It has been around five decades since the release of John Carpenter's Halloween, the slasher film that set a benchmark for all other films in the genre. The movie serves as a standard for how filmmakers could achieve as much suspense and impact as possible with minimal special effects. One of the main elements that make the film genuinely unsettling is its myth building around the serial killer character, Michael Myers. The scene where Dr Sam Loomis describes Myers as a personification of pure evil, makes up for one of the most bone-chilling moments in the film. But the surprising fact about this is that a budget restriction played a part in Carpenter making the film with such monologues.
Producer Irwin Yablans necessitated Carpenter and his co-writer Debra Hill to hire an established actor for the role of Dr Loomis. According to the American Film Institute, the makers approached iconic horror genre actors such as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee to play Loomis, but with a major portion of the film's otherwise limited budget. While it was major for the film’s budget, the production cost itself did not amount to a considerable sum for that time period.
Both actors turned down the role, although Lee later described it as “the biggest mistake” in his career (source: the Halloween - A Cut Above the Rest documentary). Consequently, the makers cast Donald Pleasence in the role of the psychiatrist. This caused Carpenter to write Loomis's dialogue in a way that would maximise the terrifying nature of Myers without having to show it. Pleasence was a well-respected, in-demand character actor with credits in projects by major directors. His presence in Halloween was a huge asset for Carpenter, lending significant gravitas and credibility to the film. However, he was no horror icon like Lee or Cushing.
The subtle filmmaking change in Halloween inspired other major filmmakers in Hollywood. For example, James Cameron told Uproxx that Halloween, alongside Steven Spielberg's Jaws, showed him that a low-budget film with strong execution could succeed.
Interestingly, the makers paid Pleasence more money for his cameo role as compared to the film's lead actor Jamie Lee Curtis or Michael Myers star Nick Castle. Pleasence's salary alone accounted for a significant portion of the entire production cost, which is reportedly $300,000 or so. Reportedly, he got $20,000, versus $8,000 for Curtis and a meagre $25 per day for Castle.
