 A common characterization is that Michael Myers is evil . John Carpenter has described the character as " almost a supernatural force - a force of nature . An evil force that 's loose , " a force that is " <unk> " . Professor Nicholas Rogers elaborates , " Myers is depicted as a mythic , elusive bogeyman , one of superhuman strength who cannot be killed by bullets , stab wounds , or fire . " Carpenter 's inspiration for the " evil " that Michael would embody came when he was in college . While on a class trip at a mental institution in Kentucky , Carpenter visited " the most serious , mentally ill patients " . Among those patients was a young boy around twelve to thirteen years @-@ old . The boy gave this " schizophrenic stare " , " a real evil stare " , which Carpenter found " unsettling " , " creepy " , and " completely insane " . Carpenter 's experience would inspire the characterization that Loomis would give of Michael to Sheriff Brackett in the original film . Debra Hill has stated the scene where Michael kills the Wallaces ' German Shepherd was done to illustrate how he is " really evil and deadly " . 
