(no subject)
Nov. 12th, 2002 01:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiWhile dealing with insomnia last night, I hit the Tivo and watched the AMC Backstory on Halloween. I highly recommend it for anyone who's a fan of one of the scariest movies ever made. Unlike most episodes of Backstory, this was a full hour long, and although it short-changed some subjects that I'm interested in personally (the franchise and spinoffs were only touched on, and Jamie's decision to end her involvement in the last movie wasn't mentioned at all), there was a lot of great info.
Amongst the niftier things discussed:
Before getting Donald Pleasence for the role of Loomis, they attempted to get Peter Cushing, who was Carpenter's hero, and who turned down the role with much disdain. They also asked Christopher Lee, who told Debra Hill years later that turning down the role was the biggest mistake of his life.
Hill, incidentally, is from Haddonfield, NJ, which is where she came up with the name of the Illinois town Michael has so much fun in (and which Carpenter also used in his Body Bags film, by the way).
The super-spooky theme? It's five-four time, as Carpenter learned on the bongos, translated to a piano and with a few synth strings added. He wrote the entire score in three days, while directing the film.
Almost everyone involved with the movie acknowledged that they were hiring Jamie Lee Curtis because of who she was (daughter of the woman in the most famous horror film ever, etc), and any acting talent was pretty much a bonus.
The film was made for $320,000, and grossed over $70,000,000 in its original run. It was the most profitable indie film ever when it came out.
Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, I'm in the lab again and had ten minutes of free time. :-) Next rush comes soon.
Amongst the niftier things discussed:
Before getting Donald Pleasence for the role of Loomis, they attempted to get Peter Cushing, who was Carpenter's hero, and who turned down the role with much disdain. They also asked Christopher Lee, who told Debra Hill years later that turning down the role was the biggest mistake of his life.
Hill, incidentally, is from Haddonfield, NJ, which is where she came up with the name of the Illinois town Michael has so much fun in (and which Carpenter also used in his Body Bags film, by the way).
The super-spooky theme? It's five-four time, as Carpenter learned on the bongos, translated to a piano and with a few synth strings added. He wrote the entire score in three days, while directing the film.
Almost everyone involved with the movie acknowledged that they were hiring Jamie Lee Curtis because of who she was (daughter of the woman in the most famous horror film ever, etc), and any acting talent was pretty much a bonus.
The film was made for $320,000, and grossed over $70,000,000 in its original run. It was the most profitable indie film ever when it came out.
Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, I'm in the lab again and had ten minutes of free time. :-) Next rush comes soon.
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(no subject)
Date: 2002-11-12 11:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-11-12 11:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-11-12 11:28 am (UTC)There's a lot to respect about Jamie Lee Curtis, anymore.