Question: Why was Michael killing people? There was no mention of his history, or what made him the way he was.
Answer: The movie doesn't require a back story, although subsequent sequels, and the Rob Zombie remake address your questions. Then again, what makes any serial killer kill? The topic has been studied by psychologists for decades. Often serial killers lead normal lives, at least in public.
Question: Where did all of the kids' parents go that required babysitters for the entire night? Seems like a small town such as Haddonfield would not have many options.
Answer: There are only two families that hire babysitters in the film, the Doyle and Wallace families. Where they went is never explained, but it could be potentially anywhere. They could have gone on a trip out of town for the night, they don't have to be in Haddonfield.
Where did it state this was all night? It could have been a few hours. Remember that in the next one, it is still the same night and stays night through the entire movie.
Answer: Annual Halloween party as evidenced in the following instalment. Dr Mixtner was drunk and was at a party. The Strodes were also at a party, the same one if I recall correctly as the doctor.
Also we only SEE two families have babysitters. Other families could have had babysitters. We just don't see this. (I'm not sure if this adds anything additionally to the question asked, tho).
And why did Laurie's parents not come to the hospital? Did they not know she was there, even after the news release about the attack?
Question: I have wondered this for ages. Laurie went over to the Wallace house because she thought they were all playing a prank on her. So when she found the bodies in the bedroom, why did she never assume that this could all just be a practical joke set-up? How did she know straight away that it was the real thing?
Chosen answer: Because it was too graphic and elaborate for her to think it might be a prank. Not to mention that there was probably a very distinctive smell to the room.
Question: In the end, when Michael has his mask taken off, it looks like his left eye is messed up. Whats the reason for this? I am looking for more of a behind the scenes answer.
Answer: Even though it was thought that Michael Myers had a deformed left eye, it is supposed to be the result of the injury that Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) inflicted when she stabbed him in the eye with a clothes hanger. The look was achieved by a prosthetic that was stretched to give the eye a droopy-like appearance. You can see a similar prosthetic in a brightened up version of the Halloween 2018 poster.
Question: Why does a character have the notion that Michael Myers can't drive a car?
Answer: He was locked in an institution since he was 6. Contrary to popular belief, a lot of drivers only ACT like they're 6.
Question: Does anyone understand the looks on Michael's face at the beginning after his father unmasks him, he looks shocked, later on, after Laurie unmasks him he stares at her with a mix of shock and anger. Does anyone understand what these looks mean?
Answer: When we see him unmasked as a child, he looks sort of shocked but also vacant - he's staring off into nothingness... this was the moment when he lost his mind and became evil. I think the look on his face was meant to convey that he had simply snapped and was no longer "there." When he's unmasked as an adult, he didn't really look angry to me... he simply looked empty and expressionless. I think it's meant to show that he's no longer really a person... he's totally gone. There's nothing left but almost instinctive evil.
Question: In the real, modern world, what would have happened to Michael when he was 6? Or, alternatively, what if he had a competent doctor who didn't think he was evil? I could see his "evil" personality in the hospital being a symptom of abuse, PTSD, or Autism. Also, he was 6, it's possible he didn't understand killing was wrong until being locked away. I mean, what he did was awful, but he could have just been a screwed up little kid who wasn't given proper medical care.
Answer: Autism wasn't really tracked until 2000, they may have tested him for abuse which wouldn't make sense for killing his sister, given the setting, the early 60's they may not have begun testing children for PTSD yet.
Question: Three here: 1. Does Myers pick Laurie for any specific reason? 2. His mask symbolic or something? 3. Why waste time killing Annie and Lynda if he was fixated on Laurie?
Answer: The movie doesn't provide any reason why he targets the three girls, which I think is a wise decision, but you can interpret that Myers chose those three because of Annie's "Speed kills!" wisecrack. It was enough to get him to stop the car. Good enough reason as any.
Answer: (1) In the context of the movie, no. Michael is, as Loomis puts it, "purely and simply evil." He pretty much picks the girls as a target seemingly at random after Laurie drops the keys off at the Myers house. While future movies tried to provide him with a reason (such as saying Laurie is Michael's sister in "Halloween 2"), in this movie, it's pretty much just because Michael is a psychopath and they just so happened to become his target. That's part of what makes him so scary in this film. (2) The mask was picked by the filmmakers because it was the most unsettling. (A clown mask was also considered.) It also had the added bonus of having a vacant, emotionless face that also happened to reflect Michael's vacant, emotionless state. (3) Michael is a psychopath and simply decides to kill all of the girls and save Laurie for last for reasons unknown.
I think Michael zeroed in on the 3 girls from when Annie yelled at him while they were walking home from school.
Question: How can Michael possibly know how to drive a car if he's been locked away in an insane asylum since the age of six?
Answer: He likely saw his parents drive before he killed his sister and remembered it. After all, in America 96% of people drive automatics which would be a lot easier to understand at that age than a manual (stick shift).
I'm not sure where you got your random 96% number. But that sounds like a figure from 2020 where less than 4% of vehicles sold are manual. This film takes place in 1978 (where Michael would have been 6 in 1963). Even in the late 90's, more than 25% of cars sold were manuals.
Question: I may have forgotten this but how come in all the incarnations of Myers he never speaks? There some reason, maybe it was to make him seem less human, maybe seem even more spooky?
Answer: In a meta "behind the scenes" context, Michael was more or less intended to basically be the pure, simple personification of evil. He's basically the closest thing there could be to a "real life boogeyman." Choosing not to have him speak was a way for the filmmakers to keep his evil "pure" and simple. He has no real personality or motivation - he simply does evil things for the sake of doing them. His actions speak for him, so to speak. It is also arguably frightening to imagine why someone who could speak would choose not to. In terms of the movies themselves, it's never really 100% explained. It's implied that he stopped speaking and basically lost all traces of humanity after killing his sister. The closest we get to any sort-of direct explanation is in the 2018 sequel that "Halloween" creator John Carpenter approved and produced, in which Dr. Sartain clarifies that Michael can speak, but simply chooses not to for reasons unknown.
Question: If Tommy and Lindsey both had babysitters why couldn't they go trick or treating?
Answer: Tommy was in an astronaut costume so it kind of implies he went trick or treating earlier.
My friends and I dressed up a lot to get into the spirit of Halloween and not go trick or treating so doesn't really imply anything.
Answer: Who said they weren't allowed to go trick or treating? They both seemed more interested in the movies than anything else.
Question: After Laurie stabs Michael in the chest when he attacks her in the closet, she turns her back on him and lays down for a rest. This happens after she saw him survive getting stabbed in the neck with a knitting needle, so why would she be so certain he's dead? Why not either make certain he's dead by, say, taking the knife and stabbing him in the head, or just get out of there?
Answer: Because you might not die from a wound in the neck. So she thought a knife to the chest was enough to kill him.
Answer: The only answer given in this film is that Myers is purely and simply evil. He's just doing it because he's compelled to, and doesn't seem to have any trace of humanity left inside of him. Future sequels attempted to give an explanation, but to varying degrees of success. But as far as this original film is concerned - he's just pure evil.
TedStixon