From a budget of $300,000 over a 20 day shoot, the film went on to gross $47 million at the US box office. In 2008, takings that would be the equivalent of $150 million, making 'Halloween' one of the most successful independent films of all time.
John Carpenter considered the hiring of Jamie Lee Curtis as the ultimate tribute to Sir Alfred Hitchcock who had given her mother, Janet Leigh, legendary status in Psycho (1960) (for the same reason, Dr. Sam Loomis was named after Sam Loomis from Psycho). During the same period, Universal studio producers and director Richard Franklin were trying to enroll Jamie Lee in the new production of Psycho II (1983).
Because of the film's tight budget, production designer Tommy Lee Wallace had to use whatever he had at his disposal, or had to buy materials cheaply. When he created the Michael Myers mask, he made two versions. The first was a Don Post Emmett Kelly smiling clown mask onto which they put frizzy red hair. They tested it out and it appeared very demented and creepy. The other mask was a 1975 Captain James T. Kirk mask that was purchased in a costume shop on Hollywood Boulevard for $1.98. It had the eyebrows and sideburns ripped off, the face was painted bluish white, the hair was spray painted brown, and the eyes were opened up more. After testing out the mask, the crew decided that it was much more creepy because it was emotionless.
The stabbing sound effect is a knife stabbing a watermelon.
John Carpenter's intent with the character of Michael Myers was that the audience should never be able to relate to him.
John Carpenter: the voice of Annie's boyfriend, Paul, whom we hear on the phone talking to Lindsey and, a minute later, to Annie.
John Carpenter: [Bowling Green] There are numerous references to Carpenter's childhood hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky. The performance of the film's musical score is credited to "The Bowling Green Philharmonic." There is no Philharmonic in Bowling Green. The "orchestra" is Carpenter and assorted musical friends. In one scene the subtitle depicts the location as "Smiths Grove, Illinois." Smiths Grove is a small town of about 600 people located 15 miles north of Bowling Green on I-65. There are also numerous references in Halloween to street names that are major roads in the greater Bowling Green area.