Halloween in August
In 1978, John Carpenter directed a movie originally titled
”
The Babysitter Murders,
”
but before it was released producers decided a better title
would be
”
Halloween.
”
The film became a classic. It spawned an entire genre of slasher
films, eight sequels and now, a remake which will be released
August 31.
When I heard there was going to be a remake of
”
Halloween
”
directed by Rob Zombie, I was upset. Zombie is a heavy metal
rocker and has directed two movies
–
”
House Of A 1,000 Corpses
”
(2003) and its sequel
”
The Devil’s Rejects
”
(2005). Those movies were OK, but I didn’t think he was up to
the challenge of remaking an American classic.
Halloween in August
In 1978, John Carpenter directed a movie originally titled “The Babysitter Murders,” but before it was released producers decided a better title would be “Halloween.” The film became a classic. It spawned an entire genre of slasher films, eight sequels and now, a remake which will be released August 31.
When I heard there was going to be a remake of “Halloween” directed by Rob Zombie, I was upset. Zombie is a heavy metal rocker and has directed two movies – “House Of A 1,000 Corpses” (2003) and its sequel “The Devil’s Rejects” (2005). Those movies were OK, but I didn’t think he was up to the challenge of remaking an American classic.
After watching the trailer, I’ve changed my mind. I’m excited and think the movie might be pretty good. If you are a big horror movie fan, like me, you might want to rewatch the original and all of its sequels before seeing the remake.
The original “Halloween” is not only one of the scariest movies ever made, but it is one of my favorite movies of all time. I was 25 years old before I could watch this movie alone.
The film starts with a 6-year-old Michael Myers (the series’ main character and murderer) killing his teenage sister on Halloween night. After the murder, he is institutionalized. He breaks out 15 years later and heads to his hometown of Haddonfield, Ill., where he murders a group of teenagers. In pursuit is his psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis, played by Donald Pleasance. The main target of his killing spree is teenager Laurie Strode, played by a young Jaime Lee Curtis.
This is an almost perfect film, from the music to the script and camera movements. The only flaw is the acting of some of the female leads, but Pleasance gives a great performance. Surprisingly, there is very little gore in this movie. It is still very scary and holds up almost 30 years later.
The scariest thing about Michael Myers is no matter what happens, he just walks very slowly. He lumbers after victims, but no matter how fast the person runs, he always catches up. He doesn’t talk like Freddy Krueger and is never played for laughs, like Jason Voorhees from the “Friday The 13th” series.
In the original script, Michael Myers was supposed to wear a clown mask, but during rehearsals, Carpenter thought it looked silly. The very scary mask Michael Myers wears is actually a William Shatner mask which was washed and bleached.
“Halloween II” (1981) is the best of the sequels and the only one written by Carpenter and Debra Hill, writers of the original film. The movie takes over where the first one left off. Laurie Strode is taken to the hospital with Michael Myers close behind. Dr. Loomis is back frantically searching for the masked killer.
Rick Rosenthal directed the film, but Carpenter added some gory scenes because he felt the film was too tame.
“Halloween III: Season Of The Witch” (1982) is the only sequel without the Michael Myers character. The studios wanted a sequel and Carpenter wanted to make a new Halloween-themed movie each year. Without Michael Myers the film bombed at the box office.
The plot centers around a mad scientist who makes Halloween masks that will kill all the children who are wearing them. The film is OK. It really isn’t scary, but has some good performances.
“Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers” (1988) brings Michael back. This time he’s after Jamie Lloyd, the daughter of Laurie Strode. This is a pretty good sequel with some genuine scares. Donald Pleasance is back as Dr. Loomis. You would think by now the people of Haddonfield would listen to him when he warns them about Michael, but I guess that is part of the film’s charm.
“Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers” (1989) is the worst of the sequels. The plot is basically this – it’s Halloween and Michael Myers kills a bunch of teenagers. The direction is amateurish the characters are annoying. Michael Myers takes off his mask and looks like Susan Sarandon. In another scene, Michael stabs a girl and the knife bends.
“Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers” (1995) is a cut above its predecessor, but has the strangest plot of the whole series. Jamie Lloyd gives birth to Michael’s baby and he’s trying to get it back. Michael now belongs to an evil cult of Druids. The film tries to explain the origin of Michael Myers, but the storyline gets too silly.
“Halloween H20: 20 Years Later” (1998) ignores all the previous sequels and takes up 20 years after the original. Laurie Strode is in hiding and running an exclusive private school in California. On Halloween night, Michael Myers tracks her down and they battle to the death.
The storyline is average, but there are scary scenes involving Michael. The film doesn’t stray into absurdity like the previous sequels. The problem is the characters just aren’t very interesting.
“Halloween: Resurrection” (2002) revolves around a group of college students who have won a contest to spend the night in the Myers house and then broadcast the experience live over the Internet. The only thing they didn’t plan on is Michael Myers being alive and living inside the house.
The critics hated this movie, but it is my second favorite of the series. Rick Rosenthal, who directed the first sequel, also directed this one. I saw this in a packed theater and everyone was scared. It doesn’t matter how silly the plot may be, that’s the ultimate goal of a horror movie.
The upcoming remake is supposed to show Michael Myers years in the sanitarium. He’s also supposed to wear several different masks. I read in one article that he speaks. I don’t know if any of these rumors are true, but I am looking forward to seeing the new movie.
Rob Zombie has made some good casting decisions, using many good stars from the genre. Malcolm McDowell plays Dr. Loomis. Brad Dourif, the voice of Chucky from “Child’s Play,” is the Sheriff. Clint Howard, Danny Trejo, Udo Kier, Ken Foree, Sybil Danning and Adrienne Barbeau all have roles in the new film.
Even though some of the films have been silly with outlandish plot lines at least the producers tried to do different things with the series. We’ve got to at least give them some credit for that.
All I know is that whenever an actor puts on the Michael Myers mask and chases around teenagers there are bound to be a few good scares.
