HALLOWEEN
US, 2018, 106 minutes, Colour.
Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall, Toby Huss, Virginia Gardner, Dylan Arnold, Miles Robbins.
Directed by David Gordon Green.
Those old enough in 1978 to remember their first experience of Halloween will be wanting to see this climax to the story and to the profitable franchise over the decades. Those not old enough to remember, according to box office figures, certainly want to see this version.
The screenplay fills in the background of what happened back in 1978, the character of Michael Myers, the killing of his sister, the slashing murders, his mask. There is some use of the voice of actor Donald Pleasance from the original film and his analysis of the mind of Michael Myers. And, of course, there is Michael’s sister, Laurie, played in those days by a very young Jamie Lee Curtis who now plays not only a mother but a grandmother.
The original film was cowritten and directed by John Carpenter, leading him onto a successful career as a director, often exploring horror themes. Carpenter was also a musical composer and had a memorably evocative piano score and orchestrations for his original film. He has given his blessing to this production – and also contributes the musical score, drawing on his original themes.
So, audiences are ready for Michael Myers – and his potential demise.
There are quite a number of new characters after all these decades. There is Laurie’s daughter who we find was taken into care when she was young, Laurie having married twice and divorced twice, but authorities wary of her. The daughter, Karen (played by Judy Greer), now has a husband and a daughter of her own, Allyson (Andi Matichak), who, of course, will be crucial to the climax.
Two British journalists get permission to visit Michael Myers, interview the new doctor who is looking after him, going to the yard where he is confined to a square, and try to get some response from him – without success. They later go to interview Laurie – and, of course, they will encounter Michael Myers in much less salubrious situations!
Of all things, Myers is to be transferred to a new facility on Halloween. What could go wrong? Well, a bus crash and the prisoners escaping, all being recovered except Michael. His doctor was on board – and the later behaviour of the doctor wonders how much of the crash was his responsibility, his obsessive study of Michael, wanting to understand and feel what was going on in Michael’s strange and twisted psyche.
So, the setting is ready. The kids are in their costumes, out on trick or treat. Michael is on the loose and, in the slasher vain that the original Halloween fostered, there are a number of indiscriminate victims, Allyson’s boyfriend as well as his friend, Allyson’s babysitting friend and her boyfriend, several victims around the town, the pursuing police.
Which builds up to the anticipated climax, the siege in Laurie’s house with all its security devices, hiding place in the basement, the three women confronting Michael Myers and his death and the house destroyed in a conflagration.
An apocalyptic ending to the Halloween story.
1. The classic 1978? Its influence on horror and slasher conventions? 40 years later?
2. The story of Michael Myers – and needing a conclusion? Involving Laurie?
3. Audience expectations, Michael Myers and his behaviour in the 1970s, killing his sister, the effect on Laurie, the passing of the years, Laurie and her family, Michael in the institution? Audience is expecting a confrontation?
4. The scenes of Michael Myers in hospital, no communication, the past and the flashbacks to his killing of his sister? The voice of Dr Loomis and the explanation? The new doctor, his motivation, the British journalists, the interview, Jefferson watching Michael Myers standing, trying to provoke him? The issue of the transfer to another institution? At Halloween?
5. Laurie, after 40 years, the presence of Jamie Lee Curtis, the story of her marriages, divorces, her daughter taken into care? Her concerns as a grandmother? The house, rigged for security? The British coming to interview her, the fee, giving it to her granddaughter, ousting them?
6. The bus crash, the prisoners escaping, Michael Myers escaping? The police, the Roundup? Dr on the bus, his injuries, the realisation that he had engineered the crash, his study of Michael Myers, becoming obsessed, wanting to know what it was like to be a killer – identifying with him, his killing of the policeman? His own death?
7. Laurie, her daughter, granddaughter? Ray, the marriage, the family? Halloween, the parties?
8. The younger generation in the town, the children and trick or treat, the range of costumes, the Halloween behaviour, teenagers and the paying party and dense?
9. Michael Myers, the sinister presence, tall, his mask? The deaths, the slasher aspects of the film? The police, the British interviewers?
10. The granddaughter, relationships, boyfriend, the dance, the boyfriend and his kiss, the clash, running away, the pursuit, the young man’s approach? The deaths?
11. Virginia, babysitting, the little boy, her boyfriend coming? The terror in the house, the deaths?
12. The granddaughter, the spirit, knowing the truth, bond with her grandmother, the gift of the money? With her mother, father? In the house? Her fleeing after the death of the boys? David, his approach, her running, the fence?
13. The police, friendship with Laurie, the squad, the pursuit, the advice, the doctor, death?
14. Laurie, building up to confront Michael, her warnings to the family?
15. Michael coming to the house, the siege, refuge in the basement, the women, Ray’s death, in the cupboard?
16. The final confrontation, the cage and barriers in the house coming down, Laurie on the roof, the fall? The role of her daughter, granddaughter? Michael’s death, the burning of the house?
17. The end of a franchise and a Halloween era?
