Olivia Burnette

Olivia Burnette (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress.

Olivia Burnette began her acting career at the tender age of 6. The most notable of her first acting jobs was in Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) opposite comic superstar Steve Martin.

After several television appearances, Olivia was cast as the lead in the down-home series “The Torkelsons” (1991), playing Dorothy Jane.

Olivia continued her television career with a few television movies, before being cast in The Quick and the Dead (1995), which allowed her to work with such actors as Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone and Russell Crowe.

Olivia continued her work on the big screen in Eye for an Eye (1996) with director John Schlesinger, and got the opportunity to play Sally Field’s daughter as well as be brutalized in a controversial scene by Kiefer Sutherland.

Determined to obtain a college degree, Olivia left Los Angeles to attend the prestigious NYU, Tisch School of the Arts. She graduated with not one but two majors: Film and English. After school, she was inspired to buy the rights to a novel and adapted it into a screenplay, which is currently being shopped.

Most recently, Olivia has been seen in the hit television show “CSI: NY” (2004) along with Oscar nominated Gary Sinise and Emmy nominated Melina Kanakaredes, and in the naval drama “Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service” (2003) with Mark Harmon.

Her most recent feature film entitled Flourish (2006), which also stars Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer from the hit Fox drama “House M.D.” (2004), premiered at the world renowned Cinequest Film Festival 2006, as well being screened at the Cannes Film Market in 2006.

She currently resides in Southern California with her husband, singer/songwriter/producer Julian Sakata, and her five year old stepson, Rain.

-Source  IMDB.com

Oliver Platt

Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American stage, film, and television actor.

Platt makes his decisions about accepting acting roles based on the role being “different from what I just did…I do have to be interested in the role”. After Married to the Mob, he appeared in Working Girl (1988), Flatliners (1990), The Three Musketeers (1993), A Time to Kill (1996) and Bulworth (1998). In 1998, Platt and Stanley Tucci played two deadbeat actors who improvise with unsuspecting strangers in The Impostors. Tucci and Platt developed the characters while working on a play at Yale University in 1988, Tucci later completing the screenplay and directing the film.

In 1999, Platt played the wealthy and eccentric crocodile enthusiast Hector in David E. Kelley’s Lake Placid, alongside Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda.The short-lived drama Deadline provided Platt’s first lead role on television. Created by Dick Wolf, who also created Law & Order, Deadline focused on the lives of newspaper journalists in New York City. Platt starred as Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Wallace Benton, an “unlikely hero”. The strong cast, which also included Bebe Neuwirth and Hope Davis, could not compensate for sub-standard writing and the series was soon canceled. After Deadline’s failure, Platt avoided work on television until he read a script for The West Wing and signed on for a guest role. He received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of no-nonsense White House Counsel Oliver Babish, brought in during season two to compile a defense for President Bartlet and others who covered up his non-disclosure of multiple sclerosis.

His role in the television series Huff as Russell Tupper from 2004 to 2006 was well-received, especially by creator Robert Lowry, who said, “Oliver plays an alcoholic, drug-addicted, sexaholic, workaholic, womanizing misogynist who is adorable. I don’t know any actor who could do that. I originally saw Russell as a blond stud, but when I saw what Oliver could do, I realized how much better, richer, and less predictable he was than my idea of the character…Oliver is very committed to the idea that story and dialogue be character-driven and unique”.Platt’s work was nominated for two Emmy awards and a Golden Globe.

In 2005, Platt acted in Harold Ramis’s film The Ice Harvest as an unhappy businessman with a trophy wife and two stepchildren who becomes involved with a friend who has stolen $2 million from a Mafia boss. He also played a lard merchant named Papprizzio in Lasse Hallstrom’s Casanova, who competes with Casanova (Heath Ledger) for marriage to Francesca (Sienna Miller).Platt won the New York Film Critics Online Award for best supporting actor for his role in Casanova.

A Broadway production named Shining City was Platt’s Broadway debut in 2006. The play was set in Dublin, and Platt’s role was the tortured protagonist, John. Platt visited Dublin to prepare for the role and ensure his performance was authentic. He was nominated for a Tony award for “Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play”.

In 2007, Platt played the part of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in the ESPN mini-series The Bronx is Burning.

Platt recently starred as Nathan Detroit, alongside Lauren Graham as Miss Adelaide, in the Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls which began performances at the Nederlander Theatre on February 3, 2009.

Platt starred as the White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser in Roland Emmerich’s 2012, a disaster film released November 13, 2009.

Trivia:

David E. Kelley originally wanted him to play the role of Bobby Donnell on the TV show “The Practice” (1997).

His father, Nicholas Platt, is an ex ambassador to Pakistan, Zambia, & the Phillipines.

Attended Tufts University.

Three children: Lily (b. 1995), George (b. 1997), and Claire (b. 1999).

Has an older brother, Adam Platt and a younger brother, Nicholas Platt Jr.

Was a Boston Red Sox fan, but is now a New York Mets fan because his son likes the team.

Was friends with “Huff” co-star Hank Azaria at Tufts University.

High school graduate from the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, Colorado (near Aspen). The school’s main curriculum is based on the “Outward Bound” education program, which teaches wilderness survival and expedition courses.

He is also the paternal grandson of American architect Geoffrey Platt (by whom he has remote Dutch American ancestry) and wife Helen Choate.

He is the son of Nicholas Platt (born October 3, 1936, New York, NY), a career American diplomat, and wife Sheila Maynard.

His mother, Sheila Maynard, was the daughter of Eileen Burden Maynard Robins (October 15, 1910 – March 24, 1970) and a granddaughter of the Hon. Cynthia Burke-Roche (October 4, 1884 – August 12, 1966), who married (1) Arthur Scott Burden (August 11, 1879 – June 15, 1921) in 1906, and (2) Guy Fairfax Cary Sr. (November 14, 1879 – August 27, 1950) in 1922. Cynthia was the sister of Edmund Maurice Burke-Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy in the Peerage of Ireland (of Irish and English extraction and son of the American heiress Frances Ellen Work), who was the maternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Since Diana Spencer was the great-granddaughter of the 3rd Baron Fermoy and Platt was his great-great-grandson, this makes him a second-cousin, once-removed, of Princess Diana, Princess of Wales. By extension, he is the third cousin of Prince William Windsor.

His great-great-grandmother Frances Ellen Work’s fortune was based on a maternal pork-packing fortune created in Chillicothe, Ohio, and a paternal dry good and finance fortune created in New York City. Her father Frank’s fortune was estimated at $15 million, and he served as stockbroker to Commodore Vanderbilt.

In the 1950s, his great-grandmother Cynthia Burke Roche resided at the famous Elm Court mansion in Newport, Rhode Island.

Brother of Adam Platt, New York Magazine restaurant critic.

Radar Men from the Moon (Republic Pictures, 1952) was the first Commando Cody serial, in 12 chapters, starring newcomer George Wallace (1917-2005) as Cody and Aline Towne as his sidekick Joan Gilbert, with serial veteran Roy Barcroft as the evil Retik, the Ruler of the Moon. The director was Fred C. Brannon, with a screenplay by Ronald Davidson and special effects by the Lydecker brothers. It was also released as a television film under the new title Retik the Moon Menace (1966).

Trivia:

George Wallace as Commando Cody

King Kong is a 1976 American motion picture produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Guillermin. It is a remake of the 1933 classic King Kong, about how a giant ape is captured and imported to New York City for exhibition.

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The remake’s screenplay was written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., based on the original movie story written by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace, which had been adapted into the 1933 screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose. It starred Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange, in her first movie role, playing a part similar to the one made famous in the original by Fay Wray.

Jessica Lange in King Kong 1976

Directed by
  John Guillermin

Writers
  Idea
   Merian C. Cooper and
   Edgar Wallace
  1933 screenplay
   James Creelman and
   Ruth Rose
  Screenplay
   Lorenzo Semple Jr.

Producers              
  Dino De Laurentiis … producer
  Federico De Laurentiis … executive producer
  Christian Ferry … executive producer

Cast
  Jeff Bridges … Jack Prescott
  Charles Grodin … Fred Wilson
  Jessica Lange … Dwan
  John Randolph … Captain Ross
  Rene Auberjonois … Roy Bagley
  Julius Harris … Boan
  Jack O’Halloran … Joe Perko
  Dennis Fimple … Sunfish
  Ed Lauter … Carnahan
  Jorge Moreno … Garcia
  Mario Gallo … Timmons
  John Lone … Chinese Cook
  Garry Walberg … Army General
  John Agar … City Official
  Keny Long … Ape Masked Man
  Sid Conrad … Petrox Chairman
  George Whiteman … Army Helicopter Pilot
  Wayne Heffley … Air Force General
  Forrest J Ackerman … Fleeing Extra in Crowd (uncredited)

Rick Baker as King Kong

Make Up Department
  Del Acevedo … makeup artist
  Rick Baker … makeup effects
  Jo McCarthy … hair stylist
  Rob Bottin … makeup effects

Special Effects Department
  Joe Day … special effects
  Carlo Rambaldi … special effects
  Glen Robinson … special effects
  Terry W. King … special effects technician (uncredited)
  Andrew Miller … special effects (uncredited)
  Wayne Rose … special effects crew (uncredited)

Visual Effects Department
  Lou Lichtenfield … matte artist
  Barry Nolan … photographic effects assistant
  Aldo Puccini … miniature coordinator
  Frank Van der Veer … photographic effects supervisor
  Harold E. Wellman … additional photographic effects

Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film set in the fictional suburban midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois, USA on Halloween. The original draft of the screenplay was titled The Babysitter Murders. John Carpenter directed the film, which stars Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis, Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, and Nick Castle, Tony Moran and Tommy Lee Wallace sharing the role of Michael Myers (listed in the credits as “The Shape”). The film centers on Myers’ escape from a psychiatric hospital, his murdering of teenagers, and Dr. Loomis’ attempts to track and stop him. Halloween is widely regarded as a classic among horror films, and as one of the most influential horror films of its era. In 2006 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ-gGq-v4-4]

Halloween was produced on a budget of $320,000 and grossed $47 million at the box office in the United States, equivalent to over $150 million as of 2008, becoming one of the most profitable independent films. Many critics credit the film as the first in a long line of slasher films inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). The movie originated many clichés found in low-budget horror films of the 1980s and 1990s. However, the film contains little graphic violence and gore.

Critics have suggested that Halloween and its slasher film successors may encourage sadism and misogyny. Others have suggested the film is a social critique of the immorality of young people in 1970s America, pointing out that many of Myers’ victims are sexually promiscuous substance abusers, while the lone heroine is depicted as chaste and innocent (although she is seen smoking a joint). While Carpenter dismisses such analyses, the perceived parallel between the characters’ moral strengths and their likelihood of surviving to the film’s conclusion has nevertheless become a standard slasher movie trope.

Trivia:

• There are numerous references in John Carpenter’s movies, particularly in this film, that are taken from the area surrounding the town he grew up in – Bowling Green, KY. 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 actually Carpenter and assorted musical friends. In one scene the subtitle depicts the location as “Smiths Grove, IL.” Smiths Grove is actually 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.
• As the movie was actually shot in early spring in southern California (as opposed to Illinois in late October), the crew had to buy paper leaves from a decorator and paint them in the desired autumn colors, then scatter them in the filming locations. To save money, after a scene was filmed, the leaves were collected and reused. However, as Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter note on the DVD audio commentary, the trees are quite full and green and even some palm trees can be seen, despite that in Illinois in October, the leaves would probably be mostly gone and there would be no palm trees.
• Jamie Lee Curtis’ first feature film.
• Due to its shoestring budget, the prop department had to use the cheapest mask that they could find in the costume store: a Captain Kirk (William Shatner) mask. They later spray-painted the face white, teased out the hair, and reshaped the eye holes.
• The kids watch the opening of The Thing from Another World (1951) on TV. Carpenter would later re-make this film himself in 1982 as The Thing (1982).
• Halloween was shot in 21 days in April of 1978. Made on a budget of $320,000, it became the highest-grossing independent movie ever made at that time.
• According to screenwriter/producer Debra Hill, the character of Laurie Strode was named after John Carpenter’s first girlfriend.
• Tommy Doyle’s name was from Rear Window (1954) and Sam Loomis’ name is from Psycho (1960).
• Inside Laurie’s bedroom there is a poster of a painting by James Ensor (1860-1949). Ensor was a Belgian expressionist painter who used to portray human figures wearing grotesque masks.
• The film takes place primarily in Haddonfield, Illinois. Haddonfield, NJ is the home town of screenwriter Debra Hill.
• The performance of Halloween’s musical score is credited to “The Bowling Green Philharmonic”. There is no Philharmonic in Bowling Green. The “orchestra” is actually John Carpenter and assorted musical friends.
• All of the actors wore their own clothes, since there was no money for a costume department. Jamie Lee Curtis went to J.C. Penney for Laurie Strode’s wardrobe. She spent less than a hundred dollars for the entire set. She shot the film while on hiatus from the sitcom Operation Petticoat (1977) (TV).
• The character of Michael Myers was named after the European distributor of Carpenter’s previous film, Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) as a kind of weird “thank you” for the film’s overseas success.
• Tommy’s Halloween costume is an Alphan uniform from “Space: 1999″ (1975).

• The opening shot appears to be a single, tracking, point of view shot, but there are actually three cuts. The first when the mask goes on, and the second and third after the murder has taken place and the shape is exiting the room. This was done to make the point of view appear to move faster.
• The name of the sheriff is “Leigh Brackett”. Leigh Brackett was also the name of the screenwriter of Howard Hawks’ classic Rio Bravo (1959), which was the inspiration for John Carpenter’s previous film, Assault on Precinct 13 (1976).
• Kyle Richards, who plays Lindsey Wallace, is the sister of Kim Richards, who appeared in John Carpenter’s previous film, Assault on Precinct 13 (1976).
• Half of the $320,000 budget was spent on the Panavison cameras so the film would have a 2:35:1 scope. Donald Pleasence was paid $20,000 for 5 days work.
• Carpenter approached Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee to play the Sam Loomis role (that was eventually played by Donald Pleasence) but both turned him down. Lee later said it was it was the biggest mistake he ever made in his career.
• Morgan Strode’s black Fleetwood (seen in the driveway when he is talking to Laurie early in the movie) belonged to director John Carpenter, while the Phelps Garage truck was owned by the company that catered for the film.
• Anne Lockhart was John Carpenter’s first choice for the role of Laurie Strode.
• None of the big studios at the time was interested in distributing the movie, so executive producer Irwin Yablans decided to distribute the film via his own company (Compass International). MCA/Universal produced and distributed the next two sequels in the early ’80s.
• Aside from dialogue, the script cites Michael Myers by name only twice. In the opening scene, he is called a POV until he is revealed at age 6. From the rest of the script on out he is referred to as a “shape” until Laurie rips his mask off in the final scene (which he never reapplies in the script). “The Shape”, as credited in the film, refers to when his face is masked or obscured.
• P.J. Soles was dating Dennis Quaid at the time of filming, so John Carpenter and Debra Hill wanted to cast him in the role of Bob. Unfortunately, Quaid was busy working on another project and John Michael Graham was cast in the role instead.
• John Carpenter provides the voice of Annie’s boyfriend, Paul, whom we hear on the phone talking to Annie.
• The original script, titled “The Babysitter Murders”, had the events take place over the space of several days. It was a budgetary decision to change the script to have everything happen on the same day (doing this reduced the number of costume changes and locations required) and it was decided that Halloween, the scariest night of the year, was the perfect night for this to happen.
• When they were shooting the scenes for the start of the film (all the ones seen from Michael’s point of view) they couldn’t get the 6-year old child actor until the last day, so the movie’s producer, Debra Hill, volunteered to be Michael for any scenes where his hands come into view. This is why the nails on young Michael’s hands look so well manicured and varnished.
• The cinematography for the Halloween sequence in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) was the inspiration for the look of Carpenter’s color scheme.
• Donald Pleasence did all of his scenes in only 5 days of shooting.
• When Dr. Loomis is talking to the doctors in the empty classroom, Dr. Loomis is sitting in seat #37.
• Sheriff Brackett was named after film-noir writer Leigh Brackett.
• According to Don Post Jr., President of Don Post Studios, the famous California mask making company, the filmmakers originally approached his firm about custom making an original mask for use in the film. The filmmakers explained that they could not afford the numerous costs involved in creating a mask from scratch, but would offer Post points in the movie as payment for his services. Post declined their offer, as he received many such proposals from numerous unknown filmmakers all the time, but suggested that they repaint/refurbish the “Captain Kirk” masks eventually used in the film, which eventually was done, and which netted Mr. Post a profit of less than $100. Post later estimated, after the film became a hit, that if he had accepted the original offer for points in the film in exchange for his creation of an original mask, his profit would have run well over $100,000.
• Yul Brynner’s robot character from Westworld (1973) was the inspiration for the character of Michael Myers.
• The song that is playing on the radio when Laurie and Annie are in the car is “Don’t Fear The Reaper” by Blue Öyster Cult.
• This was voted the fifth scariest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
• The “Myers” house was a locale found in South Pasadena that was largely the decrepit, abandoned place seen in the majority of the film. However, as the house had to look ordinary (and furnished) for the early scenes with the young Michael Myers, almost the whole cast and crew worked together to clean the place, move in furniture, put up wallpaper, and set up running water and electricity, and then take it all out when they were through.
• Much credit for the concept must go to its producer Irwin Yablans, who had the concept originally for a horror film called “The Babysitter Murders”. Upon further research, Yablans discovered to his surprise that no previous film had been titled “Halloween” and thought it would be a great concept to set these “babysitter murders” on the holiday. With these ideas, Yablans convinced an excited John Carpenter to write and direct a film around them.
• The wealthy film producer Moustapha Akkad had admittedly little interest in this film and helped make it primarily due to the enthusiasm of John Carpenter and Irwin Yablans. However, when the film turned out to be a huge box-office smash, Akkad saw an opportunity and has since facilitated every ‘Halloween’ sequel.
• The adult Michael Myers was portrayed by Nick Castle in almost every scene, except for some pick-up shots and the unmasking scene, where he was replaced by Tony Moran. Castle was a school-buddy of John Carpenter and was thought of by Carpenter because he was tall and had what Carpenter considered an interesting walk. Castle admitted he was disappointed to not be the face shown, but understood that Carpenter wanted a more “angelic” face to juxtapose with Myers’ ghastly deeds. Castle has gone on to become a successful director.
• John Carpenter was quite intimidated by Donald Pleasence, of whom he was a big fan and who was easily the oldest and most experienced person on set. Although Pleasance asked Carpenter difficult questions about his character, Pleasance turned out to be a good-humored, big-hearted individual and the two became great friends.
• Of the female leads (all the girls are supposed to be in high school), only Jamie Lee Curtis was actually a teenager at the time of shooting.
• The long tracking shot at the beginning was inspired by the tracking shot in Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil (1958). The shot would have been impossible to achieve on the film’s budget if it wasn’t for the recent invention of the steadicam tracking system.
• P.J. Soles says the word “totally” eleven times.
• Before Don Post became involved, Michael was going to wear a clown mask.
• Laurie remarks that she would rather go out with unseen character “Ben Tramer”. The name came from Bennett Tramer, an old college friend of director John Carpenter. The real Bennett Tramer has also had a career in the motion picture industry as a writer and producer.
• A young Jamie Lee Curtis was so disappointed with her performance that she became convinced she would be fired after only the first day of filming. When her phone rang that night and it was John Carpenter on the phone, Curtis was certain it was the end of her movie career. Instead, Carpenter called to congratulate her and tell her he was very happy with the way things had gone.
• The Halloween theme is written in the rare 5/4 time signature. John Carpenter learned this rhythm from his father.
• The scene where The Shape seems to appear out of the darkness behind Laurie was accomplished by using a simple dimmer switch on the light that slowly illuminated the mask.
• One of the characters is named “Marion Chambers”. Marion was the first name of the female protagonist of Psycho (1960), and Chambers was the last name of the sheriff in that movie.
• That Michael Myers could drive a car despite having gotten committed to an asylum at the age of six inspired many guffaws. The first movie novelization came up with a simple but effective explanation: when Doctor Loomis drove Michael to sanity hearings over the years, Michael simply watched very closely and carefully as Doctor Loomis operated the car. Remember, even if Michael sat in the back seat and there was a screen of bulletproof glass partition, Michael could still look over the Doctor’s shoulder without Loomis realizing the significance.
• According to an additional scene in the extended television version, Michael Myers’ middle name is Audrey.
• Carpenter wrote the part of Lynda for P.J. Soles after seeing her performance in Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976).
• Although Nick Castle plays the part of Michael Myers throughout the film, when his mask is removed by Laurie at the climax, another actor Tony Moran was used.
• The opening POV sequence took 2 days to film.
• Carpenter composed the score in 4 days.
• For its first airing on television, extra scenes had to be added to make it fit the desired time slot. Carpenter filmed these during the production of Halloween II (1981) against his better judgment.
• Donald Pleasence confessed to John Carpenter that the main reason why he took the part of Loomis was because his daughter Angela loved Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 (1976).
• Carpenter considered the hiring of Jamie Lee Curtis as the ultimate tribute to Alfred Hitchcock who had given her mother, Janet Leigh, legendary status in Psycho (1960).
• Carpenter’s intent with the character of Michael Myers was that the audience should never be able to relate to him.
• Carpenter and co-writer Debra Hill have stated many times over the years that they did not consciously set out to depict virginity as a way of defeating a rampaging killer. The reason why the horny teens all die is simply that they’re so preoccupied with getting laid that they don’t notice that there’s a killer at large. Laurie Strode, on the other hand, spends a lot of time on her own and is therefore more alert.
• As the film was shot out of sequence, Carpenter created a fear meter so that Jamie Lee Curtis would know what level of terror she should be exhibiting.
• Debra Hill wrote most of the dialog for the female characters, while Carpenter concentrated on Dr Loomis’s speeches.
• As the film was made in spring, the crew had huge difficulty in procuring pumpkins.
• Production designer Tommy Lee Wallace picked the iconic mask in a dime store. It was a mask of Captain Kirk and cost $1.98. Wallace spray painted the eyes to change the appearance (and also to avoid the risk of litigation).
• From a budget of $325,000 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.
• Prior to the movie, a book was written by Curtis Richards, and reveals more of the story behind Michael’s rage. However, the book is very rare.
• Nancy Kyes (Annie Brackett) starred in at least three other Carpenter films, one being another of the Halloween franchise; Halloween III: Season of the Witch. The others are The Fog and Assault on Precinct 13.

Halloween III: The Season of the Witch

 

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a 1982 horror film and the third installment in the Halloween series. Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace and starring Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin and Dan O’Herlihy. The film is based on an original screenplay by Nigel Kneale and focuses on an evil scheme by the owner of a mask company to kill the children of America on Halloween night through a series of popular Halloween masks – a witch, a jack-o’-lantern, and a skull.

Season of the Witch is unrelated to the previous films featuring the character Michael Myers, and was intended to begin Halloween as an anthology series, releasing a new Halloween storyline every year. The only connection this movie has with the others in the series is a scene where the trailer for Halloween is on TV. Besides wholly abandoning the Michael Myers plotline, Halloween III departs from the slasher film genre which the original Halloween spawned in 1978. The focus on a psychopathic killer is replaced by a “mad scientist and witchcraft” theme. Moreover, the frequency of graphic violence and gore is less than that of Halloween II (1981), although scenes that depict the deaths of characters remain intense.

Produced on a budget of $2.5 million, Halloween III grossed $14.4 million at the box office in the United States, making it the poorest performing film in the Halloween series at the time. In addition to relatively weak box office returns, most critics gave the film negative reviews. Where Halloween had broken new ground and was imitated by many genre films following in its wake, this third installment seemed hackneyed to many: one critic twenty years later suggests that if Halloween III was not part of the Halloween series, then it would simply be “a fairly nondescript eighties horror flick, no worse and no better than many others.”

Trivia:

• The original writer of the story was Nigel Kneale but he sued the producers to take his name off the movie after seeing how violent it was.
• A milk factory was used for the setting of the Silver Shamrock factory.
• After Michael Myers died at the end of Halloween II (1981), the plan by John Carpenter was to make a new “Halloween” movie each year, each telling a different Halloween-related story. After this movie underperformed at the box office, the film-makers decided to bring Michael back to life for future sequels.
• The tagline “The night nobody comes home” is a play on the original Halloween movie’s tagline, “The night HE came home.”
• Michael Myers does appear briefly in this film, on a television advertising the original Halloween (1978). It comes near the beginning when Dan Challis is drinking in a bar.
• When Challis fills in the register at the motel office, he scans the list of names for evidence of Ellie’s father’s stay. All of the other names on the list are the names of the crew.
• The small town of Santa Mira was also the setting for Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).
• The voice of the operator that Challis keeps getting when he tries to call out of Santa Mira is Jamie Lee Curtis.
• The book that Marge Guttman is reading before her death in the motel room is “The Eagle’s Gift” by Carlos Castaneda.
• The music playing on the radio when Marge Guttman notices the tag on the floor was also played in John Carpenter’s The Fog (1980).
• Supposedly, part of the genesis of this film came from a comment made by film critic Rex Reed. Reed panned Halloween II (1981), saying it was so bad that, “If they make a Halloween III, I’ll turn in my press card.”
• The voice of the announcer in the Silver Shamrock commercials and radio spots is that of the film’s writer/director Tommy Lee Wallace.
• “Season of the Witch” was the original working title of Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets (1973). “Season Of The Witch” is also the name of a song by Donovan and an alternative name for the George A. Romero film Hungry Wives (1972). Also the name of an upcoming Nicolas Cage movie: Season of the Witch (2010).
• A novelization of the film was published in 1982 by science-fiction writer Dennis Etchison under the pseudonym Jack Martin. Despite the film’s commercial failure, the book became a best-seller and was even reissued two years after the film’s release, in 1984.
• Using the original molds, the skull, witch, and jack-o’-lantern masks seen in the film were mass-produced by Don Post Studios and sold in retail stores to promote the film’s release.
• ‘John Carpenter’ revealed in an interview with Gilles Boulenger (for the book John Carpenter: The Prince of Darkness) that the original director for Halloween III: Season of the Witch was ‘Joe Dante’.
• Dick Warlock, the stunt man who played Michael Myers in Halloween II (1981), is credited under ‘assassin’ in the credits.
• The film’s original director, ‘Joe Dante’, approached Nigel Kneale to write the film while Kneale was temporarily living in Hollywood writing the remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) for director John Landis that was never made due to budget cost. Dante wanted a new and different story than the two previous films in the series, so he suggested Kneale write a treatment around the word Halloween. The producers liked the idea, and after Joe Dante moved on to another project, producer John Carpenter’s regular collaborator, Tommy Lee Wallace, came in as the new director. Kneale initially blamed the drastic changes to his script on executive producer ‘Dino De Laurentiis’ not understanding his dialogue when it was translated to Italian. Kneale requested his writing screen credit be removed once his comical mystery screenplay was rewritten by an uncredited Carpenter, and then later Wallace (who received sole screen credit as writer), to include more gore and simplify the story.
• Garn Stephens refused to wear the prosthetic mask during the misfire scene. So a body double was used to complete the scene.

We’ve gathered a list of the top five uses of pumpkin/jack-o-lantern in a movie or title.  Here are GoreMaster’s favorites for your Halloween season viewing and enjoyment! 

5.  It’s the Great Pumpkin,  Charlie Brown (1966)

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is an animated television special, based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.

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It was the third Peanuts special (and first Halloween special) to be produced and animated by Bill Meléndez. Its initial broadcast took place on October 27, 1966, on the CBS network, preempting My Three Sons; CBS re-aired the special annually through 2000, with ABC picking up the rights beginning in 2001. The program was nominated for an Emmy award. It has been issued on home video several times, including a Remastered Deluxe Edition of the special released by Warner Home Video on September 2, 2008, with the bonus feature It’s Magic, Charlie Brown which was released in 1981.

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, a retrospective book was published in 2006 entitled, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: The Making of a Television Classic with the entire script, never-before-seen photographs, storyboard excerpts, and interviews with the original child actors who provided the voices of the Peanuts gang.

4.  Pumpkinhead (1988)

Pumpkinhead is a 1988 supernatural horror film, combining elements of

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fable, fairy tale, and morality. It was the directorial debut of noted special-effects artist Stan Winston. The film has become quite popular with horror fans for Winston’s atmospheric direction and memorable monster, and has built up a cult following in the years since its release, and is thought to be a classic of the genre.

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3. The Legend of Sleepy Hallow (1958)

The story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, based on Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (narrated by Bing Crosby). The gangly and lanky Ichabod Crane is the new schoolmaster in Sleepy Hollow. His somewhat odd behavior makes him the ridicule of the rambunctious and robust town bully Brom Bones. Despite his odd appearance, Ichabod quickly proves to be a ladies’ man charming all the eligible local ladies. Finally, however, Ichabod discovers the local town beauty, Katrina Van Tassel.  Brom decides to take advantage of Ichabod’s strong belief in superstitions. 

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Brom musically tells the tale of the Headless Horseman to frighten the teacher. That Halloween night, Crane’s lonely ride home becomes exceedingly frightening because of his exposure to the possibility of encountering the ghost.

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2. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 stop motion

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 fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from “Halloween Town” who opens a portal to “Christmas Town”. Danny Elfman wrote the film score and provided the singing voice of Jack, as well as other minor characters. The remaining principal voice cast includes Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page and Glen Shadix.

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The genesis of The Nightmare Before Christmas started with a poem by Tim Burton as a Disney animator in the early-1980s. With the success of Vincent in 1982, Disney started to consider The Nightmare Before Christmas as either a short subject or 30-minute television special. Over the years, Burton’s thoughts regularly returned to the project, and in 1990, Burton and Disney made a development deal. Production started in July 1991 in San Francisco. Walt Disney Pictures decided to release the film under their Touchstone Pictures banner because they thought Nightmare would be “too dark and scary for kids”. The Nightmare Before Christmas has been viewed with critical and financial success. Disney has reissued the film annually under their Disney Digital 3-D format since 2006.

1. John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978)

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Halloween

is a 1978 American independent horror film set in the fictional suburban midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois, USA on Halloween. The original draft of the screenplay was titled The Babysitter Murders. John Carpenter directed the film, which stars Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis, Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, and Nick Castle, Tony Moran and Tommy Lee Wallace sharing the role of Michael Myers (listed in the credits as “The Shape”). The film centers on Myers’ escape from a psychiatric hospital, his murdering of teenagers, and Dr. Loomis’ attempts to track and stop him. Halloween is widely regarded as a classic among horror films, and as one of the most influential horror films of its era. In 2006 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

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Chris Carter

 

Christopher Carl Carter (born October 13, 1956) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer, best known as the creator of The X-Files and Millennium.

He was born in Bellflower, California to William and Catherine Carter. In college, he majored in journalism, graduating from California State University Long Beach in 1979. His brother, W. Craig Carter, is a Lord Foundation Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT.

Carter began writing for Surfing magazine out of college. For the next five years, he traveled around the world both as a freelance writer and as the magazine’s associate editor.

A big break in his career came in 1985, when Jeffrey Katzenberg, then chairman of Walt Disney Studio Entertainment, read a screenplay he wrote and signed him to development with Walt Disney Pictures. While working with Katzenberg, Carter wrote and produced several television movies including pilots of Cameo By Night and The Nanny, an unsold pilot unrelated to the Fran Drescher sitcom. He co-produced the second season of the comedy series Rags to Riches. and in 1989 was creator and executive producer of a comedy series called Brand New Life for Disney’s Sunday night lineup.

Upon the creation and production of The X-Files in 1993, Chris Carter started a production company called Ten Thirteen Productions. It is named in honor of Carter’s own birthday and anniversary, which is October 13. Since 1993 it has produced:

• 202 episodes of The X-Files
• 67 episodes of Millennium
• 9 episodes of Harsh Realm
• 13 episodes of The Lone Gunmen
• The feature film The X-Files: Fight the Future
• The feature film The X-Files: I Want to Believe

During this time the Ten Thirteen offices were located in Century City, Los Angeles, California, with Frank Spotnitz serving as President, Mary Astadourian serving as Vice President and Jana Fain serving as Office Manager. Spotnitz has gone on to start his own production company, Big Light Productions, with Fain as director of development.

Trivia:

He is a Godfather of Gillian Anderson and Clyde Klotz’s daughter Piper Maru.

Has considered titling his eventual and as-yet-unwritten autobiography “Fridays At Nine,” the timeslot for the shows he’s created, due to their mix of successes and failures.

Brother Craig is a Full Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT

Two of his attempts for crossovers with other television shows failed for the same reasons. The first attempt was to crossover The X-Files with CBS’s Picket Fences; CBS feared losing ratings to the newer network. The second attempt was to crossover with WB’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer; FOX feared losing ratings to the newer network. David Kelley in the first incident and Joss Whedon in the second were on board with Chris Carter for their respective incidents.

Pitched X-Files to Brandon Tartikoff at NBC, who turned it down.

Under tremendous time crunch, Carter did an all-night audio mix session to finish the X-Files pilot, which was to be shown to FOX execs the following morning. He ended up sleeping on a couch in the FOX Studios lobby.

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Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), better known as Michael Keaton, is an American actor, well known for his early comedic roles in films such as Night Shift, Mr. Mom, Beetlejuice, and for his portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns, as well as lead roles in other films including The Paper, Jackie Brown, and White Noise.

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An unsuccessful attempt at stand-up comedy led Keaton to working as a TV cameraman at public television station WQED (TV) in Pittsburgh. Keaton first appeared on TV in the Pittsburgh-based public television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (1975), as one of the “Flying Zucchini Brothers.”  He also served as a full-time production assistant on the show. (In 2003, following Rogers’ death, Keaton hosted the PBS memorial tribute program, Fred Rogers: Everybody’s Favorite Neighbor.)

Before his big break (while still credited as Michael Douglas), Keaton did a billboard ad for the Architect Jeans Company. In an interview in 2003 for Live from Baghdad, Keaton recalled how he and the director of the Architect commercial, Spike Jonze, became fast friends.

Keaton left Pittsburgh and moved to Los Angeles to begin auditioning for various TV parts. He cropped up in various popular TV shows including Maude and The Mary Tyler Moore Hour. Around this time Keaton decided to use an alternative surname to remove confusion with well known actor Michael Douglas, as well as satisfying SAG rules, and after reading an article on actress Diane Keaton, he decided on “Michael Keaton.”

His next key break was working alongside James Belushi in the short-lived comedy series Working Stiffs, which showcased his comedic talent and led to a co-starring role in the comedy Night Shift directed by Ron Howard. His role as the hilariously fast-talking schemer Bill “Blaze” Blazejowski alongside nerdish morgue attendant Henry Winkler earned Keaton some critical acclaim, and he scored leads in the subsequent comedy hits Mr. Mom, Johnny Dangerously, and Gung Ho.

Keaton’s role as the title character in the 1988 Tim Burton horror-comedy Beetlejuice, which co-starred Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Catherine O’Hara, and Winona Ryder, earned Keaton widespread acclaim and boosted him to movieland’s A-list. He was originally turned down for the title role in Beetlejuice but was reconsidered by director Burton. Keaton now considers Beetlejuice his favorite of his own films.  That same year, Keaton also gave an acclaimed dramatic performance as a drug-addicted businessman in Clean and Sober.  Newsweek featured him in a story during this time.

Michael Keaton’s career was given another major boost when he was again cast by Tim Burton, this time as the title superhero of the 1989 blockbuster Batman. Burton cast him because he thought that Keaton was the only actor who could believably portray someone who has the kind of darkly obsessive personality that the character demands.  Warner Bros. received thousands of letters of complaint by fans commenting that the comedic Keaton was the wrong choice for Gotham City’s creature of the night, given his prior work in comedies and the fact that he lacked the suave, handsome features and tall, muscular physicality often attributed to the character in the comic books. However, Keaton’s dramatic performance earned universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and Batman became the highest-grossing film of the year.

According to Keaton, he was astounded when he was first considered as Batman since he was only familiar with the 1960s Batman television series starring Adam West, but it was not until Burton introduced Keaton to Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns that Keaton really understood the dark and brooding side of Batman that he portrayed to much fan approval. Keaton wore the cape and cowl again in Batman Returns (1992), which was another financial success, though controversial for being darker than the original.

Keaton was prepared to return for Batman Forever (1995), even going so far as to show up for costume fitting. However, when Burton was dropped by Warner Bros., Keaton left the franchise. He was reportedly dissatisfied with the screenplay approved by the new director, Joel Schumacher, which Keaton considered to be lighter in tone than the past two Batman movies. According to the A&E Biography episode on Keaton, after he had refused the first time (after meetings with Schumacher), Warner Brothers offered him $35,000,000 (one of the highest salaries offered to an actor at the time), but Keaton steadfastly refused. He was subsequently succeeded as Batman by Val Kilmer and later on by George Clooney in Batman & Robin (1997), which became the least successful Batman film both critically and commercially. It was not until the success of Batman Begins (2005), a reboot starring Christian Bale as the Dark Knight, that the film series was continued.

Keaton remained in demand during the 1990s, appearing in a wide range of films including Pacific Heights, One Good Cop, My Life, and the star-studded Shakespearian story Much Ado About Nothing. He also starred in another Ron Howard film, The Paper, as well as with Andie MacDowell in Multiplicity and twice in the same role, Elmore Leonard character Agent Ray Nicolette, in Jackie Brown and Out of Sight. The actor also made Jack Frost and the thriller Desperate Measures.

Keaton starred in Speechless with Geena Davis (his co-star in Beetlejuice) and Christopher Reeve, as a political candidate’s speechwriter. As with Keaton and Batman, Christopher Reeve had gained notoriety for playing an iconic comic superhero, in his case Superman. Out of Sight starred George Clooney, who succeeded Keaton in the role of Batman in Batman & Robin.

Micheal Keaton and Tim Burton

Since 2000, Keaton has appeared in several films with mixed success including Live From Baghdad for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award, First Daughter, White Noise, and Herbie: Fully Loaded. While he continues to receive good notices from the critics (particularly for Jackie Brown), with the exception of Cars, in which he played the part of Chick Hicks, he has not been able to approach the box-office success of Batman. On New Years Day of 2004, he hosted the PBS TV special Mr. Rogers: America’s Favorite Neighbor. It was released by Triumph Marketing LLC on DVD September 28 that year.

In 2006, Keaton starred in an independent film called Game 6, a semi-thriller based around the infamous 1986 World Series bid by the Boston Red Sox. He had a cameo in the Tenacious D short film, Time Fixers, an iTunes exclusive. The 9-minute film was released to coincide with Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny. Keaton was announced to be the lead in Media 8 Entertainment’s film Reaper, a supernatural thriller. He reportedly agreed to star as John Target in the Matt Evans scripted No Rule To Make Target, and he has directed a drama, The Merry Gentleman.

Keaton reportedly was cast as Dr. Jack Shephard in the series Lost, understanding that the role of Jack would be a brief one. Once the role was retooled to be a long-running series regular, Keaton withdrew. The part was given to actor Matthew Fox.

Keaton starred in the 2007 TV mini-series The Company, set during the Cold War, in which he portrayed the real-life CIA counterintelligence chief James Jesus Angleton. The role garnered Keaton a 2008 SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries. The Company also starred Chris O’Donnell, who portrayed Batman’s crime fighting sidekick Robin (the Boy Wonder was absent from the two Batman films that Keaton starred in) in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

Keaton is slated to join the Toy Story animated film’s cast for the upcoming Toy Story 3, providing the voice of Ken, Barbie’s friend.

Trivia:

When he realized he needed to change his name, he remembered an article he had read with a nice picture of Diane Keaton. He chose her last name with the intention of changing it later. However, the name stuck. Years later, he phoned her and thanked her. The two have never actually met.

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Was in a relationship with Courteney Cox (1989-1995).

His hobbies are fly-fishing and riding horses at his California ranch.

Tim Burton cast him in the title role of Batman (1989) because he thought that Keaton was the only actor who could believably portray someone who has the kind of darkly obsessive personality that the character has. There was a great deal of fan anger over his selection, forcing the studio to release an advance trailer both to show that Keaton could do the role well and that the movie would not be a campy parody like the TV show “Batman” (1966).

Attended Montour High School.

Is the fourth actor to play Batman.

Has a son, Sean Maxwell Douglas (born May 27, 1983), with ex-wife Caroline McWilliams.

Decided to change his name when he began acting because there was already a Michael Douglas in movies and a Mike Douglas in broadcasting. While he uses a stage name, he has never legally changed his name to Michael Keaton.

One of only two actors to reprise the role of Batman in major, live-action films (Batman (1989)/Batman Returns (1992). Adam West did only one movie (Batman (1966)) as Batman (along with the live-action TV series “Batman” (1966) and voice-work) and Kevin Conroy has only done voice-work as Batman. Christian Bale is the second and most recent actor to play the role more than once with (Batman Begins (2005) followed by (The Dark Knight (2008).

Played Agent Ray Nicolette in Jackie Brown (1997) and again in Out of Sight (1998).

Started his career as a stagehand in “MisteRogers’ Neighborhood” (1968) (he operated “Picture, Picture”), and in 2004 he produced a documentary on Rogers, Fred Rogers: America’s Favorite Neighbor (2004) (TV).

Turned down the role of the ill-fated mad scientist Dr. Seth Brundle in David Cronenberg’s remake The Fly (1986). The part eventually went to Jeff Goldblum.

Is a Second City alumni – a member of the Los Angeles branch.

According to Mike Myers on “Revealed with Jules Asner” (2001), Keaton saw the comic actor perform at Second City Toronto. After the show ended, Keaton went to personally congratulate Myers and said, “Keep up the great work.” Myers would soon work with Keaton on an episode of “Saturday Night Live” (1995) when Keaton was guest host.

His son Sean plays keyboard for a band called The Hatch.

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Was originally slated to play Jeff Daniels character in Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and actually did film some scenes, but Allen decided it wasn’t working and replaced him with Daniels.

Appeared with the late Christopher Reeve in Speechless (1994). Keaton and Reeve played DC Comics two most iconic characters, Batman and Superman, respectively.

He was originally to play the role of Dr. Jack Shephard in the TV show “Lost” (2004), with the understanding that the character would be killed off early on in the show. Keaton later had to walk away from the part when the creators decided not to kill off the doctor. Matthew Fox ended up playing the character.

Was parodied by Matthew Perry on “Saturday Night Live”.

Was considered for the role of Dr. Curtis McCabe in Vanilla Sky (2001).

Was considered for the role of Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

Was considered for the role of Capt. Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).

Was considered for the role of Lt. Col. Kazinski in Jarhead (2005).

An avid Pittsburgh Steelers football fan, he grew up about five miles from former Steelers coach Bill Cowher’s hometown of Crafton, Pennsylvania.

Lived in his ’63 VW Bug for 2 nights in California while trying to become an actor.

Has only reprised two roles in his career. First, he played Batman in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). Second, he played Ray Nicolette in Jackie Brown (1997) and Out of Sight (1998). Also appearing in the latter film was George Clooney, who has also played Batman.

Was offered to play either Peter Venkman or Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters (1984) but turned down both parts, which went to Bill Murray and Harold Ramis.

Mysterious Island (1951) was the 46th serial released by Columbia Pictures. It is an adaptation of the 1874 novel by Jules Verne, The Mysterious Island (L’Île mystérieuse). As in the original story, which was a follow-up to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, this serial is set in 1865. However, the serial has alien Mercurians as an additional set of villains and it has been labelled as a Space Opera version of the Verne novel. Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet.  Written by Lewis Clay (screenplay), Royal K. Cole  (screenplay), George H. Plympton (screenplay) and Jules Verne (novel “L’Île mystérieuse”). Starring Richard Crane, Marshall Reed, Karen Randle, Ralph Hodges, and Gene Roth.

Tagline: OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD SERIAL THRILLS…As Mercury Space Ships Zoom Into This World!

Plot: Union prisoners use a balloon to escape a Southern prison camp near the end of the Civil War and end up marooned on a mysterious volcanic island with very unusual inhabitants.

In Chapter 10 of this serial, Bert (Ralph Hodges) is captured by pirates:

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Chapter titles

1. Lost in Space
2. Sinister Savages
3. Savage Justice
4. Wild Man at Large
5. Trail of the Mystery Man
6. The Pirates Attack
7. Menace of the Mercurians
8. Between Two Fires
9. Shrine of the Silver Bird
10. Fighting Fury
11. Desperate Chances
12. Mystery of the Mine
13. Jungle Deadfall
14. Men from Tomorrow
15. The Last of the Mysterious Island