“Halloween” is a direct sequel to the original 1978 film of the same title and hits theaters on Friday.
“It’s my time of year, baby,” actress Jamie Lee Curtis said as she hit the blood red carpet opening night of Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights in September.
She’s been busy out doing press and showing up at screenings of “Halloween,” which hits theaters on Friday, Oct. 19. It’s the 11th film in the lucrative horror franchise, coming 40 years after the original slasher that was released on Oct. 25,1978. The latest “Halloween” film is directed by David Gordon Green and written by Green, Jeff Fradley and actor and comedian Danny McBride. It’s a direct sequel to the original film, though there are subtle nods to the past four decades of sequels, prequels and remakes peppered throughout the movie.
Curtis reprises her role as heroine Laurie Strode and the film brings back Nick Castle, the original Michael Myers, and original co-creator John Carpenter was also brought on board as a composer, executive director and creative consultant. It is as authentic as a sequel can get, filled with jump scares, gore and laughs. Even after four decades, Myers is still frightening. He remains the voiceless, faceless killing machine, certainly worthy of his nickname, The Boogeyman.
“There’s no real backstory for Michael Myers,” “Halloween” producer Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions said during an interview on the Universal Studios Backlot . “You really don’t know his motivation and that’s so scary. Everyone puts their own story on what happened to him or how he came to be, but he is so simple. He wears this basic mask, which itself is very scary, and he’s just so anonymous and ordinary. I think that alone makes it feel like this could happen to you and he just has so much anger that he needs to keep killing people for no reason.”
Curtis agreed that it was the anonymity — and maybe all of that heavy breathing he does — that has made Myers such a haunting figure. The film focuses on Strode 40 years later, living in a desolated home in Haddonfield, Illinois, that’s filled with safe rooms, traps and an arsenal of knives and guns, waiting to be used since Myers was locked up in Smith’s Grove Sanitarium after he killed five people in 1978. There’s even a quick joke in the film that speaks to how much more violence there is in society four decades later, as a teenager quipped that by today’s standards “only killing five people” with a knife didn’t seem like a big deal. Of course, Myers escapes, goes after Strode, and the body count in this film is much higher than five.
“This movie is more intense than anything I’ve been a part of so far,” Curtis said.
The 59-year-old actress and daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, made her acting debut in “Halloween” and went on to star in a slew of horror movies including “The Fog,” “Prom Night” and “Terror Train.” Unlike the majority of actors who get their start in the horror genre, Curtis was able to break out of it and land memorable roles in films such as “Trading Places,” “A Fish Called Wanda,” “Blue Steel” and “True Lies,” as well as roles on the TV shows “New Girl,” “NCIS” and “Scream Queens.” However, Curtis has never had a problem with going back to play Strode as she’s starred in a few “Halloween” sequels including “Halloween II” in 1981, “Halloween H20” in 2000 and “Halloween: Resurrection” in 2002.
“I’m here for the fans of this movie and the fans of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers,” she said. “I couldn’t have a creative life if it were not for that movie and John (Carpenter) and Debra (Hill). Anytime we have the opportunity to do anything with ‘Halloween’ and connect with those fans… I’m there. No question that this is a legacy and in this industry, to have a legacy attached to you, that is very rare and I am very lucky.”
