Grays Almanac

Home/Episodes/Halloween

‘Halloween’ (1978) with Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan

October 26, 2021 · Halloween (1978) · Horror · Thriller · 1:30:37 · ▶ Listen on Spotify

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

Categories

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 30:04Multiple scenes: Loomis driving to Illinois State Hospital in the rain, three girls walking from high school with Myers driving by, Annie's last 15-20 minutes, Loomis parked outside Myers house with kids, and Bob goes to get a beer leading to the Myers head tilt
Chris Ryan▶ 32:33Agrees with and adds commentary to another host's picks, particularly noting the effectiveness of the teenage dialogue and character archetypes

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 54:29Myers killing his older sister even though he's six (logistically problematic), Jamie Lee Curtis stunt casting no longer matters since people don't know the Psycho connection, and the sexual subtext interpretations becoming disturbing when later sequels reveal sibling relationship
Chris Ryan▶ 59:08The sexual conditioning that people were okay with sexually active characters dying in horror movies through the 80s-2000s, and how horror movies drew deep psychological interpretations that may not have been intentionally crafted

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:00:31Peter Cushing — Discusses multiple casting what-ifs: Pleasance was third choice after Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee turned down Dr. Loomis for low pay; notes Christopher Lee would have been weird casting; mentions Anne Lockhart was Carpenter's original choice over Jamie Lee Curtis; highlights Dennis Quaid was supposed to be Bob but couldn't film due to scheduling
Chris Ryan▶ 1:00:53Peter Cushing — Comments on Peter Cushing coming off Star Wars and having leverage to turn down roles; shares anecdote about Dennis Quaid at a screening ready to fight a heckler while dating PJ Soles

Joey Pants Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:03:04Charles Cyphers — Charles Cyphers (Sheriff Brackett)

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:04:24Cemetery guy who never finishes the story with the Canadian tuxedo
Chris Ryan▶ 1:04:14Nancy Stephens — Nancy Stevens as Marion Chambers, the nurse

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:08:38John Carpenter — John Carpenter: Escape from New York, Jamie Lee Curtis: True Lies, Michael Myers: H2O, PJ Soles: Stripes, Halloween: perpetual apex mountain, Movie Serial Killers: yes for Michael Myers
Chris Ryan▶ 1:08:43John Carpenter — John Carpenter: Escape from New York, Jamie Lee Curtis: agrees with True Lies, Halloween: perpetual apex mountain, Movie Serial Killers: yes for Michael Myers, compares him to Lecter

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 1:20:22How Michael Myers can drive a car after 15 years locked up, navigate 150 miles back to Haddonfield, and have enough gas for a 300-mile round trip plus driving around all day when 1970s cars only got 11 miles per gallon. His explanation: Satan is controlling Myers and guiding the car.
Chris Ryan▶ 1:21:28The driving logistics - researched that 1970s cars averaged 11 miles per gallon, making Myers' extensive driving impossible without refueling. Also questions how Myers would know how to get gas or have money to pay for it.

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:25:02John Carpenter
Chris Ryan▶ 1:25:05John Carpenter — John Carpenter (noting Curtis is right there with him, but it's got to be Carpenter)

Movies Referenced (32)

Jaws (1975)

13 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 16:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Psycho (1960)

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 24:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Carrie (1976)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 5:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Escape from New York (1981)

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 1:08:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Scream (1996)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 7:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Town (2010)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 22:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Don't Breathe (2016)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 18:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Friday the 13th (1980)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 15:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Major League (1989)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:03:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rushmore (1998)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 2:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 1:00:53IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 4:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (2)

John Carpenter

4 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Dark Star, Halloween▶ 3:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

James Wiseman

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 55:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (27)

Jamie Lee

9 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Brave, Cold Mountain▶ 11:47IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dennis Quaid

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Far from Heaven, The Day After Tomorrow▶ 1:02:11IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jamie Lee Curtis

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for True Lies, Everything Everywhere All at Once▶ 5:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Paul Rudd

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp▶ 20:47IMDb ↗Lb ↗

William Shatner

4 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan▶ 45:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Christopher Lee

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Wicker Man▶ 1:00:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Peter Cushing

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, The Curse of Frankenstein▶ 1:00:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Vincent Hanna

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 1:03:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Butch Cassidy

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Hollywood Homicide▶ 1:30:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kyle Richards

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Halloween, Halloween Kills▶ 51:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tommy Wallace

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for A Christmas Story▶ 45:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

White Lies

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Bad Batch, Jennifer's Body▶ 1:09:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (4)

Debra Hill

5 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Halloween▶ 22:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Andy Greenwald

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Raymond Chandler

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Double Indemnity, The Big Sleep▶ 1:07:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 22:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗