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Muskegon Chronicle

Sunday, October 08, 2006
Slashback: Visiting stuntman recalls his first stab at the original 'Halloween'

James Winburn can kill in a heartbeat.

He's just not inclined to do it for real.

Winburn's garrotings, stabbings, strangulations and other assorted mayhems are make believe made realistic, in the name of entertainment.

A stunt performer on director John Carpenter's original, 1978 classic horror film "Halloween," Winburn will be in Muskegon this weekend.

In the Frauenthal Theater for the first annual Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival, Winburn will discuss not only his involvement in "Halloween," but also his 35-year career spanning at least 75 productions in movies and television.

And catching actress Jamie Lee Curtis before she did some real damage to herself.

In the role that made her a star, Curtis played baby-sitter Laurie Strode in "Halloween." One scene required her to flip over a railing while being attacked by Michael Myers, the now-iconic, mute lunatic of a serial killer. A bogeyman, Michael was identified in Carpenter's and producer and co-writer Debra Hill's original script only as The Shape.

"I worked with her so she wouldn't get hurt," Winburn said from his ranch in Little Rock, Calif., in Antelope Valley about 60 miles from Hollywood. "I was right below where she landed, so she wouldn't go into the camera. In the original dailies you could actually see me standing there."

"Halloween" is one of five famous horror movies set to be shown as part of a two-day bill that will also include a variety of new, independent scary movies. The other "name" movies will be "The Exorcist," "Poltergeist," "Return of the Living Dead" and, for comic relief, "Ghostbusters."

Although safety is a primary concern in movie stunt work, not everyone escaped "Halloween" unscathed. Winburn particularly remembers Tony Moran, the actor who in most scenes is inside the overalls and behind the white mask of Michael Myers as an adult. When Laurie pokes Michael in the eye with a hanger, Moran, brother of actress Erin Moran who played Joanie Cunningham on the TV series "Happy Days," got the worst of it.

"Tony got stabbed in the face," said Winburn. "You can see it in the actual film. When he pulls off his mask, his face was swollen. They didn't have to put any makeup on. He really looked distorted."

In Muskegon, Winburn will share such anecdotes along with showing clips from some of his movies, and discussing stunt and filming techniques and the evolution of moviemaking. With the advent of digital technology, he said, aspiring filmmakers can break into the business with low budgets, and horror is an ideal first step.

"I call them mom-and-pop productions," Winburn said. "They're very small, with almost no money."

Carpenter and Hill did not have much for "Halloween," a movie that conclusively settled that jack-o'-lanterns do not smile; They leer. The film's $300,000 budget was minuscule by Hollywood standards.

But Carpenter and Hill had an established performer in Donald Pleasance, the late British actor, playing a doctor who knows the core of Michael's malevolence. And then there was the creepy music score composed by Carpenter himself. To hear a few bars while alone in the dark of night is to break into a sweat.

Born in 1937 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Winburn moved, with his parents, to California shortly after WW II. He served in the U.S. Air Force and hoped to become a professional musician, playing trombone, baritone, bass and "vibes, by faking it."

That didn't happen, but his ability to take pratfalls on stage paid off. What ensued was a litany of 100-foot falls, car crashes, designing riggings for theme parks and teaching at film schools and colleges.

Winburn's resume encompasses several films with Carpenter, among them "The Fog" and "Escape from New York." His other credits include movies such as "Pale Rider," "My Favorite Year," "The Big Chill" and "Glory."

His journey to Muskegon began earlier this year in Grand Rapids. Appearing there at an expo, Winburn met Chris Randall and Keith Golinski, organizers of the Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival.

He could tell them the same thing he tells anyone who asks: He had no idea "Halloween" would become what it did.

"I didn't think anything about the film," Winburn said. "I just thought it was another film. Extras make more money today that stunt guys did then."

As for John Carpenter?

"He's a really dedicated professional ... He's not a screamer, he's not a pusher. He uses psychology with the actors ... He gets what he needs to get."

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