Bob Simms

Bob Simms is a character featured in the 1978 slasher film Halloween as well as the 2007 remake by Rob Zombie. In both films, he is the boyfriend of high school cheerleader Lynda Van Der Klok. In the original film, Bob Simms is played by John Michael Graham. In the remake, he is played by Nick Mennell.

Biography
On Halloween night, 1978, Bob Simms brought his girlfriend Lynda Van Der Klok to the Wallace residence in Haddonfield for some late-night love-making. Originally, they intended on going on a double-date with Lynda's friend Annie and her boyfriend Paul, but were overjoyed when they discovered that they had the entire house to themselves. After having sex, Lynda asked Bob to go downstairs to get her a beer. He retrieved a beer from the refrigerator and went to go back upstairs. Michael Myers cornered him on the landing and stabbed him through the chest with a butcher knife, pinning him to the wall. His body was later discovered by Laurie Strode in the upstairs bedroom, where it had been suspended from the ceiling.

Notes & Trivia

 * For the most part, there is very little difference in the characterization of Bob Simms between the two films. Both versions of the character wear glasses, and are killed while fetching a can of beer. In the remake, Bob has long black hair and actually puts on a disguise which consists of bedsheet pulled over his head while wearing his eyeglasses on the outside of the bedsheet. In the original film, Bob never dons the disguise, but Michael Myers does, shortly before he kills Lynda.


 * Bob Simms is the first character to perpetuate the "I'll be right back" cliche, which is one of the horror trope "rules" spoken of by Randy Meeks in the 1996 film Scream. The scene of Bob and Lynda's deaths from the original Halloween are also edited into the film as part of a video that Randy and his friends are watching.


 * The nature of Bob's death is a logistical imposibility. Michael Myers pins him to the wall with a butcher knife, leaving Bob's body suspended several inches off the floor. A portion of the blade and hilt are still visibly sticking outside of his body. It is not driven in deep enough to go through both sides of Bob's body and stick through the wall while simultaneously being able to support Bob's weight.