FILM 1917: HALLOWEEN

FILM 1917: HALLOWEEN 

TRIVIA: Jake Gyllenhaal helped convince Jamie Lee Curtis to reprise her role of Laurie Strode for the film. Jake Gyllenhaal is a family friend of Curtis' and is dubbed by her as an unofficial godson.

The role of Allyson, Laurie's granddaughter, became somewhat of a coveted role. Multiple popular actresses including Lucy Hale and Emma Roberts met with Danny McBride to personally talk about the movie. However, the studio decided that they wanted to go back to the roots of the first movie and cast an unknown actress, similar to how Jamie Lee Curtis was cast in the original.

As with the original Halloween (1978), Michael Myers is listed in the credits not as "Michael Myers", but "The Shape".

The film's producer is Malek Akkad, who is the son of Moustapha Akkad, the producer of the original 1978 "Halloween." Moustapha Akkad was murdered, along with his daughter Rima (Malek's sister), in the terrorist bombing of an Amman, Jordan hotel in 2005. Jamie Lee Curtis has recounted how the first person whom she saw when she came to the set for the first day of filming the 2018 film was Malek, whom she remembered as a 7 year-old child visiting the set during production of the original film. She added that seeing Malek for the first time since his father's death immediately brought her to tears.

On the tv, a newscaster can be heard describing the events of the original film as "the babysitter murders". This was originally the title Carpenter wanted for Halloween (1978). It was only changed to Halloween after the producer Irwin Yablans thought up the idea and to release it near Halloween. The rest is history.

While the film ignores all previous sequels and reboots, it pays homage to all Halloween films, as had been intended by co-Writer Danny McBride.

Jamie Lee Curtis revealed to Chris Hardwick on his podcast that she performed the sounds of the baby crying when Michael walks through the house after slaughtering the resident with a hammer and grabbing a butcher's knife from the kitchen.

FILM 1871: TOURIST TRAP

FILM 1871: TOURIST TRAP

TRIVIA: The script originally called for nudity, but Schmoeller said he was too bashful and embarrassed to bring it up with Tanya Roberts and the other actresses during casting. When they got to the lake scene, he finally asked them if they'd be willing. The collective answer was no.

Stephen King praised the film in his book Danse Macabre, especially its frightful opening scene.

Director David Schmoeller was startled when the film received a PG rating despite its disturbing subject matter. Schmoeller stated in an interview with TerrorTrap.com that he felt the film would have been more commercially successful had it received an R rating.

The mannequin who gives the female lead something to drink is actually Schmoeller's then-wife. The mannequin originally had 2 lines, but Schmoeller had them edited out during post-production. She then never forgave him for that.

FILM 1832: POPCORN

FILM 1832: POPCORN

TRIVIA: The title "Popcorn" was linked to an element in the story. This element was removed before the final cut. The producers and distributor liked the title so it was kept.

The reason that the teenagers listen only to reggae music is that this film was actually shot in Jamaica.

The "Dreamland Theatre" shown in the film is actually The Ward Theatre in Kingston, Jamaica.

After three weeks of shooting, Amy O'Neill was replaced by Jill Schoelen. Schoelen has said that she did not have much interaction with the cast since many of the scenes had already been filmed with O'Neill and in most cases just needed to make quick re-shoots with Schoelen.

While the film flopped in cinemas, it has since become a classic among horror fans, largely due to it's homage to William Castle, who is known for creating theater gags such as the ones depicted in Popcorn.

The character of "Lanyard Gates" was very loosely inspired by eccentric Brazilian filmmaker José Mojica Marins.

FILM 1711: FREDDY VS. JASON

TRIVIA: Ken Kirzinger had to undergo some dental work during filming, but it would have taken too much time to remove his make-up and costume and reapply them. When he arrived at the dentist's office still dressed as Jason (without the hockey mask), people were afraid he was an escaped psychopath, and almost called the police.

Standing at 6'5" (1.96 meters) tall, Ken Kirzinger is the tallest actor to date to play Jason Voorhees.

The final film in which Robert Englund plays the role of Freddy Krueger.

Brent Chapman (Blake's father) and Kyle Labine (Freeburg) appeared in Halloween: Resurrection (2002), making them the first actors to appear in a Freddy, a Jason, and a Michael Myers film.

Brad Renfro was originally cast as Will, but had to be replaced less than a week before shooting began. Jason Ritter, who actually got the part, had initially tested, but they didn't feel that he was right for the role.

Robert Englund was excited at the casting of Katharine Isabelle as "Gibb", as he was a big fan of her cult-film Ginger Snaps (2000), a Canadian werewolf film.

During test and advance screenings, the ending was not added to the film. Instead, the following text appeared: "On August 15th, 2003 see the final sixty seconds and see who has survived...and what is left of them." This is a direct reference to the tagline for the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), which is "Who will survive and what will be left of them?"

Gibb (Katharine Isabelle) is always shown wearing a red baseball hat. This is an reference from Carrie (1976), where P.J. Soles' character always wore a red baseball cap. Isabelle appeared in Carrie (2002).

According to the book Slash of the Titans: The Road to Freddy vs Jason, the crossover sequel officially had sixteen screenwriters across ten different versions of the story. This was per the Writer's Guild Arbitration Panel findings. Unofficially, this movie had many more unsolicited treatments and drafts, both internally and externally.

FILM 1397: MY BLOODY VALENTINE

TRIVIA: The film was shot in authentic mines which were often as much as 900 feet underground. Only certain lighting devices could be used in the mines because of the potential danger of methane explosions.

In a recent interview, actor Neil Affleck revealed that he still has the miner's helmet that he wore in the film.

Producers André Link and John Dunning said the films origin came about when they sought to find a holiday which a slasher film had not been set on during the "slasher flick boom" of the early 1980s. They settled on Valentine's Day and in order to keep the idea from being copied they made the films working title "The Secret", though they had the release title in mind the whole time.

The caption near the beginning states "Thursday February 12th", indicating that the dance will be on Saturday the 14th. That means Friday the 13th falls in between them. The Friday the 13th series was released by Paramount and the plot of My Bloody Valentine is similar to the Friday the 13th films.

In an interview with TerrorTrap.com director George Mihalka said that the shooting location at Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia was chosen because of its rustic atmospheric appearance. However when the locals found out that a movie was to be shot there they decided to spend $50,000 to have the mine painted and cleaned! This, of course, diminished the reason that the production wanted the location to begin with. Mihalka said that $75,000 of the films budget was then used to return the mine to its original state for shooting.

Quentin Tarantino has named My Bloody Valentine as his all-time favorite slasher film.

FILM 1226: URBAN LEGEND

TRIVIA: The killers outfit is based on the fact that the film was originally planned to be set in the middle of winter. When the weather was too warm it was decided to drop the winter aspect of the storyline, rather than fake snow in all the outdoor scenes and dress all the extras in winter outfits, but they kept the killers costume.

At the end of the movie, students from an unnamed college recount the movie's events as an urban legend. They joke about the tale's validity, and one says, "And I bet Brenda was the girl from the Noxzema commercials." Actress Rebecca Gayheart, who plays Brenda in the film, did indeed appear in several commercials for Noxzema.

The car driven in the beginning was originally supposed to be a Land Rover. It was changed to the Ford Expedition (the largest 4x4 available at the time) because the filmmakers discovered they couldn't swing an axe inside a Land Rover.

The book sitting on the desk in Professor Wexler's desk in his class is "The Vanishing Hitchhiker," which is one of the seminal texts on urban legends.

The author of "The Encyclopedia of Urban Legends" is Charles Breen. The doctor on Tosh's bottle of lithium is a doctor Charles Breen. Charles William Breen is the production designer.

The last name of Natasha Gregson Wagner's character is 'Mancini'. Don Mancini is the name of the writer of all the "Child's Play" films, and the other actor that is featured in the beginning of the film, Brad Dourif, does the voice of Chucky.

Film 896: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Trivia: The first time Taylor interviews Eugene and his wife, a Lament Configuration puzzle box from Hellraiser can be seen sitting on a table.

Doc Halloran's wardrobe (and beard) is nearly identical to that of Donald Pleasence's character Doctor Loomis from the Halloween films.

When Leslie is applying his makeup while being interviewed about his target, the song playing in the background is the same as that heard at the end of The Shining, where Jack Torrence appears in the photo: ''Midnight, The Stars and You,'' sung by Al Bowlly with the Ray Noble Orchestra, 1934.

Zelda Rubinstein uses her signature voice from The Scariest Places on Earth while telling the legend of Leslie Vernon to the girl in the library.

When Leslie first takes Taylor and her crew to meet Eugene and his wife, the car parked in Eugene's driveway is the same color, make and model as the car seen in The Evil Dead films.