Halloween (1978) is an American horror film directed by John Carpenter and written by Carpenter and Debra Hill. The film is set in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois, where six-year-old Michael Myers murders his sister on Halloween night in 1963. Fifteen years later, he escapes from Smith’s Grove Sanitarium and returns to Haddonfield, where he begins stalking high school student Laurie Strode and her friends. Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut as Laurie, with Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis and Nick Castle as the masked Michael Myers. Made on a small budget, Halloween became one of the most influential horror films of the late 1970s, helping define the modern slasher film through its suburban setting, restrained violence, wide-screen compositions, synthesiser score and the idea of an ordinary neighbourhood being invaded by an almost faceless killer.
Halloween is set in Illinois, but was filmed in Southern California, mainly around South Pasadena, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Alhambra and nearby Los Angeles-area locations. South Pasadena provides much of the film’s fictional Haddonfield, including the most famous location, Michael Myers’ childhood house. During filming, the Myers house stood at 707 Meridian Avenue, but it was later moved to 1000 Mission Street, where it still survives close to its original neighbourhood. Laurie Strode’s house is also in South Pasadena, at 1115 Oxley Street, while the famous hedge scene was filmed on Montrose Avenue. South Pasadena High School was used for Haddonfield High, and the intersection of Meridian Avenue and Mission Street appears in the scenes around Nichol’s Hardware, where Michael steals the mask and other items. Several of the night-time babysitting scenes were filmed on North Orange Grove Avenue in Hollywood and West Hollywood, including the Doyle and Wallace houses. Garfield Elementary School in Alhambra was used for Tommy Doyle’s school, while Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery appears as the cemetery where Judith Myers’ headstone is missing. The film’s locations are central to its effect: ordinary tree-lined streets, school buildings, family homes, hedges, pavements and quiet suburban roads are turned into Haddonfield, giving Halloween its lasting sense that the horror could happen in any peaceful American neighbourhood.
Michael Myers’ House
Michael Myers’ House appears in Halloween (1978). The building is one of the most important locations in the film and is used for the 1963 opening murder.
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