The story of the original Halloween film takes place in Illinois but was actually shot in Pasadena, California. The art department had to spread around painted leaves to make it look like fall as opposed to the typical sunny California spring when the Halloween film as actually made. The timing of the shoot also caused problems for the art department when they went looking for ripe pumpkins in the spring.
In the Halloween film, the role of Dr. Loomis was played by venerable character actor Donald Pleasance. He was paid ,000 for his work. As for the role of Michael’s sister Laurie, this was Jamie Lee Curtis’ first film. Director John Carpenter considered casting her as the ultimate a tribute to one of his cinematic heroes, the legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. It was Hitchcock who cast Jamie’s mother Janet Leigh as the ill-fated heroine in Psycho.