Did You Know?
Jump to:
Audio/visual unsynchronised (2) |
Character error (3) |
Continuity (25) |
Crew or equipment visible (8) |
Errors in geography (7) |
Revealing mistakes (11) |
Spoilers (9)
Audio/visual unsynchronised
When the nurse struggles in the car while Michael is on the roof of the car, we hear the sound of tires screeching. However, it is raining and the road is wet.
Share this
Share this
While in the company of Tommy Doyle, Laurie places the keys to the Myers' house under the mat at her father's request. Tommy says goodbye until later that night and Laurie starts singing to herself walking down the street. Michael Myers then watches her, breathing heavily but the motions of his chest and shoulders rising and falling do not match the sound.
Share this
Share this
Character error
In the beginning of the movie Michael is six years old. The rest of the movie is enacted 15 years later, so Michael must be 21 years old. In the end credits however, there's a Michael of age six and a Michael of age 23.
Share this
Share this
When Annie brings Lindsey Wallace over to the Doyle house, she tells Laurie that she will just have to call Ben Tramer "tomorrow." In actuality, Laurie could just talk to Ben at school, as November 1, 1978 was on a Wednesday.
Share this
Share this
Annie moans about having to babysit at the Wallace's house, and Laurie says she's babysitting at the Doyle's home which is three houses down. Later in the movie the Wallace's house is shown to be across the street from the Doyle's.
Share this
Share this
Continuity
The Wallace house has its living room on the left side of the house and yet when anybody enters the house, they go to the right of the door to enter the living room.
Share this
Share this
When Michael is stalking Tommy at the school there are a few cars parked across the street from where he's headed. Once Michael gets into his car, all of those cars are gone.
Share this
Share this
The front door knob of the house where Laurie is babysitting is on the right when seen from both sides of the door.
Share this
Share this
When Michael Myers, as a child, walks through the living room with the knife, the clock above the stove shows 9:25 and the clock on the wall reads 9:40, but just 5-7 seconds later, the clock chimes 10 times.
Share this
Share this
When Laurie is trapped in the kitchen, she breaks away glass to move the rake. The shards of fake glass are clearly visible. However, when it cuts back to the shot, the shards of glass are gone.
Share this
Share this
When Annie drops off Laurie at the Doyle house, Laurie walks towards the front door which is a French door in this scene; throughout the rest of the movie the door is solid.
Share this
Share this
The narrow windows on either side of the front door of the Wallace house are not the same pattern on the inside as they are on the outside.
Share this
Share this
When Laurie walks to the Myers house to drop off the key, she only has a few blocks to walk. However, when she and Annie drive clear across town to reach the Doyle house, the Myers house is conveniently close by.
Share this
Share this
When Michael goes to the school and gets in the car to follow Tommy, the passenger side window is no longer smashed from the previous night's attack on the nurse.
Share this
Share this
When Bob and Lynda get out of the van and go into the house, they clearly leave the passenger's side door open. The next time we see the van, the door is closed.
Share this
Share this
When Annie comes back after dropping Lindsey off at Tommy Doyle's house, the TV is turned off, although it was left on when Annie and Lindsey went across the street.
Share this
Share this
When Laurie and Annie are walking down the sidewalk and Laurie sees Michael standing next to a bush, from Laurie's point of view the bush is trimmed and neat, but when Annie walks up to the bush, it's all bushy with leaves sticking out everywhere.
Share this
Share this
Whenever Laurie, Tommy or Lindsey looks out the window at the Wallace House, there is a pumpkin visible with a candle burning. In all of the shots except two, the jack-o-lantern is a flat-looking thing. The two exception shots show a tall and more narrow/skinny pumpkin.
Share this
Share this
When Annie is first shown spilling something on her clothes and takes them off to wash them, her panties are a solid color. Later when she is in the laundry room her panties have flower prints on them.
Share this
Share this
After Doctor Loomis has talked to the Sheriff from a phone on the highway and warned him about Michael, he notices a red pick-up truck and walks towards it to inspect it. We can hear the noise from the train that is coming towards the camera on the left side, shows up and starts to pass. The next shot, is from the opposite side, showing the Doctor and the truck from the front. We still can hear the train passing but there is no train in the background.
Share this
Share this
Toward the beginning of the movie when Michael is attacking the woman in the car, she steps on the gas turning the car toward some trees. In the next scene when she jumps out of the car, Michael jumps in and drives off. The trees aren't there anymore and he's driving straight on a road.
Share this
Share this
Laurie's hair changes from curly to straight in almost every scene.
Share this
Share this
When Michael is watching Annie in the kitchen he knocks down and breaks the plant hanging in front of the door. Later when Laurie approaches the same door there is a plant hanging in front of the door.
Share this
Share this
As Laurie is walking home from school, a leaf (or some other debris) is briefly seen stuck in her hair. When she turns back, looking towards where Michael was after she bumps into the Sheriff and is startled, the leaf is gone.
Share this
Share this
Walking home from school, the girls are seen to be traveling along a very dry street, however, when Laurie is left alone, the streets are obviously now wet.
Share this
Share this
After Lynda says goodbye, Laurie and Annie continue to walk home from classes together and the following scenes show that the takes were combined from different periods of the day. When Laurie sees the Shape peering at them behind the bushes, the Sun is setting behind the houses to their left. In the very next scene when she tries get Annie's attention, the Sun is shining on them from directly above. When Annie rushes to confront the Shape the Sun is still setting but once Annie departs, it shines completely overhead again as Laurie is frightened by Sheriff Brackett.
Share this
Share this
After Michael Myers kills Bob and watches him die as he hangs on the door, there is a nearby counter top with a flour can full of kitchen utensils and a cutting board. Above it is a wooden cabinet with nothing beside it. However, once Laurie enters the house to look for her friends there is a red container, a box of Quaker Oats, and something shiny and metallic next to the wooden cabinet.
Share this
Share this
After Judith's boyfriend leaves, young Michael ascends the steps to his sister's bedroom with a kitchen knife in hand. Her clothes are balled up together in a pile on the floor at the top of the landing. After he picks up the clown mask from the ground and puts it on, the pile of clothes are now trailing piece by piece towards Judith's bedroom door and one of the articles, a pink sweater, is now openly lying flat.
Share this
Share this
While Michael is breaking through the door to get to Laurie, he unlocks and opens the door, then it cuts to Laurie, and when it cuts back he opens the door again.
Share this
Share this
When Laurie first arrives home from school, she glances out the window and sees Michael standing in her neighbor's yard. It is very windy. But in the next moment, she slams the window shut and the trees are perfectly still.
Share this
Share this
Crew or equipment visible
When Laurie sees the shape near the bush, cigarette smoke from director John Carpenter's cigarette can be seen floating into view.
Share this
Share this
While Bob and Lynda are heading up to the bedroom from the living room, Lynda trips on a dolly track and tries to ignore it. [widescreen only]
Share this
Share this
In a close up on the phone before Lindsay answers it, someone's shadow moves into the light.
Share this
Share this
When Laurie runs back into the Doyle house after being chased by Michael, she notices the living room window is open. When you look closely you can see a fan that is being used to blow the curtain.
Share this
Share this
When Laurie goes into the living room of the Wallace house, you can see the arm of a crew member protruding from the left wall.
Share this
Share this
Shadow of crew member when Lindsey is watching television.
Share this
Share this
When Laurie is trying to escape the kitchen during the initial Myers attack, a small light with blue gel to simulate moonlight is seen in the left side of the frame. (widescreen only)
Share this
Share this
When Dr. Loomis is talking in a phone booth after Myers escapes ("It's your funeral!"), when he exits the booth and notices the abandoned truck, a crew member is reflected in the glass of the phone booth.
Share this
Share this
Errors in geography
The movie is set in Illinois, but when Tommy and Laurie are going to school, the trees in the background are California palms.
Share this
Share this
Although the story takes place in Illinois, all the cars have California license plates.
Share this
Share this
You can clearly see the mountains in the background, when Dr. Loomis is on the phone and sees the Red Rabbit matchbook. Since this movie takes place in Illinois that would be impossible.
Share this
Share this
The scene that shows Laurie, Annie and Lynda walking home from school starts with them walking from a school with outside lockers, schools with inclement weather, such as Illinois, do not have outside lockers.
Share this
Share this
Annie tells Laurie that she will pick her up at 6:30. When she does, it is full daylight, which is not the case anywhere in Illinois on October 31. And even though it is a small town, it's full dark when the girls arrive at their destination.
Share this
Share this
This movie takes place in late October. Though if you look at the neighborhood around the characters, it is not an Illinois October.
Share this
Share this
Tommy meets up with Laurie at the corner to walk to school, yet to get to Tommy's house requires a car ride across town.
Share this
Share this
Revealing mistakes
When Michael breaks the car window behind the nurse's head you can see a wrench tied to his hand.
Share this
Share this
When Laurie is trapped in the kitchen, you can clearly see which pane of glass in the door is fake glass.
Share this
Share this
The writing on the side of the car that Michael steals disappears.
Share this
Share this
In the scene when Laurie scolds Tommy for "scaring Lindsay", he accidentally says Laurie's line, "there's nobody out there", right before she does.
Share this
Share this
At the beginning of the movie Michael is supposed to be 6 years old. However, when he is walking around the house you can clearly see that the scene is being shot by an adult. The camera is well above the door knob and when he goes outside he is as tall as his parents. Then they take the mask off and the view switches to the long scene, notice how much shorter than the adults he is.
Share this
Share this
Filmed in the spring in California, pumpkins were not in season and the low budget of the movie ruled out creating artificial varieties. Most of the pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns seen are squashes painted orange. As a result they often look somewhat flat or misshapen with the wrong textured skin.
Share this
Share this
(Extended version) Dr. Loomis and a nurse from the Smith's Grove Sanitarium walk down the hall and discuss who was supposed to be watching Michael Myers when he escaped and the camera pans down to Dr. Loomis' loafers as they enter the destroyed room. In the next scene, walking to his car with Dr. Wynn, Dr. Loomis is clearly wearing brown dress shoes that click as he walk - something the loafers did not do in the previous scene.
Share this
Share this
After Laurie and Annie pull up in the car to talk to Sheriff Brackett, he states that the hardware store has been burglarized of a mask, knives and rope. However, the sign on the door says "Open, Come In".
Share this
Share this
After Linda and Bob calls Laurie from the Wallaces' house they go to the upstairs bedroom to make love. There is daylight peering through the blinds behind them, although it is supposed to be night.
Share this
Share this
When Tommy is tripped and lands on the pumpkin, if played in slow motion, you can see that the pumpkin has been sliced open to aid it breaking apart upon impact.
Share this
Share this
Autumn leaves cascade down on Laurie and rustle to the ground as she exits her house in expectation of Annie to pick her up. As she sits at the corner watching children trick-or-treat there are no leaves falling anywhere else in the neighborhood, not even to her immediate right side where the lawn and sidewalk are clean.
Share this
Share this
Spoilers
Boom mic visible
A boom mic is visible at the top of the screen during the scene where Michael stabs Bob. It shines light off and is clearly visible, killing some tension in the moment.Share this
Character error
The date on the tombstone above Annie says that Judith Myers was born November 10, 1947, and died October 31, 1963. That would make her 15 (almost 16) when she died, yet everyone says that she was 17 years old.Share this
Continuity
After Michael has killed Annie, he carries her body around the side of the house. In the first shot, notice her head is to the left side of Michael's body and her feet are on the right side. It then cuts to Tommy who is watching from the window across the street. When it cuts back to Michael carrying Annie up the front steps of the house, her body has switched positions. Her head is now on the right side of Michael and her feet on the left.Share this
Continuity
When Laurie jabs the needle in Michael's neck, he sticks the butcher knife in the couch. After Michael falls, Laurie picks the knife up, looks at it, and then throws it on the floor next to the couch. Later, Michael comes upstairs holding the knife. Before the end credits, when we hear Michael breathing and it shows all the shots of the house, the knife is still on the floor next to the couch.Share this
Continuity
When Michael lunges for Laurie with the knife, and she stabs him with the knitting needle, she clearly hits him around the temple, but in the next scene, it is lodged in his neck.Share this
Continuity
After Michael has stabbed Judith, his sister, he leaves the house and when the camera pans upward, all the lights in the house are on. But, they were never on when Michael was inside and he never turned them all on when he was exiting the house.Share this
Plot holes
After Michael goes upstairs to kill Laurie and the children, Laurie tells the kids to lock themselves in the bathroom in the bedroom, and she herself goes into the closet. Before Michael comes up, she knocked on the door of the bedroom to let the kids know she was okay, so why didn't she lock the bedroom door when she and the kids hid? Michael left them enough time for her to barricade herself and the children in the room, and she could have easily closed the door and locked it.Share this
Revealing mistakes
When Michael stabs Bob with the butcher knife, the knife goes all of the way through Bob and into the wall. However, the knife is barely even long enough to go entirely through Bob's body (if at all), much less the additional length required for it to be deep enough in the wall to hold up his weight.Share this
Revealing mistakes
After Laurie stabs Michael there is no blood on the knife she has used.Share this
