RANTS & RAVINGS ABOUT HORROR - “HALLOWEEN and a New Legacy of Horror”

“HALLOWEEN and a New Legacy of Horror”

Master of Horror John Carpenter returns to the franchise that made him an International celebrity with the release of HALLOWEEN (2018) but instead of writing and & directing this latest sequel he is an Executive Producer and provides the score (with his new collaborators Cody Carpenter and Daniel A. Davies).  There is this idea that there is a need or “want” by audiences that the franchise needs to go “old school” and back to basics so returning with Carpenter is star Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle (as Laurie Strode and The Shape, respectfully).  Helping to get back to this old school vibe are Danny McBride, Jeff Fradley, and David Gordon Green as the screenwriters and Green who directs.  Green made a name for himself with his debut feature George Washington (2000) but is better known for his comedies Pineapple Express (2008), Your Highness (2011), and The Sitter (2011); he soon moved on to the more interesting films Joe (2013), Our Brand is Crisis (2015), and Stronger (2017).  McBride is more known for Eastbound & Down but has shown his horror film creed with Alien: Covenant (2017).

I only mention McBride and Green as they are the key people responsible for putting this film together along with uber producer Jason Blum who came aboard to shepherd the film in a direction for a new era and audience (along with producers Malek Akkad and Bill Block).  As much as I want to say I love the idea of film-makers, in hindsight, claiming that some films/sequels/remakes/re-imaginings/etc. stray too far from the source material, there is no denying that a lot of time has passed from the Carpenter ’78 Original to the more recent Rob Zombie directed Halloween II (2009) and audiences from the ‘70s are completely different from those of the ‘00s.  Blum and company claim that there was a need to return to that ‘70s mentality of horror film that they believe audiences want instead of the more current crop of darker horror film that has a lot of gore and relies less on suspense and subtly.  Franchise films like Insidious, The Purge, Final Destination, Hostel, Saw, and Sinister have replaced the slasher films of the ‘80s and ‘90s which have continuously upped the ante on horror and gore and become huge Box Office draws.  Smaller and sometimes more critically adored films like It Follows, The Babadook, and Oculus have been critical darlings that relied more on atmosphere and mood (and less on gore) have rarely been huge Box Office draws leaving the impression that the more low-key style horror films no longer have a place with mainstream audiences.

So, how do you craft a remake/re-imagining of a beloved classic film that retains the atmosphere of the original while also appealing to modern day audiences who flocked to see the remake of Stephen King’s It (2017) and not the remake of Poltergeist (2015)?  That was the goal of the film-makers behind the ’18 Halloween.   Bringing Carpenter, Curtis, and Castle back was a great marketing gimmick to start but would the resultant film be what audiences really wanted?

Rob Zombie’s very divisive two Halloween films ’07 and ’09 was a means to ground the franchise in a “Zombie-colored” real world in which The Shape was less a Boogieman and more a human being by the name of Michael Myers, a misunderstood and abused child from a broken family that becomes a relentless serial killer.  Gone is the mystique of Carpenter’s faceless killer that was given no meaning or method to his madness; Zombie wanted to present a killer you could understand and empathize with just as much as the heroine Laurie Strode (played in his films by Scout Taylor-Compton).  The ‘00s was a time in which the faceless serial killer was passé replaced by the Dexter Morgan and Hannibal Lectors.  Zombie’s films were loathed by some but cherished by others due to his style and his need to create a Michael Myers who wasn’t simply “evil” by nature but was raised that way.  These films went against everything from the previous seven sequels but then again this wasn’t the first time the franchise was rebooted.

After a less than satisfying part V: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) and part 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) the franchise was again rebooted to dismiss all sequels except for Part II.  For Halloween: H20 (1998), Curtis returns to reboot the franchise in one of the most satisfying of all the sequels in which Laurie Strode has changed her name to hide away from her past.  This film was extremely well liked by both fans and critics as it presented a more three-dimensional heroine than had ever been presented in a Halloween film while also appealing to modern audiences with slick visuals and a young and attractive cast with seasoned professionals and comic wit.  These achievements were short lived as Part VII: Resurrection (2002) became one of the most hated sequels in the franchise. 

After the dismal reception of the non-Michael Myers starring Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1983), gears were shifted to bring Myers and Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) back from their fiery deaths in Part II (1981) for Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers (1988).

This all being said, the Halloween franchise as a whole was rebooted three times before McBride & Green, Carpenter & Curtis & Castle, and Blum decided it was time to once again break the mold and revisit the iconic franchise by making a sequel that directly takes place after the original film and ignoring all of the past 40 years’ worth of continuity and story.  This new story had to appeal to fans of the franchise who had seen all the previous films (or at least some of them) in addition to those who had never seen a Halloween film.   Laurie Strode is a woman suffering from PTSD after the events in the ’78 Original film and been preparing for The Shape’s escape from a mental institution for forty years.  She has a daughter whom she has alienated and a grand-daughter who barely knows her, and her world comes crashing down upon her when a bus carrying The Shape and other mental patients crashes releasing The Shape to menace Haddonfield once again.

I will try not to reveal to many details of the film for those who have not seen the film but despite being a well-done slasher film there is nothing remarkably new or intriguing in this latest sequel that takes the best bits of all the sequels and mashes then together in this “best of” film.  Curtis does her very best to keep the film together but Dr. Sartain (Haluk Bilginer) is no Dr. Loomis and Will Patton is slumming as Officer Hawkins, who is trying to capture The Shape once he realizes that he has a serial killer in his town.    The bumbling cops from the abysmal Part V seem to still be working in Haddonfield now in this new film where there is an extended scene of cop banter that is completely out of place.   There is a child that believes in the Boogieman and a babysitter, but their scenes are so short and haphazard that you wonder the logic of why they are even in the film other than to have an homage to the ’78 Original and Part IV.  Curtis’ character pulls a lot from H20 and there are several nods to that film but there are a few details about the ’18 film that just had me feeling empty about the entire film.

H20 already presented Laurie Strode as a woman with PTSD but one that for the most part has moved on with her life unlike the ’18 film which presents her as a survivalist with a fortified home and a menagerie of guns.  Unfortunately, for the forty years of preparing for the eventual arrival of Michael Myers she’s a horrible shot and she never logically responds to the presence of Myers like you think someone who is obsessed with killing him would be.  She acts and reacts more for plot than logic.  Strode’s daughter Karen and granddaughter Alysson (Judy Greer and Andi Matichak, respectfully) are the best story point of the entire film that is squandered in clichés and bad memories of The Curse of Michael Myers.  I love the fact that this film wanted to present three generations of women effected by the trauma of Myers but there are too many bad decisions and character points that just seem to be there for plot rather than character.  Some of these same relationship issues were developed in Part VI and the Strode family in that film.  The ’18 film had a great opportunity to present three great women characters from different generations, but they ended up coming across as cyphers for Laurie’s familial problems rather than genuine character moments.

My next fault with the film, and this is a big one, is the presentation of Myers.  From the trailer and the vocal aspirations of the film-makers you’d be in the belief that the idea of this film is to go back to the basics of Carpenter’s film regarding how Myers was presented as a Boogieman/The Shape.  Instead, this film rehashes the brutality of the Zombie films without the since of fun or style.  Myers kills everything in his path with complete disregard and it is only by happenstance that he ultimately finds his way to Laurie’s fortified home in the final act.  It never seems like he has any purpose other than to kill-kill-kill which is unlike the ’78 Original or even Zombie’s film.  For gore fans there are plenty of deaths to add to Myers body-count but to fans of the suspense filled original it’s a bit of the same from previous films except less creative as there are many nods to deaths from previous sequels. 

There are various other faults I have with the film but the final element that I’ll discuss is simply that the film lacks any real suspense and when the characters are as hollow and uninteresting as presented her even the high body-count can’t masque what a mediocre film the final product actually is.  Now, I’m sure a lot of people will disagree with me especially considering that the film has grossed over $250 million worldwide on a $10 million production budget but I believe this is more serendipity than anything else due to the involvement of so many people from the ’78 Original.  

Now, to put this all in perspective, I must also add that I saw the far superior Suspiria (2018) the night before and the Korean language Rampant (2018) on the same day as I saw Halloween and both films were shining examples of character based horror films that had style and presented either creepy and unnerving atmosphere (Suspiria) and or action-suspense-zombie-demon horror (Rampant).  Both took clichés and standard horror conventions and presented them in new and surprising ways whereas Halloween ’18 presented the exact same thing that I’d seen before countless times.

I’ll concede that I may be a little biased since I didn’t think there needed to be another Halloween reboot especially with Curtis rebooting her own franchise, again, but the trailer did give me hope that the film would have at least been interesting having Carpenter, Curtis, and Castle involved but the only real thing of brilliance in the film is the musical score from Carpenter (and his collaborators).  The score wasn’t a retread of what came before but an evolution and attribute this to Carpenter and his team as he has found new life in his musical career having produced over the years the amazing Lost Themes I and II not to mention the Anthology album.  The music is the true highlight of the film!

Carpenter’s film career may have stalled after the release of The Ward (2010), which didn’t even get a large Theatrical release, but his music career has been nothing short of brilliant and I’m ecstatic that he’s producing better music now than he has in years.

Halloween ’18 is a monumental success story that has resurrected a fairly forgotten franchise (except for hard-core horror fans) for general audiences and there will definitely be another film which the customary result of many of producer Blum’s films has been (The Purge, Paranormal Activity, Sinister, Unfriended, etc.).  Even though I’m no fan of the film, I am more than happy to admit that the greatest result of the success of the film is that there is a renewed interest in everything “John Carpenter” and I hope that He becomes a new contributor to the expanding horror world of Blumehouse Productions as they continue to allow visionary film-makers to present their visions without studio interference which is the one thing we can all be thankful for.

"Rants & Ravings About Horror" - Week 32: “The HALLOWEEN Franchise”

Week 32: “The HALLOWEEN Franchise”

There are many horror franchises that have a special place in the horror fan’s heart.  This is not because of the protagonist of any given film but for the villain of that franchise.  Where would the Texas Chainsaw Massacre be without Leatherface or A Nightmare on Elm Street without Freddy Krueger?  Where would Child’s Play be without Chucky or Hellraiser without Pinhead?  Friday the 13^th without Jason or Saw without The Jigsaw Killer?  What would the Halloween franchise be without the ultimate Boogeyman – Michael Myers?  Since the Halloween franchise is one of my favorites I’ve decided to dedicate this week’s article on my thoughts on each of the films in the series.

In 1978 the original John Carpenter classic was released.  I was but two years old at the time so I was completely unaware of the film and wouldn’t be until after the third film saw release.  I ended up watching this film as part of a trilogy of the first three films in the franchise so this film ended up having a profound effect on me.  I generally liked all the films but the first one was always a favorite.  I always loved the Carpenter original because it was creepy and atmospheric.  I also loved the mask.  That mask was scary!  And I can’t say enough about Carpenter’s iconic score!  As a young pre-teen experiencing the Halloween franchise these were some of the most frightening horror films I had ever seen.  Michael Myers WAS the Boogeyman, no question about it.  This film would be a regular Halloween tradition with me for almost the next two decades.

Halloween II (1981) is an interesting film in that I used to really enjoy this film when I was younger.  Since I originally watched it with the first and third films and because this film takes place directly after the events of the first film this was always a film I had to watch with the first film.  I could enjoy the first film by itself but I could never enjoy this film without watching the first film.  This was a more violent film but the thing that struck me the most growing up is that it starred Lance Guest, who starred in one of my favorite films The Last Starfighter (1984).  I know I saw that film before Halloween II so every time I saw the latter film it reminded me of the former film.  Unfortunately, I didn’t know who Jamie Lee Curtis or Donald Pleasence were at the time but Guest was someone I was very familiar with.  In later years this film lost its luster with me.  When subsequent sequels were released this film, unfortunately, ended up at the bottom of my list of films in the franchise.  It still isn’t one of my favorites but it is certainly not the worst.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1984) was a film I hated growing up.  I couldn’t understand why Michael Myers wasn’t in the film and if you were like me and you watched the first three films all at the same time then this film would be odd and strange and not even fit within the franchise.  Despite my initial feelings about the film time has been extremely kind for this film.  When I was young I didn’t understand the absence of Myers but when you get older you read more and you understand more about not only the intensions of the filmmakers but the themes and aesthetics of the film itself.  I was finally able to view the film under its own merits and not those my young mind wanted it to be.  This is one of my favorite of the sequels because of how creative the film is not just in terms of story and execution but also because of the amazing cast which is highlighted by the outstanding musical score.  I now love this film because it’s so different from the rest.

When news of Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) arrived I was already a die-hard fan and if I had been old enough to see the film at the theater on opening night I would have (I was but twelve at the time but already a horror fan).  Instead, I had to contend with the novelization of the film which my mother bought for me (after much pleading and begging).  I loved the book!  I was already a huge fan of Stephen King so this novelization was right up my alley.  I was a horror fan who also loved reading about horror.  When the film was released to VHS (Ahh, the good old days) my parents rented it the first week.  I must have watched the film three or four times.  Halloween IV was now my favorite of the franchise!  For a while I considered it better than the first film.  I had waited so long for a new film with Myers that it didn’t matter how good the film actually was it would be my favorite horror film of the year.  The film itself does not disappoint.  It’s a great film and one of the best sequels of the entire franchise.  At this point in time I did know who Pleasence was and had seen him in everything from Escape From New York (1981) to Phenomena (aka Creepers, 1985) to The Devonsville Terror (1983), but he was most iconic to me as Dr. Loomis in the Halloween films.

I didn’t have to wait long before Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) and for a long time I loved this film as well.  As you get older to come to realize that films that you liked as a child actually aren’t as good as you remembered.  That’s how this film has fared over the years.  I used to really love this film.  It’s dark and moody and atmospheric but it’s also confusing and odd and doesn’t make much sense.  When I was young none of this mattered because it had Michael Myers and a lot of killings and was entertaining and that was enough for me at the time.  Now, when I look back at this film I consider it one of the worst.  It may not stand the test of time but it is entertaining and contains the basic elements for a Halloween film similar to that of Halloween II.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) was the first one in the franchise that I was (finally) old enough to see at the theater.  The ‘90s unfortunately were filled with highly forgettable horror films and sequels didn’t fare any better.  My tastes at this time had been refined and more sophisticated and this film had no chance with me.  Despite the presence of Pleasence this film is a carbon copy of all the other forgettable horror films of the ‘90s.  I always saw this as a hokey sequel with subpar acting, little gore, and one of the worst Myers masks of any of the previous films.  This film’s only saving grace is the unlikely comic turn from a very young Paul Rudd.  Everything else about this film is completely forgettable although I do enjoy the musical score by Alan Howarth and Paul Rabjohns.

In 1998, someone decided to dismiss the direction of the previous three films and start over thus was born Halloween: H20 (1998) which saw Jamie Lee Curtis return to the franchise that helped make her a household name.  After the abysmal Curse I was ecstatic that someone was going to take the franchise seriously and craft an intelligent sequel.  One that all Halloween fans had been asking for for years.   I saw this film with friends on opening night and we were not disappointed.  This was a chilling and atmospheric film with a very good young supporting cast but most importantly it had Curtis’ Laurie Strode returning to the franchise and becoming a bad-ass in the same vein as Ripley from the Aliens franchise or Sarah Connor from the Terminator films.  THIS is what Halloween fans craved for and got!  The film is amazing but the ending was the icing on the cake.  When Strode chops off Myers’ head with an axe it was a defining moment not only in the franchise but in horror film history.  Myers was not an un-killable force like Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees so when his head was cut off this signaled the end of a horror icon and film series.

Or so we all thought.

Halloween: H20 was a huge financial success and the logical result was Halloween: Resurrection (2002) and unfortunately they sold the idea to Curtis who would return for the opening sequence only.  Strode was killed while in a mental hospital and then Myers goes home where a reality TV show is filming at the old Myers house, which would introduce a whole new cast of victims for Myers.  There is so much wrong with this film that fans of the series consider this the worst film in the series beneath Curse and Revenge.  I’m no fan of this film but I do love to watch Bianca Kajlich do battle with Myers and it is an early screen role for Katee Sackhoff, who I now absolutely love.  Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a good film but it’s more entertaining than Curse and less cryptic than Revenge but its reliance on the youth culture does date it worse than both of those films.  This film was a critic and fan’s worst nightmare and spelled the end of the franchise despite doing well at the box office.  It was going to be hard to recover from the public’s outcry over this film.

It would be five years until it was decided to start over from scratch.  The ‘00s became the time of the remake and that was the solution with how to make the Halloween franchise relevant again.  It was decided that what the franchise needed was a more realistic interpretation and therefore musician turned director Rob Zombie was handed the keys to do whatever he wanted to with the franchise in order to re-invent it for a new audience that had become jaded with the modern horror film.  He took the highly stylized look and feel of his recent hit The Devil’s Rejects (2005) and applied that to the Halloween franchise by delving into the monster Michael Myers himself.  I love Halloween (2007).  I thought it was inspired to do an origin of Myers when he was a child for the first half of the film and then use the plot of the original film as a road map for the second half of the film.  This is a brutal and unkind horror film.  Gone is the Boogeyman of the John Carpenter era and what is presented is the story of an abused child from a broken home who snaps.  Zombie’s film was a modern day fable about the making of a serial killer.  This film had mixed reviews from both critics and horror fans.  Die-hard fans hated the fact that the “Boogeyman” that they had grown up with had been turned into a serial killer while others just didn’t like Zombie’s “trailer park” style and thought it cheapened the franchise.  Regardless of your opinion of the film it got people talking and it became a huge success.

I love this film for the same reason that I love the original Carpenter film.  Carpenter’s Halloween is 100% the style of Carpenter of which no other director could adequately replicate in subsequent films.  That’s not the biggest problem; the biggest problem is that none of the original sequels feel like they belong to any particular director but are trying to immolate Carpenter’s style.  When Zombie put his hands on the franchise he made it his own.  You may not like his style but there is no denying that this new Halloween is a Zombie film and I would have hated it more if Zombie had tried to make a Carpenter film.

Zombie would be asked back to the director’s chair for Halloween II (2009).  This film I hated when I first saw it at theaters.  I have to admit that I just didn’t get the film.  I thought it was a rushed mess of a film and it very well might have been but when I watched it a second time on video I realized that there are a lot of original ideas in this film that allow it to stand on its own.  Zombie is a musician and music plays an enormous part in the style and feeling of this film more so than in his original film.  The visual themes and motifs are stronger and the cinematography is more refined.  This film delves even deeper into serial killer territory and any sense that Zombie’s Michael Myers is the Boogeyman is erased.  This is a dark and atmospheric film which is not something most fans of the franchise were expecting.  This is a rare case for me where I enjoyed a film more the second time around.  I can appreciate what Zombie was trying to do and I actually really enjoy his style therefore I can place his two films separate from the original franchise.  Some other die-hard fans cannot.

I’m not just a fan of the Halloween franchise but I’m a fan of Michael Myers as well.  I’ve seen all the films in the franchise numerous times no matter how much I may despise the actual film.  I love watching Myers do his thing and even if some of the films are not as strong as the rest there is no reason to dismiss them out right.  Halloween is the time of year were I get to re-watch and enjoy the entire franchise and I hope you do as well.