This Day in Horror History: Happy Birthday, DEBRA HILL!
On this day in horror history, Debra Hill was born in Haddonfield, New Jersey in 1950. Hill started out as a script supervisor and assistant editor on John Carpenter Assault on Precinct 13 before producing and co-writing classics like Carpenter’s Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, and Rick Rosenthal’s Halloween II.
While she then stepped away from screenwriting for a few years, Hill continued to produce classic flicks such as Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Cronenberg’s adaptation of King’s The Dead Zone, and (unfortunately) that remake of The Fog.
On top of those genre classics, Hill also produced Clue, Adventures in Babysitting, Big Top Pee-wee, The Fisher King, Crazy in Alabama, and World Trade Center.
She returned to screenwriting in 1996 to pen Escape from L.A. with Carpenter and Kurt Russell. She was honored by Women in Film with the Crystal Award in 2003.
In 2004, Hill was diagnosed with colon cancer. Despite her diagnosis and the amputation of her leg, Hill continued to work on several projects including a Snake Plissken comic book and video game. She died of cancer on March 8, 2005.
After her death, Carpenter said: “[working with Hill was] one of the greatest experiences of my life – she had a passion for not just movies about women or women’s ideas but films for everybody.“
Other than Halloween, what’s your favorite Debra Hill movie? Make sure to let us know in the comments below or over on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!
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