invention, including reusing leaves. — Chris Ryan
  • The head tilts, the smart lack of gore, and calling it Halloween rather than Halloween Massacre, The Shape or Michael Myers. — Chris Ryan
  • The opening credits with the pumpkin and the music, including the variations for Myers in motion versus Laurie crossing the street and the scare cue, with a Jaws comparison. — Chris Ryan
  • Michael stalking Haddonfield all day, though the girls should notice the same station wagon tailgating them. — Chris Ryan
  • The "For God's sake, Sam, he doesn't even know how to drive a car" exchange acknowledges how ridiculous his driving is. — Chris Ryan
  • The opening single take on a new camera, the "panel glide" as heard, is inventive, if maybe not a top-three single take. — Chris Ryan
  • The horror concept of nobody believing little kids, and the neighbors turning off their lights and closing their shades when Laurie comes to the door. — Chris Ryan
  • Bob's seventies van is added as an aged-best pick. — Bill Simmons
  • The "blank, pale, emotionless face, the blackest eyes, the devil's eyes" line; seeing little Michael makes the Shape scarier. — Bill Simmons
  • A host says deleted TV scenes on YouTube include Loomis before the medical board and "You fooled them all, Michael." — Chris Ryan
  • Horny Myers, watching hookups and the girl in the laundry room, "basically going through puberty in the movie." — Chris Ryan
  • A host notes that Lindsey was played by future Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards, who is in the new Halloween. — Chris Ryan
  • A personal pick: the speaker's own 2002 ESPN column written as a Sports Century episode about Michael Myers, satirizing media people and getting past Walsh's satire rule. — Chris Ryan
  • Carpenter's full filmmaking contribution: co-writing with Hill, directing and composing a score done in five days on a Casio, like Coppola also doing the Godfather music. — Chris Ryan
Share this discussion More What’s Aged the Best? answers
52:28

What’s Aged the Worst?

Myers killing his older sister at six; the Jamie Lee Curtis stunt casting; Myers's unrefined killing; most of the seq...

Myers killing his older sister at six; the Jamie Lee Curtis stunt casting; Myers's unrefined killing; most of the sequels

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:28Read transcript
  • A six-year-old killing his older sister still bothers the speaker, who thinks his own daughter could fend one off even sitting down. — Bill Simmons
  • Casting Jamie Lee as the daughter of a Psycho star was a big deal in 1978, when Psycho had only been out 15 years, but no longer matters. — Bill Simmons
  • Myers still struggles with the killing, with the raw tools there but not yet formed, compared to a young basketball player. — Chris Ryan
  • The sexual-subtext reading, as a host lays it out: the virgin survives while flirting with the killer, sings "I wish I had you all alone," and keeps leaving phallic objects (knitting needle, knife, wire hanger) near Myers; the host quotes Carpenter on her repressed energy. — Chris Ryan
  • The reading is doubted as more thought than the filmmakers put in; Carpenter is said to have "whistled a couple of different tunes," earlier saying she lived because she was least distracted. — Chris Ryan
  • The disturbing, effective trigger is that his sister is having sex, with Laurie as her proxy. — Chris Ryan
  • Halloween 2 and H2O make Laurie his sister, which muddles the subtext; franchises of that era were retrofitted with "spit and dental floss." — Chris Ryan
  • Horror conditioned audiences to expect couples who walk off to have sex to die, through the nineties and maybe the 2000s; with 20 days and three babysitters, the filmmakers likely did not overthink it. — Bill Simmons
  • Most sequels: keep Halloween 1, a flawed Halloween 2 with some of Loomis's best stuff, H2O and the 2018 film; Halloween 4 is enjoyed, and Season of the Witch has defenders the host resists. — Bill Simmons
  • The other host has no further aged-worst picks; everything else is nitpicks. — Chris Ryan
Share this discussion More What’s Aged the Worst? answers
58:29

Casting What-Ifs

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee turned down Loomis; Carpenter wanted Anne Lockhart; Dennis Quaid was supposed to be...

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee turned down Loomis; Carpenter wanted Anne Lockhart; Dennis Quaid was supposed to be Bob

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:29Read transcript
  • The hosts say Pleasence was the third choice and that Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee both turned it down because the pay was too low; Lee, remembered as Dracula, would have been weird casting. — Bill Simmons
  • Cushing was coming off Star Wars; Star Wars and Halloween back to back would have been iconic. — Bill Simmons
  • The hosts describe Pleasence as having peaked as a Bond guy and being in The Great Escape, and say he hosted Saturday Night Live in 1981, is considered one of the weirdest hosts, and kept going through the sequels. — Chris Ryan
  • The hosts say Carpenter wanted Anne Lockhart, daughter of June Lockhart from Lassie, but she was in other stuff, so they went with Jamie Lee, whose mom was in Psycho. — Chris Ryan
  • The hosts say Dennis Quaid, then dating P. J. Soles, was supposed to be Bob but was doing another movie, and tell a screening story in which Quaid offers to fight a heckler. — Chris Ryan
Share this discussion More Casting What-Ifs answers
1:01:22

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Charles Cyphers

Charles Cyphers

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:22Read transcript
  • The sheriff, Charles Cyphers as Sheriff Brackett, who was also in The Fog, Assault on Precinct 13 and Major League. — Chris Ryan
Share this discussion More The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award answers
1:01:22

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

P. J. Soles

P. J. Soles

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:22Read transcript
  • P. J. Soles is the pick ("Come on, Bob"); the giggling is a little overacting, and Annie also really goes for it. — Chris Ryan
  • A junior Vincent Hanna, the "Little Vince" award, goes to Tommy. — Chris Ryan
Share this discussion More The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award answers
1:02:14

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Cemetery guy who never finishes his story

Cemetery guy who never finishes his story

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:14Read transcript
  • Nominees: Annie, though she may be in it too much as the fourth lead; Nancy Stephens as Marion Chambers; and Lonnie. — Chris Ryan
  • The winner is the cemetery guy in a Canadian tuxedo who never finishes his story before Loomis cuts him off, a strong 90 seconds. — Bill Simmons
Share this discussion More The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance answers
1:02:40

Recasting Couch

Casting left intact; Kurt Russell as Bob

Casting left intact; Kurt Russell as Bob

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:40Read transcript
  • Recasting is refused: the movie is perfect. — Bill Simmons
  • Asked whether Kurt Russell could fit as Bob or the sheriff, the answer is Bob, since Brackett has to be older as Annie's dad. — Chris Ryan
Share this discussion More Recasting Couch answers
1:03:05

Half-Assed Internet Research

Carpenter's psychiatric-hospital inspiration; the fear meter; The Babysitter Murders script; California locations; Ca...

Carpenter's psychiatric-hospital inspiration; the fear meter; The Babysitter Murders script; California locations; Carpenter's $10,000 fee; character-name origins; the station wagon's fate; the Orange Grove Avenue houses

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:05Read transcript
  • The hosts report that Carpenter toured a psychiatric hospital in college and met a child who stared at him with "a look of evil," the source of the blackest-eyes idea. — Chris Ryan
  • The hosts report the film was shot out of sequence in 20 days, so Carpenter created a fear meter for Jamie Lee. — Chris Ryan
  • The hosts report the original script, The Babysitter Murders, took place over several days and became one day for budget reasons. — Chris Ryan
  • The hosts point to Southern California shooting visible in palm trees, California plates, and a hardware store on Genesee. — Chris Ryan
  • The hosts report that the producer heard as "Yoblins" and Akkad paid Carpenter $10,000 to write, direct and score, that the same producer suggested Halloween, that Carpenter pictured an old haunted-house film, and that the script took 10 days. — Chris Ryan
  • Name origins as the hosts give them: Haddonfield from Hill's New Jersey hometown, Bowling Green street names, Laurie Strode an old girlfriend, Michael Myers a producer, Tommy Doyle a Rear Window homage, Sam Loomis a Psycho homage, and Brackett after a screenwriter. — Chris Ryan
  • The hosts report the 1978 Ford LTD station wagon was rented from the Illinois government, auctioned in 1981, left in a barn for 37 years and restored; the host wants it and guesses $95,000 to $100,000. — Chris Ryan
  • The hosts say the two homes are on Orange Grove Avenue, chosen for few palm trees, between Sunset and Franklin. — Chris Ryan
Share this discussion More Half-Assed Internet Research answers
1:06:45

Apex Mountain

Halloween (the holiday) movies

Halloween (the holiday) movies

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:45Read transcript
  • For Carpenter, Escape from New York is the likely apex, though this is a pretty incredible job. — Chris Ryan
  • Jamie Lee: no; Trading Places is floated before True Lies is agreed as her apex. — Chris Ryan
  • For Michael Myers, a case could be made for H2O. — Chris Ryan
  • It is not a haunted-house movie, though it dips into that DNA; for P. J. Soles, Stripes. — Chris Ryan
  • The film is perpetual Apex Mountain for Halloween the holiday; nobody will steal that corner, and few movies must be watched at a specific time of year. — Chris Ryan
  • For movie serial killers, "probably yes," with Lecter the only comparison, and a joke that Lecter would get Myers to swallow his tongue. — Chris Ryan
Share this discussion More Apex Mountain answers
1:08:56

Picking Nits

Premature boyfriend; repaired wagon window; tombstone theft; sheriff not warning his daughter; no TV or radio warning...

Premature boyfriend; repaired wagon window; tombstone theft; sheriff not warning his daughter; no TV or radio warning; conspicuous station wagon; slow hardware-store response; Loomis missing the wagon; phone-line cutting; Annie's butter strip; parents out on Halloween; extra knife

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:56Read transcript
  • The teenage boyfriend finished fast, which saved his life. — Chris Ryan
  • The wagon's passenger window, smashed to take Marion out, is intact again when he follows Tommy. — Chris Ryan
  • Myers finds the graveyard and his sister's grave at night without a map and carries the heavy tombstone to his car. — Chris Ryan
  • A mailbag reader's point: the sheriff never warns his own daughter about the maniac on the loose. — Chris Ryan
  • Loomis rejects warning people via TV and radio because they would see him on every street corner. — Chris Ryan
  • Myers drives a reported-stolen wagon with Illinois State Hospital tags around town all day, and no red flag is raised. — Chris Ryan
  • The sheriff is still handling the hardware store break-in hours later. — Chris Ryan
  • Loomis stakes out the Myers house for hours and never turns around to see the station wagon. — Chris Ryan
  • Where did Myers learn to cut a phone line in the asylum? A joke imagines electives such as evasive driving and grave removal. — Chris Ryan
  • Annie stripping in the kitchen over a little butter is a porn-movie setup to get her naked and vulnerable in the laundry room. — Chris Ryan
  • All the parents are out on Halloween, as if at a key party; an indie movie from the parents' perspective is pitched. — Bill Simmons
  • A knife is left downstairs after he takes one upstairs, likely an editing error. — Craig Horlbeck
Share this discussion More Picking Nits answers
1:17:25

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

No

No

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:17:25Read transcript
  • Absolutely not; Netflix has already worked that blueprint with Stranger Things and Fear Street. — Chris Ryan
  • A season that is mostly a high-school show until Michael Myers shows up would still be better than another sequel where Myers survives again. — Bill Simmons
  • A joke imagines Euphoria season three with Michael Myers showing up. — Chris Ryan
Share this discussion More Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake answers
1:18:25

Probably Unanswerable Questions

How Myers drives, navigates and refuels; opening the door to a screaming stranger

How Myers drives, navigates and refuels; opening the door to a screaming stranger

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:25Read transcript
  • Myers drives away in a rainstorm despite 15 years locked up, which the film acknowledges; Haddonfield is 150 miles away. — Chris Ryan
  • He would have to know the route from memory as a six-year-old. — Chris Ryan
  • At an average of 11 miles per gallon for 1970s cars, a 300-mile round trip needs gas; did he get it at the gas station? — Chris Ryan
  • After driving all day around Haddonfield, the car is "basically a Tesla." — Chris Ryan
  • A pitch for a movie about a nurse who gives asylum kids driving lessons and explains how to buy gas. — Chris Ryan
  • The answer landed on: if he is the boogeyman he is Satan, and Satan guides the car, gets the gas and cuts the phone lines. — Chris Ryan
  • A pseudo-unanswerable question: would you open the door to a screaming girl a week before Halloween 2021? One would; the other is unsure. — Chris Ryan
  • A late-70s razor-blade apple story in Brookline and stranger danger; neighbors would know the babysitter, so not calling the cops is unrealistic. — Bill Simmons
Share this discussion More Probably Unanswerable Questions answers
1:22:22

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Original mask; Judith Myers's tombstone; station wagon; Loomis's raincoat

Original mask; Judith Myers's tombstone; station wagon; Loomis's raincoat

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:22Read transcript
  • The original mask is the obvious answer, since it no longer exists; the station wagon is also raised. — Bill Simmons
  • Judith Myers's tombstone as a headboard. — Bill Simmons
  • The mask or the station wagon would be two of the best props you could buy. — Bill Simmons
  • Loomis's raincoat is a little underrated, though it never rains that Halloween. — Bill Simmons
Share this discussion More What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie? answers
1:23:17

Who Won the Movie?

John Carpenter

John Carpenter

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:17Read transcript
Podcast choices
Share this discussion More Who Won the Movie? answers

More from the conversation

A promo for The Ringer's 2018 Halloween Unmasked narrative podcast, hosted by Amy Nicholson, precedes the ads.
Approx. transcript time · 00:00:00Read transcript
A network plug is followed by a "hey, Lonnie" cold open.
Approx. transcript time · 00:01:20Read transcript
Chris Ryan is introduced; Halloween is called the greatest horror movie ever with no counter argument, unlike Meryl Streep as greatest actress, where someone could make the speaker think twice; a horror Rushmore would run nine or ten deep.
Approx. transcript time · 00:01:45Read transcript
Halloween put together the whole package of unkillable evil, the music and the final girl, with pieces in Hitchcock and Kubrick.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:42Read transcript
A producer pitched babysitter killers; ideas in play in 1978 included a Halloween title, the boogeyman, a masked killer, a haunted house, girls in peril, cheap indie horror, and suspense over gore.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:08Read transcript
Neighborhood haunted houses: a burned-down house in Connecticut and a forbidden part of a park.
Approx. transcript time · 00:04:32Read transcript
The film lucked into Carpenter, a young Jamie Lee Curtis and a ready audience; most carnage comes in the last 35-40 minutes; the latest Halloween sequel is disliked while the 2018 film was liked.
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:25Read transcript
The film is rooted in the seventies suburbs, with little supervision and no internet or cable; Scream was the late-nineties version.
Approx. transcript time · 00:06:44Read transcript
Halloween is the perfect day for a horror movie since anyone can wear a mask; a host dressed as Myers for H2O in 1998 at the Somerville theater.
Approx. transcript time · 00:09:02Read transcript
A host says half of the $300,000 budget went to Panavision cameras; widescreen shows the car behind Pleasence and the mask emerging behind Laurie, lost on square TVs; the film is still a banger 43 years later.
Approx. transcript time · 00:10:54Read transcript
Dean Cundey was a serious cinematographer.
Approx. transcript time · 00:12:47Read transcript
A host's history with the film: too young at nine, finally seeing it around summer 1980 after being scared by WHT, then TV deleted scenes and anniversary editions.
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:14Read transcript
About ten Halloween movies exist; a movie that tells you when to watch it, like Die Hard, Home Alone and Jaws, is a rewatchable secret.
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:33Read transcript
Showing the film to kids at five became a family tradition; the final-act street is on Orange Grove and the Myers house was in Pasadena.
Approx. transcript time · 00:16:32Read transcript
Setting Illinois in Los Angeles makes it feel like anywhere.
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:51Read transcript
Myers is the MJ of serial killers; an NBA 75 of serial killers is joked about, and Jason is called a Halloween ripoff.
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:16Read transcript
Sequel takes: Myers still learning in the first film, Halloween II fine for 20 minutes, III a mess, 4 seen with friend Jeff, H2O fun, 2018 good.
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:46Read transcript
A Blockbuster Michael Myers cutout, claimed around 1995, stood in a Charlestown living room for years.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:08Read transcript
Budget and gross are given as "$300 million budget, 47 million" (garbled ASR, apparently $300,000 against 47 million); the franchise is guessed at a billion dollars, and Debra Hill reportedly got profit participation.
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:51Read transcript
Parents' movies, Psycho feeling dated, and Halloween sitting closer to Psycho than Friday the 13th.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:42Read transcript
The final shots are among the best; it may be a top-five most ripped-off movie, echoed by Stranger Things and Summer of 84; it is a movie about watching.
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:04Read transcript
Before the categories, producer Craig is mentioned as the one who cuts in clips.
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:51Read transcript
Listeners are asked to tweet missed nitpicks; a host has seen the movie every year since 1980.
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:17Read transcript
Every limitation became a strength, like Carpenter scoring the film himself.
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:09Read transcript
Dr. Loomis is called a favorite character and an unintentional-comedy triumph but a bad doctor, echoing Brackett's "goddamn you for letting him out."
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:23Read transcript
Haddonfield geography: the Myers and Strode houses are close while the babysitting houses seem across town; trick-or-treaters seem done before dark; 20-day shoots cut corners.
Approx. transcript time · 01:27:42Read transcript
The close thanks Chris Ryan and credits Craig Horlbeck; the film is the third or fourth oldest they have covered, after Butch Cassidy, with The Exorcist and Jaws.
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:33Read transcript

Mentions across The Rewatchables