Halloween (1978). When Michael Myers breaks through the windshield of Dr. Loomis’s car before stealing it, you can see a wrench hidden in the actor’s hand. This was the low-budget solution to breaking the glass without injuring the actor’s hand.

[u/TheAllyCrime]

[u/Unleashtheducks]

I feel like that is still very dangerous

[u/TheAllyCrime → u/Unleashtheducks]

Oh yeah, it would definitely still put him at significant risk.

But it was the 70s and there were practically no safety rules/expectations on film sets.

[u/topselection → u/TheAllyCrime]

I just watched the scene on YT and I'm not sure if it is a mistake. Because there's a jump cut between the arm raising and coming down and the cracked glass.

It looks like they filmed the hand moving. Stopped. Broke the glass. Then the stuntman put his hand in place and they continued filming. Then spliced that together to give the illusion of one shot.

[u/Kale_Brecht]

“HE’S GONE! HE’S GONE FROM HERE! THE EVIL IS GONE!”

[u/TheAllyCrime → u/Kale_Brecht]

Mechanic: And worst of all, HE HAS MY FAVORITE WRENCH!!!

[u/Refun712 → u/Kale_Brecht]

Today I learned he does not say “….gone from me.” For years I have been saying “He’s gone from me. The evil is gone!”

[u/westport_blues]

I like to think Meyers purposely found a wrench and used it to break the glass, he knew he’d maybe cut a radial or ulnar artery using his bare hand.

[u/TheAllyCrime → u/westport_blues]

He is a very safety-conscious man.

[u/dubler2020 → u/TheAllyCrime]

He was always masked up and mostly kept his distance.

[u/westport_blues → u/dubler2020]

See? He was decades ahead in covid safety and we mocked him for a few momentary lapses of judgement. Who’s the real monster here?

[u/IncredibleEdible321]

And what makes you think this was a mistake? Sounds pretty smart to me.

[u/regular_poster → u/IncredibleEdible321]

It's certainly not framed as something the audience is supposed to see. I think if it was intentional, Michael would have been holding it as we would.

[u/IncredibleEdible321 → u/regular_poster]

That's a subjective point of view as we don't know the intentions of the director, the cinematographer, or the character of Michael.

[u/StretchFrenchTerry → u/IncredibleEdible321]

Why would Michael try to conceal a wrench in his palm like that to break it? If he's going to us a wrench, he'd just openly hold and smash. They're obviously trying to conceal it from the audience.

[u/ikeif → u/StretchFrenchTerry]

Maybe he was secretly a fan of close-up magic and he palmed the wrench?

For his next trick - a rabbit out of a head!

[u/IncredibleEdible321 → u/StretchFrenchTerry]

Good question. Maybe you should write a letter to the director or the cinematographer and ask them. Otherwise, the answer isn't clear just because of your assumption.

[u/IkerWanKenobi]

I shot him! I shot him six times!

[u/ShrimpFriedMyRice]

Having a hard time seeing the wrench. Is he palming it?

[u/TheAllyCrime → u/ShrimpFriedMyRice]

https://i.imgur.com/2RDoMJo.jpeg

This might help. The part I’ve highlighted in red is the head of the crescent wrench.

[u/ShrimpFriedMyRice → u/TheAllyCrime]

That's exactly what I needed to see it. I thought the handle was pointing downwards to hit the window below his hand.

[u/FactsNLaughs → u/ShrimpFriedMyRice]

Exactly, the head of the wrench is in the palm. Look for the c shape that’s facing downwards.

[u/IAMAHobbitAMA → u/ShrimpFriedMyRice]

Yeah I don't see anything

[u/FactsNLaughs → u/IAMAHobbitAMA]

Head of the wrench is in the palm. Look for the c shape that’s pointed downwards 

[u/TheAllyCrime → u/IAMAHobbitAMA]

https://i.imgur.com/xZUh5aR.jpeg

This might help. I’ve highlighted the head of the crescent wrench in red.

[u/ry-yo]

did they not use fake/breakaway glass back then??

[u/mmwhatchasaiyan → u/ry-yo]

They used to use “sugar glass” for most glass breaking scenes like this. Unsure if they used that here, but if they did, the wrench was likely used as support/ reinforcement to ensure the impact was enough to break the window, and so the actor didn’t break his hand while punching it.

[u/stollison_99]

Oh wait...this shot reminds me of the scene where Kelly Monaco gets offed in Idle Hands...different setup obviously, but I wonder if this was the inspiration for that scene🤔😂🤣

[u/jewkakasaurus]

That scene scared tf out of me when I was kid. Then again, there were a ton of scenes that were pretty intense lol

[u/returnofdoom]

Holy shit I’ve seen this movie a hundred times easily and never noticed this.

[u/DamNamesTaken11]

That’s actually pretty clever.

It’d never fly now with safety regs, so they’d have to use breakaway glass at a higher cost (even though they existed back in 1978.)

Plus, it’s something you can see a crazed killer like Michael Myers doing to break a car window.

[u/CrimFandango]

My memory of this was seeing something in his palm but it being a blood pack instead so the crappy glass looked like it cut him. After seeing it again on YouTube you're right.

[u/FactsNLaughs]

So how does this make it a mistake if it was a choice? I feel this post belongs more in a details sub

[u/TheAllyCrime → u/FactsNLaughs]

The character of Michael Myers was supposed to be breaking it with his barehands.

However, the actor playing him was using a wrench to break the glass without injuring himself. The audience isn’t supposed to see the wrench. And honestly, watching this on a movie screen in 1978 without the benefit of freeze frame, it would be pretty tough to notice.

[u/TheAllyCrime → u/[deleted]]

1. The audience isn’t supposed to be able to see the wrench.

2. You and I are “the audience”.

3. You and I, “the audience”, can nevertheless clearly see the wrench.

[u/regular_poster → u/[deleted]]

I had never noticed it until now. I *believe* Carpenter was trying to get the audience to believe it was his bare handed strength.

I think that if Carpenter had wanted Michael to have a wrench, Michael wouldn't have used it so awkwardly. He would have just been holding it as naturally as you or I would when we try to steal cars or murder people.

[u/StretchFrenchTerry → u/[deleted]]

Nobody holds a wrench like that to break a window.