Grand Theft Halloween - One Fan's Video Game Homage to a Classic...

I'm always impressed by fan's dedication to Halloween.
I'm not just talking about the season, but the film:  John Carpenter's Halloween.  For a simple horror film in the late '70s it never ceases to amaze me how much the-little-slasher-that-could has gone on to inspire and terrify generations decade after decade.

If Carpenter had known back when he made that first film that his little "Baby Sitter Murders" movie was going to inspire people to build full size house replicas, or design screen accurate masks, or cause a man to devote an entire website to an autumn holiday full of black and orange ---wait a minute... strike that last one--- I don't know if the film would have come out as well as it did had Carpenter known what a huge fanbase and lasting legacy the film would have.

Enter Anthony Novich.  Anthony took the soundtrack from both the first and second Halloween films and using the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and a crude animation set up, recreated the entire films as acted out by the video game characters and locations (a process called "machinima"... now don't you feel smart?).
What do you call such the completed product?
John Carpenter's Grand Theft Halloween?
Halloween the Video---Game?
Well he calls it Halloween:  San Andreas.  And I wanted to know more so I interviewed Anthony back in '09 and I can finally share the interview with you... NOW.


HALLOWEEN ADDICT:  ANTHONY!  Let's start with how I found you. I was surfing around YouTube for Halloween videos and found your "Halloween II: San Andreas" film.
After watching the trailer and a few parts I realized that you had animated, not just a trailer, but the entire film beginning to end! A pretty amazing feat. 

ANTHONY NOVICH:  Well thank you so much for finding my videos and watching.  The fact that you enjoyed them is quite a bonus for me. Thank you.

HA:  How did you get the idea to recreate the Halloween films with machinima?

AN:  Well I pretty much got into the whole craze of finding the "easter eggs" in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.  Like "Finding Bigfoot" or seeing Leatherface in the woods and he would only come out on certain times and days in the game.  None of it ever came to be true.

HA:  So you were doing all kinds of exploring in the game and finding locations?

AN:  Yeah, and I love Halloween so it kinda all triggered me from then on to try to recreate my favorite Halloween films into this video game.

HA:  What program did you use to make the first Halloween film?


AN:  I just used basic Windows Movie Maker.  And the PS2 to import the game.  Also I have to give credit to Dazzle Digital video creator.  Because of that I was able to plug audio and video from the PS2 into my PC via USB and make it look as clear as it did.  Halloween 2 was made with some help from an animation program called Swishmax.

HA:  How long did it take you to make the 1st film?

AN:  The first one took about 2 to 3 weeks.  I started it on November 25, 2004 and completed it on December 16, 2004.

HA:  You seemed to hit your stride when you made Halloween II. What made you want to tackle animating the complete 2nd film too? (Are you a glutton for punishment?)

AN:  Well I knew fans were dying for me to make another one but I had no plans to do it. Part 1 was really just for fun and nothing really too serious.  But I would get people all the time asking to do another one.  And i knew it was going to be hard because most of the stuff in the real Halloween 2 couldn't be done in GTA: San Andreas.  You can't enter hospitals and you couldn't just go lie in a bed for all the scenes of Laurie lying in the hospital.  Also I knew that this time around if i wanted to do it right, there was going to be a lot of closeup shots of Michael Myers, like him getting shot in the eyes at the end.


HA:  How long did it take you to make Halloween II: San Andreas?

AN:  Halloween II took about 7 months give or take. I started it in March of '07 and got done around Halloween of '07.

HA:  Hey!  Halloween!  Nice deadline!  What's your process for creating the machinima films?

AN:  I just use the PS2 to create my movies. Not the online PC version which a lot of people said I had to use.  But I will be honest I wouldn't have been able to make these movies if it wasn't for Codebreaker For PS2. That gave me dozens of cheats and ways to manipulate the game in order to do what I did.

HA:  Cheating for Halloween.  Well, I can support that.  How did Codebreaker help?

AN:  For instance the scenes where it's a first person shot of Michael walking. There was always a Heads Up Display on the game and just stuff on screen I didn't want to be there.  I found a code which took me at least a week or more that disabled the HUD.  So Codebreaker was HUGE for making my movie possible.  I never had any outside help except my girlfriend who gave me lots of ideas and helped me through it when I was ready to give up.  Because believe me there are times you just want to say, "Screw this!  This ain't ever going to work why am I wasting all my time!" But it paid off in the end because now fans have both films.

HA:  What do you do for Halloween the holiday?

AN:  Me and my Girlfriend decorate the house inside and out. We have kids so it's a big deal to let them have fun on Halloween and always wear a new costume.  This year I finally bought a new Michael Myers mask. I'm actually waiting for it to be delivered in a few more weeks or so, but it is the most amazing Halloween 6 replica mask ever.  His name is Gary at H30 Productions and he makes the greatest masks.  That's what I'll be doing this Halloween-- going around in my new Myers coveralls and mask.  I can't wait!

HA:  What's your favorite Halloween candy?

AN:  My favorite Halloween candy is probably Candy Corn. I never really used to like them as a kid, but now they're pretty great.

HA:  I was the same way!  Now I can't stop eating them once the bag is opened.  Well you've Halloween-matured and can enjoy the finer things like Candy Corn and a nice Chablis.  

AN:  Haha!

HA:  Your bio on YouTube says you're a horror movie fan. What are a few of your favorites?


AN:  Well obviously the Halloween series.  I love the Sleepaway Camp movie and the Scream series, The Exorcist, Nightmare on Elm Streets and Friday 13ths also.  I also like newer stuff like Dead Silence and the Saw films.  Even movies like Rest Stop, Joy Ride, Wolf Creek and The Hitcher.
Pretty much if it's horror, I love it!

HA:  Speaking of new vs. old horror:  did you like the Halloween remake and its sequel?

AN:  I enjoyed Halloween 2007.  My favorite will always be Carpenter's though.  Though I think Rob Zombie had a vision and he put it on the screen.

HA:  You've been making Halloween homages for a long time.  You've posted an old home movie called "Dave and Anthony's Halloween 1996" which has some great stunts.  The guy playing Michael Myers falls down the stairs and gets hit by the car...

AN:  Well I must give credit to my buddy Dave because he's the one who fell down the stairs and was the one hit by the truck.  But I am proud to say if you listen closely as Dave is about to whack Michael with the 2X4 and he says, "Die you S.O.B!" you can hear him whacking my knuckles which bruised my hand!  That was actually filmed in a day.  No real thought went into it.  We didn't have a script.  We just knew what we liked and played it out.  That was a good time.

HA:  Obviously, you've been a fan of Halloween for a long time.  Can you remember your first time seeing John Carpenter's Halloween?

I can remember it clear as day, actually. Me and my grandparents were shopping at an old store called Gold Circle.  I was nine years old and I saw A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween on VHS on the store shelf and really bugged my grandparents to buy it for me. They ended up letting me get it and I couldn't wait to get home and watch them.

HA:  Ahhhh spoiling grandparents and the horrors they unknowingly unleash.  Were you scared by one or both?  

I remember being scared out of my pants that night!  To be honest:  I was probably more scared of Nightmare on Elm Street but Halloween from that day on stayed with me.  I watched that VHS until it wore out the tape.  So, yes, Halloween went on to be my Favorite Horror Movie.  As I got older I went out and bought all the soundtracks and collected all the merchandise I could get my hands on.  I was hooked!

And the rest, as they say, is history. 
I want to thank Anthony for his time, and also thank him for his patience in creating such a great homage to a classic scary film:  John Carpenter's Halloween. 
Head over to Anthony's YouTube page where you'll find the original Halloween: San Andreas and its technically superior sequel Halloween II: San Andreas.  Even if you don't watch the whole thing, click through to one of your favorite scenes to see the effort it took to pull off these digital interpretations. 

Here's an embed of the trailer for those with short attention spans.