Halloween was released on October 25, 1978. Just a little over three months after I was born. That means I’ve had John Carpenter’s film with me my whole life. I can’t remember exactly when I first saw Halloween, but it had to have been around 1982. That’s when my love affair with horror films began.
Friday the 13th. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A Nightmare on Elm Street. I couldn’t get enough of the genre from a very young age. I credit my dad, who passed away when I was 3, for creating the initial spark. He had read Stephen King’s The Shining and was very excited to watch the premiere of Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation on HBO. His excitement rubbed off on me and I too couldn’t wait to watch it as well. So, I sat there in the living room with my parents as the opening sequence began, Jack Torrance driving with his family through the Colorado Rockies on his way to the Overlook Hotel. And…that’s as far as I made it. I ran to my room, screaming with terror. Just the thought of the horrors the film may hold was enough to terrify me. But it was that first visceral reaction that hooked me, like a very powerful drug.
If that initial brush with the horror genre is what lit the flame, Halloween was like a gas can poured over it. It became, and still is, my favorite horror movie. I have watched it every year in October since then, a tradition similar to A Christmas Story or A Charlie Brown Christmas during the holidays. Halloween was just as much a part of Halloween to me as costumes or trick-or-treating. It is a tradition I continue to this date with my children (although I introduced them to it at a much later age).
The greatness of Carpenter’s Halloween cannot be denied, but with it came a lot of baggage. Ten sequels/pseudo-sequels/remakes/retcons to date, including the newest film. Some have been pretty good, some have been dumpster fires. But through them all, I have remained loyal to the franchise. (Don’t let Jamie Lee Curtis hear you call it that, though. She recently commented to the BBC “Halloween was made in 1978. There was no franchise. It wasn’t a franchise. And it isn’t a franchise. It is a series of films.”)
Over the weekend while at the Telluride Horror Show, I had multiple conversations with multiple horror hounds about Halloween and all of its sequels. For lovers of the franchise, it’s nothing most of us haven’t discussed before. But for argument’s sake, here is a recap of those convos and the general consensus of each of the sequels:
- Halloween (1978): No secret here, everyone absolutely loves this classic. A true masterpiece that changed the face (literally AND figuratively) of horror and shaped the next two decades. Often imitated, never duplicated, Halloween has stood the test of time and ranks as one of the all-time best the genre.
- Halloween II (1981): Picking up immediately after the first film (with a brief rewind to the events at the conclusion of the original), this one ramped up the gore and violence, while at the same time losing much of the atmosphere and tone from Carpenter’s classic. (Interesting side note: Friday the 13th Part 3 was originally going to take place with Part 2 final girl Ginny in a mental hospital. Halloween II’s hospital setting scrapped those plans. The Friday franchise eventually revisited that idea with Part V.) It’s regarded by many of those I spoke with as one of the better sequels, perhaps due to several returning cast members, including Curtis, and John Carpenter and Debra Hill’s involvement. A sleazier, less intelligent follow-up, it is still great 80s horror fun. I should point out, though, that Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis aren’t so fond of it. Curtis recently remarked, rather bluntly “Halloween II wasn’t great.”
- Halloween III: Season of the Witch: Fellow HGL writer Jeremy Dick recently wrote a great article on some interesting facts about Halloween III, so I’ll keep this brief. Suffice it to say, this installment is a stand-alone movie, disconnected from all the other sequels. It would have been better served to be named just by its subtitle Season of the Witch. The general consensus I received talking with folks this weekend is that it is a great horror film in and of itself. Generally trashed and reviled for much of its lifetime, only in the last ten years or so has popular opinion turned from hate to love. Seriously, the horror community has done a complete 180 on this film. And it really is great. A true cult classic! Oh, and Tom Atkins is awesome in it!
- Halloween 4 & 5: A return to the Michael Myers storyline, these two are usually linked together, mostly due to the Jamie Lloyd character played by future scream queen Danielle Harris. Not the best of the series, but certainly not the worst. The two have a great look to them and 4 has a great ending that sadly was not followed up on in 5, they are part of the highly controversial Thorn trilogy. Which brings us to:
- Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers: An absolute disaster. One of (if not the) worst in the franchise, it attempts to wrap up the mind-numbingly bad Thorn storyline, which nearly killed the franchise all together. It is also the last appearance of Donald Pleasence’s Dr. Sam Loomis character, as the actor passed away in 1995 shortly before the film’s release. There are two different cuts of this film and they are both dreadful, although the Producer’s Cut is slightly better. But hey, it’s Paul Rudd’s feature film debut, so there’s that!
- Halloween H2O: A product of the Kevin Williamson meta-slasher era, H2O was strongly influenced by Williamson and Wes Craven’s Scream (in fact, the screenplay was based on a story by Williamson). It marks the first return of Curtis to the franchise since the first two films. It was also the first to ignore previous entries, retconning the series back to just the first two movies. Although it feels a little dated by its late 90s horror pedigree, most people I spoke with feel the franchise returned to form with H20. It also had a great, definitive ending. The series should have ended here. (Sigh) Alas…
- Halloween: Resurrection: The less said about this steaming pile of turds, the better. Jamie Lee even said so herself recently: “Have you seen Resurrection? Resurrection is a piece of (crap).” Michael was indeed resurrected with one of the most ham-handed explanations you could ever imagine. I, like most, have two lasting impressions from this otherwise forgettable farce: Laurie Strode’s ignominious death and Busta Rhymes kicking Michael’s ass. “Trick or treat, mother f***er!” Ugh!
- Halloween (2007): Rob Zombie’s grim remake/re-imaging of the original is loved by some, hated by others. That definitely seemed true as I spoke with people about it this past weekend. A brutally violent remake, Zombie spends half the movie exploring the bleak childhood origins of Michael before he kills his sister Judith. Many people were put off by this backstory, feeling it was an unnecessary plot element. The second half, which remakes the original more directly, is more well-received by fans of the series. Overall, in what was a massive undertaking trying to remake an iconic film, director Zombie did a fine job respecting the source material while giving it his own trademark shine.
- Halloween II (2009): Zombie had initially swore off directing a sequel to his gritty remake, but he decided to come back to maintain his vision for the re-imagined franchise. He should’ve stayed away. In the same category of “what the hell” as Halloween 6 and Resurrection, this film is a drab, depressing, overly violent, psychotropic mess. The only redeeming quality may be “Weird Al” Yankovic’s cameo.
So, by my count, since the 1981 direct follow-up to Carpenter’s classic, there has been one decent, but slightly dated, sequel; a divisive, hyper-violent remake; and a cult classic sequel that wasn’t really a sequel at all. Not exactly a murderer’s row (pun definitely intended). Which brings us to Blumhouse and David Gordon Green’s newest installment in the franchise. Co-written with frequent collaborators Danny McBride (Eastbound and Down, Vice Principals) and Jeff Fradley, this new installment is a direct sequel only to Carpenter’s 1978 original, ignoring all the sequels. That means Laurie is not Michael’s sister, he did not burn to a crisp, or become a pawn of an ancient cult, or murder his niece, or get decapitated, or hang out with white horses, or … you get the point. “Let’s simplify it again and go back to the least complicated version,” Green told Birth.Movies.Death. It does pay homage to at least some of the sequels, including Halloween III, as seen in some of the promotional materials. But in this version, Michael has been locked up for the past four decades. Laurie has been dealing with the trauma of the events of the first film, preparing herself for the eventual return of Michael.
Green spoke with SyFyWire recently about their choice to scrub the franchise clean. “You could think about it in terms of, if you’re rebooting a franchise, you could do The Force Awakens, which invites the original cast members and the tone and the art direction and the style of the movie. Or you could do Batman Begins, where you just take the mythology and you put a very distinctive spin on it.” It’s pretty clear they went the Star Wars route.
But that depended on getting Jamie Lee Curtis to return to the role that has defined her career. Based off the strength of the script, she agreed, bringing with her the vision of someone who has been linked to the character for 40 years. “She had a cool philosophy that at the end of the original Halloween, when Laurie’s talking to Tommy and Lindsey upstairs and she’s trying to get them out of the house to go get the police across the street, she very pointedly tells them, ‘Do as I say,'” Green recalled. “And so her interpretation when she read the script is that we were taking the ‘Do as I say’ transition where Laurie is moved from innocent academic school girl to an authority figure, to someone that is empowered and strong and doesn’t take bulls**t.”
As equally important as Jamie Lee Curtis’s role in the new sequel: John Carpenter’s involvement. Carpenter gave his blessing to Green and McBride and even acted as consultant on the screenplay. He also provides the film’s music, a welcome bit of news for those who love John Carpenter’s scores. Green explained, “He kept me out of it; he said ‘I wanna have a whole score for you. It’s not gonna be piece by piece.’ … But then I heard it and it feels very Carpenter. I can sense a little Escape from New York in a couple little pieces and things like that, it was pretty exciting.”
Will the film pull off the impossible, resetting the franchise and returning it to its legendary roots? It’s hard to say, but the participation of Curtis and Carpenter and Green and McBride certainly bodes well. The trailers have been very solid, as has early word on the film. The buzz from the very start has been very positive. The outlook is promising. I’ll be there opening weekend, hoping for a return to Haddonfield that recalls the early days of Laurie and Annie and Lynda and Dr. Loomis. Because after all, the impossible is only impossible until it isn’t.
Blumhouse Productions’ Halloween is in theaters everywhere beginning October 18th
