Line #21 Recap/FilmRerollHalloween1978


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_aftermath.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[BrickJoke "... cigarette?"]][[note]] Art by [[https://imgur.com/r/filmreroll/EEeoVL8 AudiovisualNonsense]] [[/note]]]]
3
4	-> ''We play [[Film/Halloween1978 Halloween]] on Halloween! Andy gets murdered! Scott can’t stop his British accent from coming out! Joz finds a sword!''
5
6	Episodes 16-17 of Podcast/FilmReroll. [[Film/Halloween1978 Based on the 1978 horror movie.]]
7
8	When the infamous killer Michael Myers escapes from the asylum the night before All Hallows Eve, Doctor Sam Loomis teams up with Danny Hodges -- the former boyfriend of one of Michael's previous victims -- and the rather incompetent police officer Jeff to take the murderer down. Meanwhile, Laurie Strode -- a seemingly normal teenage girl -- gets ready to celebrate Halloween as well as she can while babysitting two children, unaware that she is about to get a personal visit from the criminal...
9
10	Starring Jocelyn "Joz" Vammer as Laurie Strode, Andy Hoover as Danny Hodges and Annie Brackett, Scott Aiello as Sam Loomis (FirstAppearance), and Paulo Quiros as the Dungeon Master.
11
12	Followed by [[Recap/FilmRerollStandByMe Stand By Me.]] For the [[SequelEpisode sequel campaign,]] go [[Recap/FilmRerollHalloweenII here.]]
13
14	----
15	!!Tropes:
16
17	* AdaptationalBadass:
18	** Danny Hodges did nothing particularly badass in the film. Here however, he punches the young Michael Myers in the face and throws him down the stairs in the DistantPrologue. Years later, during the main story, he manages to shoot him (albeit after many failed attempts), hit him with a car and drive him through a wall, seemingly killing Myers.
19	** Arguably Dr. Loomis and Laurie Strode too. They were already pretty badass in the movie, but they have access to better weapons here.
20	* AdaptationalVillainy: Mr. and Mrs. Doyle, Morgan Strode and Mr. (and likely Mrs.) Wallace are all members of the mysterious Shepherd cult. It's a ''bit'' more complicated than all of them just being evil, though.
21	* AscendedExtra:
22	** Danny Hodges was originally a minor character who only appeared just long enough [[SpeedSex to sleep with Michael's sister Judith very quickly.]] Here he is a major character throughout the story, [[TheLancer basically becoming the Jonathan Harker]] to [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Dr. Loomis' Van Helsing.]] He even makes it into the sequel.
23	** Arguably Dr. Loomis too. He was already the {{Deuteragonist}} in the original film (even if [[Creator/DonaldPleasence his actor]] [[BillingDisplacement was given top billing]]), but here we get to see more of the story from his point of view, unquestionably making him TheProtagonist.
24	* AsTheGoodBookSays: Reverend Doyle makes a reference to Exodus 34:7 when he's telling Loomis that Michael and Judith Myers' father blamed himself for what happened to his family, but is interrupted before getting a chance to explain. This is a bit of a GeniusBonus, as its text is never actually read out in this story. (It's the famous Bible verse about the sins of the fathers being visited upon their children, which raises the question of what sins Donald Myers felt he was being punished for through his children...)
25	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Danny Hodges calls out Dr. Loomis for describing a mental patient as "pure evil." Loomis himself feels that they have more important things to worry about at the moment, such as the big knife wound in his chest.
26	* BigDamnHeroes: Jeff ends up saving both Dr. Loomis' and Danny Hodges' lives by shooting Michael Myers. At that point, Danny promises to never make fun of Jeff again. [[BackFromTheDead Alas, it wasn't enough to keep Myers down for good.]]
27	* CallForward:
28	** It is hinted at that Michael Myers is part of some kind of [[TheIlluminati Illuminati]]-like conspiracy, possibly a reference to [[Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers the Cult of Thorn.]]
29	** Michael Myers' death is similar to the way he -- [[RetCon or rather the ambulance worker disguised as him]] -- died at the end of ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater'', [[SerialEscalation though more over the top]].
30	** After killing Michael Myers, Laurie worries that she might become so traumatized by it [[Film/HalloweenResurrection that she will end up in a mental institution]].
31	* CarFu: Used during the final confrontation. Not only does it result in part of a house collapsing, but [[DeconstructedTrope Danny winds up getting severely injured in the process.]]
32	* TheCassandra: Dr. Loomis has a hard time convincing any authority figure that they need to help him hunt down the great evil that is Michael Myers. Granted, it is implied that some of them are part of the conspiracy.
33	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Jeff the Police Officer is prone to this.
34	** While exploring the Myers house, Loomis and Jeff find a half-eaten bird:
35	--->'''Jeff:''' Surely no man would have done that.\
36	'''Loomis:''' This is not a man...\
37	'''Jeff:''' No, it's a dead bird.
38	** Loomis sends Jeff down to search the basement:
39	--->'''Loomis:''' Yell loudly if you see anything.\
40	'''Jeff:''' Ah! A furnace!
41	** And, of course:
42	--->'''Jeff:''' There's a man in the basement! It's me!
43	* CombatDiplomacyStealth: Loomis, Danny and Jeff fit the variant quite well. Danny is quickly established as a badass capable of taking on Michael Myers in a fight, Loomis at least ''tries'' to be diplomatic by begging Michael to stop and warn other people that they are in danger (not that all of them listen to him), and Jeff -- despite having NoIndoorVoice -- proves himself to be surprisingly stealthy when he sneaks up on Michael Myers and shoots him in the back.
44	* DarkerAndEdgier: Parodied: Given the episode contained an extended philosophical conversation between Dr. Loomis and Danny on the nature of evil, and Laurie's [[TooDumbToLive ill-advised decision]] to enlist the help of a ''still grieving'' Sheriff Brackett, Scott declares Part 2 of the campaign to be "The Grief Episode".
45	-->'''Scott''': So far, we've just been, like... meandering to different locations, and ''grieving''.
46	* DarkMessiah: Michael Myers apparently considers himself to be a Christ figure of sorts. After [[DisneyDeath seemingly killing]] Myers, Dr. Loomis theorizes that his obsession with the number 13 was connected to the thirteenth [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stations_of_the_Cross#Stations Station of the Cross,]] i.e. the death of Jesus. Now what came after that station? Jesus' burial and [[OhCrap resurrection]].
47	* DawsonCasting: Invoked by Paulo's narration when he introduces Laurie and her "ordinary teenage friends, all of which look about 28". (The actors playing Laurie's friends Annie and Linda, Nancy Kyes and P.J. Soles, ''were'' pushing 30, though Laurie herself was played by Jamie Lee Curtis who was only 20 at the time.)
48	* DeathByAdaptation:
49	** Seemingly, Michael Myers himself. In the original movie, he was shot several times before falling out of a window, but they NeverFoundTheBody, implying that he survived, but could still be dying. The sequels then revealed him to have supernatural powers, making him NighInvulnerable. Here however, he arguably gets a more devastating death scene than he got in any of the movies, [[RasputinianDeath as he is hit by a car, driven through a into a building, has said building collapse on top of him, is decapitated]] ([[http://halloweenmovie.wikia.com/wiki/Michael_Myers which at least the Halloween wiki]] theorized ''might'' kill him) [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill and then has his disembodied head stepped on by Laurie]]. After all of that, he is definitely dead. [[Recap/FilmRerollHalloweenII At least for now...]]
50	** Averted with Dr. Loomis and Danny Hodges. Both are injured while fighting Michael, yet both survive the campaign and live to see the sequel.
51	* DidntThinkThisThrough: When Michael Myers comes after Laurie while she's babysitting, she goes looking for a weapon to defend herself and Joz-as-Laurie manages to get away with acquiring an ornamental broadsword from over the fireplace. It becomes more of a liability than an asset shortly afterward, when Laurie is fleeing down the street and pounding on neighbors' doors calling for help; one neighbor almost lets her in until Paulo remembers the broadsword and decrees that on second thought the neighbor takes one look at the wild-eyed teenager with the bigass sword and closes the door again.
52	* EpicFail: In between the two episodes, Scott crafted a theory that Michael Myers was trying to enact a new, thirteenth Station of the Cross. It was only after Dr. Loomis succeeded on an IQ roll that he remembered there are already fourteen stations of the cross. Especially notable in that two players were Catholic, and and Scott himself attended sixteen years of Catholic school.[[note]]Though it should be pointed out that, while the number of Stations is firmly placed at fourteen today, it varied ''highly'' historically; [[http://mb-soft.com/believe/txs/stations.htm according to Romanet Boffin]], who visited Jerusalem in 1515, there could be nineteen, twenty-five, thirty-one or thirty-seven Stations, depending on who you asked. Not only that, the widely-circulated 1584 book ''Jerusalem sicut Christi tempore floruit'' by Adrichomius ''does'' have [[http://mb-soft.com/believe/txs/stations.htm twelve Stations.]][[/note]]
53	* ExactWords: Upon being ordered by Loomis to shoot if there is a man in the basement, Jeff says this:
54	-->'''Jeff:''' [[TooDumbToLive There is a man in the basement, it's me.]]
55	* FailedASpotCheck: When Dr. Loomis is purchasing guns, Paulo decides (via a bag full of random gun brands) one of the guns he gets is the Ithaca Auto & Burglar. A minute or so later, Joz looks it up, [[JokeWeapon and reveals how shit of a gun it is for Loomis to have...]] except Scott mistakenly thinks Joz was showing him a gun ''she'' wanted Loomis to get. No sooner does he praise Paulo for giving him the Ithaca Auto & Burglar in lieu of that gun, everyone points out what Joz was showing him ''was'' that gun.[[note]]Luckily, Paulo quickly owns up to his mistake, and gives him a better one.[[/note]]
56	* {{Foreshadowing}}: When everyone is discussing how Laurie should name her sword [[ItMakesSenseInContext after they point out it has its own seat in Loomis’ car]], Joz dismisses “Film/{{Highlander}}” as a possible name. “[[OffWithHisHead There can be only one.]]”
57	* GuestStar: Dr. Loomis is played by Scott Aiello, [[AscendedFanboy who happens to be a big fan of the Film Reroll podcast.]] During his introduction, he quotes his favorite lines from the show and compares the experience with being a superhero fan starring in one of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse movies.
58	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: As can be gathered fairly easily from the title. Ironically for this trope, All Hallows Eve 1978 actually ''was'' a Tuesday.
59	* JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant:
60	** When Dr. Loomis is buying guns, Paulo accidentally gives him [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaca_Auto_%26_Burglar an Ithaca Auto & Burglar]]. A little bit later, Joz looks it up, and shares it with Scott... who then proceeds to make fun of ''Joz'' for suggesting such a ridiculous gun, and praises ''Paulo'' for the better gun choice. It doesn't take long for it to be pointed out that the gun Scott was mocking ''was'' what Paulo gave him.
61	--->'''Joz''': [[YouHaveGOTToBeKiddingMe (laughs) This]] ''[[YouHaveGOTToBeKiddingMe is]]'' [[YouHaveGOTToBeKiddingMe the gun I thought it was.]] [[JokeWeapon It was made in 1933.]]
62	--->'''Scott''': Oh man, I hope we're a little more advanced- [[FailedASpotCheck I'll stick with the Ithaca Auto & Burglar.]]
63	--->'''Joz''': (talking over Scott) You know what this looks like? This looks like one of those-
64	--->'''Scott''': [[WrongGenreSavvy You're]] ''[[WrongGenreSavvy ridiculous.]]'' You're ridiculous. For everyone who can't see it, it looks like a freaking ''musket'', okay? [[{{Misblamed}} She just, like, she was gonna give me a musket,]] [[TooDumbToLive thank God Paulo went into his gun bag and gave me the]] ''[[TooDumbToLive Ithaca Auto & Burglar-]]''
65	--->'''Andy''': [[AwfulTruth No, that's what that is.]]
66	--->'''Joz''': (at the same time) No, ''that's what you have.''
67	--->'''Scott''': [[DelayedReaction (sudden realization)]] ''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Ooooooooh... Paulo...]]''
68	** When Jeff admits he's worried that he comes across as stupid due to "the way people talk to [him]", Scott asks in confusion if Jeff was actually meant to be black... because he thought Paulo said "the ''white'' people talk to [him]".
69	--->'''Joz''': Jeff gets really high, [[RaceLift and suddenly thinks he's black.]]
70	* LeaveTheCameraRunning: Variation: The scene where Jeff encounters Laurie and Lynda, and Laurie decides to get Jeff high, winds up going on longer than Paulo wanted it to because Joz and Andy ''weren't letting it end''.
71	* LethalJokeCharacter: Considering how incompetent Jeff is, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to assume that he ''doesn't'' know how to use a gun, but he manages to subvert everyone's expectations by sneaking up on Michael Myers and shooting him in the back.
72	* MadnessMantra: Lynda gets one after her encounter with Michael Myers.
73	-->'''Lynda:''' [[{{Catchphrase}} Totally... Totally...]]
74	* NamedByTheAdaptation: Tommy Doyle's parents are now named [[SinisterMinister Father]] Keith and Sally Doyle, while Lindsey Wallace's parents are called Jerry and Lisa Wallace.
75	* NarrationEcho:
76	-->'''Paulo:''' ''[describing Michael Myers]'' So, you walk up to him, and his face is slack and uninhabited--\
77	'''"Judith":''' Michael, your face is slack and uninhabited!\
78	'''Paulo:''' But you see a malice deep in his eyes that you have never seen before.\
79	'''"Judith":''' Except for that malice!
80	* OCStandIn: Danny Hodges, who goes from being a ShallowLoveInterest / SatelliteCharacter to becoming one of main characters. Andy Hoover would later [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] this, saying that he basically created the character out of nothing.
81	* OffWithHisHead: If you needed any definitive proof how far OffTheRails the campaign became by the end, Laurie Strode decapitates Michael Myers with a sword.
82	* OneSteveLimit: Averted. There are two characters named Jeff. One is a security guard at the Sanatorium and the other is a police officer. Neither is especially competent.
83	* OriginalCharacter: Jeff, a [[TheDitz ditzy]] police officer with about the same level of competence and maturity as [[Videogame/LegoCityUndercover Frank Honey]]. He is teamed up with Dr. Loomis, as this version of Sheriff Leigh Brackett doesn't take the threat seriously enough to go himself.
84	* TheOtherDarrin / PromotedToPlayable: [[invoked]] Zig-zagged: The character of Danny Hodges winds up getting traded between three players: Scott Aiello during the 1963 prologue, Paulo Quiros for a majority of Part 1 (as he's turned into an [=NPC=]), and finally Andy Hoover for the remainder of the campaign onward.
85	* PointOfDivergence: While attempting to have sex with Judith during the prologue, Danny (due to a bad roll on Scott's end) "arrives too early"... but, instead of leaving, Danny tries ''again'' (and fails ''again''). What this means is that he's still in her room when Michael shows up to stab his sister, and this incident results in him [[AscendedExtra being more prominently involved in the plot]] when Dr. Loomis comes to town.
86	* RunningGag:
87	** People asking [[Creator/DonaldPleasence Dr. Loomis]] [[FakeAmerican if he is British.]]
88	** [[EverybodySmokes Also, people asking each other if they have/want a cigarette.]]
89	* SequelHook: Michael Myers is ([[JokerImmunity probably]]) dead, but we still don't know exactly what he was or where his powers came from, and there are hints of a larger conspiracy going on in Haddonfield. A sequel addressing most of these plot threads ''was'' [[Recap/FilmRerollHalloweenII eventually made.]]
90	* ShoutOut:
91	** When Scott is [[PromotedFanboy gushing]] about how excited he is to be on the podcast, he openly compares Joz to [[Franchise/WinnieThePooh Tigger]].
92	** The Creator/JimmyStewart impression [[CallBack returns from the]] [[Recap/FilmRerollTheWizardOfOz The Wizard Of Oz campaign,]] now as the voice of the Sheriff. Also, during the sex scene in the opening, [[HeadTiltinglyKinky Danny suggests that Judith could put on her Cowardly Lion costume to spice things up.]]
93	** When Paulo Quiros tries to do a scary voice at the beginning of the second episode, Jocelyn tells him to "Creator/BelaLugosi it up."
94	** At one point when Danny is off on his own, Scott offers him advice on how he should proceed, and Andy-as-Danny jokingly remarks that it's like he can hear Loomis in his head. Scott replies, "[[Film/ANewHope Use the Force, Danny.]]"
95	* SparedByTheAdaptation:
96	** The unnamed nurse Myers killed in the film lives through her attack here.
97	** As does Lynda. While she is still seriously injured, the sequel confirms that she survived and made a full recovery.
98	* SpeedSex: The players joke about the fact that in the movie Judith and her boyfriend go upstairs to have sex and then the boyfriend comes back down only a few minutes of unbroken tracking shot later. In the game's re-enactment, the player doing the boyfriend has to roll for endurance, and fails dramatically.
99	-->'''Danny Hodges''': Have I tried "The Jackrabbit" yet? Do you know what "The Jackrabbit" is, babe? I go really really fast, and then I ''cum''.
100	* TheStoner: As in the film, our girl protagonists are this. They even manage to get Jeff to join in.
101	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: One of the first things Dr. Loomis does after Michael escapes is going to a gun store and buying two pistols and a shotgun, (correctly) figuring that the six shooter he had in the film won't be enough to kill him.
102	* ThisIsGonnaSuck:
103	** Once Dr. Loomis meets Jeff for the first time, it doesn't take much to make the rerollers to decide [[OhCrap they're fucked]]:
104	--->'''Dr. Loomis''': I'm afraid I've frightened your boss, the sheriff, and I don't want to do the same to you-
105	--->'''Jeff''': Well, it's very appropriate, (spooky voice) it's ''Halloween''...
106	--->(Scott breaks down in laughter)
107	--->'''Joz''': ''We're fucked.''
108	--->'''Scott''': (high-pitched) ''I can't handle it!''
109	--->'''Joz''': ''We're fucked. We're all dying.''
110	--->'''Scott''': (high-pitched) ''I can't handle this, we're gonna die! We're all gonna fuckin' die!''
111	** When Jeff approaches Laurie and Lynda when they get caught spying on Loomis and Danny's investigation, Laurie decides to get Jeff stoned. Scott is the most upset about this development:
112	--->'''Jeff''': ''Smoooooking...''
113	--->'''Scott''': ''We're gonna die, we're gonna die!''
114	* WakingUpAtTheMorgue: Dr. Loomis fears that Michael Myers might do this, and wants to destroy his remains before that happens. Unfortunately, Myers is one step ahead of them. He came back to life and left before he was even found or brought to the morgue.
115	* WhatTheHellHero: Downplayed: Everyone, ''including Joz'', calls into question Laurie's decision to team up with Sheriff Brackett in order to find his wife, since he's ''still clearly grieving his daughter''.
116	-->'''Sheriff Brackett''': (in regards to Laurie's sword) I wish... (voice breaks) ''Annie had had a giant sword on her...''
117	-->'''Laurie''': (uncomfortable) I'm sorry... Oh, Mr. Brackett-
118	-->'''Andy''': This is so awful! Why'd y- Why are you teaming up with this ''grieving father''?!
119	* WhateverHappenedToTheMouse: [[ExploitedTrope Paulo fully acknowledges this]] at the end of the campaign, pointing out how there were some plot threads going on in the background that the characters never fully answered (in particular, the business going on with the mayor)... [[SequelHook as a means of justifying]] [[Recap/FilmRerollHalloweenII a sequel]].
120	* WorkplaceAcquiredAbilities: Danny Hodges being a construction worker initially just seems like a segue to a story about an event in his past [[DoingInTheWizard where something seemingly supernatural turned out to have a perfectly normal explanation.]] However, it becomes important later on, when he uses his knowledge of house construction to drive Michael Myers into the hardest parts of a building.
121	* TheWormThatWalks: After Danny tells a story where something thought to be demonic sounds turned out to simply be a beehive in the wall, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint the players start theorizing that maybe Michael Myers is just a bee swarm in a trench coat]]. (This is -- in all likelihood -- not actually true.)
122	* YoungerThanTheyLook: The other players keep deferring to Scott about certain logistics of 1978, prompting him to point out that he was ''four'' at the time.

Context Recap / FilmRerollHalloween1978