Michael Myers of the "Halloween" franchise is the go-to example for a faceless slasher villain. In director John Carpenter's original 1978 picture, actor Nick Castle is credited not as playing "Michael Myers" but as "The Shape" — Michael is an extension of the shadows, stretching out to kill on pure instinct before receding back into the darkness where he belongs.

In that original "Halloween," five people are murdered by the Shape:

Michael's older sister Judith (Sandy Johnson) in the movie's opening flashback.

The offscreen Christopher Hastings, who Michael kills to steal clothes after he escapes the sanitarium.

Teenager babysitter Annie Brackett (Nancy Kyes), who has her throat garrotted and cut.

Bob Simms (John Michael Graham), who is dressed as a ghost for the holiday.

Lynda Van Der Klok (P.J. Soles), Bob's girlfriend who Michael ambushes by wearing his ghost costume.

Michael is a dispassionate killer; he slices Annie's neck with a quick strike,...